The first translation of a late Ming erotic novel that was originally published during the first decade of the 17th century, attributed to Lu Tiancheng, a well-known playwright in the Ming dynasty. It is regarded as a notorious classic in Chinese literature, and has been long banned in China. Shockingly explicit, it details the travails of a romantic scholar named Easterngate, who encourages a relationaship between his wife and his compadre Dali. The story that unfolds is one of lust, betrayal and revenge, played out against the extraordinary backdrop of 17C China.