Haoqiu zhuan

Haoqiu zhuan (translated into English variously as The Fortunate Union or The Pleasing History), also known as Hau Kiou Chuaan, is a Chinese caizi jiaren ("scholar and beauty") novel published in the 17th-century.

[3] According to Philippe Postel, author of "Les traductions françaises du Haoqiu zhuan," the most commonly stated date of authorship is 1683, at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty.

[4] After 1712 the story was given the subtitle Xiayi fengyue zhuan (俠義風月傳; 侠义风月传; Xiáyì fēngyuè zhuàn; Hsia-i Feng-yüeh chuan, "A Tale of Chivalry and Love").

[6] Maram Epstein, author of Competing Discourses: Orthodoxy, Authenticity, and Engendered Meanings in Late Imperial Chinese Fiction, described the novel as being "moralistic".

For instance a monk tells another character that there was a plot to poison the hero and that he himself had a part in this role; Starr states "the question of the addressee is left unresolved in this clumsy technique.

"[12] Keith McMahon comments that the lovers in Haoqiu zhuan "are like stereotyped opposites of the characters in earlier works."

The very name of the beauty, Bing Xin (Ice-Heart), conveys her chastity and emotional control, though she is at the same time loyal and loving.

Tie Zhongyu (Jade-within-iron) is in a sense a feminized hero, rather than the passionate and indulgent lover of the late Ming ideal.

They marry only when her father grants permission, even though he urges her to decide for herself, and even after they are wed they do not consummate their marriage until the empress herself refutes the villains and confirms that Bingxin is a virgin.

[16] St. André stated that the person who completed the translation "is suspected" to be a Portuguese man living in Macau, Wilkinson's tutor.

[3] In 1829 a member of the Royal Asiatic Society,[18] John Francis Davis, translated Haoqiu zhuan, using the title The Fortunate Union.

Johan van der Woude provided a Dutch translation of the work, under the title Wat de wind fluistert bij maneschijn (Antwerpen: Het Kompas, 1944).

In 1831, a fragment from the novel was anonymously translated into Russian directly from Chinese[20] and published in the Northern Flowers almanach edited by Alexander Pushkin.

"[14] He stated that because there had been interest in translating the novel into English, this "gave life and fame" to Haoqiu zhuan and therefore affected its standing in China.