The first time I read a direct depiction of sex by Ma Boyong was in "The Secret of the Three Kingdoms." Prior to that, I had read his "Antique Bureau Intrigue" and "Whale Riders of the Four Seas," which contained some romantic elements, but no R18 descriptions.

Of course, although it is said to be a "direct depiction," it merely means that there was no pressure from content censorship to avoid necessary plot points in the novel; rhetorically, it is still a side depiction.

Let's take a look at how Ma Boyong directly describes sex in "The Secret of the Three Kingdoms":

Fu Shou shifted towards Liu Xie, resting her head on the broad shoulder of the man. One long leg, intentionally or unintentionally, draped between her legs, and her soft, warm body naturally leaned closer. This time, there was no gap between them, and Liu Xie could fully feel the smoothness and tenderness of the woman's skin. The dignified and virtuous queen from the daytime now resembled a beast lying in the dark, poised to pounce. Liu Xie felt his throat dry, just about to ask for some water, when a pair of red lips approached him. He instinctively raised his hand to block her fingertips but accidentally fell into a large, plump embrace, then was slightly bounced back. Since arriving in Xuchang, Liu Xie had been overwhelmed by shock, worry, fear, confusion, and frustration, feeling extremely repressed. At this moment, this bold provocation opened a small gap in his tightly wound mental defenses, and almost in an instant, the immense pressure that felt like Mount Tai collapsed the dam, transforming into a raging torrent that swept him and the woman in his arms together, starting off with a joy akin to transcending into immortality. Liu Xie felt as if he were holding a giant brush, painting on a piece of pure, soft paper, the brush tip soaked in thick ink, splattering juice as he waved it. Marks were left on the smooth surface of the paper. The edges of the paper curled slightly, as if resisting, but were forcefully flattened, allowing the long and hard brush handle to move freely. Horizontal, slanting, vertical, dotting, hooking, each stroke was so vigorous and powerful, penetrating through the paper.

Recently, I spent some time reading one of his short stories, "Lychee of Chang'an," on the subway, and once again encountered Ma Boyong's direct depiction of sex:

Li Shande returned home, feeling elated, as the stone that had weighed on his heart for months could finally be set down. He played double-six with his daughter for a while, read a few poems by Luo Binwang to lull her to sleep, and then pulled his wife into the tent, beginning to tally the overflowing grain in the granary.

This long-time official was indeed meticulous in checking the accounts, and whenever he found something crucial, he would always calculate it repeatedly. Every entry in the accounts, every income and expenditure, had to be accounted for before he would relent. After several rounds of adjustments and offsets, the grain was finally submitted in full, and the inventory was cleared.

I found it very interesting. So I searched and discovered that Ma Boyong himself had discussed this issue on Zhihu:

Since it is a part of the erotic section in a novel, it is assumed that the erotic depiction mentioned by the questioner should be literary and serve the entire novel, rather than purely sensory stimulation—or we might say more bluntly, "an erotic depiction that won't get you arrested." There are many ways to achieve this, one of which is a technique that is relatively easy to apply and can be used by many people, called scene substitution. Technically, the author needs to be good at association, comparing sex to other actions, using metaphors, symbols, and textual hints to allow readers to associate sex from these scene substitutions. As for what actions to compare it to and what scenes to substitute, it varies cleverly and completely depends on your imagination.

.......

In simple terms, to successfully complete an erotic scene substitution, one needs bold imagination, comparing eroticism to an absurd yet reasonable behavior; at the same time, careful depiction is required to avoid overshadowing the main theme.

In this answer, he also provided many examples.

For instance, from ancient literature, "New Tales of Lanterns: Record of the Fragrant Building":

Accidentally entering the top of Pengshan, hibiscus and peonies bloom on either side. This body is like a butterfly stealing fragrance, playing in the flower clusters several times a day.

From modern literature, Lao She's "Rickshaw Boy":

The lights in the room went out. The sky was very dark. Occasionally, one or two stars pierced the Milky Way or fell into the darkness, trailing red or white light, floating lightly or stiffly, falling straight or sweeping across, sometimes flickering, trembling, giving the sky some warmth and movement, and the darkness some flickering bursts. Sometimes one or two stars, sometimes several stars, fell simultaneously, making the quiet autumn sky tremble slightly, causing all the stars to become momentarily confused. Sometimes a single giant star pierced the corner of the sky, its tail extremely long, radiating star flowers; red, turning yellow; in the final advance, suddenly joyfully illuminating a strip of the sky, as if piercing through layers of darkness, letting in and lingering some milky light. After the residual light faded, the darkness seemed to shake a few times, then closed back in, quietly and lazily, the stars returned to their original positions, smiling in the autumn breeze. Some autumn fireflies were flying around, playing like stars.

