{"id":749,"date":"2014-05-23T18:44:20","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T18:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=749"},"modified":"2014-05-23T18:44:20","modified_gmt":"2014-05-23T18:44:20","slug":"jin-porn-mei-comic-book-adaptations-of-the-chinese-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/jin-porn-mei-comic-book-adaptations-of-the-chinese-novel","title":{"rendered":"JIN PORN MEI: COMIC BOOK ADAPTATIONS OF THE CHINESE NOVEL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted on May 15, 2014 by necksbetrim<\/span>
\nThe Jin Ping Mei \u91d1\u74f6\u68851 is a notoriously pornographic vernacular Chinese novel believed to date from the late sixteenth century. Authored during the disastrous reign of the Wanli Emperor \u842c\u91cc who posterity has come to remember as a sort of Robert Baratheon of the Ming dynasty, later commentators such as Zhang Zhupo \u5f35\u7af9\u5761 (1670-1698) have convincingly argued that the author of the Jin Ping Mei meant for his work to be interpreted as political allegory.2<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, biting political allegory of long dead historical figures doesn\u2019t exactly fly off the shelves these days, and for better or worse the Jin Ping Mei has come to be known mostly for the dirty bits. As part of a guest lecture for a class on the book3 I recently delved into the murky world of comic book adaptations of the great novel. Many of these are, unsurprising, porn, plain and simple, while others are \u201cneither meat nor vegetable\u201d \u4e0d\u8477\u4e0d\u7d20. 4<\/p>\n

\"Picture1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

JIN PING MEI: THE CHILDREN\u2019S BOOK<\/p>\n

Jin Ping Mei: The Children\u2019s Book<\/p>\n

This seems to be the most common illustrated version of the story available online. Although the author and publisher are not identified, although one version identifies as being \u201cfor use in schools\u201d (\u5b66\u6821\u4e13\u96c6). In total there are 100 images with abbreviated text to the side in an updated lianhuanhua \u9023\u74b0\u756b5 style. Also known as \u5c0f\u4eba\u66f8 or \u2018children\u2019s books,\u2019 lianhuanhua emerged in the 1920s as a popular form of story-based comics, defined in opposition to manhua (\u6f2b\u756b) or European and North American style newspaper cartoon strips.<\/p>\n

In content, the first 85 pages are spent retelling the Wu Song \u6b66\u677e chapters of the original novel, with the arrival of Li Pinger, the death of Guange, the death of Ximen Qing and the death of Pan Jinlian at the hands of Wu Song compressed into the last 15 pages. Chunmei and her postscript is also largely absent from this adaptation. Not surprisingly, most of the sex and violence in the text is alluded to but not shown in the illustrations.<\/p>\n

\"Picture2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

JIN PING MEI: THE PICTURE BOOK<\/p>\n

Jin Ping Mei: The Picture Book<\/p>\n

Similar to the above version, this lianhuanhua style adaptation by Cao Hanmei \u66f9\u6db5\u7f8e (1902-1975)6 includes 500 images with abbreviated text underneath. Originally published in Modern Sketch\u300a\u65f6\u4ee3\u6f2b\u753b\u300b1934-1937, it was later collected into one volume in 1942.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, from what I have seen of this version, it seems to tell the story from the perspective of Pan Jianlian, beginning with her birth. It is also not particularly pornographic, as it seems to focus more on telling the story of the novel rather than just the juicy bits. Nudity also tends to be incidental, as in the panel above. Although Pan Jinlian\u2019s breasts are exposed, they are just one detail in a complex composition.<\/p>\n

Cao\u2019s illustrations were also used in the opening credits to Li Hanxiang\u2019s \u674e\u7ff0\u7965 1974 film adaptation of the Jin Ping Mei, Golden Lotus \u91d1\u74f6\u96d9\u8277, starring a very young Jackie Chan \u6210\u9f8d:
\n\"Picture8\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Opening credits to Li Hanxiang\u2019s \u674e\u7ff0\u7965 1974 film adaptation of the Jin Ping Mei, Golden Lotus \u91d1\u74f6\u96d9\u8277.<\/p>\n

\"Picture3\"<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

JIN PING MEI: THE ADULT COMIC BOOK<\/p>\n

Jin Ping Mei: The Adult Comic Book<\/p>\n

Published in 2000 in Hong Kong by Sun Century in biweekly installments of ~30 pages\uff0cwith a complete run of 32 volumes, mostly focused on the Wu Song chapters lifted from the Shuihuzhuan. Adapted by Xu Dabao (\u5f90\u5927\u5bf6) with art by Yan Zhiqiang (\u56b4\u5fd7\u5f3a), this version is essentially porn, with a heaping spoonful of wuxia [martial chivalry] \u6b66\u4fe0 tropes and \u2018nonsense\u2019 \u7121\u5398\u982d humor ala Stephen Chow \u5468\u661f\u99b3.<\/p>\n

