性欲和性爱兴趣是全人类所共有的，从古代遗留下来的春宫图和性玩具等文物就足以证明这一问题。性爱是人类社会客观而普遍存在的社会现象，性文化发展是人类文明进步的重要组成部分。人们一直以来将春宫图看成是淫秽色情之物，这是不健康思想因素在人们内心深处外化的彰显。其实，春宫图是我国古代最初的性教育教材。古时候，女人大多数十五六岁就出嫁了，对男女之事一窍不通，一些大家闺秀出嫁前都由母亲或媒婆向出嫁女展示春宫图进行性爱启蒙教育，并把春宫图当作压箱底的嫁妆。
在唐代，虽然谈不上性开放，但是对性爱的包容性是比较强的。由于推崇黄老思想，以道教为国教，对性趣味、性养生和性技巧等性文化理论研究达到了较高的境界，此时的春宫图在高端阶层受到普遍的欢迎，主要在皇宫贵族和文人骚客中流传较广。宋代由于受到“程朱理学”的影响，性文化遭到破坏和禁锢，但到了明清时期，春宫图已经飞入寻常百姓家了。当然历代都有一小撮淫邪之徒把春宫图当作是满足淫秽思想和行为之物，遭到社会的唾弃和抵制，使得性文化一直以来“犹抱琵琶半遮面”，但性文化毕竟是人类的共同财富，性文化的发展呈现“青山遮不住，毕竟东流去”的势头。
宋代以前留传下来的春宫图比较少，这存在几方面的原因：一是春宫图总是不公开的，除非是一些很荒淫的帝王贵族，为了追求极端的刺激，才会去制作。二是文字的传播总是比图画容易一些，毕竟春宫画不是什么人都能画的，需要技巧娴熟的画师。三是即便有画师愿意画，中国到了东汉才出现纸张，更要到五代才发明雕版印刷术，这点也影响了春宫图的传播。
明代文人沈德符《敝帚斋余谈》描述了春宫图的有关情况：
春画之起，当始于汉广川王画男女交接状于屋，召诸父姐妹饮，令仰视画。及齐后废帝于潘妃诸阁壁，图男女私亵之状。……至隋炀帝乌铜屏，白昼与宫人戏，影俱入其中。唐高宗“镜殿”成，刘仁轨惊下殿，谓一时乃有数天子。……至武后时，遂用（镜殿）以宣淫。杨铁崖诗云：“镜殿青春秘戏多，玉肌相照影相摩。六郎酣战明空笑，队队鸳鸯浴饰波。”……而秘戏之能事尽矣。后之画者，大抵不出汉广川齐东昏之模范，唯古墓砖石中原此等状，间有及男色者，差可异耳。
可见这些春宫画的载体要么是墙壁，要么是屏风，要么是镜子，都不具备便携性、移动性，自然传播的效能也就有限了。
东汉著名的科学家、文学家张衡的《同声歌》就提到纸上春宫图：
邂逅承际会，得充君后房。情好新交接，恐栗若探汤。不才勉自竭，贱妾职所当。绸缪主中馈，奉礼助蒸尝。思为苑蒻席，在下蔽匡床。愿为罗衾帱，在上卫风霜。洒扫清枕席，鞮芬以狄香。重户纳金扃，高下华灯光。衣解巾粉御，列图陈枕张。素女为我师，仪态盈万方。众夫所希见，天老教轩皇。乐莫斯夜乐，没齿焉可忘。
根据诗歌的内容，我们倒不难推想，这是一个女人诉说自己花烛之夜的经历和感受。诗中提及的“列图”应该是“春宫秘戏图”。他在另一篇赋《七辨》中也写过女子观赏春宫图的情景：“假明兰灯，指图观列，蝉绵宜愧，夭绍纡折，此女色之丽也。”由此可见，汉代就有人以春宫图来指导夫妻性生活了。
清代著名的戏曲家李渔的《肉蒲团》中写到未央生因为妻子玉香从小受到正统的教育而在房事上表现得极为冷淡，而决定借助春宫画来引导妻子的故事：
未央生见她没有一毫生动之趣，甚以为苦，我今只得用些淘养的工夫，变化她出来。明日就书画铺子中，买一幅绝巧的春宫册子，是学士赵子昂的手笔，共有三十六幅，取唐诗上三十六宫都是春的意思，拿回去，典与玉香小姐一同翻阅，可见男女交媾这些套数，不是我创造出来，古之人先有行之者，现有程文墨卷在此，取来证验。玉香初次接触春宫画册，马上面红耳赤，立刻要让丫环拿去烧了。后经未央生一再解释说明，玉香再次观看起来。玉香看到此处，不觉骚兴大发，未央生又经过一页，正要指与她看，玉香就把册子一推，立起身来道，什么好书，看得人不自在起来，你自己看，我要去睡了。
可见，性交这种事情，有些人可能比较迟钝，有赖于性教育。古代不像现在这样可以在网上获得性教育片子，所以春宫图在这方面发挥的功用是不可忽视的。
到了唐代呢，流行的房中术的图书中很多就配上各种各样的性交姿势的插图，如《天地阴阳交欢大乐赋》就提到了插图本的《素女经》。不过这些图片经过战乱和漫长的岁月，一张也没有留下来。不过我们还是能通过一些后世文人笔记，找到唐代春宫画的蛛丝马迹。
晚明的大画家和大收藏家张丑，一次偶然在太原王氏大姓之家中，见到了唐代著名画师周昉的《春宵秘戏图》，这张图失传已久，此时重现人间，自然让他喜出望外，欣喜欲狂，当即以重金购得，并在自己所著的《清河书画舫》写下跋记：
