Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei, Volume Five

David Tod Roy (1933-2016) was professor emeritus of Chinese literature at the University of Chicago. His monumental five-volume translation of the Chin P'ing Mei was completed in 2013.

• List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Cast of Characters xiii CHAPTER 81 Han Tao-kuo Takes Advantage of a Chance to Appropriate the Goods; T'ang Lai-pao Defrauds His Master and Disregards His Benevolence 1 CHAPTER 82 P'an Chin-lien Makes an Assignation on a Moonlit Night; Ch'en Ching-chi Enjoys Two Beauties in a Painted Bower 17 CHAPTER 83 Ch'iu-chu, Harboring Resentment, Reveals a Clandestine Affair; Ch'un-mei Transmits a Note to Facilitate a Lovers' Rendezvous 35 CHAPTER 84 Wu Yueh-niang Creates a Stir in the Temple of Iridescent Clouds; Sung Chiang Uprightly Frees Her from the Ch'ing-feng Stronghold 54 CHAPTER 85 Wu Yueh-niang Surprises Chin-lien in the Act of Adultery; Auntie Hsueh Agrees to Sell Ch'un-mei on a Moonlit Night 72 CHAPTER 86 Sun Hsueh-o Instigates the Beating of Ch'en Ching-chi; Dame Wang Marries Off Chin-lien to the Highest Bidder 90 CHAPTER 87 Dame Wang Hungers after Wealth and Receives Her Just Reward; Wu Sung Kills His Sister-in-law and Propitiates His Brother 113 CHAPTER 88 P'an Chin-lien Appears in a Dream in Commandant Chou Hsiu's Home; Wu Yueh-niang Contributes a Gift to a Subscription-Seeking Monk 131 CHAPTER 89 On the Ch'ing-ming Festival the Widow Visits the New Grave; Wu Yueh-niang Blunders into the Temple of Eternal Felicity 151 CHAPTER 90 Lai-wang Absconds Together with Sun Hsueh-o; Sun Hsueh-o Is Sold to Chou Hsiu's Household 174 CHAPTER 91 Meng Yu-lou Is Happy to Marry Li Kung-pi; Li Kung-pi in a Fit of Rage Beats Yu-tsan 194 CHAPTER 92 Ch'en Ching-chi Is Entrapped in Yen-chou Prefecture; Wu Yueh-Niang Creates a Stir in the District Yamen 218 CHAPTER 93 Wang Hsuan Relies on Righteousness to Help the Poor; Abbot Jen in the Desire for Profit Invites Disaster 244 CHAPTER 94 Liu the Second Drunkenly Beats Ch'en Ching-chi; Sun Hsueh-o Becomes a Trollop in My Own Tavern 269 CHAPTER 95 P'ing-an Absconds with Jewelry from the Pawnshop; Auntie Hsueh Cleverly Proposes a Personal Appeal 289 CHAPTER 96 Ch'un-mei Enjoys Visiting the Pools and Pavilions of Her Old Home; Commandant Chou Hsiu Sends Chang Sheng to Look for Ch'en Ching-chi 309 CHAPTER 97 Ch'en Ching-chi Plays a Role in the Commandant's Household; Auntie Hsueh Peddles Trinkets and Proposes a Marriage Match 330 CHAPTER 98 Ch'en Ching-chi Opens a Tavern in Lin-ch'ing; Han Ai-chieh Encounters a Lover in a Bordello 349 CHAPTER 99 Liu the Second Drunkenly Curses Wang Liu-erh; Chang Sheng Wrathfully Kills Ch'en Ching-chi 370 CHAPTER 100 Han Ai-chieh Seeks Her Father and Mother in Hu-chou; Ch'an Master P'u-ching Rescues Souls from Perdition 391 Notes 421 Bibliography 501 Index 525

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2014 One of The Wall Street Journal Bookshelf Best Books of 2013, chosen by Tash Aw "The story sprawls. There are more than eight hundred named characters, from high officials and military commanders to peddlers and prostitutes, with actors, tailors, monks and nuns, fortunetellers, acrobats, and many others, even cats and dogs, in between. Roy helps us keep track of everyone in a fifty-six-page 'cast of characters.'... In the original woodblock printing of the text, characters follow one another, without punctuation, no matter their source. Modern printings provide punctuation, but Roy goes further by devising a system of indentation and differing type sizes to set off allusions, poems, and songs. With this editorial help, the translation is actually easier to read than the original."--Perry Link, New York Review of Books "David Tod Roy, after more [than] 20 years of work, completed the fifth volume of his translation of the Chin Ping Mei, entitled The Plum in the Golden Vase. It's a masterpiece [and] an epic scholarly achievement... The world of the Chin Ping Mei is beautiful and dark, cheap and exalted, righteous and profane, gorgeous and lurid and stinking and glorious."--Stephen Marche, Los Angeles Review of Books "Roy's complete translation makes it possible for English readers everywhere to read and appreciate this work, one of the great, sophisticated masterpieces of world literature."--Choice "Roy's translation ... is both more complete and more readable than previous English translations... Roy's rendering deftly switches between registers along with the novel, carrying across both its refined language and its infamous vulgarities."--Scott W. Gregory, Ming Studies "One can only begin to appreciate the work that has gone into this volume, with its numerous pages of notes, bibliography and index, and to the five volumes as a whole... We are indebted to Professor Roy. The novel is a masterwork of Chinese fiction, and we celebrate the completion of his translation."--Andrew Lo, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies Praise for the previous volume: "[A] book of manners for the debauched. Its readers in the late Ming period likely hid it under their bedcovers."--Amy Tan, New York Times Book Review