Erotica in Art
" In art, immorality cannot exist.
Art is always sacred"
August Rodin
Chinese
Miniatures
Sexual designs were used for porcelain ware by the Manchu emperors such as Ch'ien Lung and Hsien Feng, as a form of sexual elaboration. Erotic motifs and designs were used on vases, bowls, plates etc.; it has been established that such designs were painted on earthenware in the first and third centuries. One early Chinese habit was to bury earthen bowls and plates where "future rebel leaders or rulers might be born." It was thought that earthenware carrying erotic designs would bring ill luck to future rulers and thus forestall possible uprisings.
Oldest sex manualThe oldest sex manuals in the world can be traced to China, more than two and a half thousand years before the birth of Christ. Huang-Ti (2697-2598 B.C.), the legendary Yellow Emperor, has been regarded as the originator of the traditional sex practices and beliefs. The ancient "Handbooks of Sex," composed nearly five thousand years ago, anticipate anything produced in the West by well over two thousand years.
Most prolific Chinese writersIn the Eastern Han Dynasty (A.D. 25-220), a group of Taoist philosophers created Yin Taoism, firmly rooted in the importance of human sexual expression. This school of Taoists wrote volume after volume of sex manuals including "Su Nu Ching" (Manual of Lady Purity), "Yu Fang Mi Chueh" (Secret Codes of the Jade Room) the "Art of the Bedchamber" and "Yu Fang Chih Yao" (Important Guidelines of the Jade Room). To give their works authority and to exert influence on the emperors the Yin Taoists attributed the key points in their manuals to Huang Ti (the Yellow Emperor) and the ancient authority Peng Tsu who was said to have lived to 800 years of age