乃周景元所画，鸥波亭主（元名画家赵孟，擅长春宫画）所藏。或云天后，或云太真妃（杨贵妃），疑不能明也。传闻，画画妇女，多为丰肌秀骨，不作纤纤娉婷之形。今图中所貌，目波澄鲜，眉妩连卷，朱唇皓齿，修耳悬鼻，辅靥颐颔，位置均适。且肌理腻洁，筑脂刻玉，阴沟渥丹，火齐欲吐，抑何态浓意远也！及考装束服饰，男子则远游冠、丝革鞋，而具帝王之相。女妇则望仙髻、绫波袜，而备后妃之容。姬侍则翠翘束带，压腰方履，而有宫禁气象！种种点缀，沉著古雅，非唐世莫有也。
夫秘戏之称，不知始于何代。自太史公撰列传，周仁以得幸景帝入卧内，于后宫秘戏而仁常在旁。杜子美制宫词，亦有“宫中行乐秘，料得少人知”之句，则秘戏名目其来已久，而非始于近世耳。
按前世之图秘戏也，例写男女二人相偎倚作私亵之状止矣，然有不露阴道者，如景元创立新图，以一男御一女，两小鬟扶持之；一侍姬当前，力抵御女之坐具；而又一侍姬尾其后，手推男背以就之。五女一男嬲戏不休，是诚古来图画所未有者耶。
周昉极喜爱画女人，画她们弹琴、调琴，托腮、静思，千姿百态，栩栩如生。他的仕女图，“画子女为古今之冠”（唐·朱景玄《唐朝名画录》），以至于晚唐的仕女画家们几乎都处于墨守“周家样”的阶段，可以说在晚唐的仕女画坛上，他是技压群雄。这样一位绘画大师不以画春宫图为耻，可见当时的风气了。更值得注意的是，周昉的春宫画在继承中有发展，由单纯的一对男女性交发展到五女一男的群交，更是题材上的一大进步。
对于春宫图，古今中外，历朝历代，都出现过，时代越远，留传下来的越少。在人类历史长河中，人们在对美食的研究不断地推陈出新的同时，对性爱的美感享受也不遗余力地钻研。只是性在人们的思想、观念、道德、文化等方面受到限制，才表现得比较隐讳。便得人们在性文化交流上遮遮掩掩，讳莫如深。因此，春宫图留传下来就显得更加不易了。但对于文艺复兴之后的欧洲和日本，春宫图荣登大雅之堂，作为经典画作留传于世。
----------Introduction in English----------
Sexual desire and sexual interest are common to all mankind. Cultural relics such as the Spring Palace and sex toys left over from ancient times are sufficient to prove this problem. Sex is an objective and universal social phenomenon in human society, and the development of sex culture is an important part of the progress of human civilization. People have always regarded the Spring Palace as obscene and pornographic, which is the manifestation of unhealthy ideological factors in people's inner depths and externalization. In fact, the Spring Palace Map is the first sex education textbook in ancient China. In ancient times, most women married at the age of fifteen or sixteen. They knew nothing about men and women. Before they got married, some ladies were shown the Spring Palace Map by their mothers or matchmakers to their married girls for sexual enlightenment education. They regarded the Spring Palace Map as a dowry at the bottom of the box.