Although certain echoes of the original novel exist in the first issue, with Wu Song\u2019s killing of the tiger being juxtaposed with Wu Daolao \u6b66\u5927\u8001 having sex with Pan \u2018Tiger\u2019 Jinlian, effectively equating sex with violence, by the end of the series things have gone completely off the rails, with flying yamen guards similar to the characters in Ang Lee\u2019s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the plot now revolving around a giant crystal phallus:<\/p>\n

\"Picture9\"<\/a>
\n<\/a>Jin Ping Mei: The Adult Comic Book<\/p>\n

The same artist writer team followed this work with the very tasteful series Gallants of the Water Margin \u6c34\u6ef8\u98a8\u6d41:<\/p>\n


\n<\/a>Gallants of the Water Margin \u6c34\u6ef8\u98a8\u6d41<\/p>\n

\"Picture13\"<\/a><\/p>\n

JIN PING MEI: THE BOYS LOVE MANGA<\/p>\n

\"Picture4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jin Ping Mei: The Boys Love Manga<\/p>\n

Written and drawn by Mizukami Shin (\u6c34\u4e0a\u30b7\u30f3) and first published in Japan in five installments between September 2003 and January 2004 in the magazine BExBOY by BiBLOS Press\u30d3\u30d6\u30ed\u30b9\u51fa\u7248\u793e, Mizukami\u2019s work was later collected into the 191 page single anthology Kinpeibai Kinden Honoo no Kuchizuke \u91d1\u74f6\u6885\u30fb\u5947\u4f1d\u3000\u708e\u306e\u304f\u3061\u3065\u3051or The \u201cStrange Tale of the Jin Ping Mei: Kiss of Fire,\u201d published in 2004, it has since been translated into Chinese as Jin Ping Mei qi zhuan huoyan zhi wen \u91d1\u74f6\u6885\u5947\u50b3 \u706b\u7130\u4e4b\u543b and republished in Taiwan by Zen Long Press \u5c0a\u9f8d\u51fa\u7248\u793e, a prolific publisher of (reputedly) pirated Japanese comics.7 This pirated version has itself been pirated and is widely available online, stripped of copyright and publication information.<\/p>\n

As is apparent from the cover, like many d\u014djinshi \u540c\u4eba\u8a8c, or amateur Japanese comics, it is a work of \u2018slash\u2019 fan fiction, known in Japan as \u201cBoys Love.\u201d In this ~200 page retelling homosexual love story, the original novel is transformed from a cautionary tale into a romance between (a male) Pan Jinlian, Wu Song, Wu the Elder and Ximen Qing \u897f\u9580\u6176. The audience for BL manga in Japan is predominantly female, and this seems to also be the target demographic for this book:<\/p>\n

\"Picture12\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jin Ping Mei: The Boys Love Manga<\/p>\n


\n<\/a> \"Picture5\"<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

JIN PING MEI: THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED EDITION
\n\"Picture14\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jin Ping Mei: The Complete Illustrated Edition<\/p>\n

This illustrated version consists of 21 volumes published in a limited run of 300 by People\u2019s Publishing Ltd \u6c11\u773e\u51fa\u7248\u793e in Hong Kong in 2013\uff0c with art by the totally-not-pseudonymous White Egret \u767d\u9e6d and a suggested retail price of $1580 USD. While extremely high cost and limited would seem to indicate this is meant for connoisseurs, in English it is marketed as the \u201cGraphic Novel Chin P\u2019ing Mei.\u201d
\nNot having a grand and half to drop on pornographic comics, I can\u2019t say much about this adaption, other than to note that like Xu Dabao and Yan Zhiqiang\u2019s adaptation it seems to show an influence of wuxia comics in treatment of the male body:<\/p>\n

\"Picture6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jin Ping Mei: The Complete Illustrated Edition<\/p>\n

\"Picture7\"<\/a><\/p>\n

JIN PING MEI: THE ARTIST\u2019S MONOGRAPH<\/p>\n

Jin Ping Mei: The Artist’s Monograph<\/p>\n

Another work that clearly is designed for connoisseurs, copies of this collection of watercolors by Zhu Xinjian \u6731\u65b0\u5efa (1953-2014) sell for $800 online. Zhu began his career as a character designer for children\u2019s cartoons and became famous for his erotic drawings of \u2018small-footed women\u2019 \u5c0f\u811a\u5973\u4eba which combine manga and traditional Chinese ink painting aesthetics.<\/p>\n

Given the credentials of the artist, and the unique artistic style it seems easier to accept this work as \u2018art,\u2019 in many ways calling to mind Feng Zikai\u2019s 1920s manhua or \u2018casual drawing.\u2019 Still, it is very undeniably pornographic, focusing on just the dirty bits:<\/p>\n

