K: The Art of Love
Encyclopedia
K: The Art of Love is a 1999 novel by Hong Ying
which was published in 2001 in Taiwan
. It is about a fictionalised account between Julian Bell
and his married Chinese lover K. The book was banned in China
after the daughter of Ling Shuhua
sued the author for using her mother's name as K. After a 2002 ruling by a Chinese court, the book was deemed a "defamation of the dead". The author rewrote the book, which was published in 2003 under the title The English Lover.
's son, ambulance driver Julian Bell, was killed in the Spanish Civil War
and his body was taken to China. This shocked his married lover Lin Chang who tried to commit suicide
multiple times. Their love affair began when Julian was a colleague of Lin's husband, who was a scholar. Julian referred to Lin (his eleventh lover) as "K
" which is the eleventh letter of the alphabet
. However, the love affair was threatened by betrayal and tragedy .
Hong Ying
Hong Ying was born in Chongqing on September 21, 1962, towards the end of the Great Leap Forward. She began to write at eighteen, leaving home shortly afterwards to spend the next ten years moving around China, exploring her voice as a writer via poems and short stories.After brief periods of...
which was published in 2001 in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. It is about a fictionalised account between Julian Bell
Julian Bell
Julian Heward Bell was an English poet, and the son of Clive and Vanessa Bell . The writer Quentin Bell was his younger brother, and the writer and painter Angelica Garnett is his half-sister...
and his married Chinese lover K. The book was banned in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
after the daughter of Ling Shuhua
Ling Shuhua
Ling Shuhua was a Chinese modernist writer whose short stories became popular during the 1920s and 30s.-Biography:Ling Shuhua was the daughter of the fourth wife of a high ranking Qing official from the southern province of Canton who later served as the mayor of Beijing...
sued the author for using her mother's name as K. After a 2002 ruling by a Chinese court, the book was deemed a "defamation of the dead". The author rewrote the book, which was published in 2003 under the title The English Lover.
Plot
Vanessa BellVanessa Bell
Vanessa Bell was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury group, and the sister of Virginia Woolf.- Biography and art :...
's son, ambulance driver Julian Bell, was killed in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
and his body was taken to China. This shocked his married lover Lin Chang who tried to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
multiple times. Their love affair began when Julian was a colleague of Lin's husband, who was a scholar. Julian referred to Lin (his eleventh lover) as "K
K
K is the eleventh letter of the English and basic modern Latin alphabet.-History and usage:In English, the letter K usually represents the voiceless velar plosive; this sound is also transcribed by in the International Phonetic Alphabet and X-SAMPA....
" which is the eleventh letter of the alphabet
English alphabet
The modern English alphabet is a Latin alphabet consisting of 26 letters and 2 ligatures – the same letters that are found in the Basic modern Latin alphabet:...
. However, the love affair was threatened by betrayal and tragedy .