Hàndài Gōngtíng Yànshǐ 漢代宮廷豔史
Scandalous History of the Han Imperial Court by 徐哲身 (撰)
About the work
Hàndài Gōngtíng Yànshǐ 漢代宮廷豔史 is a Republican-era historical novel by 徐哲身 (Xú Zhéshēn), the same author as KR4k0301 Dàqīng Sānjié. The Kanripo text preserves the first part (dì yī bù 第一部). The narrative covers the founding of the Hàn dynasty from the mythologized birth of Liú Bāng 劉邦 (the future Gāo Zǔ, r. 202–195 BCE) through the Chǔ-Hàn contention and the early Hàn court. The chapter titles follow the characteristic gōngtíng yànshǐ formula, pairing military-political events with romantic episodes centering on named imperial women.
Notable episodes in the chapter sequence: the legendary “dragon seed” birth of Liú Bāng (ch. 1), the snake-slaying story (ch. 1), Liú Bāng’s two important women (Cáo Shū 曹孺 and Lǚ Zhì 呂雉, ch. 2–3), the Hóngmén Banquet (ch. 7), the burning of the Qín palaces by Xiàng Yǔ (ch. 7), the secret crossing of Chéncāng (ch. 8), Chén Píng 陳平’s adultery with his sister-in-law (ch. 9), the suicide of Yú Jī 虞姬 (ch. 12), and the death of Xiàng Yǔ (ch. 12). The romantic and erotic content is intertwined with the standard historical narrative of the Chǔ-Hàn War.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
The Hàndài Gōngtíng Yànshǐ applies the Republican-era gōngtíng yànshǐ formula — romantic-political narratives of court life centered on imperial women — to the founding decades of the Hàn dynasty. The Hàn-founding narrative (including the mythologized birth of Liú Bāng, the Chǔ-Hàn contention, and the rise of the Empress Lǚ 呂后) had been a staple of vernacular fiction since the Míng dynasty, with the standard narrative drawn from the Shǐjì 史記 and supplemented by apocryphal tales. The gōngtíng yànshǐ format foregrounds the romantic and sexual dimension of the narrative: Liú Bāng’s various romantic liaisons, the jealous empress Lǚ Zhì, and the famous romantic figures like Yú Jī (Xiàng Yǔ’s loyal concubine who danced before the final battle and then died by her own hand) receive elaborated treatment.
This work is the companion to KR4k0310 Qīngdài Gōngtíng Yànshǐ by the same author, demonstrating that 徐哲身 produced gōngtíng yànshǐ fiction across multiple dynasties.
Translations and research
- Loewe, Michael. 1986. “The Former Han dynasty.” In The Cambridge History of China, vol. 1. Cambridge University Press.