As the first Asian instalment in the Liverpool University Press ‘Women in Ancient Cultures’ series, Olivia Milburn’s Khitan and Mongol Imperial Women in the Chinese Imagination explores retrospective representations of conquest-dynasty palace life in two Ming (1368–1644) texts, Fenjiao lu 焚椒錄 (An Account of Burned Pepper) and Yuanshi yeting ji 元氏掖庭記 (Yuan Dynasty Records of the Lateral Courts). This deft juxtaposition successfully draws into one discussion several of the foremost issues in Chinese history and literature: gender, ethnicity, historiography, publishing culture, and dynastic change. Complete with full annotated translations of both texts, the result is a monograph that will be of interest to a broad range of scholars.

Chapter 1 sets the historical scene for the Liao (1040–1075) and Yuan (1271–1368) dynasties, grouping them under the conquest-dynasties framework, and introduces what can be known of the historical lives of court women in general, as well as the specifics on some of main characters of the texts. Another focus of discussion is the established practices of official historiography; Milburn notes the retrospective production of official histories, their limited scope as venue for discussing the lives of court women, and their level of influence on later textual production. Chapter 2 introduces the phenomenon of ‘Silk Pillow’ literature. This overview deserves particular praise as a highly useful primer on such writings: while providing a successful overarching framework for the interpretation of the subsequent chapters, it lends itself equally well to being read as a standalone piece. In ‘modern terms, Silk Pillow literature can be understood as a sub-genre within historical fiction’ (p. 47), composed of ‘prose fictional accounts of life in the imperial harem’ (p. 42). Using a rich body of examples, Milburn traces its origins back to the Tang period (618–907) (p. 45) and outlines its general characteristics. One feature crucial to the purposes of the monograph is that such texts ‘commonly incorporated overt claims of authenticity’ (p. 47). Originally ‘not meant to be taken seriously … these claims to genuineness have too often been taken at face value’ (p. 48). The chapter also broaches underlooked aspects of the corpus such as its preoccupation with material culture (pp. 59–63): as the voyeuristic eye of forger and reader passes over imagined palace relationships, so too it relishes in their imagined material luxury.

Chapters 3 and 4 are focused on Fenjiao lu, comprising a discussion of the history, reception, and content of the text, along with a complete annotated translation. The novella tells the story of the downfall of the ill-starred Empress Xuanyi 宣懿, chief consort to Daozong 道宗 of Liao (r. 1055–1101). Produced by the late Ming forger Yao Shilin 姚士粦 (1559–1644), the tragic narrative recounts how this innocent and musically talented empress was framed by enemies at court and ultimately ordered to commit suicide. Chapters 5 and 6 turn to Yuanshi yeting ji, which mostly depicts life in the harem at the court of the final Yuan emperor Togon-Temür (Emperor Shun (Shundi 順帝); r. 1333–1368). This entertaining romp of a text is ‘a late Ming pastiche’ (p. 113) composed partly of earlier writings. It draws upon the format of Shangqing 上清 Daoist texts, a feature shared with late imperial erotica (p. 125). A dissection of its textual features, publishing circumstances, and attribution history is followed by the translation. Together with vivid descriptions of the luxuries of the palace, we meet a colourful cast of consorts and palace ladies, ranging from the corrupt and sadistic to the servant girl Ningxiang’er 凝香兒, who delighted the palacefolk with a dance routine in which she would toss her hat and shoes ‘high into the air, only to don them again’ (p. 154).

