The word shunga ("spring picture"), used to identify woodblock prints that portray erotic subjects, is not simply a euphemism for the awakening of natural urges. Rather, as both these books inform us, it is an abbreviation of a longer Chinese name, shunkyu higa ("secret pictures from the Spring Palace"), which refers to ancient Chinese beliefs about the balancing of yin and yang in imperial erotic practice.
The frank depiction of erotic scenes, and the place of this genre in the history of woodblock prints, is fully expounded by Rosina Buckland in an illustrated book drawing on the British Museum's collection. The improved quality of the reproduction is notable, as against older volumes, besides the matter-of-fact treatment of the subject. There have been several recent studies of these prints, setting them in historical context, and dispensing with the myths that may surround them.
One of the more common misunderstandings is that they are intended to work like modern pornography, purely for titillation, whereas most show "ordinary, consensual relations between lovers, husband and wife, or sometimes prostitute and client." Their purpose was partly celebratory, and occasionally instructive, as well as stimulating. They were produced in large numbers in the 18th and 19th centuries, generally in albums, by some of the most distinguished artists of the day, despite being "nominally banned commodities."