Ancient Imperial China, like many ancient societies, including Japan, Greece, and Rome, homosexuality was regarded as alternately a normal facet of life and not morally deviant, or at other times more neutrally-ambiguous… in some cases gay relationships were even promoted as exemplary and more “harmonious” than heterosexual relationships. Writings from the Liu Song Dynasty of the late 3rd century CE say on the matter, “All the gentlemen and officials esteemed it. All men in the realm followed this fashion to the extent that husbands and wives were estranged. Resentful unmarried women became jealous.” Confucianism and Taoist philosophies saw the practice as morally neutral on the matter, though Confucianism’s emphasis on close male relationships certainly facilitated male-male sexual encounters. It wouldn’t be until the medieval Tang Dynasty of the 7th-10th centuries CE that objections to homosexuality would begin appearing in Chinese literature, as a result of the influence of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism in the Empire.

It’s extremely difficult to say with any certainty for the majority of the population, as ancient Chinese texts virtually uniformly ignore the lives and practices of the peasantry, and instead focus on official state affairs. It can be reasonably assumed, however, that for the vast majority of the population, there would be little ability to act on what was seen as socially-aberrant behavior. The Chinese population, until the dissolution of the dynastic system itself in the early 20th century, practiced arranged marriages, and were expected to propagate the family line.

So the information we can gather on homosexual ancient Chinese is from the imperial court. Undoubtedly the most famous of these is from the middle of the Han Dynasty, which lasted from the 3rd century BC until the 3rd century CE. It’s the story of Emperor Ai of Han, who acceded to the throne following his adopted father’s – Emperor Cheng’s – death in 7 BC. He was 19 or 20 at the time of his enthronement. Nevertheless, his early reign was dominated by his over-bearing grandmother, Consort Fu, who managed to finagle her way into becoming one of four(!) Empress Dowagers, in spite of having never been an empress.

Anyways, not to get bogged down in his overall reign, let’s get on to the meat of the question. Ai of Han is primarily remembered (apart from being a well-meaning, but middling and sort of incompetant monarch) as being one of (and possibly the most effusive of) the Ten Emperor’s known or widely thought to have had homosexual lovers. All of this to say, circa 4 BCE, Emperor Ai began to favor the minor official Dong Xian, and the two began an affair, though both were – of course – married. Ai bestowed honors and titles on Dong Xian at an alarming rate: he and his wife were invited to move into the Imperial palace, Dong’s sister became an imperial consort, and his father was made an acting Marquis. Shortly thereafter, Ai ordered that an opulent residence that rivaled the imperial palace in luxury be built for Dong. Anyone who spoke against these decrees was severely punished by the Emperor.

In 3 BCE, and against the strong objection of the Prime Minister, Ai decreed Dong Xian the Marquis of Gao’an, and the next year expanded his March… when Wang Jia again objected, Emperor Ai had him falsely accused of crimes and he was forced to commit suicide. Later that same year, Dong – at age 22 – was declared the Commander of the Armed Forces, making him in effect the most powerful official in the administration. The Dong Clan would highly benefit from this affair, as well, and were name to prominent positions, and even displacing the Fu and Ding Clans following Grand Empress Dowager Fu’s death in 2 BCE.

The affair between Emperor Ai and Dong Xian spawned a widely known story called duànxiù zhī pǐ, or “The Passion of the Cut Sleeve.” The story goes that after falling asleep together, Emperor Ai awoke to find Dong still asleep and his head resting on Ai’s fine silk sleeve. Rather that risk awakening his lover, he opted to cut the sleeve off his robe. To refer to a “cut sleeve” still is a euphemism for male-male sexual relationships in China.

The good times would come to a sudden stop, however, in 1 BCE when Emperor Ai’s mysterious chronic illness at last got the better of him. On his deathbed, Ai ordered that the throne be passed to – who else? – Dong Xian… and well, that just wasn’t going to fly. The imperial councilors ignored the command and the Empress Dowager moved quickly to seize the imperial seal of command, and reinstate Wang Mang as regent. Disgraced and likely in for a very rough time now that their benefactor, lover, and protector was no longer around to shield them from the court’s wrath, Dong Xian and his wife committed suicide.

Long story short: The Emperor openly carrying on with Dong Xian was widely tolerated. But trying to pass imperial power onto him was where the line was drawn, and the failed attempt would ultimately lead to the slow, painful decline of the Han Dynasty and its (temporary) overthrow by Wang Mang in 9 CE with his short-lived and terribly costly Xin Dynasty.

Sources: The Book of Han (vol. 11)

Stern, Keith. Queers in History. 2009.

Hinsch, Bret. Passions of the Cut Sleeve. 1990.

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