How long does it take to read The Carnal Prayer Mat?
Li Yu
The Carnal Prayer Mat by Li Yu takes about 6 hours 29 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 6 hours 29 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1644. 354 pages, about 97,350 words.
13 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 10 hours 49 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 6 hours 29 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 4 hours 3 minutes |
The page count is the median across 25 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
In the three hundred years since its initial publication, Li Yu's The Carnal Prayer Mat has been widely read in China, where it is recognized as a benchmark of erotic literature and currently enjoys the distinction of being a banned-in-Beijing classic. The story centers on Scholar Vesperus, a handsome orphan and student of Zen. Before taking his monastic vows, Vesperus embarks on a career of licentiousness. His adventures as "hero of the boudoir, a champion of sex" take both comic and calamitous turns, until eventually he attains "enlightenment on the carnal prayer mat."
Subjects: China, Fiction, Sex customs, Sexual behavior, Social life and customs, Young men
