Peach Blossom Pavilion

From Publishers Weekly In this disappointing courtesan novel, a 98-year-old Chinese émigré woman in present-day San Francisco reviews her youth in early 20th-century China, where she was a ming ji, or "prestigious prostitute." Falsely accused of rape and murder, Xiang Xiang's father is executed, and her mother retreats into a Buddhist nunnery. Xiang Xiang, alone and friendless at 13, is tricked into entering the Peach Blossom Pavilion, where she is given the "art name" of Bao Lan, or "Precious Orchid." Her extraordinary beauty and gifts in painting, writing poems and performing music, and in the bedchamber, make her a prize. After some improbable adventures (including a liaison with a female transvestite and a love affair with a Taoist monk), Xiang Xiang eventually makes her peace with what fate has made of her-just as the Japanese invade China. While Xiang Xiang's forthright perceptiveness, grace and smarts are intriguing, Yip's English language debut vacillates between melodrama and fictionalized sociological study. That split personality is reflected in the clunky prose, which never does its lead justice. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Mingmei Yip has written an enchanting debut novel "Peach Blossom Pavilion" which tells the story of the last surviving Chinese courtesan (prostitute), Precious Orchid, the most sought-after woman in all of China. Just as Arthur Golden's novel "Memoirs of a Geisha" introduced readers to the Japanese geisha tradition nearly a decade ago, Peach Blossom Pavilion provides a vivid account of a forgotten history, immersed in Chinese culture of the early 1990's, by transporting us to another place and time where prostitutes were glamorous, elegant and cultured women that were well-versed in the arts. --Asiance Magazine, June 1, 2008 Novelist MINGMEI YIP tells a familiar story with some surprising twists throughout. MINGMEI YIP, who has published five previous books in Chinese, shows an impressive depth of knowledge in a range of subjects from the inner workings of a brothel to Buddhist practice to music. She infuses her characters, especially Precious Orchid with a realness that readers would certainly recognize as signs of an assured author capable of fleshing out what may be stereotypes... Novelist Mingmei Yip knew her professional gambler father and artist mother dreamed she would become a scholar. Yip rose to the challenge, graduating from the Sorbonne, studying Chinese arts and the ancient qin musical instrument, and became a writer, too, a pursuit that grew out of her first foray into writing-journaling during her mother's eight-year absence while imprisoned in a Vietnamese camp. All of these life experiences are channeled into her engrossing debut novel, "Peach Blossom Pavilion," which brings to life the time of China's mingji artist-prostitutes, who were geisha predecessors. ... Yip's atmospheric tale is elevated above fantastical escape through its cunning, empowered narrator, a woman who refuses to be "but a captive, whose limbs could be twisted to adopt the most obsequious posture in life as well as in bed," and instead fights to improve her fate. Ratings: 5 stars Fans of Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See are sure to be drawn to and find great enjoyment in Peach Blossom Pavilion ...Scattered throughout the book are numerous passages of poems, song lyrics and Chinese sayings that are just as enjoyable to read as the story itself. Not only do they add a sense of authenticity to the story, making the characters and time period feel more true, but also touch it with an artistic flair... The poignant Peach Blossom Pavilion continues to linger in the reader's mind, with many scenes and Precious Orchid's words resounding. It's a novel of heartache, but also one of hope as the strong heroine never gives in. With its lovely prose and memorable characters, Peach Blossom Pavilion is sure to touch all who read it. Book Description Yip's English-language debut is beautiful and evocative. The relationships between these characters are real and heart-wrenching. Though the West's recent fascination with the Chinese "flower houses" has led to a plethora of books along these lines, this particular one is rendered insightfully and memorably. I have long been interested in the lives of Chinese women before modernization. I admired their resourcefulness in finding moments of happiness in an oppressive society. Peach Blossom Pavilion is about the last Chinese courtesan. These artistic women were originally called Yiji, meaning music performer and later called mingji which means prestigious prostitute, Chinese courtesans were the predecessors of their Japanese counterparts. ("Geisha" is the Japanese pronunciation of the same word in Chinese.) Since most people only know about the Japanese Geisha, especially through Arthur Goldsmith's widely enjoyed novel, Memoir of a Geisha, I decided to write about the Chinese Geisha phenomenon, so that people in the West will learn about the original form of this fascinating, yet hauntingly sad, way of life. "I thought Peach Blossom Pavilion was beautifully written, wonderfully imagined--erotic, funny, bursting with life--a terrific novel!" Max Byrd, Professor of English, University of California, Davis. "In the sure voice of Precious Orchid, Mingmei recounts thirteen tumultuous years of Chinese history: vicious politics, pristine piety and heartrending scandal, framed in the classical arts. She writes with a painter's fastidious eye and the irresistible energy of grand storytelling. The pages just turn themselves." Neal Chandler, director, Creative Writing Program of Cleveland State University. "Peach Blossom Pavilion, the story of the last geisha in China, is told with amazing insight as if the author had lived in the tumultuous China of a century ago. Through her beautiful, lucid prose, Mingmei brings modern Western readers into the mysterious world of the cultivated courtesan." Hannelore Hahn, Founder and Executive Director, International Women's Writing Guild. Mingmei Yip was born in China and received her Ph.D. from the University of Paris, Sorbonne.xa0She has written for major Hong Kong newspapers, and has appeared on many national and international television and radio programs. She immigrated to the United States in 1992, where she now lives in New York City with her husband.xa0Her novels have been published in ten different languages and she is also an accomplished musician and calligrapher. Visit her at www.mingmeiyip.com. Read more