On Zhao Feiyan waizhuan, China's Earliest Erotic Fiction

Abstract

Zhao Feiyan waizhuan (Unorthodox Biography of Zhao Feiyan) is a landmark in traditional Chinese fiction, being the earliest surviving example of erotic fiction and the first known work of palace literature – a genre that focuses on the experiences of women within the Rear Palace. The narrative concerns three main characters based upon historical individuals: emperor Cheng of the Han dynasty (r. 33–7 BC), his second empress Zhao 'Feiyan' or 'Flying Swallow' (d. 1 BC), a former dancing girl, and her younger sister and fellow denizen of the emperor's harem, Zhao Hede (d. 7 BC). The work portrays imperial extravagance and lust, the manipulation of the emperor by his two favorites, and the tragic end of their triangle. It became influential for later writings about sexuality and gender. Zhao Feiyan waizhuan has been variously dated from the Western Han to the Northern Song dynasty, a range of over a thousand years. This paper demonstrates that Zhao Feiyan waizhuan is in fact a Tang-era text, probably produced not long before it began to circulate widely in the mid-ninth century AD.