The Yin-Yang Butterfly

Steeped in 5000 years of Chinese lore, this book tells the tales of Chinese emperors and courtesans, their erotic sexual customs and little-known ways of lovemaking, which have been erased from the memory of modern China and are virtually unknown to the West. It explores the links made by Chinese Taoists among sex, health and longevity and the battle for the elixir of life. And it ties the result of ancient Taoist practices to contemporary research findings in sexology. The book introduces readers to the poetic and lascivious language of ancient Chinese lovers: jade stalk, cinnabar grotto, scarlet pearls, coral juice, heavenly root, golden gulch and wheat bud. In addition, it offers excerpts from voluptuous poems and bawdy novels, so that readers may savour the spirit of another time and culture.