One important contribution of this monograph is its treatment of forged texts and how some have perceived them as authentic period works, which along the way reveals a tangled web of contributing factors and events, past and present. The premodern ones are identified in, for example, the irresistible mystique of the Rear Palace as it ‘became more and more cut off and remote’ (p. 53); the publishing culture of the late Ming: ‘the rare books market was sufficiently profitable that authors began to create intentional forgeries’ (p. 4) and ‘a great deal had been lost and it was almost impossible for anybody to lay hands on a complete copy of anything’ (p. 67); reader preferences and textual conventions like ‘the demand for an easy-to-understand version of events’ (p. 58); and the retrospective circumstances under which official historiographies were produced: ‘[Gengshen waishi 庚申外史] has been incorporated into the [Yuan] dynastic history … its spectacular descriptions of imperial debauchery and decadence … profoundly flattering to the founder of the Ming dynasty, who commissioned the History’ (p. 123). That some modern historians have continued to believe in the authenticity of forged texts is a similarly complex matter. Factors touched upon include an over-reliance on the dynastic histories, with one text ‘assumed to be genuine because it accords with the dynastic history—unsurprising because the author based his work on the History’ (p. 16); the absence of alternative sources: ‘since [Fenjiao lu] is considered a unique survival from the Liao dynasty, many scholars have become extraordinarily invested in its authenticity’ (p. 81); and inadequate levels of source analysis ‘[a]t no stage … was the lack of any provenance [for Yuanshi yeting ji] prior to the first publication in 1618 seen as problematic’ (p. 119). All these cautionary tales find pertinence far beyond the cases in question into our general treatment of the Ming corpus, reminding us of the hazards inherent to the legacies of the late Ming publishing scene, as well as the preconceptions with which we as modern scholars may approach our material.

In approaching the sticky topics of fakes and forgeries, Milburn is careful to guide the reader not only against too judgemental a verdict but also against disregarding them wholesale on account of their forged origins. As the rise of digital methods may enable stylistic analysis on a grander scale and the detection of forgery networks, this study is a timely example of how scholars could go about interpreting and reclaiming a potentially further emergent body of late imperial forgeries. More specifically, the book represents one answer to the question of how these texts and others like them should be approached in light of their inauthenticity. We should be careful not to perpetuate a ‘disastrous blurring of boundaries between history and fiction’ (p. 5). The book lays out the undesirable consequences of this, which have been, for example, to distort understandings of Khitan women’s literary activities through the inclusion of works by Ming Chinese men in the corpus (p. 82), and to ‘legitimize negative portrayals of the personalities of the late Yuan dynasty in general, and Togon-Temür in particular’ (p. 124). Nonetheless, Milburn makes equally clear that a work not being an authentic period work does not automatically detract from its cultural and literary value. To the contrary, it is only by treating works like these as late Ming productions that we can see forged texts in their ‘true cultural context and appreciate the artistry and originality of the author’ (p. 91). Ultimately, it is the application of this lens that leads to original readings: for example, Fenjiao lu as ‘a polemic against the education of women’ (p. 69) and ‘a novella about texts and literacy’ (p. 91), and the intriguing—and to many counter-intuitive—facet of Yuanshi yeting ji as a late Ming production which ‘displays a strongly pro-Mongol, pro-Togon-Temür Khan perspective’ (p. 114).

Throughout, the study assumes a modern, clear-cut distinction between fact and fiction in its approach to its material, for example, of Silk Pillow writings: ‘[t]his is a liminal genre; it draws on both history and fiction’ (p. 63). These distinctions are suitable—even necessary—for the purposes of this work. Yet it is often remarked that what would today be thought of as fact, fiction, and history were differently conceptualised in premodern China, in ways that might well be particularly pertinent to the textual production and reception of Silk Pillow writings and late Ming forgeries alike. Future studies may wish to further delve into the mindset of forgers and contemporaneous readers, as well as the malleability of history such texts potentially imply. Milburn’s isolation of this category of texts also provides opportunities for cross-genre study in comparison with other writings set in historical times.

As a final note, this monograph can also be read as part of Milburn’s existing body of work on Silk Pillow literature, most prominently The Empress in the Pepper Chamber: Zhao Feiyan in History and Fiction (Seattle, 2021). These two books could be read together, or indeed set together on syllabi. As regards teaching, the reader is reminded that it is this genre that provided antecedents and inspiration for the court-based period drama series that continue to enthral the current generation of students worldwide. This, combined with the book’s clear writing style, its provision of in-depth background information, and the broad range of historical themes it broaches, makes Khitan and Mongol Imperial Women an intuitive choice for a class reading.