Of the four of Shen Fu's records which have passed down to us, the first three recount his life with his adorable wife Yün, whose sweet nature was subject to anxiety and depression, sensitive to the harsh judgements of her in-laws, and prone to ill health, which we know from early on will sunder the loving couple. Shen's grief at her death is palpable and moving.

The couple live an aesthetic life, troubled by precarious employment, poverty and family dissensions, through which their joy in nature, art and literature is sustaining.

Several of the blurbs I read make much of Yün's search for a concubine for Shen, but this takes up only a small part of the account and is, I assume, a prurient sales-pitch as, again, it's done rather sweetly and was culturally appropriate, and not mentioned was Yün's own interest in having a same-sex relationship within the domestic home. Also not mentioned in blurbs are Shen's visits to sex workers, which somehow seems a double-standard. His description of these experiences is honest and humanises the women he spends time with without romanticising the reality of their lives.

The last record is a travel memoir and, while interesting on its own account, lacks much of the intimate nature of the preceding sections, not least because Yün is largely absent and Shen attention is more on the external than internal experience.
Overall, 4½⭐ ( )

Neuausgabe 2019:
https://www.matthes-seitz-berlin.de/buch/aufzeichnungen-aus-einem-fluechtigen-le...

Interesting if nothing else. As a historical document, it serves a [debatable] purpose at understanding Qing china. That aside, Six Records is no Epic of Gilgamesh; rather it is a memoir of a low-level bureaucrat's mistakes over waxed philosophy. Interesting, but not groundbreaking if you are looking for a "fun read." ( )

"Six Records of a Floating Life" follows author Shen Fu and his wife Yün through early 19th Century China. A smart woman, Yün asks Shen Fu to teach her to read and write, which he happily does. Their life is both simple and difficult, spending days discussing art and poetry while at the same time trying to earn a decent living as a civil servant and as an art dealer. The book begins as a memoir capturing the love and companionship between Shen Fu and Yün, but also provides a glimpse into the customs and societal views during early 19th Century China. Shen Fu displays the inner workings of their family, how traditions and customs affect everyday life (such as when Yün obtains a courtesan for him because it is expected by society), and also describes the sights and wonders of China from a foot travelers perspective. ( )

Shen Fu’s Six Records of a Floating Life is more than an autobiography; it is a life composed from poetry and flower petals. Somewhere between the beauty of the words is also found a glimpse into a moment in time that few Westerners understand, much less know of. It is inside these words that can be discovered new concepts and previously unknown ideals. Concepts foreign to Western society take on stiff definitions based on incomplete knowledge and broad stereotypes. In Six Records of a Floating Life, Shen Fu presents to the reader some alternate outcomes and ideas of what may be preconceived Western notions about certain truths in Qing Dynasty China. ( )