Things one never knew

[flemmings]

Finished Peony in Love. Discovered from the afterword, which I should have read in advance, that The Peony Pavilion had the same effect on young Chinese women of the 17th century as The Sorrows of Young Werther had on young German men of the 18th- convinced them of the delight of dying for love, so that they offed themselves in great numbers. The Chinese women died of 'lovesickness' which meant anorectically starving themselves to death. No wonder the Manchu emperors thought it should be banned.