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About 18 h 20 min to read.Inizia 90 giorni gratisA chi è rivolto
Readers who love romances woven through poems and letters, clever young women, and tales of ghosts and foxes will enjoy this collection. It also suits those drawn to the social world of Song and Ming China.
Che cos’è questo libro
A scholar loses his sister on a mountain road in wartime. A noble girl smears dirt on her face so soldiers will take her for a sick woman. Within pages the two have met in a rocky hollow and begun trading poems.
That is the opening of National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance, a Ming collection of tales about love, talent and trouble. Wu Jingsuo gathered it in the late sixteenth century, choosing only the finest pieces, like a pearl diver. Some tales end in weddings and honours, others in ghosts and warnings. You get the plots, the people and the questions the stories keep asking about desire, duty and fate.
In questo riassunto
- 1War throws a scholar and a noblewoman togetherFree
- 2A father, an illness and a separation
- 3A prophecy sends a student searching for a lotus
- 4Gossip, jealousy and honour block the way
- 5A young man lodges in the house of two sisters
- 6Two clever women steer two later stories
- 7Later love stories stretch from the sea to the capital
- 8Ghosts, spirits and moral tales answer the romances
- 9Desire, duty and fate pull on every page
- 10Poems, letters and a preface shape the telling
Punto chiave 1 di 10
War throws a scholar and a noblewoman together
The first tale, The Dragon Meets the Orchid Pond, opens during the Song retreat from the north. Jiang Shilong, a gifted young man from Bianzhou, parts from his sworn brother, a fugitive Jin general, with matching verses and promises.
Huang Ruilan is eighteen, the daughter of a minister who has turned away every suitor. When the household scatters, she is left on the roads with her mother. She paints her face to look diseased, and soldiers pass her by.
At a mountain pass Shilong loses his sister and Ruilan loses her mother. Because her name sounds like his sister's, Ruilan hears him calling and climbs out of a hollow in the rocks. They promise to marry and travel south together. Later he presses her to yield in a quiet field, and she refuses and weeps.
Ruilan argues her own case with learning. Love begins in a shared poem and meets its first test of honour.
That’s 1 of 10 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of Bellezza nazionale e fragranza celeste
About 18 h 20 min to read.Inizia 90 giorni gratisPaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 252,400 words
- Reading timeAbout 17 h 40 min
Questions about Bellezza nazionale e fragranza celeste
What is National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance about?
It is a Ming Chinese anthology of love stories, ghost tales and moral tales. Most follow young scholars and the women they love, with poems and letters woven through the plots.
When was National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance written?
It was compiled in the late Ming period, with a preface dated 1587. The tales themselves are set in different eras, mostly Song, Yuan and early Ming.
What does the title National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance mean?
The phrase is an old Chinese compliment for a woman of extraordinary beauty, comparing her to a rare flower. The preface says the title was chosen because the editor cherished these tales.
Who are the main characters in the stories?
The tales feature different lovers, families, friends, spirits and figures of moral warning. Jiang Shilong and Huang Ruilan, Liu Yichun and Sun Bilian, Wu Tingzhang and Wang Jiaofeng, and Pan Bizheng and Chen Miaochang are among the best known.
Is this collection easy to follow?
Each tale stands alone, so you can start anywhere. The plots are clear, the characters have strong voices, and the poems add color to the scenes.
Cite this edition
Wu, Jingsuo. National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/national-beauty-and-heavenly-fragrance.
Wu, J. (2026). National beauty and heavenly fragrance. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/national-beauty-and-heavenly-fragrance
Wu, Jingsuo. National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/national-beauty-and-heavenly-fragrance.
@book{wu2026national,
author = {Wu, Jingsuo},
title = {National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/national-beauty-and-heavenly-fragrance}
}
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Get the full summary of Bellezza nazionale e fragranza celeste, free
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