What ancient Chinese poets 
delicately alluded to as the "peony" or "red lotus" was rendered 
less florally by Taoist sexologists, who referred to the t�nulc gen­
itals by such nan1cs as "cinnabar grotto," "n1oon grotto," "Yin 
gate," and "jade gate." The phallus was usually the "jade stalk," 
"jade roo t," "Yang pt ·ak ," "Yang itnpletnent," "hot peak," "jade 
" " 1 " "J I il " " I :1 " "h spoon, uragon, uustcr unc t\ tasse ec spear, or eav-
cnly roo t." 
Sex nunuals described the vagina-n1ore philosophically than anatotnically-as "that crucial square inch." The n1ons veneris 
was the "sand n1ound," and the clitoris the "jewel terrace" or the 
"anirnal in the boa t"; this boa t was son1etin1es the "front vesti­
bule." The prepuce of the clitoris vns a "dark garden" or "divine 
field." The upper vulva, where the labia 1ninora n1ect, was the 
"golden gulch"; the lower vulva, the "jade vein." The labia Jni-
� � . nora then1sdves wert' "scarlet pearls" or" coxco1nbs." The fc1nalc 
urethral orifice \Vas, understandably , a "vast t{nmtain." "Hidden 
valley" and "heavenly court" denoted the vaginal vestibule. The varying depths of coital penetration also were considered 
in detail in the sex n1anuals. Poetic tenns represented the various 
n1easuren1ents: "lute strings" (one inch inside the vagina), "wheat 
bud" (two inches), "scented tnouse" (three inches), "mixed rock" 
(four inches) , "grain seed" (five inches). The "inch" here, a tradi­
tional n1casurcn1cnt also used in acupuncture, was defined as the 
length of the second scgn1ent of the middle finger of the left hand 
for a tnan, and of the right hand for a won1an. Beyond "grain 
seed" can1e the "flower heart" or "flower pistil," the cervix. The 
uterus itself was the "scarlet chan1bcr." SEXUAL ANATOMY 
The ancient boudoir artists devoted n1uch research to the size, 
shape, structure, and "personality" of the genitalia. This research 
was supplen1ented by an imn1ense array of literature on sexual 
physiog non1y. The size of genitals is of concern to son1e people in 
every culture. The ancient Chinese concocted various recipes for 
enlarging the penis or shrinking the vagina. As they achieved 
more erotic sophistication, however, the size of the organ becan1c 
less significant. Taoist sexologists consider ed penis size, which is 
grossly exaggerated in Japanese erotic art and in contcrnporary 
Western pornographic books and n1ovics, of minor importance. The Chines e often usc a condescending phrase, "big fish, big 
meat," to satirize a peasant's concept of fine dining: big slabs of 
fish and meat arc mistaken for culinary art. The phrase also has 
been used for people obsessed with the size of the n1ale organ or 
the siz<. : of fcn1ale br<.:asts. A sexual gourn1and and a sexual 
gourm<. :t ar<. : diff<.:r<.:nt. For the sexually knowledgeable wom<. :n of ancient China, the tmly Doef(lrs (lf L(li'C TH E ART OF THE BEDCH AMBER 
thickness of a jade stalk was more important than its length, its 
shape more important than its thickness. The shape could be classi­
fied as one of three major categories: pagoda, with the base thicker 
than the head, the most common; cylinder, with the base and the 
head of the same thickness, less common; and mushroom, with 
the head thicker than the base, the most valued because it is apt to 
remain more fulfilling inside the jade gate after detumescence. Even more in1portant than phallic size and shape was phallic per­
formance, the crux of the Art of the Bedcham ber. The Elemental Maid, in explaining to the Yellow Emperor 
the ideal condition of the male organ for coitus, enumerates the 
Four Attainments of chi. An aroused jade stalk, she says, should 
pass through four progressive stages: angry, enlarged, rigid, 
and hot. Taoist sexologists described the various shapes of the vagina 
pragmatically; among the self-explanatory terms were "dragon 
pearl," "monkey," "eagle," "whelk," "dish," "bamboo cylinder," 
"pheasant," "delta," "duckbill," and "sheep gut." Sexual con­
noisseurs in China were apt to discuss the topography inside the 
jade gate the way French oenophiles might discuss their favorite 
vineyards. Moreover, they relished regional varieties of anatomy. Women from the city of Tatung were prized for their vaginas 
with "double doors." Wornen from another locality had prac­
tically no pubic hair, and this, according to ancient sexologists, 
made them extren1ely wanton in bed. The sexologists and physiognotnists of ancient China must 
have spent countless days-and nights -researching what was sex­
ually desirable in won1en, but not in n1en. When the Yellow Em­
peror asked the Elen1ental Maid to describe a desirable won1an, 
his tutor replied: ··A desirable wotnan has a tender, pliable tetn­
peratnent, with a liquid voice, black , silky hair, soft rnuscles, and 
small bones. She is neither too tall nor too short, neither too large 
nor too snull. Her vulva is hig h up front� her n1ons is hairless� and 
she is rich in fluids. She is between t\venty-five and thirty, and 
has never been pregnant. Whil e copulat ing, her fluids flow abun­
dantly, and her body tretnbles helplessly and is covered with per­
spiration. She yields to the nun wheth er he wants to raise her 
high or press her down. If a nun can find such a wonun, even if 
they do not follow thl.' proper ways of coition, they wou ld sutter 
no hann." Quoting Master Chung Ho, a Taoist sexual alchernist, The 
Secr et Art (�f the ]tuff Chamber gives a sirnilar asscssr nent for a de­
sirable wornan. It describes also a sexually undesirable wornan: 
"Her hair is unkt'nlpt, her face coarse. her neck thick, her throat 
knotted . and ht'r teeth whea t-col ored. She has a rnasculine voice. Her rnouth is large and her nose high. Her pupils arc unclear. Her 
lips and chee ks have long . whiskcrlike hair. Her elbows and knees 
arc large and protruding . Her hair is yellow, and her flesh is skin1py. Her pubic hair is thick and stift� and sticks up in the wrong direc­
tion. To have intercourse with such a worn an will hann the health 
of a rnan." In short. the ancients consider ed sexually desirable a woman 
with a profusion of Yin and very little Yang. In modern terms, the 
sexually desirable won1an had an abundan ce of fen1ale hormones. SEXUAL PHYSI OGNOM Y 
The Chinese have been refining their study of physiognomy for 
the past two thousand years. They believe that by comparing the 
size, location, proportion , shape, color, and movement of an in­
dividual's facial features and other body parts with a "norm," a 
skilled observer can assess the individual's personality, luck, wealth, 
success, fan1ily and social relationships , longevity, health, and sex­
uality. Whether one considers this science, superstition, or statis­
tical evaluation, the ancient Chinese were deadly serious about it. Physiognomy played an important part not only in making friends, 
choosing spouses, negotiating co1nmercial deals, but also in wag­
ing war, engaging in politics, and maintaining the imperial court 
in general. Sometimes physiognon1y bordered on the fanciful. The cele­
brated physiognomist Liu Tsung-yuan had very specific observa­
tions. He predicted successful or highly honored sons for a woman 
with dark nipples and a deep, upward naval. A hairy navel on a 
won1an foretold a son who would be a literary scholar. Skimpy 
buttocks denoted a skimpy fortune. Liu set forth his wisdom on 
good female physiognom y, and more: "The anus should be hid­
den by the haunches and not exposed, preferably with hair. [The 
woman's] urination should be slow. A fast, spirited rush indicates 
lack of wealth. A light and long strearn is a sign of rcfinen1ent. If Lady Doctor s of Lor'e THE ART OF THE BED CHAM BER 
90 her fecal matter piles up like a coiled ribbon, it is a sign of wealth 
and high social standing." In the past there were even professional 
urination auditors, women who, upon listening to an individual's 
urinating in an adjacent room, could "diagnose" his or her per­
sonality and fortune. There arc urinalyses and urinalyses. CONV ERSAT IONS FROM WILD HISTORY 
The most erudite appraisals of genitals in the many centuries of 
Chinese scholarship are found in a fragment of "wild history" 
written during the Tang dynasty by Chang Mu. His book, The 
Secret Chronicles of Kung Ho Chien, is lost, but fortunately a work 
from the Ching dynasty, Confucius Says Not, quotes two long pas­
sages frotn it. One of them reports a conversation between the lascivious 
empress Wu Tse-tien, whose lo ve life was recounted earlier, and 
her daughter Tai Ping. (The Kung Ho Chien of the title was os­
tensibly the office for imperial aides established by the empress; in 
reality, it was a stable for her favorite studs.) When Tai Ping, sens­
ing that her highly sexed mother is without a satisfactory lover, 
recommends her own love interest, Chang Chang-tsung, the em­
press is at first silent. Then Tai Ping whispers into her mother's 
ear that she has seen the young n1an taking a bath as her house­
guest: "His jade stalk has a full head and a thin root. When it is in 
repose it droops down and is not long. It is as smooth as a goose 
egg, and its ridge rises a fifth to a sixth of an inch. It is fresh-red, 
soft, and mellow." Smiling, the e1npress asks whether her daughter has tasted it. Tai Ping says no, but a(.hnits that she asked a lady-in-waiting to 
test hin1 out. The etnpress turns to the lady-in-vvaiting and says: 
"You rnay tell Her Majesty frankly. Don't be shy about it." The wonun whispers into the e1nprcss 's car: ''At the begin­
ning of our encounter, it was like a luscious lychee fron1 the South 
Seas, unusually sn1ooth and tender. Its ridge expand ed like an 
un1brdla. After three or four strokes, tny flower pistil opened 
wantonly. My spirit and tny soul were borne aloft. What's so good 
about hirn was that he did not decide for hirnsclf whether to be 
slow or fast. He tenderl y tin1cd hirnsclf to rny desire." Etnpn. 'SS Wu. overjoyed, exdaitns: .. 1 heard that those tnedi­
ocre wonten of the outside world crave only nntscular hardness 
and do not appreciate tendt'rnt'ss. That is the sexuality of peasant 
wonten .... The best of ntak organs arc handson1c, tender, and 
ntellow." PillOW TALK ON LovEMAKING 
The sante chronicle records a conver sation between Shangkuan 
Wan-erh, the secretary-con fidante of Empress Wu, and one of 
her own lovers. He is Tsui Shih, the tninister of the anny who had 
to pacify an outraged duke with his own wife. During one of their 
trysts, he asks how En1prcss Wu chose her n1cn. Shangkuan re­
plies that the cn1press passes over any jade stalk that is "all skin and 
sinew." The explanation she gives is a rare gem of Chinese literary 
exposition: "Of all the parts of the hun1an body, the tongue has no 
skin, so it is able to relish all the tastes; the heels have thick skin, so 
they touch only the lowly ground. A woman's cinnabar grotto is 
lined with a delicate membrane; so is the best part of a man's jade 
stalk. Thus the most tender parts touch during copulation. The 
protruding ridge of the jade stalk sensitizes the rubbing and mas­
saging of parts. When the jade stalk is in repose, it is a hidden bud; 
when it expands, it is an exposed eggplant. If the more tender parts 
are squeezed against other such tender parts, pleasure reigns, as if 
all the fecund essences of heaven and earth were being turned into 
rich wine. But if the skin of the jade stalk is too thick, it acts like a 
suit of armor. This deadens the pleasure while the jade stalk ad-
d '' vances an retreats. Tsui tells Shangkuan that the qualities of female genitals vary 
as much as those of male organs. To illustate his point, he extols 
her cinnabar grotto for its "pure, clustered flower pistil." When he 
enters her, he says, "I felt the tip of my jade stalk pressing against 
your tender parts, as if being drenched with melted lard, and I felt 
even n1y hair melting. Sometimes I put my fingers on your rear 
opening and felt it contracting and leaping, telling me that you 
would soon rejoice. Then I paused until your rosebud stopped 
leaping, so that I might renew and redouble your pleasure." He 
then contrasts their own connoisseur ship to the clutnsiness of Lady DoctorJ of Lcwr 
91 THE ART Of TH E BEDC HAM BER 
sexually illiterate men and women who, "like beggars, having 
consumed three buckets of lard, pride themselv es on achieving 
the height of sen sual ity." Whether literary eroticism from wild history or clinical ob­
servation from sexology treatises, the ancient Chinese preoccupa­
tion with sex uality is undeniable. 7 
Three Peaks, Five Desires, 
and Nine Essences 
Secrets o/ Love-P lay 
SOME TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, the love doctors of ancient 
China specifically prescribed foreplay as essential to sexual health. The sexology classics emphasize leisurely and, when desi red, lin­
gering foreplay. Such love-play is necessary so that sexual part­
ners "harmonize Yin and Yang." Although this explanation was 
couched in the context of another culture, it would be understood 
by any discerning Western sexologist today. The wise women and men of the East linked male in1potence 
and female frigidity to unsatisfactory foreplay, or its total absence. In The Class ic of the Element al Maid, the Yellow Emperor, that ever 
inquisitive pupil who poses questions most men are afraid to raise, 
asks one of his tutors about a curse plaguing men in his day as in 
our s: "Sometimes I want intercourse, yet my jade stalk will not 
rise up. My face betrays my shame, and my perspiration drops like 
pearls. My heart and my sentiments arc fired by lust, but I have to 
help with my fing ers. How can I be strong? Please enlighten me 
on this Tao." The Elemen tal Maid's repl y: "What Your Majesty describes 
happ ens to all n1en. In ordt:r to unit <. : with a won 1an, a man should 
have amp k prepar ations to harmonize his fhi. In this way the jade l B E A R T () I' l H F A r D <. H A M B I' U 
stalk will rise up." By obse rving the sym ptom � of erotic pleasur e 
in the wom an and acting in a harmonious and wholc�ome way, 
she says, a man can strengthen his virility and have an erection at 
every union. "This way he will be admired by his I bedroom I ad­
versary," she adds. "How could he be ashamed of that!" In The Classic of the Arcane Maid, the Yellow Emp eror tells the 
Arcane Maid that he has learned much of the art of Yin and Yang 
from the Elemental Maid, but would like further enlightenment 
from her. The Arcane Maid replies: "Everything between heaven 
and earth is quickened by the interaction of Yin and Yang. Yang is 
animated by Yin. Yin is vivified by Yang. When Yin and Yang act 
harmoniously, the male will be firm and powerful, and the female 
will open to him." The emperor says: "Sometimes at intercourse the woman is 
not moved. Her essences arc not stirred, and her fluids do not ap­
pear. The man's jade stalk is not strong. It remains small and not 
angry. Why?" The Arcane Maid attributes unsatisfactory sexual 
unions to a lack of harmony between Yin and Yang. "Yin and 
Yang stimulate and respond to each other. Yang without Yin is 
joyless, and Yin without Yang is unexcited. The man wants to 
copulate but the woman is not happy; the woman wants to copu­
late but the man has no desire. When two hearts are not in tune, the 
essences are not aroused. . . . Love and pleasure are not elicited. "But if the man woos the woman and the woman woos the 
man, their sentiments and their minds will merge, and they will 
delight each other's heart. The woman's passion will be aroused, 
and she will fondle the man's stalk. She will make it powerful, so 
it can rap at her jewel terrace, and bring an abundance of secre­
tions for both partners. The jade stalk will be greatly enlarged and 
will move, sometimes slowly, sometimes rapid ly. The jade gate 
will open, easing the entry of the strong adversary and absorbing 
its essence to irrigate the scarlet chamber." The Mystic Master of the Grotto, in the classic named for him, 
echoes the Arcane Maid on the same subject: "Heaven revolves to 
the left and Earth rotates to the right. Spring and summer wilt, 
autumn and winter follow. Man sings, woman accompanies. Ac­
tion above and compliance below. This is the nature of things. If 
man rocks and woman responds not, if woman moves and man 
follows not, their congress will not only injure the man but also 
harm the woman. For this is counter to the nature of Yin and Tlm·t· f>ccll. :s, Fil'f IJt'sirt's, cmd Nill t' EHt'llt"t'S 
Yang. and opposed to the order of t'vc..·nts. To unitt ' in such a way 
gives no benetit to t•ither. Tht·refort', when n1.1n revolves to the 
left. wontan should rotate to the right; wht·n nun thrusts frotn 
above. \vonun should respond fron1 below. ( )nly if they unite in 
this ntanner will Ht•aven and Earth be in balanc e." 