Lao She's "The Moon":

His smiling lips on my face, from his hair, I saw the crescent moon that was also smiling. The spring breeze seemed drunk, breaking through the spring clouds, revealing the crescent moon and two pairs of spring stars. The willow branches on the riverbank swayed gently, frogs sang love songs, and the fragrance of tender reeds spread in the warm air of spring evening. I listened to the flowing water, as if giving the tender reeds some vitality, imagining the reed stems growing lightly upwards. Little dandelions on the warm ground seemed to be pouring sap onto the tips of the petals. Everything was melting with the power of spring, gathering spring in that subtle place, then releasing some fragrance, like flower buds breaking through the petals. I forgot myself, like the flowers and grass around me, absorbing the essence of spring; I lost myself, as if I had melted into the gentle light of that spring breeze and moon. Suddenly, the moon was covered by clouds, and I remembered myself, feeling his heat pressing against me.

Deng Yiguang's "I Am the Sun":

That night, Guanshan Lin turned the hot earthen kang into another battlefield, a strange and fresh battlefield for him. He was like a rookie soldier, unfamiliar with the terrain, unaware of the battle situation, not understanding the circumstances, and unable to wield weapons, stumbling around in a white snowy field. His head was hot, immensely excited, not knowing how to fight this battle, just charging forward recklessly with agility, bravery, strength, and endless enthusiasm and energy. After the initial battle ended, he had gained some experience and tactics like an old soldier. He became infatuated with the allure of the battlefield. He was inspired by his unstoppable energy. He began to learn to be a junior commander, to analyze the battle situation, understand the circumstances, scout the terrain, and then organize troops to launch charge after charge. He was panting, drenched in sweat, highly excited. He saw his attacks becoming increasingly effective, almost all directly hitting the opponent's vital points. This was a brand-new war experience, different from those he had experienced before, with a completely different yet delightful charm. He felt increasingly confident. He believed he was born to be a soldier, an invincible warrior. He no longer had to be at a loss in the face of war, no longer had to be constrained, and would no longer achieve nothing. For a professional soldier, this seemed innate; in just one night, he had transformed from a rookie into an excellent commander capable of dominating the entire battlefield.

D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover":

She seemed like a great sea, full of dark waves, rising, swelling, swelling into a giant wave, and slowly, the entire dark her began to move, becoming a silent, ignorant, stormy ocean. Inside her, the sea bottom parted, swaying left and right, gently, wave after wave drifting far away. It kept undulating. In her most sensitive parts, the abyss parted, swaying left and right, and in the center, the diver was gently exploring deeper, going deeper and deeper, increasingly touching her depths, and she was increasingly exposed, her waves surging more violently towards some shore. The diver, who could be distinctly felt, was going deeper and deeper. Her own waves were drifting further away, leaving her, abandoning her, until suddenly, in a gentle, trembling spasm, she realized she had been touched, everything was complete, she was no longer there, she had transcended: a woman.

He also provided some humorous examples of failed attempts:

The senior suddenly pinned the campus belle down on the bed, saying, "I've liked you for a long time!" The campus belle gently pressed her hand on his chest: "Senior, I was asking you for help with my homework. Can you help me find the indefinite integral of ∫xcos2xdx?"

"Hmm, you need to use integration by parts here; the specific steps are as follows." The senior climbed off the campus belle, put on his glasses, picked up a pen, and wrote down 1/2 xsin2x - ∫sin2xdx in his notebook. The campus belle was very happy: "Senior, you are so amazing!" She wrapped her arms around him, and a fragrant scent wafted. The senior pushed her away impatiently, saying, "It's not done yet." He wrote another line: 1/2 xsin2x + 1/4 cos2x + C.

What about the general solution of dy/dx - x/e^y = 0? The campus belle looked at him with affectionate eyes, almost dripping with charm. The senior, entranced, played with e^y dy and x dx with his pen until the campus belle let out a soft moan, and both sides thoroughly separated the variables...

The following excerpt was selected for a 2005 worst English novel award by an American website:

"He stared at her ample bosom, beginning to fantasize about the Stromberg carburetor in his vintage 'Triumph Spitfire.' It was a high-performance, beautifully designed machine, just standing there on the intake manifold, yearning for a pair of experienced hands to manipulate it. The polygonal little screw cap on the oil line begged to be inspected and adjusted, just like in Chapter Seven of the sales manual."

Reference

• "The Secret of the Three Kingdoms"
• "Lychee of Chang'an"
• https://www.zhihu.com/question/23820465/answer/25779348