Passions-of-the-Cut-Sleeve中国古代断袖

PassionsoftheCutSleeve

themalehomosexualtraditioninChinaPassionsoftheCutSleeveTheMaleHomosexualTraditioninChinaBretHinsch

(Author)

Theexistenceof

homosexualityinChina

hasbeen

welldocumented

sinceancienttimes.Accordingtoonestudy,homosexualityinChinawasregardedasanormalfacetoflife,priortotheWesternimpactof1840onwards.However,thishasbeendisputed.ManyearlyChineseemperorsarespeculatedtohavehadhomosexualrelationships,accompaniedbyheterosexualones.

Oppositiontohomosexuality,accordingtothestudybyHinsch,didnotbecomefirmlyestablishedinChinauntilthe19thand20thcenturies,throughthe

Westernization

effortsofthelate

QingDynasty

andearly

RepublicofChina.Ontheotherhand,Gulik'sinfluentialstudyarguedthattheMongol

Yuandynasty

introducedamoreasceticattitudetosexualityingeneral.

ItisalsoarguedthattheclassicalChinesewereunabletoexpresshomosexualityinacoherentandempatheticmanner."

Thus,itmayremainforfurtherresearchtodeterminethequestionofwhetheranti-gayattitudesinModernChinacanbesignificantlyattributedtotheentranceofWesternattitudesintoChina,orwhetheroppositionwasmerelynotexpressedinacoherentmanner.Eitherway,itisindisputablethathomosexual

sodomy

wasbannedinthe

People'sRepublicofChina

fromatleastthetwentiethcentury,untilitwaslegalizedin1997.In2001,homosexualitywasremovedfromtheofficiallistof

mentalillnessesinChina.HomosexualityhasbeendocumentedinChinasinceancienttimes.The

IntriguesoftheWarringStates（《战国策》）,acollectionofpoliticaladviceandstoriesbeforetheHanDynasty,referstoDukeXianofJin晋献公

(reigned676–651BCE)plantingahandsomeyoungmaninarival'scourtinordertoinfluencetheotherrulerandtogivehimbadadvice.《战国策·秦策》晋献公“欲伐虞，而惮宫之奇存。苟息曰：《周书》有言，美男破志。乃遗之美男，教之恶宫之奇，宫之奇以谏而不听，遂亡；因而伐虞，遂取之”。《周书》中说的是“美男破志，美女破居，武之毁也”，其意思是“美男”和“美女”都可能成为国破家亡的祸根。

Thehistorian

HanFei《韩非子·说难篇》recordedamoreexaltedexampleintherelationshipof

MiZixia

(弥子瑕)and

DukeLingofWei

(卫灵公).MiziXiawasthefavoredcourtierofDukeLingbecauseofhis

beauty.WhenMiziXiagotnewsthathismotherwasill,heforgedanorderfromtheDuketouseaducalcarriagetotravelquicklytoseeher,andwaspraisedforhisfilialpiety.Anothertime,MiziXiabitintoanespeciallydelicious

peach

andgavetheremaindertotheDukeasagiftsohecouldtasteitaswell.Bothactsingratiatedhimfurtherwiththeruler.However,onceMiziXia'slooksfaded,theDuketurnedagainsthim,claiminghestolethecarriageandtheninsultedtheDukebyofferinghimahalf-eatenpeach.

Thehistorian

HanFei《韩非子·说难篇》recordedamoreexaltedexampleintherelationshipof

MiZixia

(弥子瑕)and

DukeLingofWei

(卫灵公).《史记·老子韩非列传》昔者弥子瑕见爱於卫君。卫国之法，窃驾君车者罪至刖。既而弥子之母病，人闻，往夜告之，弥子矫驾君车而出。君闻之而贤之曰：“孝哉，为母之故而犯刖罪！”与君游果园，弥子食桃而甘，不尽而奉君。君曰：“爱我哉，忘其口而念我！”及弥子色衰而爱弛，得罪於君。君曰：“是尝矫驾吾车，又尝食我以其馀桃。”Anotherexampleofhomosexualityatthehighestlevelofsocietyfromthe