Esst> llfittls ,�fthc}tulc Chcmlbt'r proposes the san1c thente by qu ot­
ing the legendary Pt·ng Tsu. who purported ly lived to the age of 
Roo by taking health tonics and n1astering tht· art of theja dt· chanl­
ber. This Chi nes <.. ' Meth usalch said: "The �10 of sexual inter­
course contains no tnirack. t'xcept that one should act leisurely, 
evenly. and gradually. Hannony is ntost valued." Essc11tia/s of the 
Jadt> Chamber also quotes a Taoist sexologist: "The Tao of copulat­
ing with a wotnan starts wit h lingering frolic and play, and con­
tinues until she is hannonious in spirit and moved in thought. Only after extended play should intercourse begin." In today's tenninology, all this philosophizing about Yin and 
Yang n1eans that partners need to get the juices flowing prior to 
consununation. They n1ust induce and seduce one another into 
the proper n1ood. This leads to a grand and delicious result: the 
energizing of the man and the satisfaction of the woman, or joy­
ous and healthy sexual union. The classics prescribe the essentials of love-play and explain 
how to judge whether a partner has been "harmonized" for the 
final consun1mation. They conc entrate mainly on male action and 
female response, probably because characteristically blundering 
male partners arc in greater need of such advice. The Taoists con­
sidered the woman not only the repository of life, but also the 
fountainhead of sexual wisdom. Thus the Elemental Maid teaches the Yellow Emperor about 
foreplay: "At the time of sexual union, let the tnan first ask the 
won1an to lie down flat on her back and bend her legs. The man 
then gets between her spread thighs. He holds her lips in his tnouth 
and sucks on her tongue. Holding his jade stalk, he strikes the cast 
and west sides of her gate for about a n1eal's time." In ancient China, 
it should be pointed out, there was no such thing as fast food. THE AR T OF THE THRE E PEAKS 
Esse ntials of the jade Chamber features a dialogue between Peng 
Tsu and the Iridescent Maid, one of the three fcntale tutors to the Yellow Emperor. Sent by the emperor to learn some of the exper­
tise of the ancient 1naster, she hears Pcng's instructions to the male 
partner: "Play with her cinnabar field. Seck what is in her mouth. Press her body deeply and palpate it gently to bring about heres­
sences. When the woman responds to the man's Yang she exhibits 
these symptoms: Her cars are hot, as if she has drunk rich wine. Her breasts protrude firmly and fill his hands. Her neck moves 
about; her legs shake agitatedly. She tries to restrain her lascivious 
1notions , but suddenly she clasps his body." Peng Tsu's counsel 
here is especially intriguing. His words "press her body deeply 
and palpate it gently" accurate ly describe a basic technique in an­
cient Chinese massage ain1ing at acupoints. The erotic variety of 
this acupressur e can be a most effective aphrodisiac. The ven erabl e master goes on to extol the benefit of exchang­
ing saliva during foreplay and coitus. The juices from the "five 
viscera," he explains, flow out under the tongue as saliva, which 
was considered an elixir by Taoists. Saliva was not the only such 
tonic. Ko Hung (281-341), a Taoist philosop her, alchemist, and 
sexologist who contributed n1uch to the development of ancient 
Chin ese scientific thought, n1entioned in his book The Master 
Who Embraces Simplicity (Pao Pu Tzu) that the Han dynasty minis­
ter Chang Tsang lived 1 8o years as a result of his ingesting breast 
secretions of women. Peng Tsu's idea of sipping saliva at love-play and Ko Hung's tale 
of sipping breast secretions to abet longevity n1ust have touched 
off a real fad among sex cultists in later centuries. "Alchen1ists of 
sex" proposed the drawing of three fluids frotn the fen1ale body as 
elixirs for n1en: saliva fron1 the Red Lotus Peak, n1ilk fron1 the 
Twin Lotus Peaks, and vaginal secretions frotn the Purple Agaric 
Peak. The word "peak" seen1s inappropriate at least for two of the 
three bodily locations, and the pluck-and-nur ture nunuals of the 
sexual alche1nists do not bother to explain this choice of tenn. It 
n1akes sense, however, if we consider a wonu n's tongue as the 
Red Lotus Peak, and her clitoris as the Purple Agaric Peak. Purple 
agaric (the color refers to its stalk) is the n1ost valued of the tive 
varieties of lillg-dtilz, or "divine n1ushroo1ns"; the Chinese tn.·a­
sure it, believing it pron1otes health and longevity. Male aticionados of this Art of the Three Peaks were advised 
to choose won1cn who had not yet borne a child, so the inclu­
sion of 1nilk is puzzling . In i:Kt, son1e Chinese concoctions have been known to p roduce tnilk in virgins. As t()r nutritious vahll' in 
the three elixirs. only breast tnilk is known to have any. (Shou ld a 
sexology laboratory seck expe rinll'ntal proof of this ancil·nt nu­
trition theory. ho\Vl'Vl'r, it probably would he swan1pcd by volun­
teers. of both sexes. intcrestl'd in the ways of scienc e.) What is 
itnportant here is thl'l'rotic efficacy of thl' Art of till· Three Peaks. The sex alchen1ists' handbooks spl 'Ci fy quitl ' cka rly that during 
foreplay and coitus, nll'll should drink thl · three dixir s directly 
fron1 their sources. Saliva. or .. \Vater frotn the heavenly pool;' was sipped by both 
the tnan and the won1an while kissing. In drinking the essence 
fron1 the Twin Lotus Peaks, also called ''coral juice," whether the 
n1an actually gets any fluid is not as in1portant as what he docs to 
the nipples and areolas in the process. And as to the absorption of 
secretions fron1 the Purple Agaric Peak, the handbooks describe 
the n1ethod rather cryptically: The man inserts his jade stalk as a 
sort of drinking straw, then "crouches down in the manner of 
a tortoise," using the techniques of chi-kung (a Taoist meditative 
art) to suck or .. pluck" the secretions, and finally stores this es­
sence in his cinnabar field. This description may sound metaphysical, but at least one an­
cient sex alchemist allegedly demonstrated the technique to an 
emperor and his ladies in his inner palace. He put his jade stalk in a 
teacup filled with water, sucked up the water, then expelled it. This probably is a lost art in China. Yogis in India are capable of 
accomplishing much the same feat through the rectum, and sim­
ilar but lesser prowess may be observed at Parisian sex shows, 
where female performers pick up coins or puff on cigarettes with 
their genitals. Whether ancient or conten1porary, whether for 
health or for entertainment, these feats point to one thing: The 
sn1ooth muscles of the genitourinary region, controlled by the 
autonotnic nervous system and nonnally involuntary, can func­
tion at will-with enough practice. For centuries Taoists have 
explored various functions of the autonomic nervous system to 
enhance health and sexuality. Some of their techniques are de­
tailed in later chapters. Drinking with the mouth fron1 the Purple Agaric Peak is of­
ten described lyrically in bedchamber literature as ''drinking at 
the jade fountain." The sixth-century poet Hsu Ling, in a letter to 
a friend who had retired and was living in the n1ountains with a 
CJ7 THE AR T OF THE BEDCHA MH ER 
Flr4te-playin ,(!, and 
dri11 ki11g at tlzcjadef ormt aitl female companion, congratulated his friend on having ample time 
available to "practice the art of the Elemental Maid." He added 
enviously: "Why bother with the elixir of immortality when you 
can drink at the jade fountain!" Quenching one's thirst at the jade fountain is mentioned less 
frequently in the literature of later centuries. A few decades ago, 
however, some linguistic evidence was found. In northern China, 
a man whose livelihood was pleasing women, the equivalent of 
a gigolo or a male mistress, was scornfully called a "dish Iicker." In eastern China, a man adept at pleasing women orally was of­
ten teasingly called a "champion melon-seed cracker." The Chi­
nese love to eat roasted waterme lon seeds, and some are experts 
at tossing a seed into their mouth, cracking it with their teeth, 
separating the broken shell from the kernel with their tongue, 
swallowing the kernel, and spitting out the neatly broken shell, 
all within a few seconds-and doing this repeatedly, and in rapid 
succession. A virtuoso in oral-genital kissing thus was likened to 
a n1an who could eat melon seeds with such skill and gusto. The female activity corresponding to drinking at the jade foun­
tain is "playing the flute." Because of the ancient Chinese taboo 
against squandering male semen, flute-playing was generally lim­
ited to dry runs. FouR ATTAINME NTs, NINE Ess ENCES, FivE DESIRES 
The ancient classics, as has been mentioned, place the utmost im­
portance on foreplay. When the Yellow Etnperor asks whether he 
should force himself at the task, if he wants to have intercourse 
but has no erection, the Arcane Maid warns hin1: .. The only right 
time to have intercourse is after the tnan has achieved his Four 
Attai nn1ents. ()nly then can he bring the wotnan her Nine Es-
" senc es. The tutor then ex plains to the e n1peror why the n1an n1ust 
await the Four Attain tnen ts: .. If the jade stalk is not angry. his har­
mon ious essence has not arrived. If it is angry but not large, his 
muscle l'Ssence has not arrived. If it is large but not rigid, his bone 
esscnn· has not arrived. If it is rigid but not hot. his spirit essence 
has not arrived." Even if a nun has an erection, he cannot perforn1 
thl' act with flying color s unless all four conditions are attained. Three J>c.1ks, Fil'c Desires, .md Nitlt' Esst'tlccs 
The etnperor then asks about the won1an 's Nine Essences : 
What arc they, and ho\v can he tel1 when they have been aroused? The Arcane Maid ans\vcrs: ''Wait t'llr the Nine Essences in order 
to learn about thcn1 . When the wotnan sighs deeply and swal1ows 
her saliva, her lung essence has been aroused. When she utters lit­
tle cries and sucks his ntouth, her heart essence has been aroused. When she enf<.1lds and clings to hint, her spleen essence has been 
aroused. When her Yin gate is slippery and datnp, her kidney 
essence has been aroused. When she obligingly gnaws hin1, her 
bont' essence has been aroused. When she hooks her legs around 
hin1, her sinew essence has been ;.uoused. When she caresses his 
jade stalk, her blood essence has been aroused. When she fondles 
his nipples, her flesh essence has been aroused." (The link be­
tween a slippery Yin gate and kidney essence is due to the fact that 
in traditional Chinese n1cdicinc, the term for "kidney" denotes 
also ·'gonad.") Only eight of the essences arc enumerated here. The ninth, 
n1entioned in none of the reconstructed editions of The Classic of 
tlze Arcatze Maid, probably is the liver essence. Although it is miss­
ing fron1 the literature, this essence, like the others, should never 
be n1issing in practice. The Arcane Maid goes on to say that if a 
n1an wants to have sufficiently lasting intercourse \vith a woman, 
he should first toy with her clitoris and move her spirits until all 
Nine Essences have been aroused. Anything less than nine will 
not benefit her. When the Yellow En1peror asks the Elemental Maid how he 
n1ight tell whether a woman is enjoying herself erotically, she in­
structs him to watch for the Five Desires, the Five Syn1ptoms, and 
the Ten Movements. Her e are presented only the Five Desires, 
which are revealed dur ing foreplay; the Five Symptoms and Ten 
Movements, observed tnostly during actual coitus, will be de­
scribed in the next chapter. The Elemental Maid enun1erates the Five Desires as follows: 
"If the woman bates her breath and restrains her energy, her mind 
wishes it [sexual union J. If her nostrils and mouth arc dilated, her 
vulva wants it. If she abruptly embraces the man, she wants to 
ejaculate. If her perspiration drenches her clothes, she wants her 
heart filled. If she straightens her body and closes her eyes, she is 
ncar ecstasy." THE ART OF TH E BEDCHAM BER 
�YS TIC �ASTERY 
The Mystic Master of the Grotto, Tung Hsuan Tzu, advises how 
to meet all the various prerequisites for happy and healthy sex. In 
the preface to his classic work, he claims that he intended it to sup­
plement and expand the teachings of the Arcane Maid. Written in 
the typically bold and elegant literary style of Tang classical litera­
ture, his work is a poetic essay graced by rhythmic symmetry, 
graphic imagery, and lyrical ardor. His treatment of love-play is 
the most detailed among the older sexology classics. Whoever this Mystic Master of the Grotto was, he left invalu­
able tips for a healthy sex life, and he had the insight to caution 
that what he set forth should not be a "single path" for unoriginal 
lovers, but should open "ten thousand ways" for inventive ones. He was not just a "sex therapist," but a real sage of eroticism. Master Tung Hsuan cautions that the sexual act from foreplay 
to coitus should not unfold in a repetitious, predictable manner: 
"Deep and shallow, slow and rapid, leveling and jerking, east­
ward and westward. The principle has no single path, but ten thou­
sand ways. It could be as slow as the carp toying with the fish 
hook, and as swift as a flock of birds encountering the wind. Advance and retreat by dragging or coaxing; follow and oppose 
up or down; go and return leftward or rightwar d; withdraw and 
thrust infrequently or repeatedly: all these actions should be coor­
diiuted and devised spontaneously. Never contine yourself to a 
rigid fonnula, but choose the style accor ding to the need of the 
