Golden Lotus

Named One of the Best Chinese Romance Novels by Lifestyle Asia”[Golden Lotus is] a landmark in the development of the narrative art form–not only from a specifically Chinese perspective but in a world-historical contex….noted for its surprisingly modern technique and with the possible exception of The Tale of Genji (c. 1010) and Don Quixote (1605, 1615), there is no earlier work of prose fiction of equal sophistication in world literature.” –David Tod Roy, Scholar of Chinese literature”[Golden Lotus is] the most famous of the novels of manners of the Ming dynasty [and is] in effect a condemnation of the whole ruling class.” –Lu Xun, Chinese writer, essayist and poet

Clement Egerton was at various times a senior officer in the British army, an Anglican bishop, and a writer, editor, and photographer, but he is best known for his enduring translation of Golden Lotus.

Shu Qingchun became famous as the Beijing novelist and dramatist Lao She whose best-known work may be Rickshaw Boy. He was killed, or committed suicide, during the Cultural Revolution in Mao’s China.

Robert Hegel is a specialist in Chinese literature and is the former Liselotte Dieckmann Professor of Comparative Literature and professor of Chinese in East Asian Languages at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.