Golden Lilies

by Kwei Li, Kwei Li

Century-old letters tell a story of timeless love in a vanished country

First translated by American scholar Elizabeth Cooper in 1914 and published as My Lady of the Chinese Courtyard , this haunting collection of letters was out of print until discovered by bestselling author Eileen Goudge. In its pages she found the story of Kwei-li, a noblewoman of nineteenth-century China. In rich, elegant detail, Kwei-li writes of passionate love for a man whom she first meets on their wedding day. She navigates the difficulties of homemaking and motherhood, becoming a confident wife as her happy home is threatened by the forces of change that are sweeping the nation. Enhanced with beautiful new illustrations, this is a timeless chronicle of a strong woman’s struggle against the onset of modernity. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Eileen Goudge including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Genres: China, History, Asia

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 21, 1990

Reviews

[Raaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is split into two parts, both of which I liked. The first is a series of love letters of a young wife to her husband, who is away on a business trip, speaking of her countryside life in the familial home with many references to natural aesthetics and traditional valuesystems. She speaks of the scale of her life, the mourning of her baby who succumbed to fever, and the nagging of her mother in law. The second half of the book covers letters to said mother in law, now that the MC has moved to a modern home in Shanghai, and topics shift to the international politics of modernization, dealing with foreign philosophy, and her son being accused of murder. I enjoyed both immensely: the main character is hopelessly romantic, open-minded, and always aiming to learn about something before drawing judgement. Her philosophy too is based on mutual understanding and using international ideas to one's own benefit, which was interesting to me as she was portrayed as a sheltered courtly lady.

This leads us to the problem of authenticity, which is disputable at best. In the introduction, Goudge writes how this book is an adaptation (read: modern rebranding) of "My Lady of the Chinese Courtyard", a 1914 book by Elizabeth Cooper. Firstly, I don't like how Cooper is not credited on the cover; the changes in the 'adaptation', in Goudge's own words, were 'minimal'. Except for the new images, which were outsourced to a Chinese artist (also not mentioned on the cover!), no notes or additional scholarship were added either. If anything, to me it seemed that Goudge took the old translation, changed all 'thou's to 'you's and slapped her own name on the front.

Potentially blatant plagiarism aside, the story itself leaves reason to believe that the orginal work's provenance is also not as clearcut as we are made to think. Cooper, it is said in the Introduction, was friends with this Kwei-li (our MC), and thus got her hands on the letters and proceeded to translate and publish them in book-form. As Goudge rightfully notes, some people have expressed doubts about the genuineness of this Kwei-li character. But, she writes, she uncovered an official by the same name of Kwei-li's son, so it must be true! Well, I am not convinced. Though I cannot make an assessment on how common that name was to see if it might have been a coincidence, I do think that if she were real she would have left more evidence behind than a relative's name written in some dusty magistrative records. After all, it is often repeated how prominent and influential the Liu (Kwei-li's family name) are, and how her father spent 50 years as a high official. Furthermore, she lived in a 'palace' with seemingly hundreds of helps and travelled with an entourage half a mile long, so I'd believe something would be left behind. Either Goudge's research is severely lacking in scope, or Cooper made it all up. Another piece of corroborative evidence is that the story is simply, too polished. Nobody actually writes letters like the ones seen here; they are much too obvious in their emotions and thoughts (probably not common under this class), and ALL the 'gaps' that they logically leave due to them being exchanged between close relatives get expressly explained to the reader (eg. 'do you remember X'?). Also, they follow literally every narrative trope of the time you can think of. Young bride in new family home with nagging MIL? Check. Woman lives only for her husband? Check. Children moving on with foreign ideas but MC staying behind until she understands and then completely supports her children in everything they do? Check. I only started to realize this a few letters in when a sense of unease started creeping in, but I cannot stress enough that these letters are simply too perfect. They must have been heavily editted to have come to this point or never existed in the first place.

Real or not, it was entertaining.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 1 out of 5]

A star and a half. The epistolary novel is notoriously difficult to pull off, and Goudge does not achieve that. What could have been a gripping historical novel of China on the cusp of change turns out superficial and dull, its vitality sapped by the choice of format which reduces all action to tell-not-show. We are given most unsatisfactory scraps. What happened between parts 1 and 2? How many children did the MC actually have? We are never told...one minute it seems like her kids are all grown and beginning to make their way in the world, the next we hear of the "little ones". Confusing.

I would have given this overdescribed, underdeveloped book two stars but for the fact that Part 2 gets progressively preachier, full of "quotations" and poetry, and more and more explanations of Chinese culture thinly disguised as philosophical musings. If these were in fact real letters to family, MC would never have thought of telling her mother in law all that cultural stuff which the older lady knew first hand! Aside from that, it's painfully obvious that this book was written from the outside in--by an outsider whose research could never reveal to her the true mentality of another culture. To top it off, we are told that this is an "adaptation" of a supposed older work (also written by a Westerner) that the authoress found in a junk shop. Shades of Memoirs of a Geisha with its fake "translator's note" which is belied in the author's own acknowledgements. I don't for one moment believe the "found manuscript" tale either--unless said older work was fiction written by the Western "translator", as it well could be. Hoaxes of the type were common in the 19th century and early 20th century--I direct the interested reader to "Ossian."