Jin Ping Mei: The Artist’s Monograph<\/p>\n

\"Picture10\"<\/a><\/p>\n

JIN PING MEI: THE 110 PILLS<\/p>\n

Jin Ping Mei: The 110 Pills<\/p>\n

Written and illustrated by the Italian comic book artist Roberto Raviola (aka Magnus) (1939-1996) in 1985 and first published in English by Cha Cha Comics in 1990. Magnus had previously completed The Brigands (I Briganti, 1973-1978) a loose adaption of Shuihuzhuan set in the distant future. This led to creating the Chinese influenced sci-fi comic Milady 3000 (Milady nel 3000, 1980) for the influential French magazine Metal Hurlant, and eventually The 110 Pills, a surprisingly faithful adaption of the Jin Ping Mei.<\/p>\n

Interestingly this is one of the only adaptions I have seen in which Ximen Qing dies of sexual exhaustion, aside from the two lianhuanhua adaptions (although presumably the Complete Illustrated Edition would also contain this plot point) The only real problem with this work is that Ximen Qing looks more Indian than Chinese, especially in the way he is dressed:<\/p>\n

Jin Ping Mei: The 110 Pills<\/p>\n

Also, it\u2019s almost completely pornographic with very little of the non-sexual plot included, but as the above examples amply demonstrate, that seems to come with the territory.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the earlier Wade-Giles transliteration still preferred by many academics it is rendered \u201d Chin P\u2019ing Mei.\u201d David Roy includes the literal translation, \u201cPlum in the Golden Vase,\u201d as the subtitle to his version although the accuracy of this is disputable, given that the title is generally assumed to refer to the names of three most important female characters: Pan Jinlian \u6f58\u91d1\u84ee, Li Ping\u2018er \u674e\u74f6\u5152 and Pang Chunmei \u9f90\u6625\u6885. [\u21a9]
\nChang, Chu-p\u2019o. \u201cHow to Read the Chin P\u2019ing Mei.\u201d In How to Read the Chinese Novel, edited by David Rolston, translated by David Tod Roy, 196\u2013201. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1990. [\u21a9]
\nASIA 441B taught by the incomparable Catherine Swatek who also happens to be David Roy\u2019s cousin. [\u21a9]
\nIn other words, neither fish nor fowl. [\u21a9]
\nAbbreviation of lianhuatuhua \u9023\u74b0\u5716\u756b or \u2018linked-picture\u2019 books [\u21a9]
\nReal name Zhang Meiyu (\u5f20\u7f8e\u5b87), middle brother of the more famous cartoonists and publishers Zhang Guangyu \u5f20\u5149\u5b87(1900-1965) and Zhang Zhengyu \u5f20\u6b63\u5b87 (1904-1976). [\u21a9]
\nThe pirating of Japanese comics in Taiwan seems to have begun in the 1960s when censorship laws unfairly targeted local cartoonists and, ironically, favored imported Japanese comics. Comic industry heavyweight Tong Li Publishing\u6771\u7acb\u51fa\u7248\u793e, for example, reportedly got its start when cartoonist-cum-entrepreneur Fan Wan-nan\u8303\u842c\u6960began printing large runs of pirated Japanese comics in the 1970s and 80s. Although the situation was rectified somewhat when the Taiwanese government signed a bilateral copyright agreement with Japan in 1992, from the large catalog of works produced by Zen Long and other pirate publishers it seems clear that sexually explicit works which fall outside of the mainstream, such as Kiss of Fire, continued to be pirated with impunity. This de facto tolerance of copyright violations for pornographic works was made de jure after a 2013 ruling by the Taipei District Court which rejected a case put forth by a consortium of Japanese adult film producers against the Taiwanese web aggregator ELTA Technology Co., Ltd \u611b\u723e\u9054\u79d1\u6280 on the grounds that while works of literature, science and the arts are subject to intellectual property laws in Taiwan, works which \u201cfeature oral and other forms of sex\u2026 [and] aim to arouse viewers\u2019 desires\u201d are pornography and therefore are not afforded any protection under Taiwanese law. See John A. Lent, Pulp Demons: International Dimensions of the Postwar Anti-Comics Campaign (Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1999), 195; \u201cFirms Avoid Prosecution over Adult Films \u2013 Taipei Times,\u201d accessed May 2, 2014, http:\/\/www.taipeitimes.com\/News\/taiwan\/archives\/2013\/03\/23\/2003557791. [\u21a9]
\nThis entry was posted in Teaching and tagged adaptations, catherine swatek, chin p’ing mei, comics, david roy, jin ping mei, lianhuanhua, manhua, novels, porn, vernacular fiction, \u660e\u6e05\u5c0f\u8bf4, \u6f2b\u753b, \u767d\u8bdd\u6587, \u8fde\u73af\u753b, \u91d1\u74f6\u6885. Bookmark the permalink.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From\u00a0http:\/\/www.nickstember.com\/jin-porn-mei-comic-book-adaptations-chinese-novel\/?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=c1267a193c-Sinocism05_22_145&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-c1267a193c-24573061&mc_cid=c1267a193c&mc_eid=743b9e45b4<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted on May 15, 2014 by necksbetrim Th … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[212],"views":7682,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":764,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749\/revisions\/764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}