Why I love Sir Robert Hart's Lust for a Concubine in 19th Century China by Lloyd Lofthouse

There is an old, well known axiom — which came first, the chicken or the egg? For man, that question should be — which comes first, lust or love?

The answer for Robert Hart was lust while he was attending the Queen's College, Belfast (1950 - 1953), and the love came later in China after 1955.

As a young man, Hart's Wesleyan Methodist conscience failed to prevent bouts of promiscuity. While attending the Queen's College in Belfast, he seduced too many women and his reward was a dose of syphilis, which was probably treated and cured with the primary treatment, which was mercury in the form of calomel, ointments, steam baths, pills, and other concoctions. Another medicine to treat syphilis was Guajacum—used to treat the STD since the 16th century.

About a year after arriving in China, Robert met and bought Ayaou, a Chinese concubine, with whom he developed genuine affection and respect.

In fact, after his decade-long romance with Ayaou, there was no evidence that he sought a lusty romance with anyone else. In "Entering China's Service, Robert Hart's Journals, 1854—1863" the editors wrote, "Hart's years of liaison with Ayaou gave him his fill of romance, including both its satisfaction and its limitations."

One can only imagine what Hart experienced during his romance with Ayaou that nothing else ever equaled or surpassed it.

Of course, if it hadn't been for Sir Robert Hart burning his journals covering the first 2 years and nine months of that romance, my curiosity may not have been aroused enough to discover more about this lusty relationship, which led to more than a decade studying China's history and culture.

Sterling Seagrave wrote in "Dragon Lady" that "he (Hart) had a sleep-in dictionary, his concubine, Ayaou. He had just turned twenty; Ayaou was barely past puberty but was wise beyond her years. Thanks to her his life settled into a quiet routine and he was able to get on with his… Chinese studies, quickly becoming fluent in Mandarin and Ningpo Dialect."

Seagrave said, "Robert was raised a strict Wesleyan… Life was all work and pleasure was sinful."

It was those lusty pleasures that Hart experienced with Ayaou for a decade in the middle of the 19th century that caused him to burn those journals a half century later in an attempt to erase his sinful love of Ayaou from the record, but he failed and although we do not know much about Ayaou, we do know that she was real and had a significant impact on his life.

Through Ayaou, Hart learned to love China and had great plans for its future. He wrote, "I want to make China strong, and I want to make England her best friend."

Hart's skills as Inspector-General of Chinese Maritime Customs were recognized by both Chinese and Western leaders, and he earned several Chinese honorific titles, including the Red Button, or button of the highest rank, a Peacock's Feather, the Order of the Double Dragon, the Ancestral Rank of the First Class of the First Order for Three Generations, and the title of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. He also received a baronetcy from Britain's Queen Victoria, and in 1906 he was awarded a Grand Cross of the Order of the Danneborg by the King of Denmark.

In "The Concubine Saga", my goal was to breathe life back into that bitter-sweet romance that existed between Robert Hart and his concubine Ayaou.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the author of My Splendid Concubine and Our Hart [combined in this single volume], which earned honorable mentions in general fiction at the 2008 London Book Festival, 2009 San Francisco Book Festival, 2009 Hollywood Book Festival, 2009 Los Angeles Book Festival, 2009 Nashville Book Festival and was a finalist in historical fiction for the National Best Books 2010 Awards. Lloyd Lofthouse grew up in Southern California, served in the Vietnam War as a U.S. Marine and lives near San Francisco with his wife and family with a second home in Shanghai, China.

Leave an approved comment on one or more Blog posts found at Lloyd Lofthouse.org or iLook China.net
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Our Hart: Elegy for a Concubine by Lloyd Lofthouse

Last year, I had the opportunity to review the award winning 'My Splendid Concubine' by Lloyd Lofthouse. I really enjoyed it and told Lloyd that I would love to review his sequel. Luckily, he took me up on and my offer.

'Our Hart' is the continuation of the fictionalized account of the real person, Robert Hart. In 'My Splendid Concubine' he was an interpreter for the British Consulate in China. He fell in love with two concubines, Ayaou and her younger sister Shao-mei. At the end of the book, Shao-mei, was killed by someone out to get revenge on Robert.

In 'our Hart', Robert and Ayaou grieve over Shao-mei and Robert tries to better protect Ayaou. As his career grows, so does his family. Ayaou has children and their eunuch servant, Guan-Jiah becomes a surrogate uncle for the children. Robert became the deputy commissioner of customs for the Ch’ing dynasty in his late 20's. and it kept him away from his family for long stretches at a time. He was indispensible to the dynasty and work for them in to his senior year. They fondly referred to him as "Our Hart".

Our Hart is the story of Robert's lifelong career in China and his relationship with Ayaou and his lifetime servant, Guan-Jiah. Lloyd Lofthouse does a great job pacing the story and keeping the reader engaged. I thought the story got a bit repetitive with Ayaou's whining and questioning Robert's love but other than that it was a great story. Note, that I read an uncorrected proof, so perhaps some of Ayaou's whining was reduced.

Though 'Our Hart' could be read as a standalone book, I highly recommend that you read 'My Splendid Concubine' first, as it gives you quite a bit of background that makes 'Our Hart' a richer read. I highly recommend both of these books to historical fiction lovers who are interested in Chinese culture.

If you are interested in learning more about the books, Robert Hart, and China, Lloyd Lofthouse has a blog with some great links to explore. It is called, Learning China.

4/5

My Splendid Concubine by Lloyd Lofthouse

This review was first posted on June 7, 2009 over at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time.  I forgot to post it here on Historical Tapestry but wanted you to see this review, before I post my review to the sequel, Our Hart.  Stay tuned for that review in a couple days.

This book is a fictionalized account of Robert Hart who was known as the 'Godfather of China's modernism'. Hart was born and raised in Ireland . In 1954 we went to China to work for the British Consulate as an interpreter.

Robert Hart was set on making up for his days of drinking and womanizing in Ireland. He went to China to prove himself and "grow up." When faced with the possibility of getting a concubine for himself, he felt quite conflicted. However, it was what men did in China, even most of the "foreign devils". He got a Chinese instructor and immersed himself in Chinese customs and culture.

He did end up getting two concubines, his first year in China. Ayaou and her younger sister Shao-mei. He taught Ayaou and Shao-mei how to read and enjoyed life with them both.

When he first met Ayaou, it was love at first site. He planned to buy her from her father but Ward, an American Opium smuggler, beat him to it. He was devastated and set out to rescue her from Ward, who is known for his mistreatment of his concubines. Robert does end up with Ayaou but with tragic consequences.

It took Lloyd Lofthouse close to 9 years to research and write this wonderful book. The pages kept on turning late into the night. This novel mostly covers Robert Hart's life in China for his first year. He did eventually move on from the British Consulate and became Inspector General of Chinese Mandarin Customs, the Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent of the Ch'ing dynasty, and the chief adviser for the Emperor.

My only complaint is that I would have liked to have learned more about Hart and how he became so important to China. I also would have liked to know what finally happened to Ayaou. This book is only 250 pages and I wish that it would have been long enough to touch on these important details. Could there be a book II in the works? I hope so!

I highly recommend this book! Be forewarned, there are some juicy sex scenes in this book. If that kind of thing bothers you, don't read this book.

4/5