What was homosexuality in ancient china like?

by AmericanMare

We have an insane amount of resources on male homosexuality in ancient Rome. All the different names and power dynamics etc. But did these power dynamics exist in ancient China? The social stigma of being "a bottom" for example. I found an article talking about how in the Qing dynasty two men could not be charged with "forced sodomy" against the men they attacked because they happened to be actors who played women on stage.

But what about earlier accounts? Like the Han dynasty in an equal period to Rome. Were feminine gay men viewed with disdain? Did it matter if you penetrated or were the penetrator? Or did no one really care as long as you eventually have children?

Aknnja

I remember this question being asked before and looked it up. Surprised it was 7 years ago. Anyway here is a link to the answer to the question in that thread.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/3axj0t/how_were_homosexual_or_same_couple_relationships/cshuptg

/u/cthulhushrugged

TheSakana

The only relevant example I encountered was the tale of Mizi Xia from the Shuo Yuan, although I believe it was also mentioned in the Han Fei Zi. It doesn't speak of the exact sexual dynamics, more so the relationship dynamics in a specific instance, but Michael Nylan at Berkeley has written on sex in ancient China in The Chinese Pleasure Book--you might do well to start there.

In the tale of Mizi Xia as put forth by the Shuo Yuan, Duke Ling of Wei had a male paramour named Mizi Xia, who was beloved by the Duke. He was so beloved, in fact, that when Mizi Xia stole the Duke's chariot to see his ailing mother, the Duke did not punish him. The Duke thought Mizi Xia was very noble to risk having his foot amputated to see his sick mother. Similarly, when Mizi Xia offered the Duke his half-eaten peach, the Duke found it a sign of Mizi Xia's love that he would "forget its flavor" and offer it to the Duke.

However, the moral of the story is that it's a short way from love to hatred. Mizi Xia's beauty faded and he no longer pleased the Duke. Mizi Xia's actions, which the Duke had found noble before, now were signs of his disregard for the Duke and his status. The author notes that Mizi Xia was "once seen as worthy and later reaped punishment", which presumably meant that the Duke sentenced Mizi Xia to pedal amputation for his earlier theft of the ducal chariot.

This tale is from the Zhou Dynasty and is hard to verify; perhaps someone else has written on it in more detail. However, it shows that the power dynamic between the Duke and Mizi Xia was not one of equals; Mizi Xia was a favored paramour of Duke Ling, until he wasn't.

Source: The Shuo Yuan, https://ctext.org/shuo-yuan/za-yan/zh?searchu=%E5%BD%8C%E5%AD%90%E7%91%95%E6%84%9B%E6%96%BC%E8%A1%9B%E5%90%9B%EF%BC%8C%E8%A1%9B%E5%9C%8B%E4%B9%8B%E6%B3%95%EF%BC%9A%E7%AB%8A%E9%A7%95%E5%90%9B%E8%BB%8A%E7%BD%AA%E5%88%96%E3%80%82

https://history.berkeley.edu/michael-nylan

Antiquarianism

Hello u/AmericanMare, while this subject isn't my expertise I've collected a few helpful askhistorians answers, academic papers, and helpful videos on the subject which I hope will give you a boat load of reading on the subject, and u/Aknnja you'd also commented below and I think you'd find this answer helpful as well!

And it begins...

China

  • 1 by u/MengJiaxin

  • 2 by u/bigbluepanda

  • 3 and 4 by u/cthulhushrugged

  • 5 by u/TheGayBizz

  • 6 in brief about Passions of the Cut Sleeve by Bret Hinsch and Fujian's Leveret God, by u/Pabst_Blue_Gibbon

  • 7 about Confucius' view, by u/threechance

  • 8 about the Qing period text Dream of the Red Chamber, by u/Nostalgia_Studio

  • 9 brief answers on China and Japan by u/paranormalalt, u/OctopusPirate, u/askja

  • China's Most Bisexual Dynasty: Han Emperors and their Male Favorites by youtuber Xiran Jay Zhao

Korea

Japan

Southeast Asia

See Also

--

And lastly, for even more info see my post about List of answers about world-wide non-binary sexuality