THE HISTORY of the present work--the first com- prehensive survey of sex and society in ancient China--goes back to 1949, when the author hap- pened to purchase a set of old Chinese printing blocks, belonging to an illustrated erotic album of the Ming period, entitled Hua-ying-chin-chên "Va- riegated Battle-arrays of the Flowery Camp". These albums, published by a small circle of literati and artists in and around Nanking in a restricted num- ber of copies, were already scarce at the time of their appearance (1570-1650 A.D.). At present they are of the greatest rarity because most of them fell victim to the strict censorship of the Ch'ing dynasty; not more than a dozen or so sur- vive in private collections in China and Japan. Since these illustrated albums are mines of infor- mation on Chinese sexual habits, at the same time constituting the only example of superior Chinese drawings of nudes, the author thought it his duty to make the Hua-ying-chin-chên available to other research-workers by having a few copies struck off, and publishing these in a limited edition, with a brief preface on Chinese sexual habits, the background of erotic art.

When trying to orientate himself on this particular subject, however, he found that there was prac- tically no serious literature available, either in standard Chinese sources or old and modern West- ern books on China. Thus the author had to turn to lesser-known medical and sexological literature preserved in China and Japan. This enquiry brought to light a wealth of new data, and while sorting these out and coordinating them with later literature, the "preface" to the reprint of the Hua- ying-chin-chên grew into a treatise of more than 200 pages. When in 1951 he finally published the book under the title of "Erotic Colour Prints of the Ming Period", it comprised three volumes. This edition was limited to fifty copies only, all of which were presented to institutes of learning in East and West. Despite its restricted circulation the book attracted much attention in sinological and anthropological circles; it was extensively re- viewed in scholarly journals and at once quoted in such standard-works as A. C. Kinsey's book on the American woman, and Mircea Eliade's study on Yoga. Several other workers in the field, no- tably Dr. J. Needham of Cambridge University, suggested a number of improvements, which made the author contemplate the publication of a sub- stantial Supplement, embodying those corrections and additions. Then, however, the publisher of the present volume proposed to him to write a book on ancient Chinese sex and society, and he gladly availed himself of this opportunity for re-examin-

ing the subject of ancient Chinese sexual life in its entirety. The results thereof are offered in the present volume "Sexual Life in Ancient China", a general survey of Chinese sex and society intended for broader circles of anthropologists and sexo- logists. The author added an Appendix discussing the historical relation of Chinese and Indian sexual mysticism, and the new light thrown thereby on the origins of Tantrism.

As they now stand, the author's two books com- plement each other. Taking as point of departure the same basic Chinese texts, "Erotic Colour Prints of the Ming Period" then concentrates on the development of the colour print and Chinese erotic art, whereas "Sexual Life in Ancient China" takes a broader historical perspective and develops the argument along more general sociological lines.

In view of the interest in the subject evinced by research workers in the sociological and related fields, it was decided to issue the present volume in an unrestricted edition. This placed the author under the obligation to put a large number of orig- inal and translated passages into Latin.

An index of Chinese characters has been added, and also a General Index which, next to names of non-Chinese authors and non-Chinese terms, also lists items of anthropological interest, coordinating the scattered passages on those topics found in the body of the volume.

R. H. van Gulik, diplomat and orientalist, was born in 1910, in Holland. Studied Law and Orien- tal languages in the universities of Leyden and Utrecht, and in 1935 took his doctor's degree with honours in the latter university on a thesis on horse-cult in India, Tibet and the Far East. In the same year entered the Netherlands Foreign Service, and appointed Secretary of the Netherlands, Lega- tion at Tokyo which post he occupied till 1941, being frequently sent on missions to Korea and N. China. After the outbreak of the Pacific War he did war-work in E. Africa, Egypt and India, then appointed 1st Secretary of the Netherlands Em- bassy in Chungking, later Nanking. From 1946-48 Counsellor of the Netherlands Embassy in Wash- ington, concurrently Political Delegate to the Far Eastern Commission, thereafter Counsellor of the Netherlands Embassies in Tokyo (1948-51) and New Delhi (1951-53).

After having occupied for three years the post of Director of the Africa and Middle-East Depart- ment in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague, in 1956 appointed Minister to the Repu- blic of Lebanon, concurrently accredited to Syria. Since 1959 Netherlands Ambassador to the Fede- ration of Malaya.

In 1961 Robert van Gulik published his pioneering book Sexual Life in Ancient China. This latest edition of the work is preceded by an extensive introduction by Paul Rakita Goldin, assessing the value of Van Gulik's study, the subject itself, and its author. Now with an extensive and up-to-date bibliography, guiding the modern reader into secondary literature on the field published since the appearance of Van Gulik's groundbreaking volume.

One of the criticisms in 1961 regarded the Latin translations of passages deemed too explicit then by Van Gulik -- and possibly by the publisher. This modernised 2002 edition for the first time has all Latin translated into unambiguous English, thus making the full text easily accessible.

Dr. R.H. van Gulik, (1910-1967), renowned scholar and diplomat, published on a wide range of subjects in Far Eastern studies. He is also well-known as the author of the series of detective stories about Judge Dee.