moment." The Inaster offers a description of foreplay, with four basic 
positions : Conversing in Loving Entanglcn1cnt; Whispering 
Endearn1ents; Exposed Fish Gills (suggesting the open, blood­
engorged vulva); and Unicorn's Horn (the tnalc erection) . "To 
start the sexual un ion, the nulc sits left, the fen1alc sits right. He 
sits cross-lcg gt·d. holding her to his chest. He encircles her slin1 
waist and caresses her jade body. They whisper endcarntents. converse while lovingly entanglt:d. Their hearts and their ntinds 
arc ont'. Suddt·nly they t'Inbracc, and just as suddcntly resist. Two 
fonns st·izc at each other, and two ntouths nibble at each other. He 
holds her lower lip in his ntouth; she holds his upper lip in hers. They suck at the san1e ti1nc, drink each other's saliva. Each lei­
surely bitt.·s the tongue of tht.· other, or softly gnaws the lips. Each tenderly etnbraces the head of the other. or boldly fingers the ears. Tht'Y tnassagt' above and pat below; they nibble in the east. kiss in 
the west. A thousand coquetries are revealed; a hundred worries 
dissolve. He asks her to hold the jade stalk with her left hand, and 
he strokes her jade gate with his right. Stit nulat ed by her Yin es­
sence, his jade stalk begins throbbing. It rises precipitously, a lone 
peak above a distant river. Excited by his Yang essences, her cin­
nabar grotto oozes with fluids. It drips and bubbles, a secluded 
spring tutnbling into a deep valley." The n1aster underlines that this stitnulation occurs only as a 
result of the interaction between Yin and Yang: "It cannot be 
forced through willful efforts. Only when these conditions exist 
should sexual union begin. If the tnale is not excited to a zestful 
erection or if the fenule etnits no fluids, it indicates an outer man­
ifestation of son1c inner illness." Next the tnastcr describes the initiation of intercourse: "The 
fen1ale IS on the left, the male on the right. She first sits, then lies 
down on her back, spreads her legs, and unfolds her arms. The 
n1ale kneels between her thighs. He imn1ediately drags his hard­
ened jade stalk lengthwise against the doors of the jade gate, a 
sloping, luxuriant pine tree nudging at the entrance of an unex­
pected valley. The jade stalk throbs, pulls, grinds, and bridles. He 
kisses her mouth and seeks her tongue. Now he gazes at the jade 
face above, now he looks at the golden gulch below. He strokes 
and pats the front of her abdon1en and breasts, massages the sides 
of her examination hall. When he is aroused and she is enchanted, 
he at once uses his Yang peak to assault vertically and horizon­
tally, now impinging on the jade vein below, now pressing at the 
golden gulch above, now stabbing at the sides of the exatnination 
hall, now resting on the right of the jewel terrace." Here ends the script for love-play, after which the Mystic Mas­
ter prescribes tnanners of actual intercourse. His graphic tableaux, 
like the explicit and sometimes florid instructions for love-play in 
other classics, arc prescriptions for an energetic, passionat e, and 
beneficial sexual union. 101 8 
Clouds and Rain 
Positions o/ Lovemaki ng 
THE Focus of the Art of the Bedchamber , sexual intercourse, is 
termed by generations of Chinese writers more poetically as 
"clouds and rain." Unlike poets and novelists, the authors of the 
sexology classics and the love doctors they quote dispense their 
wisdorn more for instruction than for literary beauty. Their lan­
guage is characteristically explicit and clinical. This docs not, 
however, n1ean that it is cornplctely without poetry. Since the purposes of sex in ancient China were procreation, 
health, and pleasure, the techniques recornrncnd cd in sexology 
texts were oriented toward one or all of these goals. Ancient sex-
... 
ologists prescribed specific ways of sexual union fo r fitness and 
for conceiving healthy, bright babies. Sex \Vas said to be helpful in 
sharpening eyesight and hearing� in enriching blood; in curing 
headaches, drunkenness, and hernorrhoids � and in treating inlpO­
tence, and frigidity, and of all things. sexual excess. The bedchatnbcr artists considered tactical n1aneuvcrs neces­
sary t(H llJrmonizing the 111ood of the couple. They devised a 
v.triety of practices and positions to spice up the connubial act, 
which could go stale with titnc. <. )ne technique, known as ''dead 
entry, live exit," involved the insertion of a litnpjade stalk into the 
cinnabar grotto, and withdr awal of the now rigid jade stalk before 
it cjacuiJted. This was done at titnes to arouse a langui d nun, and 
at titncs for ht·alth bcndits. Coital rhythn1 included a range of 
102. thrust patterns (nine-shallow, one-dl·cp; three-shallow. one-dl'l'p; 
threl·-slow, one-fast, and so on), devised because variation and 
surprise nude then1 stitnulating -sonletinll'S excruci atingly so­
to the \Votnan. Early sexologists prdl.·rred a brief duration for 
sexual union, usually only until the wonun reachl·d hl·r orgasn1. Later sexologists generally let the duration of intercourse depend 
on nuk statnina. All ancil·nt sexologists bclil·ved in tl.·nulc orgasm 
and favored infrequent tnalc ljaculation, or its absence altogethl·r. Like son1e Western Sl'Xologists today, they believed that nulc or­
gasrn and male ljaculation were not necessarily the san1e. Thus 
the technique for delaying or forestalling the n1ale dirnax becan1e 
all-itnportant. The purpose was ostensibly a serious one aimed 
at health, but it was also a roguish strategy to heighten erotic 
pleasure. The bedchamber sages n1ust have had a rousing time filling 
out their prescriptions. Son1e are not very practical for today's 
lifestyle. One, for instance, states that copulating in a certain posi­
tion will help strengthen bones and eliminate vaginal odor. The 
man, however, must make nine thrusts nine times at each of nine 
sessions per day for nine consecutive days. To make the large number of complex ingredients of the Art 
of the Bedchamber more intelligible to modern readers, I present 
them here in the following sequence: tactical maneuvers; coital 
positions; coital dynamics and timing; and the delaying, curbing, 
or avoidance of male ejaculation. The ancients never gave a name 
to the last practice; I call this mind-body technique "orgasmic­
brinkmanship ." MAN EUVERS IN THE DARK 
In the classics that bear their names, both the Arcane Maid and the 
Elemental Maid give advice on tactical maneuvers in bed. The Ar­
cane Maid, without any elaboration, enumerates the eight basic 
movements that will benefit both sexual partners: "Extending 
and contracting, prostrating and supinating, advancing and re­
treating, bending and curving." The Elemental Maid is more detailed in her advice, and she 
speaks directly to the male partner. The Yellow Emperor, as we 
saw in the previous chapter, wonders how to tell whether his 
female partner is enjoying in tercourse. The Elemental Maid 
IOJ TH E ART Of THE BEDCHAM BER 
describes the Five Symptoms in the woman and prescribes the ap­
propriate male responses. "When her face is flushed, gradually 
begin the intercourse. When her breasts are engorged and her 
nose perspires, slowly insert the jade stalk. When her throat is dry 
and she is swallowing her saliva, leisurely rock the jade stalk. When her grotto is slippery, slowly penetrate her to the depths. When her fluids flow to her buttocks, slowly pull out the jade 
stalk." Although the Elemental Maid appears to be advising the 
male, her instructions apply only to the early stages of the en­
counter, before it becomes passionate. The Elemental Maid also describes the Ten Movements of a 
woman in the throes of passion, and the urges that impel her: "If 
she clasps him with her arms, she wants to press their bodies to­
gether and have their genitals touch. If she extends her thighs, she 
wants to rub her upper vulva against him. If she constricts her 
belly, she wants to ejaculate. If she shakes her buttocks, she is ex­
periencing intense pleasure. If she raises her feet and hooks them 
around him, she wants to be penetrated deeper. If she crosses her 
thighs, she is itchy inside. If she rocks to the sides, she wants to be 
sliced deeply left and right. If she raises her body to press against 
his, her lascivious joy is extreme. If she stretches her body length­
wise, her limbs and torso are pleased. If her sexual fluids are slip­
pery, she has ejaculated. Observe these movements and you will 
know how great is her ecstasy." These words, written some two thousand years ago, might 
sound surprisin gly enlightened to the modern reader. They reveal 
something about the deepest sexual secrets of women-and they 
come straight from a wornan's lips. The first known syst ematic descriptions of hun1an lovemaking 
positions, with clinical and graphic details, are found in the sexol­
ogy classics of anc ient China. The Arcane Maid's discussion of 
the Nine Ways, one of the oldest known such texts in the world, 
in effect offers nine positions for intercourse, with brief descrip­
tions of coital n1otions and health benefits. To retain the flavor of the ancient texts, the passages on the 
nine positions fron 1 The Classic (�fthe Arcm1e Maid and on the thirty 
position s fro n1 The Nfystif /\Jaster (�f the Grotto are rendered here in 
a t ranslation as close to the original as possible. My own explana­
tions and con1 n1cnts arc in brackets. THE ARcANE MAin's NINE PosiTIONS 
S(mJc rsaultiu.l! IJrtlJ! (ltls: The wonun lies on her back with the nun 
prostrate on top of her, pressing ht·r thighs into the bed. She pulls 
at her vulva to receive his jade stalk. He thrusts at her grain seed 
and attacks also thl· upper part with leisurdy, deliberate strokes . Eight shallo\v, two deep. The jade stalk goes in dead and returns 
alive , so that he grows vigorous and powerful. She is agitated and 
pleased, joyous like a singsong girl. He refrains fron1 ljaculating. A hundred illnesses will vanish. [This position is the traditional no-frills n1issionary position. "Grain seed" is about five inches into the vaginal canal. "Eight 
shallow, two deep" tneans eight shallow thrusts followed by two 
deep ones. A "dead" jade stalk is litnp, a "live" one rigid.] Steppi"�l! T(gcrs: The woman lies in a crawling position with her 
buttocks up and her head down. The man kneels behind her, clasp­
ing her belly. He inserts his jade stalk and pierces her innermost 
part as deeply and intin1ately as he can. They advance and retreat 
in mutual attacks. Eight thrusts, five times. This should be suffi­
cient. Her jade gate doses and opens. Her fluids seep out. They 
rest when this happens. A hundred illnesses will not appear, and 
the man becomes more virile. [This is the rear-entry position natural to all mammals. The 
Arcane Maid calls it Stepping Tigers because the participants ad­
vance and retreat like a pair of tigers. In this position the jade stalk 
does not stimulate the clitoris, but it can penetrate to the flower 
heart. "Eight thrusts, five times" means a total of forty thrusts, 
with a brief pause after every eight.] Wrestling Apes: The woman lies on her back. The man supports 
her thighs, pushes her knees past her bosom, and raises her but­
tocks and back. He inserts his jade stalk, stabbing her scented 
mouse. She quivers and rocks. Her fluids arc like the rain. He 
presses into her deeply, without moving, as his stalk grows strong 
and angry. He ceases when she rejoices. A hundred illnesses will 
cure themselves. [A favorite position of the ancient Chinese, this allows deep 
penetration; in this particular case, however, the man is instructed Clouds m1d Rah1 
Steppitl�� Tigers 
105 THE ART OF THE BEDCHAM BER 
to reach only the "scented n1ousc," or three inches deep. When the 
woman "rejoices" here, she reaches orgasm.] Cleaving Cicadas: The woman lies face down and extends her body. The man lies on her back and inserts his jade stalk deeply. He 
raises her buttocks slightly so that he can rap at her scarlet pearls. Nine thrusts, six times. She is excited, and her fluids flow. The in­
side of her Yin throbs rapidly; the outside spreads and opens. He 
stops when she rejoices. The seven injuries will eliminate them­
selves. [This rear-entry position permits only relatively shallow pen­
etration and limited mobility. "Scarlet pearls" are the labia mi­
nora, and "Yin" is the vagina.] Mounting Tortoises: The woman lies on her back and bends her 
knees. The man pushes her feet until her knees reach her breasts. He inserts his jade stalk deeply, at times poking at her infant girl. With measured deep and shallow thrusts he reaches her grain seed. She is moved to great joy, and shakes and raises her torso. When 
her fluids overflow, he pierces deeper. He stops when she rejoices. If he does this without loss of semen, his vigor will increase a 
hundredfold. [This position, similar to Wrestling Apes except that the man 
holds the woman's legs instead of her buttocks, was another fa­
vorite ancient Chinese position for deep penetration and high 
mobility. "Infant girl" refers to the vestibular glands between the 
labia n1inora.] Soarin.(! Phoenix: The wonun lies down and raises her legs. The 
n1an kneels betw een her thighs, his hands on the n1at. He inserts 
'-� 
his jade stalk dee ply, piercing her tnixed rock. Whe n he guides it 
in rigid and hot, he asks her to begin tnoving. Eight thrusts, three 
tin1es. With thei r but tocks swiftly attacking each other, her Yin 
opens and expands, pouring out its fluids. He stops when she re­
joices. A hundred illnesses will disa ppea r. 