In the Tang Dynasty, although not open to sex, but the inclusiveness of sex is relatively strong. Because of the worship of Huang Lao Thought and Taoism as the national religion, the study of sexual culture theory has reached a higher level, such as sexual interest, sexual health and sexual skills. At this time, the Spring Palace Map was widely welcomed by the high-level stratum, mainly spread among the royal nobles and literati and poets. Influenced by "Neo-Confucianism of Cheng and Zhu" in the Song Dynasty, sexual culture was destroyed and imprisoned, but by the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Spring Palace Map had flown into ordinary people's homes. Of course, a small group of prostitutes in the past dynasties regarded the Spring Palace as something to satisfy obscene thoughts and behaviors, which was rejected and resisted by the society. Sexual culture has always been "half covered with pipa". However, sexual culture is the common wealth of mankind after all. The development of sexual culture shows that "green mountains cannot be covered up, after all, it flows eastward". InMomentum.
Before the Song Dynasty, few Spring Palace maps were handed down. There are several reasons for this. First, Spring Palace maps are always not public, unless they are very prostitute emperors and nobles, they will be produced in order to pursue extreme stimulation. Secondly, the spread of words is always easier than that of pictures. After all, Spring Palace paintings can not be painted by anyone. They need skilled artists. Thirdly, even if there were painters willing to draw, paper did not appear in China until the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it was not until the Five Dynasties that block printing was invented, which also affected the spread of Spring Palace maps.
Shen Defu, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, described the relevant situation of the Spring Palace Map in his book "The Remaining Talk of My Broom Zhai":
From the beginning of the Spring Painting, it began in the Han Guangchuan King's paintings, where men and women joined each other in the house, calling all the fathers and sisters to drink and making them look up at the paintings. After the Qi Dynasty, Emperor Abandoned Pan Fei's Cabinet Wall to depict men's and women's indecency. Up to the Sui Dynasty Emperor Yangdi's Wutongping, the daytime and palace people's play, the shadow are all in it. Tang Gaozong's "Mirror Hall" was completed, and Liu Ren-gao startled His Highness. It was said that there were several sons in a moment. By the time of Empress Wu, the temple of mirrors was used to publicize prostitution. Yang Tieya's poems: "Mirror Hall has a lot of youth mysteries, and the jade muscles take each other's photographs. Liu Lang's battle is bright and empty, and the team's mandarin ducks are bathing and decorating the waves. And the secret opera can do everything. The latter painters are probably not the models of the Eastern Dusk of the Han, Guangchuan and Qidong Dynasties, but the masonry of the ancient tomb is in the same shape as that of the Central Plains.
It can be seen that the carriers of these Spring Palace paintings are either walls, screens or mirrors, which do not have portability and mobility, and the effectiveness of natural transmission is limited.
Zhang Heng, a famous scientist and writer of the Eastern Han Dynasty, mentioned the picture of the Spring Palace on paper in his book The Song of the Same Sound.
Encountering the meeting, you have to act as the emperor's back room. Feelings good new handover, fearing chestnuts if soup. Only then can we exhaust ourselves and do what a humble concubine is supposed to do. Silk Muses are fed in the middle, offered gifts and steamed. Thoughts for the garden mat, under the shelter Kuangbei. Wish to be Luo Xixi, in the wind and frost of Shangwei. Sprinkle the pillow mat and remove the fragrance. Heavy household Najinzhao, Gaoxia Huaguang lighting. Clothes, towels and pillows. Su Nu is my teacher, and her manners are magnificent. As many people would like to see, Emperor Xuan of Heaven. Lemos's night music is unforgettable.
According to the content of the poem, it is not difficult to imagine that this is a woman's experience and feelings of her candle night. The "Legend" mentioned in the poem should be the "Secret Drama of the Spring Palace". In another Fu, Qi Dian, he also wrote about the scenes of women viewing the Spring Palace map: "False blue lanterns, referring to the view of the map, cicadas deserve to be ashamed, the death of Shaoshao, the beauty of this woman." From this we can see that in the Han Dynasty, some people used the Spring Palace Map to guide couples'sexual life.
Li Yu, a famous dramatist in the Qing Dynasty, wrote in Pork Pu Tuan that Weiyangsheng was extremely indifferent in his house affairs because his wife, Yuxiang, had received orthodox education since childhood. He decided to use the Spring Palace paintings to guide his wife's story:
Weiyang Sheng felt bitter when he saw that she had no vivid interest. Now I have to use some time to change her. Tomorrow in the painting and calligraphy shop, I will buy an ingenious brochure of the Spring Palace, which is written by Zhao Ziang, a Bachelor of arts. There are thirty-six pieces. The thirty-six palaces in Tang poems are the meaning of spring. Take them back and read them together with Miss Yuxiang. It can be seen that these sets of intercourse between men and women are not created by me. Ancient people have traveled first, and Cheng Wen is available. Here's the ink roll for proof. When Yuxiang first contacted the Spring Palace picture album, she immediately blushed and let the maid take it and burn it. After repeated explanations by Weiyang Sheng, Yuxiang watched again. Yuxiang saw this place, unconsciously thriving, Weiyangsheng passed another page, just to point to with her, Yuxiang pushed the pamphlet, stood up, what good books, people feel uncomfortable, you see, I want to go to sleep.
