The Erotic Orient

By Hans-Jürgen Döpp

Since The Turkish Bath (1863) by the French painter Ingres, the Far Eastern woman has to many been a symbol of pleasures out of reach or forbidden. Seafaring explorers, military adventurers and simple travellers from Europe over the centuries have all been enthralled by the exotic nature of the oriental woman, her foreignness accentuated by the gentle pallor of her skin. Thus arose the myth that she, of all women, was in possession of the knowledge of certain refined pleasures. Historically, in the traditions of both China and Japan, women have been required to respond at least acquiescently to men’s desires. It was part of their upbringing, quite different from the moral taboos decreed on the subject by our Western civilization. This book – richly illustrated with colourful Chinese and Japanese prints and ivory carvings, some of considerable antiquity – thus figuratively comprises an Oriental hymn to carnal pleasures and to the Game of Love. In a lively and comprehensive text, Professor Hans-Jürgen Döpp reveals the ancient rules that govern relationships between men and women in the Far East – while not ignoring the importance of Love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Parkstone International
• Release date: Jul 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644618950

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ISBN: 978-1-64461-895-0

Hans-Jürgen Döpp

Erotic Orient

Contents

CHINESE EROTICISM

Bound happiness

JAPANESE EROTIC ENGRAVINGS

Between the sublime and the grotesque

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Chinese Eroticism

Japanese Eroticism

CHINESE EROTICISM

Bound happiness

Chinese eroticism

The aim of Taoist art and culture was to reach a state of harmony that would lead Man, confronted by a chaotic universe, towards a new serenity. In this spiritual context, love represented for the Chinese a force which was supposed to unite sky and earth in balance and maintain the reproductive cycle of nature. Eroticism thus became an art of living and formed an integral part of religion (to the extent that such western notions can be applied to philosophical thoughts of this kind).

Taoist religion assumes that pleasure and love are pure. ‘In order to gain some understanding of Chinese eroticism,’ writes Etiemble, a great connoisseur of Chinese art, ‘We need to distance ourselves from the notion of sin and the duality between the corrupt body and the holy spirit.’ This ideology lies at the very base of Christianity. Erotic Chinese art reflects the extent to which we are ‘morally corrupt’ and ‘full of prejudices.’

The Yin-Yang pairing introduces us directly into the world of Chinese eroticism: ‘The path of Yin and Yang’ signifies nothing less than the sexual act itself. One of the best-known sayings of ancient Chinese philosophy, ‘Yi yin yi yang cheh we tao’ (‘On the one side yin, on the other yang, this is the essence of Tao’) indicates the fact that sex