Writers Wang Xiaoyu and Jiang Liping explore the lives of two fascinating women who not only engaged in the "oldest profession" but also led intriguing lives that challenged the moral precepts of the times. Writing about these women from a feminist point of view, the writers have taken a revisionist approach that attempts to debunk some of the fallacies male writers have advanced in their depictions of these complex characters, writes Zhao Feifei

Sai Jinhua (1874-1936) was a notorious woman, portrayed in Chinese literature as perhaps the most promiscuous and decadent courtesan of her time.

Sai's legend has intrigued many, including Hollywood director Oliver Stone, who is said to be considering making a movie about her libidinous life. But a local novelist, Wang Xiaoyu, has taken a somewhat revisionist stance on the seductress, emphasizing her power and sympathizing with her fate.

In her latest novel, Wang attempts, with some success, to clear Sai's name - or at least provide some justification for her sullied reputation.

"From the very first I knew it would be a thankless task to write about a woman who has been repeatedly scrutinized by authors - primarily male authors," says 60-year-old Wang. "I tried to explore her world from a woman's angle."

The biographical novel is one of a series of books on famous women who held their own lives with men throughout Chinese history.

Published by Shanghai Guji Publishing House, the series includes books on Wu Zetian, China's only female emperor who lived during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907); Wang Zhaojun, a Han-dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) aristocrat married off in the interests of diplomacy; Empress Lu Hou, the de-facto ruler during Han Dynasty; Princess Gaoyang, who created the most scandalous extramarital affair in Tang Dynasty; and notorious courtesans Chen Yuanyuan, Liu Rushi and Sai Jinhua whose lives were all entwined with power.

Sai Jinhua was an enigmatic character, according to Wang, whose novel will appeal to those with an interest in Sai's sexual and intellectual life.

In the book, Sai is described not only as a femme fatale who, during the downfall of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), made the casting couch look like a sandbox, but also as a revered woman who played a fascinating role in shaping the history.

A concubine of an 80-year-old ambassador at large in late Qing empire, Sai was fluent in both English and German. A lover of art and poetry, she transcended the limits placed on women by tradition and culture. She allegedly changed China's fate during the Boxer Rebellion through her liaison with the German Count Waldersee, who was then a field marshal in command of the allied occupying forces in China.

Unlike her counterparts, Sai never "suffered any retribution for her 'transgressions'," says Wang.

Sai's story has long been a favored theme for playwrights such as Zeng Pu, Zhang Chunfan, Xiong Foxi and Xia Yan. Zeng uses Sai Jinhua's romantic adventures in his novel "A Flower in the Sea of Sins" ("Nie Hai Hua," 1907) about late Qing upheavals.

"With her mercurial nature and inexhaustible energy, however, Sai is a subject best seen through the eyes of a woman," says Wang. "She could appear to be a formidable character, threatening to laugh away not only the old moral political canons but also the new 'revolutionary' ones yet to be established."

More than just a biography of Sai, Wang's novel delves into the marginalization of women of the time. In her narrative, Wang launches into diatribes about the fate of women in a world that treated them as objects.

"One of the most difficult tasks for the biographical novelist is to 'live' with the characters no matter how far away they've been with you in time," Wang says. "So I took one year to collect and read all the material about the era in which Sai lived. But literature is invention. I fictionalize Sai to some extent. I'm only a stickler for truth when it comes to historical background."

Biographical novelist Jiang Liping concurs with Wang in this sense. As the author who wrote a book about the famous courtesan Liu Rushi, Jiang undertook exhaustive research on Liu's epoch to enrich and enliven the heroine who lived almost 400 years ago.

"There are three points of view from which a writer can be considered," says Jiang, quoting Vladimir Nabokov. "She may be considered as a storyteller, a teacher, or as an enchanter."

"My intention was not to be a history teacher. With this fascinating character, I elected to be an enchanter, to make her appear larger than life," she adds.

A column writer for Xinmin Evening News, Jiang applied her journalistic skills to probe Liu's legend. Liu was known for her love of literature and was poet in her own right. Coming from a poor family, however, she was sold to a brothel at the age of 10. The time of Liu Rushi was the era in which poets lived and thrived - the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). During this period, courtesans received a good deal of education, such as music, poetry, art, dance, and even chess, in order that - like the Japanese geisha - they might be better equipped to entertain their clients.

Liu Rushi eventually fell in love with Chen Zilong, a well-known writer of the time. But the difference in their social position made marriage impossible.

"Chen was weak-minded. He didn't dare to sacrifice his family for marrying such a notorious woman. So Liu had to reconcile the hot reality of her passion with the cold truth that they could never be together," says Jiang.

With her rare mix of beauty, intelligence and wit, Liu became the most sought-after courtesan. She later married Qian Qianyi, another famous literary figure in late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

Writers Wang and Jiang approach their subjects from a feminist perspective, taking a dim but realistic view of the unfortunate conditions women were forced to live - under the backward belief that women were inferior to men.