[Note that the coital n1oven1cnts here arc carried out mainly 
by the wonun . The "phoe nix" in the nan 1e refers to the Chinese 
1nyth ical jt•t�g lwmrg bird ... Mixed rock" n1eans four inches deep.] Bwmy Lickiu.� Its Fur: The nun lies on his back and stn.·tches his 
legs straight. The won1an, abo ve hin1, straddles his body . her 
knees to thl' sides. Her back t:Kes his head , while she her sd f t:Kes 
his teet. She: holds on to the: n1at and lowers hl·r head. Hl· inserts 
his jade: stalk and pil'rCl'S her lute: strings. She: rl:joicc:s, and hl·r flu­
ids flow like: a f(ntntain. Joyous delight and hannonious pk·asure 
n1ovc: her spirit and her body . He.· stops \Vhen she rl:joiCl'S. A hun ­
dred illnesses will not arise:. (This position, \Vith the: \Vornan abo ve: and the n1an passiv e, 
leaves the initiative to the wotnan. "Lute strings" n1c:ans one: inch 
inside the: Yin. As the penetration is shallow, the won1an needs 
a bit of practin.· to forestall the: dislocation of their organs. The 
"licking bunny" here: is the rnalc: organ.] Fish Linkiug Sc,llcs: The: n1an lies straight on his back. The woman, 
above hin1 and facing his head, straddles his body with her thighs. She securely and slowly inserts him, stopping when he is only 
slightly in. He does not penetrate deeply, but instead imitates a 
baby sucking at the breast. The woman rocks by herself for a long 
period. He withdraws when she rejoices. This cures all clogging 
illnesses. [A variation of Bunny Licking Its Fur, with the woman facing 
the man's head. Instead of sitting all the way down, here she ef­
fects the penetration by moving her loins forward for a moderate 
penetration but a lengthy union. This position allows the man to 
enjoy the scenic sight of twin peaks.] Cratles Et�twi ning Necks: The man squats. The woman rides as­
tride his thighs, her hands holding his neck. She inserts his jade 
stalk, letting it pierce her wheat bud and stab her seed. He clasps 
her buttocks to help her rocking and rising. She feels great joy, and 
her fluids flow and bubble. He stops when she rejoices. The seven 
injuries will be cured naturally. [Another position with the woman above, which gives her 
somewhat less mobility and shallower penetration. "Wheat bud" 
means two inches deep, and "seed" is the clitoris.] These nine arc all basic postures upon which any couple with 
a minirnum of inventiveness would stun1ble in their nocturnal 
play. The last three positions all have the wornan above and give 
l07 THE ART OF THE BEDC HAM BER 
her n1ost of the initiativ e. The cursor y, unspe cific remarks about 
curing illnesses at the end of each description , by the way, appear 
to be decorative, even obligator y, and probably were inserted by 
later editors. For all these posi tions , the Arcane Maid advises the co uple to 
end their union right after the mon1ent of female orgasm . It seems 
she believed that the man, in order to improve his health and sex­
ual stamina, should not ejaculate at all. Whatever the medical, 
physiologi cal, and scientific validi ty of her proposal , she is con­
sistent on one point: At every sexual union, the woman is allowed '' . . , ' 
to reJOICe. THE MYSTIC MAs TER 's THIR TY PosiT IONS 
Several cen turies af ter Tlze Classic �f tlzc Arcane !VI aid app eared, the 
Mysti c Master of the Grotto enumerated thirty coital positions in 
his own classic. His text would bec otne the basis for later writings 
on sexual positions, and even modern Japanese sch cn1es can be 
traced back to it. The Mys tic Master intended that his thirty po si­
tions amplify the A rcane Maid's original nine. Under the name of 
each position , he offered a very brief and at tin1cs cryptic descrip­
tion. His positions arc strictly tableaux uiuants-still pictun :s, de­
void of n1otion. ln1mcdiately after the positions, however, he set 
forth separately the dynami c aspects of sexual intercourse in tit:. teen coital n1oven1ents. The oretically , any of the fifteen n1ove­
n1ents can be applied to any of the thirty positions. The variat ions. if any pair of sexual partners have the tin1c to expcritncnt, con 1c 
to 3YO, excluding the foreplay positions. The first four (forL·play) pos itions \Verc described in the pre­
viou s chapter, so the list herL' thus begins with the tifth. Perhap s 
bccausL' of errors in or darnagL' to rnanus cripts, thL· descri ptions of 
sonlL ' pos itions arc unclear or puzzling . l)nly in these caSL'S is the 
translation kss literal; liberties havL' been taken tor clarity's sakt'. Ag.1in, all my conunL'nts arc in brackL·ts. Si/ku•tlrtllj l:.,t,m.l!lin.\? : The wonun lies on her back , hL·r hands 
hug ging the nun 's nL·ck .1nd hL·r lt'L't crossin g above his back. He 
knL·ds bctwcL'Il her sprt·ad thighs while clas ping her nt·ck. He in­
serts his jade st�1lk. [The position is sin1ilar to the Arcane Maid 's Sornersaulting 
Dragons; here. however. the \Vonun's teet cross above the nun's 
waist.) Dr,l,(!<lllS Tr�·istiu.�: The \Vonun lies on her back. bending her legs. The rnan kneels within her thighs. his kft hand pushing her feet 
forward until they arc past ht ·r brt'asts. His right hand inserts the 
jade stalk into the jade gate. [This is a variation on the Arcane Ma id's Wr estl ing Apes and 
Mounting Tortoises.] Fish Eye-to-Eye: The tnan and won1an lie down facing each other 
and suck at each other's lips and tongues. She raises one leg above 
his body while he spreads his legs slightly. With one hand sup­
porting her upraised leg. he inserts his jade stalk into her cinnabar 
grotto. [As the partners both lie on their sides, this position frees each 
of the other's body weight.] Su,!fts Sharing a Heart: The won1an lies on her back, her legs ex­
tended. The man crouches on her abdomen, his hands embracing 
her neck. She hugs his waist with her hands. He inserts his jade 
stalk into her cinnabar grotto. [This is the missionary position, as in the Arcane Maid's So­
mersaulting Dragons.] Kin gfisher s Uniting: The woman lies on her back with her knees 
raised. The man positions himself between her thighs in a Tartar 
squat. He embraces her waist with his hands and inserts his jade 
stalk into her lute strings. [This position requires very flexible knees on the man's part and 
is not too comfortable for non-Tartars. The Tartar squat, a custom­
ary position of that northern people, here involves the man's put­
ting his knees on the ground while sitting on his left heel.] Mandarin Ducks joining: The wotnan lies on her side, crooking her 
legs, with her upper leg on the man's buttocks. He faces her back 
and rides on her lower thigh, raising one knee against her upper 
thigh. He inserts his jade stalk. [The instruction in the original n1anuscript is unclear, perhaps C/tll.ftls ,md Rain 
109 --__j. 110 Butt erflies Flutterin g 
Wild Ducks Flying 
Backwar d representing an error. Probably th<: wom an lit:'> on h<:r sid<: and 
rJises one kg, whik the man f:u.:<:s her spr<:ad thigh'> from the hack 
and with his bent knee supports her rais<:d thigh. ! Buttc�tfies Flutteri11.� : The man lies on his back, his lq�.., <:xt<:nded . The woman sits astride him, facing his head, her two feet on the 
bed. She uses her hand to insert his Yang peak into her jade gat<:. [This is similar to the Arcane Maid's Fish Linking Scales. I 
Wild Duck s Flyin� Backw ard: The man lies on his back, his legs ex­
tended. The woman sits on him with her back to his face, her feet 
holding on to the bed. She lowers her head and holds the jade stalk 
to insert it into the cinnabar grotto. [This is similar to the Arcane Maid's Bunny Licking Its Fur .] Shelterin g the Reclin in,� Pin e: The woman lies on her back and 
crosses her feet [behind the man's waist]. The man holds her waist 
with his hands, and she holds his with hers. He inserts his jade 
stalk into her jade gate. [This position also might be called "Sheltering the Mis­
sionary."] Bamboos by the Altar: The man and the woman stand facing each 
other; they embrace and kiss. He pierces her cinnabar grotto deeply 
with his Yang peak, all the way to her Yang terrace. [This, obviously enough, is a stand-up union. It is not recom­
mended for partners who differ much in height.] Twin Phoenixes Dancing: Two women lie one on top of the other, 
face to face. The one facing up crooks her legs and the other rides 
on her, their jade gates facing each other. The man sits cross-legged, 
exposing his jade object, and attacks both above and below. [Another possible error in the original manuscript. The man 
would be hindered by his own knees; it would be much easier for 
him if he knelt or stood. This pas de trois inspired a Ming position, 
Gobbling Fish, in which the women were instructed to rub their 
jade gates against each other before the man joined them.] Phoenix Holding Fledglings: If the woman is big and fat, she can 
add a diminutive man to join in her intercourse. This is great ex­
cellence! [Sornething ntust have been lost or ddeted in this reconstr ucted 
rnanuscript. as nothing dsc about the position is given. There is 
the intriguing suggestion of anotht·r pas de frtlis, here involving a 
wornan and two ntcn.] Sea,{!Hils S<lttrifl,\! : Tht• ntan stands ncar the edg e of the bed and lifts 
the wornan's lt·gs high. He inserts his jade stalk into ht·r bab y 
palace. ("Baby palac e" here is the vagina; now tht· term is used only 
for the uterus. This instruction probably was edited in later cen­
turies: the ntan could not stand as described and still effect the 
union on the low bed custotnarily used during and before the 
Tang dynasty, when Tlze Mystic Master <�f tlze Grotto is known to 
have been written; higher beds can1e into usc only after that era. In a pinch, this position can be used on a desk or dining table.] Wild Horses Leapirl,g: The woman lies on her back. The man lifts 
her feet and puts them over his shoulders. He inserts the jade stalk 
deeply into the jade gate. [This feet-on-shoulders position, a variation of the preced­
ing, was especially popular in ancient China.] Steeds Galloping: The woman lies on her back. The man crouches, 
one hand holding her neck, the other lifting her leg. He inserts his 
jade stalk into her baby palace. [If the man reclines instead of crouching, he has a more com­
fortable position while maintaining the unusual angle.] Horse Shaking Its Hoof The man lifts one of the woman's legs and 
places it on his shoulder . The woman lifts her other leg hersel( 
The man inserts the jade stalk deeply into the cinnabar grotto. Highly stimulating! [The leg the woman lifts should be raised unsupported, so 
that it is like a shaking hoof at active moments. ] White Tiger Jumping: The woman kneels and lowers her face. The 
man kneels behind her, his hands holding her waist. He inserts his 
jade stalk into her baby palace. [This is almost identical to the Arcane Maid's Stepping Ti­
gers, except that the participants do not step back and forth.] C/,luds aud Raitr 
Wild Horses Leaping 
I I I 112 Steeds Gallopillg 
Hummill.'c! Apt' 
EmlmJCill,l! the" Trt•t• Dusky Cicad as Clem,in,{! : The woman lies on her abdomen , her 
legs extended. The rnan positions hitnself between her thighs 
with his legs bent. He holds her neck with his hands. He inserts 
the jade stalk into her jade gate from behind. [This is same as the Arcane Maid's Cleaving Cicadas, except 
here the n1an holds her neck.] Goat Hugging the Tree: The man sits with legs extended . The 
woman sits on his lap, her back to his face. She lowers her head to 
look at the insertion of the jade stalk. He suddenly hugs her waist, 
bridling and thrusting. ]rmgle Fowl Approachin g the Areua : The man squats Tartar style on 
the bed. A young maid servant holds his jade stalk and inserts it 
into the jade gate of his partner. Then the maid stands at his back, 
tugging the hems of the other woman's skirts to enliven her legs. Highly exciting! [A pampered man in those days might require a young maid­
servant to help him in his hard labor.] Phoenix Sporting iu tlze Ciu uaba r Grotto: The won1an lies on her 
back and lifts her feet with her hands. The n1an kneels next to her, 
his hands holding on to the bed. He inserts his jade stalk into her 
cinnabar grotto. Very elegant! [This is a variation of the Arcane Maid's Wrestling Apes and 
Mounting Tortoises.] Roc SoaritiJ? c.wcr Dark St·a: The wot nan lies on her back. The n1an 
puts her fl.·et on his upper anns. He stretches his hands down to 
clasp her waist, then inserts his jade stalk. (This is a variation of S<.·agulls Soaring and Wild Horses 
Leaping . ) Hummiu.l! Ape Eml,rtl(ill.'! tl�t· 1h·t': The n1an sits wit h his legs ex­
tended. The wontan straddk·s his thig hs, en1bracing hint. He uses 
one lund to hold her buttocks, and the other to hold on to the bed. He inserts his jade stalk. (This is a n1usi cal variation of the Arcan<. ' Maid's Cranes En­
twining Nt·cks.} Cat aud AJ<liiS(' Slrariu.l! a Htl/c: The nun lies on his back, his legs 
extended . Thl' wot nan crouches on top of hint, thighs spread, 
with his jade stalk deep inside her. Ano ther nun lies on her hack, 
also inse rting his jade stalk into her jad e gate. [The origin al rnanu script is extr etndy cryptic, but unless it 
contains an error, this position involves two n1cn and a wonun .J 
l)tmkf)'S t?{Sprin.<? : The won1an holds on to the bed with her hands 
and teet. The nun stands behind her, entbr acing her waist with 
his hands. He inserts thcjade stalk into the jad e gate. Very elegant! (This position is quite stitnubting to the won1an who, how­
ever, requires son 1e balanc e to crouch on all fours.] Dogs t? { Autrmm : The nun and the woman both hold on to the bed 
