Vernacular Boudoir Secrets

"The Secret Art of the Boudoir" is a novel about worldly affairs written in chapters during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. This book aims to promote traditional women's ethics and educate women in the boudoir in an easy-to-understand way. The book uses vivid and simple colloquial language to illustrate the "duties" that women should abide by through the presentation of positive and negative examples. The core is to persuade women to curb their violent tempers, resolve jealousy, and behave correctly, in order to achieve family harmony and prosperity. The author emphasizes that this book is by no means promoting heresy, but comes from a sincere heart to persuade people to do good and maintain ethics. The main body of the novel revolves around the experiences of the Huatong family in Huage Old Street, Datong Prefecture, Shanxi during the Anshi Rebellion during the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty. As a student member of the county, Huatong faced the dilemma of loyalty and filial piety, and finally fled with his family under the advice of his second son Zhaokun. On the way, Hua Tong used his wisdom to defeat the bandits twice and saved Tao Wu's village. Later, his family moved to Tangjia Town, where they received generous help from squire Tang Deyuan. The story focuses on the filial conduct of Huatong's eldest son, Zhaobi, second son, Zhaokun, and third son, Zhaoai, as well as their efforts to study and gain fame despite hardships. Interspersed during this period are the marriages between the Hua family, the Tang family, Xia Zhixian and other families, as well as the deep friendship between Li Dachun's mother and son and the Hua family's mutual help, showing the world's human feelings and loyalty, filial piety and justice. This book profoundly embodies the traditional Confucian thought of "the family is harmonious and then the country is governed". Through the loyalty of the Chinese father and son, the filial piety of the Chinese children, the righteousness of friends and neighbors, and the pursuit of fame by the characters in the book, it vigorously promotes the ethical principles of filial piety, loyalty and trust, harmony and friendship, and places expectations on persuading good and punishing evil, and maintaining family tradition. This book adopts the form of a chapter-style vernacular novel, with popular and fluent language, twists and turns of the plot, vivid characters, and education embedded in the story. It is a representative work for understanding the social ethics and the style of popular novels in the late Qing Dynasty.