WarringStatesperiod

isthestoryof

LordLongYang龙阳君andtheKingofWei魏安釐王.ThekinghadafavoritenamedLordLongYang,withwhomheenjoyedfishing.Oneday,Longbegantoweep.Whenquestioned,Longsaidhesawhisownfutureinhowhehadtreatedafish.Happytohavethecatchatfirst,LongYanghadwantedtothrowitbackwhenhecaughtabetterfish.Hewept,"Iamalsoapreviously-caughtfish!Iwillalsobethrownback!"ToshowhisfidelitytoLongYang,thekingdeclaredthat,"Anyonewhodarestospeakofotherbeautieswillbeexecutedalongwithhisentirefamily".Anotherexampleofhomosexualityatthehighestlevelofsocietyfromthe

WarringStatesperiod

isthestoryof

LordLongYang龙阳君andtheKingofWei魏安釐王.《战国策·卷二十五·魏四》魏王与龙阳君共船而钓，龙阳君得十余鱼而涕下。王曰：“有所不安乎？如是，何不相告也？”对曰：“臣无敢不安也。”王曰：“然则何为涕出？”曰：“臣为王之所得鱼也。”王曰：“何谓也？”对曰：“臣之始得鱼也，臣甚喜，后得又益大，今臣直欲弃臣前之所得矣。今以臣凶恶，而得为王拂枕席。今臣爵至人君，走人于庭，辟人于途。四海之内美人亦甚多矣，闻臣之得幸于王也，必褰裳而趋王。臣亦犹曩臣之前所得鱼也，臣亦将弃矣，臣安能无涕出乎？”魏王曰：“误！有是心也，何不相告也？”于是布令于四境之内曰：“有敢言美人者族。”Anotherexampleofhomosexualityatthehighestlevelofsocietyfromthe

WarringStatesperiod

isthestoryof

LordLongYang龙阳君andtheKingofWei魏安釐王.阮籍昔日繁华子，安陵与龙阳，夭夭桃李花，灼灼有辉光。悦泽若九春，磐析似秋霜，流盼发姿媚，言笑吐芬芳；携手等欢爱，宿昔月衣裳，愿为双鸟飞，比翼共翱翔；丹青著明誓，永世不相忘。——《咏怀诗·三》

Anidiomatictermforhomosexualityin

Chinese

is

duanxiuzhipi

(断袖之癖,literally,“passionofthecutsleeve”),derivedfromanepisodeinvolvingDongXian董贤andEmperorAi汉哀帝.Theyoftenslepttogetheronthesamebed,Oneafternoon,afterEmperorAiwokeupfromanap,Dongwasstillsleeping,andEmperorAi'ssleevewasstuckunderDong'shead.RatherthanwakingDongup,EmperorAicutoffhissleevetoallowDongtocontinuetosleepwithoutdisturbance.EmperorAialsogaveDongthebestweaponsandthemostpreciousjewelsfromtheimperialtreasury-somuchsothatwhatDongusedwasevenmorepreciousthanwhatEmperorAipersonallyused.Further,imperialburialtoolswerepre-awardedtoDonginpreparationforhiseventualburial,andDong'sfuturetombwasbuiltrightnexttoEmperorAi'sown.Anidiomatictermforhomosexualityin

Chinese

is

duanxiuzhipi

(断袖之癖,literally,“passionofthecutsleeve”),derivedfromanepisodeinvolvingDongXian董贤andEmperorAi汉哀帝.《汉书·董贤传》贤宠爱日甚，为驸马都尉侍中，出则参乘，入御左右，旬月间赏赐累巨万，贵震朝廷。常与上卧起。尝昼寝，偏藉上袖，上欲起，贤未觉，不欲动贤，乃断袖而起。其恩爱至此。贤亦性柔和便辟，善为媚以自固。每赐洗沐，不肯出，常留中视医药。The

Han

Dynasty

apparently

holds

the

record

for

the

greatest

number

of

emperors

who

kept

male

favorites.

Ten

of

the

men

who

ruled

China

during

that

dynasty

being

recorded

by

Sima

Qian

and

Ban

Gu

for

having

one

or

more

men

as

their

lovers.