with their hands and feet, back to back, their haunches pressing 
against each other. He lowers his head and uses one hand to push 
his jade object into the jade gate. [This is the only biza rre position in this classic text. It is possi­
ble only if the woman's moon grotto is low-slung, if the man has a 
very longjade stalk, and if both partners have lean buttocks.] Since the days of the Mystic Master, several additional sexual 
positions have been invented by other sexologists. Notable among 
them are Spider Trapped in Its Own Web, in which the woman dang les 
from a set of ropes that hang from the ceiling, as if on a swing, or 
rides on a horizontal bar, with her thighs spread; and Feast of Peon­
ies, in which the man lies on his back with one woman riding him 
and another sitting on his face. The trio position, it should be 
pointed out, was in those days a respectable family union in tradi­
tionally polygamous China. THE DANCE OF LIFE: THE NINE MANNE RS AND 
SIX STYLE S OF THE MYSTIC MASTER 
The static poses of the Mystic Master listed above are enlivened 
by his coital dynamics. These are divided into two categories and 
listed immediately after the positions. The first category includes 
theN ine Manners of moving the jade stalk: 
The jade stalk may strike left and right, like a fierce warrior 
crashing through the enemy line. Clouds and Rain 
Donkeys of Sprin�'! Spider Trapp ed 
in Its Own Web 
113 It mav climb up and jump down, like a wild horse leaping across 
a mountain torrent. It may emerge and submerge, like a flock of gulls frolicking over 
crystal-clear waves. It may tamp heavily and stir lightly. like birds pecking in a grain 
mortar. It may penetrate deeply and skim shallowly, like a big rock 
thrown into the sea. It may stir gradually and push slowly, like a chilled snake crawl­
ing into a cave. It may loosen rapidly and pierce suddenly . like a frightened 
mouse dashing into a hole. It may lift the head and hook the feet, like a green falcon teasing 
a tricky hare. It may rear its top and dip its base, like a large sail buck ing vio­
lent gusts. The second category con1prises the Six Styles of penetration: 
In sexual unions, the jade stalk may be pressed firmly , sawing 
the jade gate back and forth, in the style of cutting open an 
oyster for its bright pearl. It may tug at the jade vein below or shove into the golden gulch 
above, in the style of splitting a rock to search for beauti­
fuljade . The Yang peak may ram against the jewel terrace, in the style of 
an iron pestle pounding in an herb mortar. The jade stalk may thrust and withdraw, assaulting left and 
right of the examinati on hall, in the style of tlve hamm ers 
pounding on heated iron. The Yang peak may move to Jnd fro, grinding and plowing be­
tween the divine field and the hidden valky, in the style of a 
farnu.·r plowing his autumnal soil. The dark garden and the hl·avl·nly court may grind against each 
other, in the style of two mig hty pl·aks crushing together. Hen : "dark garden" n1eans the prepuce of the clitoris; .. hcav­
l·nly court," besides referring to the jade stalk, is the n�une of a 
high peak of the Kun Lun Mountains. FuRTHER f)YNAMics 
It should be noted that the apparl·ntly specific instructions in this 
and other texts were not intended to turn sexual partners into technicians. Some classics inject brief but graphic descriptions of 
passionate coital scenes, which not only inspire lovemaking but 
lift the texts to the level of art. The Elen1cntal Maid, after advising the Yellow Emperor on 
how to arouse a woman with foreplay lasting "about a meal's time," 
goes on to instruct hin1: 
If the jade stalk is thick and la rge, insert it one and a half inches. If it is weaker and smaller , insert it one inch. Do not agitate or 
rock, but withdr aw slowly, then insert it again. This will elimi ­
nate a hundr ed illnesses. Do not let the fluids seep out [betw een 
the connection ]. When the jade stalk is thrust into the jade gate, 
it turns hot and urgent. The woman by her own will stir s and 
rocks her body , and presses hers elf upward against the man. When this happens, thrust deeply . A hundr ed illnesses will be 
eliminat ed for both the man and the woma n. The jade stalk 
should pier ce shal lowly to the lute strings. Then the man should 
close his mouth and begin thrusting . One, two, three, four, five, 
six, seven, eight, nine. Penetr ate the jade stalk deeply to the 
mix ed rock. The man should put his mouth on the woman 's and 
suck in her breaths. Perform the Tao of Nin e Nines [eighty-one 
thrusts) . After this, stop. After discussing foreplay, the Mystic Master of the Grotto in­
structs: 
When the woman 's lubr icious juices are bub bling in her cinna­
bar grot to, the man should at once put his Yang peak into her 
baby palace, and quickly make her ejacul ate her essenc e. Her 
secr etions will surge upw ard to the divine field and irrigate 
downwa rd into the solitary valley [vestibular fossa). He mak es 
the jade stalk go back and forth, pressing and attacking , advanc­
ing and retreating , rubb ing and grinding . She is bound to plead 
for death and for life. He wipes her dry with a piece of silk, then 
again inserts his jade stalk deep into the cinn aba r grot to, all the 
way to the sun terr ace r vestibu lar glands]. a lofty cliff pressing 
into a deep valley. Then he practices the art of nine-shallo w, 
one -deep . He rams vertic al1y and jerks horizonta1 1y, pu11s to the 
side and strokes slantingly . Sudd enly it is slow, and sudden ly it 
is rapid . It is either deep or shallo w. Keep on for twenty -one in­
halations and exh alati ons to await thl· exit and entry of chi. When the wo man rejoic es, the man swi ftly lo osens hims elf and 
sudden ly pier ces, using his hand s to puiJ and restrain her h ips, 
wh ile elevating her le�s hi�h. Wait fi,r her to ll lOVl' and rock. Clo uds and Rain 
I I 5 THE ART OF TH E BEDC HAM BER 
Then, in time with her slow or quick movements, attack her grain 
seed with the Yang peak, then stab deeply into her baby palace, 
rubbing and grinding left and right, without bother ing to pull 
out. Her fluids now are flowing and overflowing. The man must 
withdr aw alive, not dead [without t.jaculating]. It would greatly 
harm the man for his jade stalk to die. Bewar e of this! Although the exact identity of the Mystic Master of the Grotto 
is shrouded in the mists of antiquity, his vivid writing makes him 
more than a sexologist. While the author of The Classic of the Ele­
mental Maid and other anonymous writers wrote pithily and often 
cryptically, the Mystic Master was less restrained. He presents de­
tails in a phantasmagoria of light and sound. The choreography is 
animated. Especial ly vivid are his delicate arabesques, swift pir­
ouettes, and various juxtapositions of pas de deux -and occasion­
ally pas de trois. The music of his brush ranges from pianissimo to 
fortissimo, with moments of flowing largo and frenetic staccato. Whoever this Mystic Master was, he was a maestro of erotic or­
chestration and a gifted choreographer of lovemaking. His descriptions may seem to suggest sexual encounters at 
which the man behaves like a perpetual pumping machine, capa­
ble of operating at any angle, bringing his partner to one orgasm 
after another and drowning her in her own secretions. These might 
be wishful tales of heroic erotica if one basic technique of the Art 
of the Bedchamber is not taken into account: nan1ely, for the man 
to engage in coitus but delay or avoid ejaculation.
vdoc.pub_the-yin-yang-butterfly-ancient-chinese-sexual-secrets-for-western-lovers.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        What ancient Chinese poets 
delicately alluded to as the "peony" or "red lotus" was rendered 
less florally by Taoist sexologists, who referred to the t�nulc gen­
itals by such nan1cs as "cinnabar grotto," "n1oon grotto," "Yin 
gate," and "jade gate. " The phallus was usually the "jade stalk," 
"jade roo t," "Yang pt ·ak," "Yang itnpletnent," "hot peak," "jade 
" " 1 " "J I il " " I :1 " "h spoon, uragon, uustcr unc t\ tasse ec spear, or eav-
cnly roo t. " 
Sex nunuals described the vagina-n1ore philosophically than anatotnically-as "that crucial square inch. " The n1ons veneris 
was the "sand n1ound," and the clitoris the "jewel terrace" or the 
"anirnal in the boa t"; this boa t was son1etin1es the "front vesti­
bule. " The prepuce of the clitoris vns a "dark garden" or "divine 
field. " The upper vulva, where the labia 1ninora n1ect, was the 
"golden gulch"; the lower vulva, the "jade vein. " The labia Jni-
� �. nora then1sdves wert' "scarlet pearls" or" coxco1nbs. " The fc1nalc 
urethral orifice \Vas, understandably, a "vast t{nmtain. " "Hidden 
valley" and "heavenly court" denoted the vaginal vestibule. The varying depths of coital penetration also were considered 
in detail in the sex n1anuals. Poetic tenns represented the various 
n1easuren1ents: "lute strings" (one inch inside the vagina), "wheat 
bud" (two inches), "scented tnouse" (three inches), "mixed rock" 
(four inches), "grain seed" (five inches). The "inch" here, a tradi­
tional n1casurcn1cnt also used in acupuncture, was defined as the 
length of the second scgn1ent of the middle finger of the left hand 
for a tnan, and of the right hand for a won1an. Beyond "grain 
seed" can1e the "flower heart" or "flower pistil," the cervix. The 
uterus itself was the "scarlet chan1bcr. " SEXUAL ANATOMY 
The ancient boudoir artists devoted n1uch research to the size, 
shape, structure, and "personality" of the genitalia. This research 
was supplen1ented by an imn1ense array of literature on sexual 
physiog non1y. The size of genitals is of concern to son1e people in 
every culture. The ancient Chinese concocted various recipes for 
enlarging the penis or shrinking the vagina. As they achieved 
more erotic sophistication, however, the size of the organ becan1c 
less significant. Taoist sexologists consider ed penis size, which is 
grossly exaggerated in Japanese erotic art and in contcrnporary 
Western pornographic books and n1ovics, of minor importance. The Chines e often usc a condescending phrase, "big fish, big 
meat," to satirize a peasant's concept of fine dining: big slabs of 
fish and meat arc mistaken for culinary art. The phrase also has 
been used for people obsessed with the size of the n1ale organ or 
the siz<. : of fcn1ale br<. :asts. A sexual gourn1and and a sexual 
gourm<. :t ar<. : diff<. :r<. :nt. For the sexually knowledgeable wom<. :n of ancient China, the tmly Doef(lrs (lf L(li'C TH E ART OF THE BEDCH AMBER 
thickness of a jade stalk was more important than its length, its 
shape more important than its thickness. The shape could be classi­
fied as one of three major categories: pagoda, with the base thicker 
than the head, the most common; cylinder, with the base and the 
head of the same thickness, less common; and mushroom, with 
the head thicker than the base, the most valued because it is apt to 
remain more fulfilling inside the jade gate after detumescence. Even more in1portant than phallic size and shape was phallic per­
formance, the crux of the Art of the Bedcham ber. The Elemental Maid, in explaining to the Yellow Emperor 
the ideal condition of the male organ for coitus, enumerates the 
Four Attainments of chi. An aroused jade stalk, she says, should 
pass through four progressive stages: angry, enlarged, rigid, 
and hot. Taoist sexologists described the various shapes of the vagina 
pragmatically; among the self-explanatory terms were "dragon 
pearl," "monkey," "eagle," "whelk," "dish," "bamboo cylinder," 
"pheasant," "delta," "duckbill," and "sheep gut. " Sexual con­
noisseurs in China were apt to discuss the topography inside the 
jade gate the way French oenophiles might discuss their favorite 
vineyards. Moreover, they relished regional varieties of anatomy. Women from the city of Tatung were prized for their vaginas 
with "double doors. " Wornen from another locality had prac­
tically no pubic hair, and this, according to ancient sexologists, 
made them extren1ely wanton in bed. The sexologists and physiognotnists of ancient China must 
have spent countless days-and nights -researching what was sex­
ually desirable in won1en, but not in n1en. When the Yellow Em­
peror asked the Elen1ental Maid to describe a desirable won1an, 
his tutor replied: ··A desirable wotnan has a tender, pliable tetn­
peratnent, with a liquid voice, black, silky hair, soft rnuscles, and 
small bones. She is neither too tall nor too short, neither too large 
nor too snull. Her vulva is hig h up front� her n1ons is hairless� and 
she is rich in fluids. She is between t\venty-five and thirty, and 
has never been pregnant. Whil e copulat ing, her fluids flow abun­
dantly, and her body tretnbles helplessly and is covered with per­
spiration. She yields to the nun wheth er he wants to raise her 
high or press her down. If a nun can find such a wonun, even if 
they do not follow thl. ' proper ways of coition, they wou ld sutter 
no hann. " Quoting Master Chung Ho, a Taoist sexual alchernist, The 
Secr et Art (�f the ]tuff Chamber gives a sirnilar asscssr nent for a de­
sirable wornan. It describes also a sexually undesirable wornan: 
"Her hair is unkt'nlpt, her face coarse. her neck thick, her throat 
knotted. and ht'r teeth whea t-col ored. She has a rnasculine voice. Her rnouth is large and her nose high. Her pupils arc unclear. Her 
lips and chee ks have long. whiskcrlike hair. Her elbows and knees 
arc large and protruding. Her hair is yellow, and her flesh is skin1py. Her pubic hair is thick and stift� and sticks up in the wrong direc­
tion. To have intercourse with such a worn an will hann the health 
