[ **up: [[China--History]] | [[Queer--China]]** ] --- # Homoeroticism in Ancient China ## Homosexuality [[2025-0325. 'The term “homosexuality” or tongxinglian in Chinese, only appeared during the twentieth century ...'|'The term “homosexuality” or *tongxinglian* in Chinese, only appeared during the twentieth century when the Chinese word for sex (*xing*), historically defined by terms such as eroticism (*yu*), sentiment or passion (*qing*), was transformed to suit Western discourses of sexology (*xing bie*) (in terms of anomatomical/biological sex and not social) (Brownell and Wasserstrom 2002).]][^1] ## Homoeroticism in Ancient Chinese literary sources [[2025-0309. Ancient Chinese literary sources, in general, adopt a neutral attitude toward male homoeroticism. It is neither recommended nor sharply denounced.|Ancient Chinese literary sources, in general, adopt a neutral attitude toward male homoeroticism. It is neither recommended nor sharply denounced.]][^2] [[2025-0309. Ancient Chinese literary sources, in general, adopt a neutral attitude toward male homoeroticism. It is neither recommended nor sharply denounced.|Homosexuality of men is never mentioned in Ancient Chinese handbooks of sex, since these are concerned with conjugal sex relations only.]][^2] ### Ming dynasty [[2025-0325. 'Tales reflecting homosexual relationships between foxes and humans had appeared as early as the Ming Dynasty.'|'Tales reflecting homosexual relationships between foxes and humans had appeared as early as the Ming Dynasty.']][^3] [[“These tales are set against a background of strict Confucian orthodoxy and Buddhist beliefs in sexual activity (whether heterosexual or homosexual) as a manifestation of human greed ...”|'These tales are set against a background of strict Confucian orthodoxy and Buddhist beliefs in sexual activity (whether heterosexual or homosexual) as a manifestation of human greed, in a society where everything had its place, in which the boundaries of sexuality were rigidly controlled.']][^4] ### Qing dynasty [[2025-0325. 'Tales reflecting homosexual relationships between foxes and humans had appeared as early as the Ming Dynasty.'|’With both the increase in prevalence in society and fictional representation of homosexuality during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the stories of male–male sex between foxes and humans became increasingly popular, demonstrating the popular attitudes toward homosexuality among the Qing literati.’]][^5] #### Confucianism [[2025-0325. There were 'strict Confucian norms governing appropriate masculine sexuality ...'|There were 'strict Confucian norms governing appropriate masculine sexuality, which were that male sexuality needed to be both restrained and channeled in a heteronormative direction toward women, procreation and the resultant reproduction of the family.']][^6] #### Buddhism [[2025-0325. 'Buddhism, which interprets sexual activity (both heterosexual and homosexual) as a display of human greed.'|'Secondly, Ji Yun’s *zhiguai* tales reflect the influence of Buddhism, which interprets sexual activity (both heterosexual and homosexual) as a display of human greed. As such, karmic retribution is central to Ji Yun’s tales, because an individual sufferance in the next life (homosexual rape in these tales) is punishment for committing sexual sins in a previous life.']][^7] #### Law and legislation [[2025-0325. 'Qing Dynasty legal efforts to address anxieties about the incidence of male homosexuality, including male–male rape ...'|'To some degree, these tales reflect the attitudes toward sexuality and sexual morality in Qing Dynasty legal efforts to address anxieties about the incidence of male homosexuality, including male–male rape, during the time of their publication.']][^8] --- ## Male–Male Sexual Contact & Taoism [[2025-0309. Some Ancient Chinese sources vaguely intimate that sexual contact between two men can never lead to a complete loss of Yang essence, since both are receptacles of this essence.|Some Ancient Chinese literary sources vaguely suggest that the intimate contact of two men can never lead to a complete loss of Yang essence, since both are receptacles of this vital essence.]][^2] [^1]: Thomas William Whyke, ‘[[Whyke. ‘Male Homosexuality and Foxes in Ji Yun’s Zhiguai Collection Tales of the Thatched Cottage’, 2020.|Male homosexuality and foxes in Ji Yun’s zhiguai collection 'Tales of the Thatched Cottage']]’, *Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences*, vol. 13 (2020), p. 358. [^2]: Robert Hans van Gulik, *[[Gulik. 'Erotic Prints of the Ming Period', 2004.|Erotic Colour Prints of the Ming Period: with an Essay on Chinese Sex Life from the Han to the Ch'ing Dynasty, B.C. 206 - A.D. 1644]]*, Sinica Leidensia 62–1 (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2004), p. 9. [^3]: Thomas William Whyke, ‘[[Whyke. ‘Male Homosexuality and Foxes in Ji Yun’s Zhiguai Collection Tales of the Thatched Cottage’, 2020.|Male homosexuality and foxes in Ji Yun’s zhiguai collection 'Tales of the Thatched Cottage']]’, *Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences*, vol. 13 (2020), p. 357. [^4]: Thomas William Whyke, ‘[[Whyke. ‘Male Homosexuality and Foxes in Ji Yun’s Zhiguai Collection Tales of the Thatched Cottage’, 2020.|Male homosexuality and foxes in Ji Yun’s zhiguai collection 'Tales of the Thatched Cottage']]’, *Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences*, vol. 13 (2020), p. 357. [^5]: Thomas William Whyke, ‘[[Whyke. ‘Male Homosexuality and Foxes in Ji Yun’s Zhiguai Collection Tales of the Thatched Cottage’, 2020.|Male homosexuality and foxes in Ji Yun’s zhiguai collection 'Tales of the Thatched Cottage']]’, *Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences*, vol. 13 (2020), p. 357. [^6]: Thomas William Whyke, ‘[[Whyke. ‘Male Homosexuality and Foxes in Ji Yun’s Zhiguai Collection Tales of the Thatched Cottage’, 2020.|Male homosexuality and foxes in Ji Yun’s zhiguai collection 'Tales of the Thatched Cottage']]’, *Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences*, vol. 13 (2020), p. 358. [^7]: Thomas William Whyke, ‘[[Whyke. ‘Male Homosexuality and Foxes in Ji Yun’s Zhiguai Collection Tales of the Thatched Cottage’, 2020.|Male homosexuality and foxes in Ji Yun’s zhiguai collection 'Tales of the Thatched Cottage']]’, *Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences*, vol. 13 (2020), p. 358. [^8]: Thomas William Whyke, ‘[[Whyke. ‘Male Homosexuality and Foxes in Ji Yun’s Zhiguai Collection Tales of the Thatched Cottage’, 2020.|Male homosexuality and foxes in Ji Yun’s zhiguai collection 'Tales of the Thatched Cottage']]’, *Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences*, vol. 13 (2020), p. 358.