Excerpts from the Chin P'ing Mei (Golden Lotus); a book about sex and politics written in the 16th century about upper class people in the 12th century.

Golden Lotus played the flute exquisitely, but that was not the instrument she placed between her lips.

For a long time she played softly, the pleasure of Hsi-men Ch'ing becoming unendurable.

At last, deft fingering tormented a cascade of music from the pipe, while Hsi-men Ch'ing dissolved in bliss...

As you can see, these poems and stories made good use of puns and innuendo.

Moonbeam passed fruit, sweet with honey, from her mouth to his.

She took another fruit with dainty fingers and began caressing it with her tongue.

Taking it out of her mouth from time to time she marvelled at its deep purple colour and firmness,

before slipping it back between her lips.

Its juice too was sweet to her taste.

Then it was time to pass that fruit to another mouth...

Purple Fire Lady heated some wine, passing it from her mouth to his, tickling his tongue with hers.

Hsi-men Ch'ing, thirsty for another wine, knelt and pressed his tongue deep into the purple cup set in alabaster.

A magic cup! The more he drank, the more it filled.

The tongue he found lacked eloquence in words, but not in sighs...

Something of a foot fetish is alluded to in parts of the story.

When Hsi-men returned from washing, Golden Lotus was naked on the cushions.

In the heat she fanned her white limbs with a white fan, but her shoes were crimson.

Naked himself, Hsi-men wriggled his toes in another crimson shoe.

Then, setting to work more seriously, he made his little plaything glisten under his fingers,

the crimson opening slippery with nectar on his tongue.

A 19th century sex poem about feet:

When you sat in your dark chair

Ripe with fat fruits of yellow and red silk

Alive with blue lithe animals

Pressing your scented rose-ended

Peach-coloured feet against my face,

I was humiliated, as you desired.

Unfortunately for Chinese women, from about a thousand years ago until the beginning of last century, bound feet were the equivalent of big breasts. They were seen as feminine and highly desirable. So the crimson shoes and the feet mentioned above were tiny; from a very young age, girls had their toes and arches broken and their feet soaked and tightly bound with the toes pressed against the sole. These stunted, deformed feet became known as Golden Lotuses because of their shape and colour. Minuscule, pointed shoes were made for these feet.

More information:

• Chinese Foot Binding: The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco
• Foot Binding: Australian Museum
• Images

More Sex in History:

• Shunga
• Medieval Japan: Love-lives of the Japanese Nobility 1,000 Years Ago Part 1
• Medieval Japan: Love-lives of the Japanese Nobility 1,000 Years Ago Part 2