I won't be troubling to find anymore of this authoress' work.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is simply beautiful! I love the square shape of the book, and the beautiful cover. The end papers and the illustrations are beautiful too. Those details make this a perfect coffee table book to use as decoration. The story of a young wife to her husband and then in her later years to her mother-in-law gave a peek into life in China before the Boxer Rebellion

On a side note, when I visited China about ten years ago why the Boxer Rebellion was called the "Boxer Rebellion." He made boxing moves and told me he had never heard about it. Obviously it goes by another name in China. I just thought it was curious such a large piece of history and my guide had no knowledge about it. Or maybe he couldn't talk about it?

[Elizabeth Reuter · Rating 5 out of 5]

China changed a lot at the turn of the 20th century. Golden Lilies shows us one person caught in that change, a government official's wife named Kwei-Li.

Kwei-Li was traditional. She believed her place was indoors, that a son was better than a daughter, that divorce was shameful, that obeying one's elders was an unquestionable duty. She was also empathetic, funny, and thoughtful. Golden Lilies collects her letters, which read like poetry, to her traveling husband. Sure of the world and her place in it, she's almost saintly in the first half.

Then the book skips twenty-five years and switches to Kwei-Li's letters to her mother-in-law. China is in a state of upheaval. Kwei-Li's tone now is confused and frustrated, and here we see more human flaws: she views Westerners with distrust, her feminist daughter with shame, and China's changing morality with fear. Yet her compassion and intelligence remain. Instead of turning her back on the "new" China, Kwei-Li tries to work through her confusion in her writing.

It's a remarkable book. To accentuate it, an introduction by author Eileen Goudge explains the historical context, and illustrations by Zhang Ging give visual context to Kwei-Li's words. Cooper, who published the original book in 1914, apparently embellished the letters for Western readers, explaining things they were unlikely to know. She does it tastefully: for example, one of Kwei-Li's letters worries a friend is facing divorce, and a brief sentence explains that women are shamed by divorce. The result remains accessible to people who know nothing of Chinese history, but not dull to those who do.

I recommend Golden Lilies to anyone interested in beautiful language, unique people, great moments in history, and China. Illustration fans might want to check out Ging's amazing linework, too.

-Elizabeth Reuter
Author, Demon of Renaissance Drive

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this out of Mom's bookshelves when I saw Eileen Goudge's name on the cover as I liked many of her novels. This is supposedly written by a Chinese woman Kwei-Li, whose letters were then published by an English woman Elizabeth Cooper, who claimed to know Kwei-Li. I say supposedly because no one really knows if these were actual letters from a Chinese woman or if it was a novel written in the form of letters, since it was once a popular style in the 18th and 19th centuries. Eileen Goudge researched them quite a bit and feels there was a real Kwei-Li; whatever is the truth, this is an interesting little book. The first part lets us know Kwei-Li in the very early years of her marriage, while her husband is overseas on a diplomatic mission. These letters are more personal and intimate as Kwei-Li updates her husband on the daily life of the household. The second part of the book takes place some 25 years later, as China is in great upheaval as the modern world intrudes. The letters here deal more with her reactions to the great changes China is undergoing, and reflect Kwei-Li's wider experience of the world.

[Dawn Paoletta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written (and edited) work. The letters written by Kai-Lei give a rare glimpse into a culture and time in history of a country amidst great historical turmoil and change. So glad I found this hardcover treasure many years ago and grabbed it, better still that I finally read it- it sat on the To Read pile far too long. NOW I need to share it... it is a rare treasure of a read.

[Rosi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this. Beautiful writing; a pleasure to read. Is it a true translation of letters written by a Chinese lady? Many times I thought not.....but it was very interesting to learn of the culture, politics, education, etc in such a lovely written way. Highly recommend.

[Carla Nicolas]

it kept me hanging on my bed!!!!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful insight into a female's view Chinese culture from authentic letters. Excellent.

[Nae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sort of bogs down in some spots, but on the whole an enjoyable book.

[Kitta Pálsdóttir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Einstaklega falleg bók - bæði skrifin og myndirnar. Segir frá tímunum tvennum í Kína. Bækur sem eru skrifaðar sem bréf eða eru byggðar á bréfum finnst mér alltaf áhugaverðar ;)

[Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains everything from political discourse to religious philosophizing to poetic descriptions that invoke in my mind such beauty. I loved the Insights into Chinese views on the role of women and how these roles affected Kwei-li. I became attached to her and her love and passion for her culture. The letter format of this book highlights Kwei-li’s struggles and changes. Her letters provided a window into which one can peer into a China that is changing from dynastic into a Republic. I began to sympathize with how Kwei-li despised the progress but eventually comes to terms with peace and acceptance of this change.