German research institute ends up with a Chinese text on stripping housewives

Beijing, Dec.10 (ANI): There were red faces on the editorial board of one of Germany's top scientific institutions, the Max Planck Institute, when it ended up with a racy flyer extolling the lusty details of stripping housewives in a brothel.

The respected research institute, according to a report in The Independent, wanted Chinese classical texts to adorn its journal, something beautiful and elegant, to illustrate a special report on China. Instead, it got the text of a handbill for a Macau strip club on the front page of its latest journal.

Editors had hoped to find an elegant Chinese poem to grace the cover of a special issue, but instead of poetry they ran a text effectively proclaiming "Hot Housewives In Action!" on the front of the third-quarter edition.

Their "enchanting and coquettish performance" was highly recommended.

The use of traditional Chinese characters and references to "the northern mainland" seem to indicate the text came from Hong Kong or Macau, and it promised burlesque acts by pretty-as-jade housewives with hot bodies for the daytime visitor.

The Max Planck Institute was quick to acknowledge its error explaining that it had consulted a German Sinologist prior to publication of the text.

"To our sincere regret ... it has now emerged that the text contains deeper levels of meaning, which are not immediately accessible to a non-native speaker," the institute said in an apology.

"By publishing this text we did in no way intend to cause any offence or embarrassment to our Chinese readers, " it said.

But publication of the journal caused some anger among touchier Internet users in China who felt the institute had done it on purpose to insult China.

The journal has since been updated online and its cover now carries the title of a book by the Swiss Jesuit, Johannes Schreck (1576-1630). The Jesuit text in question was "Illustrated Explanations of Strange Devices". (ANI)