They

were:Emperor

Gao

r.206-195BC

and

Jiru

高祖的籍孺Emperor

Hui

r.194-188BC

and

Hongru

惠帝的闳孺Emperor

Wen

r.179-141BC

and

Deng

Tong,

Zhao

Tan,

and

Beigong

Bozi

文帝的邓通、赵谈、北宫伯子Emperor

Jing

r.156-141BC

and

Zho

Ren

景帝的周仁Emperor

Wu

r.140-87BC

and

Han

Yan,

Han

Yue,

and

Li

Yannian

武帝的韩嫣、韩说、李延年Emperor

Zhao

r.86-74BC

and

Jin

Shang

昭帝的金赏Emperor

Xuan

r.73-49BC

and

Zhang

Pengzu

宣帝的张彭祖Emperor

Yuan

r.48-33BC

and

Hong

Gong,

Shi

Xian

元帝的弘慕、石显Emperor

Cheng

r.32-7BC

and

Zhang

Fang,

and

Chunyu

Zhang

成帝的张放、淳于长Writingsfromthe

LiuSongDynasty

claimedthathomosexualitywasascommonasheterosexualityinthelate3rdcentury:Allthegentlemenandofficialsesteemedit.Allmenintherealmfollowedthisfashiontotheextentthathusbandsandwiveswereestranged.Resentfulunmarriedwomenbecamejealous.《宋书·五行志》上记载：“自咸宁太康以后，男宠大兴，甚于女色，士大夫莫不尚之，天下咸相仿效，或有至夫妇离绝，怨旷妒忌者。”

MingDynastyliterature,suchas

BianErChai

(《弁而钗》),portrayhomosexualrelationshipsbetweenmenasmoreenjoyableandmore"harmonious"thanheterosexualrelationships.Anexampleofamarriage-likerelationshipbetweenmenwasthatformedbythescholar-bureaucrat

BiYuan

毕沅

(1730–1797)andthe

Suzhou

actorLiGuiguan李桂官.Thetwomenexchangedvowsoffidelity,andLiGuiguanretiredfromthestagetobeaddressedbyacquaintancesasBi'swife.Thiswasauniquerelationshipinitslocality,somuchsothatitwasstillremembered200yearslater,whenitinspiredthenovel

PreciousMirrorofRankingFlowers《品花宝鉴》

by

ChenSen陈森.“苏伶有号‘碧成夫人’者，姓李名桂官，字秀章，吴县人。昔在庆成部，名重一时，尝与某巨公乡谊，时佐其困乏，情好无间。后巨公莅外省，桂官亦脱身同往，于今十数年矣。”The

Songdynasty

wasthelastdynastytoincludeachapteronmalecompanionstotheemperorsinofficialdocuments.

Increasingurbanizationcausedthemonetizationofallkindsofsexuality,andthefirst

law

againstmaleprostitutes,nevereffectivelyenforced,wentintoeffect.AftertheSongDynasty,homosexualbehaviorwasmostdocumentedamongstthe

gentryandmerchantclasses,sincethesewerethepeoplewhoweredoingmostofthewriting.

The

QingDynasty

institutedthefirstlawagainstconsensual,non-monetizedhomosexualityinChina.Ithasbeenconstruedthatthismayhavebeenpartofanattempttolimitallpersonalexpressionoutsidegovernment-monitoredrelationships,cominginresponsetothesocialchaosattheendoftheMingDynasty.Thepunishment,whichincludedamonthinprisonand100heavyblows,wasactuallythelightestpunishmentwhichexistedintheQinglegalsystem.

Confucianism,beingprimarilyasocialandpoliticalphilosophy,focusedlittleonsexuality,whetherhomosexualorheterosexual.However,theideologydidemphasizemalefriendships.Although

Taoistalchemy

regardedheterosexualsex,asawayofmaintainingamale's"lifeessence",homosexualitywasseenas"neutral",becausetheacthasnodetrimentalorbeneficialeffectonaperson'slifeessence.Same-genderlovecansometimesbedifficulttodifferentiatein

ClassicalChinese

becausethepronouns

he

and

she

werewrittenwiththesamecharacter.AndlikemanyEastandSoutheastAsianlanguages,Chinesedoesnothavegrammaticalgender.

Inaddition,agooddealofancientChinesepoetrywaswrittenbymeninthefemalevoice,or

persona.AnothercomplicationintryingtoseparateheterosexualandhomosexualthemesinChineseliteratureisthatformostofChinesehistory,writin