It can be seen that sexual intercourse, some people may be relatively slow, depending on sex education. In ancient times, unlike today's online sex education movies, so the Spring Palace Map plays an important role in this respect.
In the Tang Dynasty, many popular books of room art were accompanied by illustrations of various sexual gestures, such as the "Heaven and Earth Yin and Yang Happy Fus" which mentioned the illustration version of "Su Nv Jing". But none of these pictures survived the war and the long years. However, we can still find traces of the Spring Palace paintings in the Tang Dynasty through the notes of some later literati.
Zhang Chou, a great painter and collector in the late Ming Dynasty, accidentally met Zhou Fang, a famous painter of the Tang Dynasty, in his family with the surname of Wang in Taiyuan. This picture has been lost for a long time. At this time, when he reappeared in the world, he was naturally overjoyed and overjoyed. He immediately bought it with heavy gold and wrote Qinghe Shuhu Painting Fang. 》 Write down the postscript:
It was painted by Zhou Jingyuan and by Gulboting Master (Yuan Ming painter Zhao Meng, good at Changchun Palace painting). Or after the clouds, or the clouds too true imperial concubine (Yang Guifei), doubtful also. Rumor has it that most of the women who draw pictures are full of muscles and bones, not in the shape of slender and graceful. In this picture, the eyes are clear, the eyebrows are charming, the teeth are bright, the ears and noses are trimmed, and the adjuncts are in good position. And the texture is greasy and clean, build fat and carve jade, sewer Ottan, fire is ready to vomit, or what kind of strong meaning is far away! As for clothes and clothing, men travel far away in crowns and silk shoes, and have the appearance of emperors. The woman looks forward to fairy buns and ripple stockings, while reserving the concubine's face. Ji Shi wears Cuiqiao girdles, pressing his waist and walking side by side, while there is a forbidden weather! All kinds of ornaments, calm and elegant, not Tang Dynasty.
I don't know where the name of secret opera began. From Tai Shigong's biography, Zhou Ren was fortunate that King Jingdi was in bed, and Ren was always there in the back court secret opera. Du Zimei's Palace Ci also has the phrase "Happy Secret in the Palace, which is expected to be known by few people". The name of the secret opera has a long history, not from the ears of modern times.
According to the pictures of previous generations, it is only possible to write examples of men and women snuggling against each other as private obscenities. However, there are those who do not reveal their vagina, such as Jingyuan, who created a new picture, supported by a man and a woman, supported by two young servant girls; a servant-in-law who is currently trying to resist the seat of a woman; and a servant-in-law who is behind her tail, pushes the man behind her back. Five women and one man play endlessly, which is unprecedented in Chenggulai's paintings.
Zhou Fang likes to paint women very much. He paints them playing the piano, tuning, holding their cheeks, meditating, full of variety and lifelike. His paintings of ladies and women, "Painting children is the crown of the past and the present" (Tang Dynasty's Famous Paintings Catalogue), so that the late Tang Dynasty's ladies and painters are almost at the stage of adherence to the "Zhou family style". It can be said that in the late Tang Dynasty's ladies and women's painting circle, he is a master of skills. Such a painter was not ashamed of painting the Spring Palace, which shows the atmosphere of the time. More noteworthy is that Zhou Fang's Spring Palace paintings have developed in inheritance, from simple sexual intercourse between men and women to group intercourse between five women and one man, which is a great progress in the theme.
For the Spring Palace Map, ancient, modern, Chinese and foreign, all dynasties, have appeared, the farther the era, the fewer left. In the long history of human beings, people have been constantly pushing out the old and bringing forth new ideas in the study of food, and at the same time, they have spared no effort to study the aesthetic enjoyment of sexual love. Only when sex is limited in people's thoughts, concepts, morality and culture, can it be more concealed. So that people can hide and hide their sexual cultural exchanges. Therefore, it is more difficult for the Spring Palace map to be handed down. But for Europe and Japan after the Renaissance, the Spring Palace Turong Teng Daya Hall, as a classic painting, was handed down to the world.