of a rnan. " In short. the ancients consider ed sexually desirable a woman 
with a profusion of Yin and very little Yang. In modern terms, the 
sexually desirable won1an had an abundan ce of fen1ale hormones. SEXUAL PHYSI OGNOM Y 
The Chinese have been refining their study of physiognomy for 
the past two thousand years. They believe that by comparing the 
size, location, proportion, shape, color, and movement of an in­
dividual's facial features and other body parts with a "norm," a 
skilled observer can assess the individual's personality, luck, wealth, 
success, fan1ily and social relationships, longevity, health, and sex­
uality. Whether one considers this science, superstition, or statis­
tical evaluation, the ancient Chinese were deadly serious about it. Physiognomy played an important part not only in making friends, 
choosing spouses, negotiating co1nmercial deals, but also in wag­
ing war, engaging in politics, and maintaining the imperial court 
in general. Sometimes physiognon1y bordered on the fanciful. The cele­
brated physiognomist Liu Tsung-yuan had very specific observa­
tions. He predicted successful or highly honored sons for a woman 
with dark nipples and a deep, upward naval. A hairy navel on a 
won1an foretold a son who would be a literary scholar. Skimpy 
buttocks denoted a skimpy fortune. Liu set forth his wisdom on 
good female physiognom y, and more: "The anus should be hid­
den by the haunches and not exposed, preferably with hair. [The 
woman's] urination should be slow. A fast, spirited rush indicates 
lack of wealth. A light and long strearn is a sign of rcfinen1ent. If Lady Doctor s of Lor'e THE ART OF THE BED CHAM BER 
90 her fecal matter piles up like a coiled ribbon, it is a sign of wealth 
and high social standing. " In the past there were even professional 
urination auditors, women who, upon listening to an individual's 
urinating in an adjacent room, could "diagnose" his or her per­
sonality and fortune. There arc urinalyses and urinalyses. CONV ERSAT IONS FROM WILD HISTORY 
The most erudite appraisals of genitals in the many centuries of 
Chinese scholarship are found in a fragment of "wild history" 
written during the Tang dynasty by Chang Mu. His book, The 
Secret Chronicles of Kung Ho Chien, is lost, but fortunately a work 
from the Ching dynasty, Confucius Says Not, quotes two long pas­
sages frotn it. One of them reports a conversation between the lascivious 
empress Wu Tse-tien, whose lo ve life was recounted earlier, and 
her daughter Tai Ping. (The Kung Ho Chien of the title was os­
tensibly the office for imperial aides established by the empress; in 
reality, it was a stable for her favorite studs. ) When Tai Ping, sens­
ing that her highly sexed mother is without a satisfactory lover, 
recommends her own love interest, Chang Chang-tsung, the em­
press is at first silent. Then Tai Ping whispers into her mother's 
ear that she has seen the young n1an taking a bath as her house­
guest: "His jade stalk has a full head and a thin root. When it is in 
repose it droops down and is not long. It is as smooth as a goose 
egg, and its ridge rises a fifth to a sixth of an inch. It is fresh-red, 
soft, and mellow. " Smiling, the e1npress asks whether her daughter has tasted it. Tai Ping says no, but a(. hnits that she asked a lady-in-waiting to 
test hin1 out. The etnpress turns to the lady-in-vvaiting and says: 
"You rnay tell Her Majesty frankly. Don't be shy about it. " The wonun whispers into the e1nprcss's car: ''At the begin­
ning of our encounter, it was like a luscious lychee fron1 the South 
Seas, unusually sn1ooth and tender. Its ridge expand ed like an 
un1brdla. After three or four strokes, tny flower pistil opened 
wantonly. My spirit and tny soul were borne aloft. What's so good 
about hirn was that he did not decide for hirnsclf whether to be 
slow or fast. He tenderl y tin1cd hirnsclf to rny desire. " Etnpn. 'SS Wu. overjoyed, exdaitns:. 1 heard that those tnedi­
ocre wonten of the outside world crave only nntscular hardness 
and do not appreciate tendt'rnt'ss. That is the sexuality of peasant 
wonten. The best of ntak organs arc handson1c, tender, and 
ntellow. " PillOW TALK ON LovEMAKING 
The sante chronicle records a conver sation between Shangkuan 
Wan-erh, the secretary-con fidante of Empress Wu, and one of 
her own lovers. He is Tsui Shih, the tninister of the anny who had 
to pacify an outraged duke with his own wife. During one of their 
trysts, he asks how En1prcss Wu chose her n1cn. Shangkuan re­
plies that the cn1press passes over any jade stalk that is "all skin and 
sinew. " The explanation she gives is a rare gem of Chinese literary 
exposition: "Of all the parts of the hun1an body, the tongue has no 
skin, so it is able to relish all the tastes; the heels have thick skin, so 
they touch only the lowly ground. A woman's cinnabar grotto is 
lined with a delicate membrane; so is the best part of a man's jade 
stalk. Thus the most tender parts touch during copulation. The 
protruding ridge of the jade stalk sensitizes the rubbing and mas­
saging of parts. When the jade stalk is in repose, it is a hidden bud; 
when it expands, it is an exposed eggplant. If the more tender parts 
are squeezed against other such tender parts, pleasure reigns, as if 
all the fecund essences of heaven and earth were being turned into 
rich wine. But if the skin of the jade stalk is too thick, it acts like a 
suit of armor. This deadens the pleasure while the jade stalk ad-
d '' vances an retreats. Tsui tells Shangkuan that the qualities of female genitals vary 
as much as those of male organs. To illustate his point, he extols 
her cinnabar grotto for its "pure, clustered flower pistil. " When he 
enters her, he says, "I felt the tip of my jade stalk pressing against 
your tender parts, as if being drenched with melted lard, and I felt 
even n1y hair melting. Sometimes I put my fingers on your rear 
opening and felt it contracting and leaping, telling me that you 
would soon rejoice. Then I paused until your rosebud stopped 
leaping, so that I might renew and redouble your pleasure. " He 
then contrasts their own connoisseur ship to the clutnsiness of Lady DoctorJ of Lcwr 
91 THE ART Of TH E BEDC HAM BER 
sexually illiterate men and women who, "like beggars, having 
consumed three buckets of lard, pride themselv es on achieving 
the height of sen sual ity. " Whether literary eroticism from wild history or clinical ob­
servation from sexology treatises, the ancient Chinese preoccupa­
tion with sex uality is undeniable. 7 
Three Peaks, Five Desires, 
and Nine Essences 
Secrets o/ Love-P lay 
SOME TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, the love doctors of ancient 
China specifically prescribed foreplay as essential to sexual health. The sexology classics emphasize leisurely and, when desi red, lin­
gering foreplay. Such love-play is necessary so that sexual part­
ners "harmonize Yin and Yang. " Although this explanation was 
couched in the context of another culture, it would be understood 
by any discerning Western sexologist today. The wise women and men of the East linked male in1potence 
and female frigidity to unsatisfactory foreplay, or its total absence. In The Class ic of the Element al Maid, the Yellow Emperor, that ever 
inquisitive pupil who poses questions most men are afraid to raise, 
asks one of his tutors about a curse plaguing men in his day as in 
our s: "Sometimes I want intercourse, yet my jade stalk will not 
rise up. My face betrays my shame, and my perspiration drops like 
pearls. My heart and my sentiments arc fired by lust, but I have to 
help with my fing ers. How can I be strong. Please enlighten me 
on this Tao. " The Elemen tal Maid's repl y: "What Your Majesty describes 
happ ens to all n1en. In ordt:r to unit <. : with a won 1an, a man should 
have amp k prepar ations to harmonize his fhi. In this way the jade l B E A R T () I' l H F A r D <. H A M B I' U 
stalk will rise up. " By obse rving the sym ptom � of erotic pleasur e 
in the wom an and acting in a harmonious and wholc�ome way, 
she says, a man can strengthen his virility and have an erection at 
every union. "This way he will be admired by his I bedroom I ad­
versary," she adds. "How could he be ashamed of that. " In The Classic of the Arcane Maid, the Yellow Emp eror tells the 
Arcane Maid that he has learned much of the art of Yin and Yang 
from the Elemental Maid, but would like further enlightenment 
from her. The Arcane Maid replies: "Everything between heaven 
and earth is quickened by the interaction of Yin and Yang. Yang is 
animated by Yin. Yin is vivified by Yang. When Yin and Yang act 
harmoniously, the male will be firm and powerful, and the female 
will open to him. " The emperor says: "Sometimes at intercourse the woman is 
not moved. Her essences arc not stirred, and her fluids do not ap­
pear. The man's jade stalk is not strong. It remains small and not 
angry. Why. " The Arcane Maid attributes unsatisfactory sexual 
unions to a lack of harmony between Yin and Yang. "Yin and 
Yang stimulate and respond to each other. Yang without Yin is 
joyless, and Yin without Yang is unexcited. The man wants to 
copulate but the woman is not happy; the woman wants to copu­
late but the man has no desire. When two hearts are not in tune, the 
essences are not aroused. Love and pleasure are not elicited. "But if the man woos the woman and the woman woos the 
man, their sentiments and their minds will merge, and they will 
delight each other's heart. The woman's passion will be aroused, 
and she will fondle the man's stalk. She will make it powerful, so 
it can rap at her jewel terrace, and bring an abundance of secre­
tions for both partners. The jade stalk will be greatly enlarged and 
will move, sometimes slowly, sometimes rapid ly. The jade gate 
will open, easing the entry of the strong adversary and absorbing 
its essence to irrigate the scarlet chamber. " The Mystic Master of the Grotto, in the classic named for him, 
echoes the Arcane Maid on the same subject: "Heaven revolves to 
the left and Earth rotates to the right. Spring and summer wilt, 
autumn and winter follow. Man sings, woman accompanies. Ac­
tion above and compliance below. This is the nature of things. If 
man rocks and woman responds not, if woman moves and man 
follows not, their congress will not only injure the man but also 
harm the woman. For this is counter to the nature of Yin and Tlm·t· f>ccll. :s, Fil'f IJt'sirt's, cmd Nill t' EHt'llt"t'S 
Yang. and opposed to the order of t'vc. ·nts. To unitt'in such a way 
gives no benetit to t•ither. Tht·refort', when n1. 1n revolves to the 
left. wontan should rotate to the right; wht·n nun thrusts frotn 
above. \vonun should respond fron1 below. ( )nly if they unite in 
this ntanner will Ht•aven and Earth be in balanc e. " 
Esst> llfittls,�fthc}tulc Chcmlbt'r proposes the san1c thente by qu ot­
ing the legendary Pt·ng Tsu. who purported ly lived to the age of 
Roo by taking health tonics and n1astering tht· art of theja dt· chanl­
ber. This Chi nes <. 'Meth usalch said: "The �10 of sexual inter­
course contains no tnirack. t'xcept that one should act leisurely, 
evenly. and gradually. Hannony is ntost valued. " Essc11tia/s of the 
Jadt> Chamber also quotes a Taoist sexologist: "The Tao of copulat­
ing with a wotnan starts wit h lingering frolic and play, and con­
tinues until she is hannonious in spirit and moved in thought. Only after extended play should intercourse begin. " In today's tenninology, all this philosophizing about Yin and 
Yang n1eans that partners need to get the juices flowing prior to 
consununation. They n1ust induce and seduce one another into 
the proper n1ood. This leads to a grand and delicious result: the 
energizing of the man and the satisfaction of the woman, or joy­
ous and healthy sexual union. The classics prescribe the essentials of love-play and explain 
how to judge whether a partner has been "harmonized" for the 
final consun1mation. They conc entrate mainly on male action and 
female response, probably because characteristically blundering 
male partners arc in greater need of such advice. The Taoists con­
sidered the woman not only the repository of life, but also the 
fountainhead of sexual wisdom. Thus the Elemental Maid teaches the Yellow Emperor about 
foreplay: "At the time of sexual union, let the tnan first ask the 
won1an to lie down flat on her back and bend her legs. The man 
then gets between her spread thighs. He holds her lips in his tnouth 
and sucks on her tongue. Holding his jade stalk, he strikes the cast 
and west sides of her gate for about a n1eal's time. " In ancient China, 
it should be pointed out, there was no such thing as fast food. THE AR T OF THE THRE E PEAKS 
Esse ntials of the jade Chamber features a dialogue between Peng 
Tsu and the Iridescent Maid, one of the three fcntale tutors to the Yellow Emperor. Sent by the emperor to learn some of the exper­
tise of the ancient 1naster, she hears Pcng's instructions to the male 
partner: "Play with her cinnabar field. Seck what is in her mouth. Press her body deeply and palpate it gently to bring about heres­
sences. When the woman responds to the man's Yang she exhibits 
these symptoms: Her cars are hot, as if she has drunk rich wine. Her breasts protrude firmly and fill his hands. Her neck moves 
about; her legs shake agitatedly. She tries to restrain her lascivious 
1notions, but suddenly she clasps his body. " Peng Tsu's counsel 
here is especially intriguing. His words "press her body deeply 
and palpate it gently" accurate ly describe a basic technique in an­
