Romances and Tragedies: Qinhuai and Place-based Remembrance at Nanjing

Qinhuai, an area along the historic canal on the south side of Nanjing, have captured the imagination of countless artists and writers over the centuries. Home of the famed pleasure quarters, glamorous courtesans, and their elite patrons, it is symbolic of the prosperity and cultural achievements of Nanjing. This paper explores how seventeenth-century artists joined their literary counterparts to create the imagery of Qinhuai and represent memories associated with this site.

Because of its rich history, the historic capital Nanjing has long been remembered through the literary tradition of huaigu, a mode of artistic production that involves reminiscences inspired by visits to historic sites. As huaigu expanded into the visual realm during the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing artists participated in processing and shaping memories by producing images of famous sites in and around the city. Unlike other sites that have a recognizable architectural structure and well-defined symbolism, huaigu representation of Qinhuai is more complicated since it doesn't have a distinctive physical feature. Furthermore, literature on Qinhuai tends to focus on personal experiences, including friendships and love stories that happened along the river. I argue that, in addition to the usual depiction of landscapes, portraits of Qinhuai courtesans are also huaigu images. Through a popular literary trope that uses the precariousness of the female entertainer's fate as a general metaphor for dynastic rise and fall, the courtesans represented the Qinhuai pleasure quarters in general, all the famous men who frequented the brothels and by extension their stories, experiences, and memories.