In terms of academic research, this book deserves 4 to 5 stars, but because it did not align with my own interests, and I think of most readers of this Goodreads site, a 2-star rating ("It was OK") would have been more honest, so please go beyond the star rating and read this review carefully.

This is the academic study of a little-known anonymous Chinese tale (Ruyujuan, "The Lord of Perfect Satisfaction") that appeared during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It is a short work of fiction that purports to be the 'true story' of the infamous Tang Empress Wu Zetian who proclaimed herself Empress after banishing the crown prince, to live a life of sexual debauchery, incest, adultery, murder and corruption. The 'Lord of Perfect Satisfaction" is her paramour, a, extremely well-endowed low-born individual, Xue Aocao. The book is blatantly pornographic but it is a unique pornography for it puzzles more than titillates; the text is an ill-covered sermon on debauchery and the abuse of power.

Author Stone carefully dissects the tale, proposing the text's author (most convincingly using access to the information, writing style, and other evidence) to be the Confucian scholar Huang Xun (who was appointed a magistrate of Jiaxing district in 1530). He reveals the historical characters and incidents the story alludes to, solves a number of mysterious references in the text, discusses the role of pornography in China and the West, and then follows up with the original text and an annotated translation. In short, it is a well-presented, if heavy-going at times (and a little too repetitious here and there) academic analysis of a relatively unknown Ming short novel. But if you're looking to read a more honestly erotic Chinese novel, you'll get more satisfaction from reading Jin Ping Mei, The Carnal Prayer Mat, Hongloumen, or selections from popular Ming short stories. If you're interested in Chinese sexual life in ancient China, I would recommend the classic van Gulik text, Sexual Life in Ancient China : a Preliminary Survey of Chinese Sex and Society from Ca. 1500 B. C. Till 1644 A. D. / by R. H. Van Gulik ; with a New Introduction and Bibliography by Paul R. Goldin

Recommended for scholars and researchers of Empress Wu Zetian, the Tang Dynasty, Ming novels, and Chinese eroticism. There is a short but useful Glossary, and an excellent bibliography of works on Chinese erotic literature and pornography.

One of the earliest erotic novels published in China

According to Liu Hui, the preface and postscript of the novella are dated 1514 and 1520 respectively, suggesting that the story itself was written sometime in between. However, Charles Stone, who published an English translation and critical study of Ruyijun zhuan, dates the novella to between 1524 and 1529, and argues that its preface and postscript were likely written in 1634 and 1760 respectively.