cient Chinese massage ain1ing at acupoints. The erotic variety of 
this acupressur e can be a most effective aphrodisiac. The ven erabl e master goes on to extol the benefit of exchang­
ing saliva during foreplay and coitus. The juices from the "five 
viscera," he explains, flow out under the tongue as saliva, which 
was considered an elixir by Taoists. Saliva was not the only such 
tonic. Ko Hung (281-341), a Taoist philosop her, alchemist, and 
sexologist who contributed n1uch to the development of ancient 
Chin ese scientific thought, n1entioned in his book The Master 
Who Embraces Simplicity (Pao Pu Tzu) that the Han dynasty minis­
ter Chang Tsang lived 1 8o years as a result of his ingesting breast 
secretions of women. Peng Tsu's idea of sipping saliva at love-play and Ko Hung's tale 
of sipping breast secretions to abet longevity n1ust have touched 
off a real fad among sex cultists in later centuries. "Alchen1ists of 
sex" proposed the drawing of three fluids frotn the fen1ale body as 
elixirs for n1en: saliva fron1 the Red Lotus Peak, n1ilk fron1 the 
Twin Lotus Peaks, and vaginal secretions frotn the Purple Agaric 
Peak. The word "peak" seen1s inappropriate at least for two of the 
three bodily locations, and the pluck-and-nur ture nunuals of the 
sexual alche1nists do not bother to explain this choice of tenn. It 
n1akes sense, however, if we consider a wonu n's tongue as the 
Red Lotus Peak, and her clitoris as the Purple Agaric Peak. Purple 
agaric (the color refers to its stalk) is the n1ost valued of the tive 
varieties of lillg-dtilz, or "divine n1ushroo1ns"; the Chinese tn. ·a­
sure it, believing it pron1otes health and longevity. Male aticionados of this Art of the Three Peaks were advised 
to choose won1cn who had not yet borne a child, so the inclu­
sion of 1nilk is puzzling. In i:Kt, son1e Chinese concoctions have been known to p roduce tnilk in virgins. As t()r nutritious vahll' in 
the three elixirs. only breast tnilk is known to have any. (Shou ld a 
sexology laboratory seck expe rinll'ntal proof of this ancil·nt nu­
trition theory. ho\Vl'Vl'r, it probably would he swan1pcd by volun­
teers. of both sexes. intcrestl'd in the ways of scienc e. ) What is 
itnportant here is thl'l'rotic efficacy of thl' Art of till· Three Peaks. The sex alchen1ists' handbooks spl 'Ci fy quitl'cka rly that during 
foreplay and coitus, nll'll should drink thl · three dixir s directly 
fron1 their sources. Saliva. or. \Vater frotn the heavenly pool;' was sipped by both 
the tnan and the won1an while kissing. In drinking the essence 
fron1 the Twin Lotus Peaks, also called ''coral juice," whether the 
n1an actually gets any fluid is not as in1portant as what he docs to 
the nipples and areolas in the process. And as to the absorption of 
secretions fron1 the Purple Agaric Peak, the handbooks describe 
the n1ethod rather cryptically: The man inserts his jade stalk as a 
sort of drinking straw, then "crouches down in the manner of 
a tortoise," using the techniques of chi-kung (a Taoist meditative 
art) to suck or. pluck" the secretions, and finally stores this es­
sence in his cinnabar field. This description may sound metaphysical, but at least one an­
cient sex alchemist allegedly demonstrated the technique to an 
emperor and his ladies in his inner palace. He put his jade stalk in a 
teacup filled with water, sucked up the water, then expelled it. This probably is a lost art in China. Yogis in India are capable of 
accomplishing much the same feat through the rectum, and sim­
ilar but lesser prowess may be observed at Parisian sex shows, 
where female performers pick up coins or puff on cigarettes with 
their genitals. Whether ancient or conten1porary, whether for 
health or for entertainment, these feats point to one thing: The 
sn1ooth muscles of the genitourinary region, controlled by the 
autonotnic nervous system and nonnally involuntary, can func­
tion at will-with enough practice. For centuries Taoists have 
explored various functions of the autonomic nervous system to 
enhance health and sexuality. Some of their techniques are de­
tailed in later chapters. Drinking with the mouth fron1 the Purple Agaric Peak is of­
ten described lyrically in bedchamber literature as ''drinking at 
the jade fountain. " The sixth-century poet Hsu Ling, in a letter to 
a friend who had retired and was living in the n1ountains with a 
CJ7 THE AR T OF THE BEDCHA MH ER 
Flr4te-playin,(. , and 
dri11 ki11g at tlzcjadef ormt aitl female companion, congratulated his friend on having ample time 
available to "practice the art of the Elemental Maid. " He added 
enviously: "Why bother with the elixir of immortality when you 
can drink at the jade fountain. " Quenching one's thirst at the jade fountain is mentioned less 
frequently in the literature of later centuries. A few decades ago, 
however, some linguistic evidence was found. In northern China, 
a man whose livelihood was pleasing women, the equivalent of 
a gigolo or a male mistress, was scornfully called a "dish Iicker. " In eastern China, a man adept at pleasing women orally was of­
ten teasingly called a "champion melon-seed cracker. " The Chi­
nese love to eat roasted waterme lon seeds, and some are experts 
at tossing a seed into their mouth, cracking it with their teeth, 
separating the broken shell from the kernel with their tongue, 
swallowing the kernel, and spitting out the neatly broken shell, 
all within a few seconds-and doing this repeatedly, and in rapid 
succession. A virtuoso in oral-genital kissing thus was likened to 
a n1an who could eat melon seeds with such skill and gusto. The female activity corresponding to drinking at the jade foun­
tain is "playing the flute. " Because of the ancient Chinese taboo 
against squandering male semen, flute-playing was generally lim­
ited to dry runs. FouR ATTAINME NTs, NINE Ess ENCES, FivE DESIRES 
The ancient classics, as has been mentioned, place the utmost im­
portance on foreplay. When the Yellow Etnperor asks whether he 
should force himself at the task, if he wants to have intercourse 
but has no erection, the Arcane Maid warns hin1:. The only right 
time to have intercourse is after the tnan has achieved his Four 
Attai nn1ents. ()nly then can he bring the wotnan her Nine Es-
" senc es. The tutor then ex plains to the e n1peror why the n1an n1ust 
await the Four Attain tnen ts:. If the jade stalk is not angry. his har­
mon ious essence has not arrived. If it is angry but not large, his 
muscle l'Ssence has not arrived. If it is large but not rigid, his bone 
esscnn· has not arrived. If it is rigid but not hot. his spirit essence 
has not arrived. " Even if a nun has an erection, he cannot perforn1 
thl' act with flying color s unless all four conditions are attained. Three J>c. 1ks, Fil'c Desires,. md Nitlt' Esst'tlccs 
The etnperor then asks about the won1an's Nine Essences : 
What arc they, and ho\v can he tel1 when they have been aroused. The Arcane Maid ans\vcrs: ''Wait t'llr the Nine Essences in order 
to learn about thcn1. When the wotnan sighs deeply and swal1ows 
her saliva, her lung essence has been aroused. When she utters lit­
tle cries and sucks his ntouth, her heart essence has been aroused. When she enf<. 1lds and clings to hint, her spleen essence has been 
aroused. When her Yin gate is slippery and datnp, her kidney 
essence has been aroused. When she obligingly gnaws hin1, her 
bont' essence has been aroused. When she hooks her legs around 
hin1, her sinew essence has been ;. uoused. When she caresses his 
jade stalk, her blood essence has been aroused. When she fondles 
his nipples, her flesh essence has been aroused. " (The link be­
tween a slippery Yin gate and kidney essence is due to the fact that 
in traditional Chinese n1cdicinc, the term for "kidney" denotes 
also ·'gonad. ") Only eight of the essences arc enumerated here. The ninth, 
n1entioned in none of the reconstructed editions of The Classic of 
tlze Arcatze Maid, probably is the liver essence. Although it is miss­
ing fron1 the literature, this essence, like the others, should never 
be n1issing in practice. The Arcane Maid goes on to say that if a 
n1an wants to have sufficiently lasting intercourse \vith a woman, 
he should first toy with her clitoris and move her spirits until all 
Nine Essences have been aroused. Anything less than nine will 
not benefit her. When the Yellow En1peror asks the Elemental Maid how he 
n1ight tell whether a woman is enjoying herself erotically, she in­
structs him to watch for the Five Desires, the Five Syn1ptoms, and 
the Ten Movements. Her e are presented only the Five Desires, 
which are revealed dur ing foreplay; the Five Symptoms and Ten 
Movements, observed tnostly during actual coitus, will be de­
scribed in the next chapter. The Elemental Maid enun1erates the Five Desires as follows: 
"If the woman bates her breath and restrains her energy, her mind 
wishes it [sexual union J. If her nostrils and mouth arc dilated, her 
vulva wants it. If she abruptly embraces the man, she wants to 
ejaculate. If her perspiration drenches her clothes, she wants her 
heart filled. If she straightens her body and closes her eyes, she is 
ncar ecstasy. " THE ART OF TH E BEDCHAM BER 
�YS TIC �ASTERY 
The Mystic Master of the Grotto, Tung Hsuan Tzu, advises how 
to meet all the various prerequisites for happy and healthy sex. In 
the preface to his classic work, he claims that he intended it to sup­
plement and expand the teachings of the Arcane Maid. Written in 
the typically bold and elegant literary style of Tang classical litera­
ture, his work is a poetic essay graced by rhythmic symmetry, 
graphic imagery, and lyrical ardor. His treatment of love-play is 
the most detailed among the older sexology classics. Whoever this Mystic Master of the Grotto was, he left invalu­
able tips for a healthy sex life, and he had the insight to caution 
that what he set forth should not be a "single path" for unoriginal 
lovers, but should open "ten thousand ways" for inventive ones. He was not just a "sex therapist," but a real sage of eroticism. Master Tung Hsuan cautions that the sexual act from foreplay 
to coitus should not unfold in a repetitious, predictable manner: 
"Deep and shallow, slow and rapid, leveling and jerking, east­
ward and westward. The principle has no single path, but ten thou­
sand ways. It could be as slow as the carp toying with the fish 
hook, and as swift as a flock of birds encountering the wind. Advance and retreat by dragging or coaxing; follow and oppose 
up or down; go and return leftward or rightwar d; withdraw and 
thrust infrequently or repeatedly: all these actions should be coor­
diiuted and devised spontaneously. Never contine yourself to a 
rigid fonnula, but choose the style accor ding to the need of the 
moment. " The Inaster offers a description of foreplay, with four basic 
positions : Conversing in Loving Entanglcn1cnt; Whispering 
Endearn1ents; Exposed Fish Gills (suggesting the open, blood­
engorged vulva); and Unicorn's Horn (the tnalc erection). "To 
start the sexual un ion, the nulc sits left, the fen1alc sits right. He 
sits cross-lcg gt·d. holding her to his chest. He encircles her slin1 
waist and caresses her jade body. They whisper endcarntents. converse while lovingly entanglt:d. Their hearts and their ntinds 
arc ont'. Suddt·nly they t'Inbracc, and just as suddcntly resist. Two 
fonns st·izc at each other, and two ntouths nibble at each other. He 
holds her lower lip in his ntouth; she holds his upper lip in hers. They suck at the san1e ti1nc, drink each other's saliva. Each lei­
surely bitt. ·s the tongue of tht. · other, or softly gnaws the lips. Each tenderly etnbraces the head of the other. or boldly fingers the ears. Tht'Y tnassagt' above and pat below; they nibble in the east. kiss in 
the west. A thousand coquetries are revealed; a hundred worries 
dissolve. He asks her to hold the jade stalk with her left hand, and 
he strokes her jade gate with his right. Stit nulat ed by her Yin es­
sence, his jade stalk begins throbbing. It rises precipitously, a lone 
peak above a distant river. Excited by his Yang essences, her cin­
nabar grotto oozes with fluids. It drips and bubbles, a secluded 
spring tutnbling into a deep valley. " The n1aster underlines that this stitnulation occurs only as a 
result of the interaction between Yin and Yang: "It cannot be 
forced through willful efforts. Only when these conditions exist 
should sexual union begin. If the tnale is not excited to a zestful 
erection or if the fenule etnits no fluids, it indicates an outer man­
ifestation of son1c inner illness. " Next the tnastcr describes the initiation of intercourse: "The 
fen1ale IS on the left, the male on the right. She first sits, then lies 
down on her back, spreads her legs, and unfolds her arms. The 
n1ale kneels between her thighs. He imn1ediately drags his hard­
ened jade stalk lengthwise against the doors of the jade gate, a 
sloping, luxuriant pine tree nudging at the entrance of an unex­
pected valley. The jade stalk throbs, pulls, grinds, and bridles. He 
kisses her mouth and seeks her tongue. Now he gazes at the jade 
face above, now he looks at the golden gulch below. He strokes 
and pats the front of her abdon1en and breasts, massages the sides 
of her examination hall. When he is aroused and she is enchanted, 
he at once uses his Yang peak to assault vertically and horizon­
tally, now impinging on the jade vein below, now pressing at the 
golden gulch above, now stabbing at the sides of the exatnination 
hall, now resting on the right of the jewel terrace. " Here ends the script for love-play, after which the Mystic Mas­
