Ling Shu

Before her marriage, the young woman was inclined toward ascetic practices and had the ability to see spirits. Her world was filled with gods, ghosts, and the bones of men. Her dowry included a vermilion camphorwood chest and four thousand thread-bound ancient books—everything at the bottom of the chest served as her sexual education materials. Many of the books contained fire-avoidance diagrams, though even the god of fire, Zhu Rong, did not spare her texts. What we can see now is only the world she inhabited at her parental home, and the various erotic objects she keeps as solitary companions in her current life.