ter prescribes tnanners of actual intercourse. His graphic tableaux, 
like the explicit and sometimes florid instructions for love-play in 
other classics, arc prescriptions for an energetic, passionat e, and 
beneficial sexual union. 101 8 
Clouds and Rain 
Positions o/ Lovemaki ng 
THE Focus of the Art of the Bedchamber, sexual intercourse, is 
termed by generations of Chinese writers more poetically as 
"clouds and rain. " Unlike poets and novelists, the authors of the 
sexology classics and the love doctors they quote dispense their 
wisdorn more for instruction than for literary beauty. Their lan­
guage is characteristically explicit and clinical. This docs not, 
however, n1ean that it is cornplctely without poetry. Since the purposes of sex in ancient China were procreation, 
health, and pleasure, the techniques recornrncnd cd in sexology 
texts were oriented toward one or all of these goals. Ancient sex-. ologists prescribed specific ways of sexual union fo r fitness and 
for conceiving healthy, bright babies. Sex \Vas said to be helpful in 
sharpening eyesight and hearing� in enriching blood; in curing 
headaches, drunkenness, and hernorrhoids � and in treating inlpO­
tence, and frigidity, and of all things. sexual excess. The bedchatnbcr artists considered tactical n1aneuvcrs neces­
sary t(H llJrmonizing the 111ood of the couple. They devised a 
v. triety of practices and positions to spice up the connubial act, 
which could go stale with titnc. <. )ne technique, known as ''dead 
entry, live exit," involved the insertion of a litnpjade stalk into the 
cinnabar grotto, and withdr awal of the now rigid jade stalk before 
it cjacuiJted. This was done at titnes to arouse a langui d nun, and 
at titncs for ht·alth bcndits. Coital rhythn1 included a range of 
102. thrust patterns (nine-shallow, one-dl·cp; three-shallow. one-dl'l'p; 
threl·-slow, one-fast, and so on), devised because variation and 
surprise nude then1 stitnulating -sonletinll'S excruci atingly so­
to the \Votnan. Early sexologists prdl. ·rred a brief duration for 
sexual union, usually only until the wonun reachl·d hl·r orgasn1. Later sexologists generally let the duration of intercourse depend 
on nuk statnina. All ancil·nt sexologists bclil·ved in tl. ·nulc orgasm 
and favored infrequent tnalc ljaculation, or its absence altogethl·r. Like son1e Western Sl'Xologists today, they believed that nulc or­
gasrn and male ljaculation were not necessarily the san1e. Thus 
the technique for delaying or forestalling the n1ale dirnax becan1e 
all-itnportant. The purpose was ostensibly a serious one aimed 
at health, but it was also a roguish strategy to heighten erotic 
pleasure. The bedchamber sages n1ust have had a rousing time filling 
out their prescriptions. Son1e are not very practical for today's 
lifestyle. One, for instance, states that copulating in a certain posi­
tion will help strengthen bones and eliminate vaginal odor. The 
man, however, must make nine thrusts nine times at each of nine 
sessions per day for nine consecutive days. To make the large number of complex ingredients of the Art 
of the Bedchamber more intelligible to modern readers, I present 
them here in the following sequence: tactical maneuvers; coital 
positions; coital dynamics and timing; and the delaying, curbing, 
or avoidance of male ejaculation. The ancients never gave a name 
to the last practice; I call this mind-body technique "orgasmic­
brinkmanship. " MAN EUVERS IN THE DARK 
In the classics that bear their names, both the Arcane Maid and the 
Elemental Maid give advice on tactical maneuvers in bed. The Ar­
cane Maid, without any elaboration, enumerates the eight basic 
movements that will benefit both sexual partners: "Extending 
and contracting, prostrating and supinating, advancing and re­
treating, bending and curving. " The Elemental Maid is more detailed in her advice, and she 
speaks directly to the male partner. The Yellow Emperor, as we 
saw in the previous chapter, wonders how to tell whether his 
female partner is enjoying in tercourse. The Elemental Maid 
IOJ TH E ART Of THE BEDCHAM BER 
describes the Five Symptoms in the woman and prescribes the ap­
propriate male responses. "When her face is flushed, gradually 
begin the intercourse. When her breasts are engorged and her 
nose perspires, slowly insert the jade stalk. When her throat is dry 
and she is swallowing her saliva, leisurely rock the jade stalk. When her grotto is slippery, slowly penetrate her to the depths. When her fluids flow to her buttocks, slowly pull out the jade 
stalk. " Although the Elemental Maid appears to be advising the 
male, her instructions apply only to the early stages of the en­
counter, before it becomes passionate. The Elemental Maid also describes the Ten Movements of a 
woman in the throes of passion, and the urges that impel her: "If 
she clasps him with her arms, she wants to press their bodies to­
gether and have their genitals touch. If she extends her thighs, she 
wants to rub her upper vulva against him. If she constricts her 
belly, she wants to ejaculate. If she shakes her buttocks, she is ex­
periencing intense pleasure. If she raises her feet and hooks them 
around him, she wants to be penetrated deeper. If she crosses her 
thighs, she is itchy inside. If she rocks to the sides, she wants to be 
sliced deeply left and right. If she raises her body to press against 
his, her lascivious joy is extreme. If she stretches her body length­
wise, her limbs and torso are pleased. If her sexual fluids are slip­
pery, she has ejaculated. Observe these movements and you will 
know how great is her ecstasy. " These words, written some two thousand years ago, might 
sound surprisin gly enlightened to the modern reader. They reveal 
something about the deepest sexual secrets of women-and they 
come straight from a wornan's lips. The first known syst ematic descriptions of hun1an lovemaking 
positions, with clinical and graphic details, are found in the sexol­
ogy classics of anc ient China. The Arcane Maid's discussion of 
the Nine Ways, one of the oldest known such texts in the world, 
in effect offers nine positions for intercourse, with brief descrip­
tions of coital n1otions and health benefits. To retain the flavor of the ancient texts, the passages on the 
nine positions fron 1 The Classic (�fthe Arcm1e Maid and on the thirty 
position s fro n1 The Nfystif /\Jaster (�f the Grotto are rendered here in 
a t ranslation as close to the original as possible. My own explana­
tions and con1 n1cnts arc in brackets. THE ARcANE MAin's NINE PosiTIONS 
S(mJc rsaultiu. l. IJrtlJ. (ltls: The wonun lies on her back with the nun 
prostrate on top of her, pressing ht·r thighs into the bed. She pulls 
at her vulva to receive his jade stalk. He thrusts at her grain seed 
and attacks also thl· upper part with leisurdy, deliberate strokes. Eight shallo\v, two deep. The jade stalk goes in dead and returns 
alive, so that he grows vigorous and powerful. She is agitated and 
pleased, joyous like a singsong girl. He refrains fron1 ljaculating. A hundred illnesses will vanish. [This position is the traditional no-frills n1issionary position. "Grain seed" is about five inches into the vaginal canal. "Eight 
shallow, two deep" tneans eight shallow thrusts followed by two 
deep ones. A "dead" jade stalk is litnp, a "live" one rigid. ] Steppi"�l. T(gcrs: The woman lies in a crawling position with her 
buttocks up and her head down. The man kneels behind her, clasp­
ing her belly. He inserts his jade stalk and pierces her innermost 
part as deeply and intin1ately as he can. They advance and retreat 
in mutual attacks. Eight thrusts, five times. This should be suffi­
cient. Her jade gate doses and opens. Her fluids seep out. They 
rest when this happens. A hundred illnesses will not appear, and 
the man becomes more virile. [This is the rear-entry position natural to all mammals. The 
Arcane Maid calls it Stepping Tigers because the participants ad­
vance and retreat like a pair of tigers. In this position the jade stalk 
does not stimulate the clitoris, but it can penetrate to the flower 
heart. "Eight thrusts, five times" means a total of forty thrusts, 
with a brief pause after every eight. ] Wrestling Apes: The woman lies on her back. The man supports 
her thighs, pushes her knees past her bosom, and raises her but­
tocks and back. He inserts his jade stalk, stabbing her scented 
mouse. She quivers and rocks. Her fluids arc like the rain. He 
presses into her deeply, without moving, as his stalk grows strong 
and angry. He ceases when she rejoices. A hundred illnesses will 
cure themselves. [A favorite position of the ancient Chinese, this allows deep 
penetration; in this particular case, however, the man is instructed Clouds m1d Rah1 
Steppitl�� Tigers 
105 THE ART OF THE BEDCHAM BER 
to reach only the "scented n1ousc," or three inches deep. When the 
woman "rejoices" here, she reaches orgasm. ] Cleaving Cicadas: The woman lies face down and extends her body. The man lies on her back and inserts his jade stalk deeply. He 
raises her buttocks slightly so that he can rap at her scarlet pearls. Nine thrusts, six times. She is excited, and her fluids flow. The in­
side of her Yin throbs rapidly; the outside spreads and opens. He 
stops when she rejoices. The seven injuries will eliminate them­
selves. [This rear-entry position permits only relatively shallow pen­
etration and limited mobility. "Scarlet pearls" are the labia mi­
nora, and "Yin" is the vagina. ] Mounting Tortoises: The woman lies on her back and bends her 
knees. The man pushes her feet until her knees reach her breasts. He inserts his jade stalk deeply, at times poking at her infant girl. With measured deep and shallow thrusts he reaches her grain seed. She is moved to great joy, and shakes and raises her torso. When 
her fluids overflow, he pierces deeper. He stops when she rejoices. If he does this without loss of semen, his vigor will increase a 
hundredfold. [This position, similar to Wrestling Apes except that the man 
holds the woman's legs instead of her buttocks, was another fa­
vorite ancient Chinese position for deep penetration and high 
mobility. "Infant girl" refers to the vestibular glands between the 
labia n1inora. ] Soarin. (. Phoenix: The wonun lies down and raises her legs. The 
n1an kneels betw een her thighs, his hands on the n1at. He inserts 
'-� 
his jade stalk dee ply, piercing her tnixed rock. Whe n he guides it 
in rigid and hot, he asks her to begin tnoving. Eight thrusts, three 
tin1es. With thei r but tocks swiftly attacking each other, her Yin 
opens and expands, pouring out its fluids. He stops when she re­
joices. A hundred illnesses will disa ppea r. [Note that the coital n1oven1cnts here arc carried out mainly 
by the wonun. The "phoe nix" in the nan 1e refers to the Chinese 
1nyth ical jt•t�g lwmrg bird. Mixed rock" n1eans four inches deep. ] Bwmy Lickiu. � Its Fur: The nun lies on his back and stn. ·tches his 
legs straight. The won1an, abo ve hin1, straddles his body. her 
knees to thl' sides. Her back t:Kes his head, while she her sd f t:Kes 
his teet. She: holds on to the: n1at and lowers hl·r head. Hl· inserts 
his jade: stalk and pil'rCl'S her lute: strings. She: rl:joicc:s, and hl·r flu­
ids flow like: a f(ntntain. Joyous delight and hannonious pk·asure 
n1ovc: her spirit and her body. He. · stops \Vhen she rl:joiCl'S. A hun ­
dred illnesses will not arise:. (This position, \Vith the: \Vornan abo ve: and the n1an passiv e, 
leaves the initiative to the wotnan. "Lute strings" n1c:ans one: inch 
inside the: Yin. As the penetration is shallow, the won1an needs 
a bit of practin. · to forestall the: dislocation of their organs. The 
"licking bunny" here: is the rnalc: organ. ] Fish Linkiug Sc,llcs: The: n1an lies straight on his back. The woman, 
above hin1 and facing his head, straddles his body with her thighs. She securely and slowly inserts him, stopping when he is only 
slightly in. He does not penetrate deeply, but instead imitates a 
baby sucking at the breast. The woman rocks by herself for a long 
period. He withdraws when she rejoices. This cures all clogging 
illnesses. [A variation of Bunny Licking Its Fur, with the woman facing 
the man's head. Instead of sitting all the way down, here she ef­
fects the penetration by moving her loins forward for a moderate 
penetration but a lengthy union. This position allows the man to 
enjoy the scenic sight of twin peaks. ] Cratles Et�twi ning Necks: The man squats. The woman rides as­
tride his thighs, her hands holding his neck. She inserts his jade 
stalk, letting it pierce her wheat bud and stab her seed. He clasps 
her buttocks to help her rocking and rising. She feels great joy, and 
her fluids flow and bubble.
The term "jade gate" was used to refer to the vagina.
What was the term used to refer to the vagina in ancient Chinese sexology?
The emphasis is on the importance of foreplay and the interaction between Yin and Yang, rather than the size of the penis.
According to the text, what is the emphasis on in Taoist sexology?
The term "jewel terrace" is used to describe the clitoris.
What is the term used to describe the clitoris in ancient Chinese literature?
The "jade stalk" is the penis, and its significance lies in its ability to stimulate the woman and bring her to orgasm.
What is the significance of the "jade stalk" in ancient Chinese sexology?
The focus is on the importance of harmonizing Yin and Yang, as well as the need for foreplay and the delay of ejaculation to maintain a healthy and satisfying sexual union.
What is the focus of the ancient Chinese sexologists' teachings?