Passions-of-the-Cut-Sleeve中國(guó)古代斷袖

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（《戰(zhàn)國(guó)策》）,acollectionofpoliticaladviceandstoriesbeforetheHanDynasty,referstoDukeXianofJin晉獻(xiàn)公

(reigned676–651BCE)plantingahandsomeyoungmaninarival'scourtinordertoinfluencetheotherrulerandtogivehimbadadvice.《戰(zhàn)國(guó)策·秦策》晉獻(xiàn)公“欲伐虞，而憚宮之奇存。茍息曰：《周書(shū)》有言，美男破志。乃遺之美男，教之惡宮之奇，宮之奇以諫而不聽(tīng)，遂亡；因而伐虞，遂取之”。《周書(shū)》中說(shuō)的是“美男破志，美女破居，武之毀也”，其意思是“美男”和“美女”都可能成為國(guó)破家亡的禍根。

Thehistorian

HanFei《韓非子·說(shuō)難篇》recordedamoreexaltedexampleintherelationshipof

MiZixia

(彌子瑕)and

DukeLingofWei

(衛(wèi)靈公).MiziXiawasthefavoredcourtierofDukeLingbecauseofhis

beauty.WhenMiziXiagotnewsthathismotherwasill,heforgedanorderfromtheDuketouseaducalcarriagetotravelquicklytoseeher,andwaspraisedforhisfilialpiety.Anothertime,MiziXiabitintoanespeciallydelicious

peach

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

Thehistorian

HanFei《韓非子·說(shuō)難篇》recordedamoreexaltedexampleintherelationshipof

MiZixia

(彌子瑕)and

DukeLingofWei

(衛(wèi)靈公).《史記·老子韓非列傳》昔者彌子瑕見(jiàn)愛(ài)於衛(wèi)君。衛(wèi)國(guó)之法，竊駕君車(chē)者罪至刖。既而彌子之母病，人聞，往夜告之，彌子矯駕君車(chē)而出。君聞之而賢之曰：“孝哉，為母之故而犯刖罪！”與君游果園，彌子食桃而甘，不盡而奉君。君曰：“愛(ài)我哉，忘其口而念我！”及彌子色衰而愛(ài)弛，得罪於君。君曰：“是嘗矯駕吾車(chē)，又嘗食我以其馀桃?！盇notherexampleofhomosexualityatthehighestlevelofsocietyfromthe

WarringStatesperiod

isthestoryof

LordLongYang龍陽(yáng)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龍陽(yáng)君andtheKingofWei魏安釐王.《戰(zhàn)國(guó)策·卷二十五·魏四》魏王與龍陽(yáng)君共船而釣，龍陽(yáng)君得十余魚(yú)而涕下。王曰：“有所不安乎？如是，何不相告也？”對(duì)曰：“臣無(wú)敢不安也?！蓖踉唬骸叭粍t何為涕出？”曰：“臣為王之所得魚(yú)也?！蓖踉唬骸昂沃^也？”對(duì)曰：“臣之始得魚(yú)也，臣甚喜，后得又益大，今臣直欲棄臣前之所得矣。今以臣兇惡，而得為王拂枕席。今臣爵至人君，走人于庭，辟人于途。四海之內(nèi)美人亦甚多矣，聞臣之得幸于王也，必褰裳而趨王。臣亦猶曩臣之前所得魚(yú)也，臣亦將棄矣，臣安能無(wú)涕出乎？”魏王曰：“誤！有是心也，何不相告也？”于是布令于四境之內(nèi)曰：“有敢言美人者族?！盇notherexampleofhomosexualityatthehighestlevelofsocietyfromthe

WarringStatesperiod

isthestoryof

LordLongYang龍陽(yáng)君andtheKingofWei魏安釐王.阮籍昔日繁華子，安陵與龍陽(yáng)，夭夭桃李花，灼灼有輝光。悅澤若九春，磐析似秋霜，流盼發(fā)姿媚，言笑吐芬芳；攜手等歡愛(ài)，宿昔月衣裳，愿為雙鳥(niǎo)飛，比翼共翱翔；丹青著明誓，永世不相忘。——《詠懷詩(shī)·三》

Anidiomatictermforhomosexualityin

Chinese

is

duanxiuzhipi

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

Chinese

is

duanxiuzhipi

(斷袖之癖,literally,“passionofthecutsleeve”),derivedfromanepisodeinvolvingDongXian董賢andEmperorAi漢哀帝.《漢書(shū)·董賢傳》賢寵愛(ài)日甚，為駙馬都尉侍中，出則參乘，入御左右，旬月間賞賜累巨萬(wàn)，貴震朝廷。常與上臥起。嘗晝寢，偏藉上袖，上欲起，賢未覺(jué)，不欲動(dòng)賢，乃斷袖而起。其恩愛(ài)至此。賢亦性柔和便辟，善為媚以自固。每賜洗沐，不肯出，常留中視醫(yī)藥。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

惠帝的閎孺Emperor

Wen

r.179-141BC

and

Deng

Tong,

Zhao

Tan,

and

Beigong

Bozi

文帝的鄧通、趙談、北宮伯子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

武帝的韓嫣、韓說(shuō)、李延年Emperor

Zhao

r.86-74BC

and

Jin

Shang

昭帝的金賞Emperor

Xuan

r.73-49BC

and

Zhang

Pengzu

宣帝的張彭祖Emperor

Yuan

r.48-33BC

and

Hong

Gong,

Shi

Xian

元帝的弘慕、石顯Emperor

Cheng

r.32-7BC

and

Zhang

Fang,

and

Chunyu

Zhang

成帝的張放、淳于長(zhǎng)Writingsfromthe

LiuSongDynasty

claimedthathomosexualitywasascommonasheterosexualityinthelate3rdcentury:Allthegentlemenandofficialsesteemedit.Allmenintherealmfollowedthisfashiontotheextentthathusbandsandwiveswereestranged.Resentfulunmarriedwomenbecamejealous.《宋書(shū)·五行志》上記載：“自咸寧太康以后，男寵大興，甚于女色，士大夫莫不尚之，天下咸相仿效，或有至夫婦離絕，怨曠妒忌者?！?/p>

MingDynastyliterature,suchas

BianErChai

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

BiYuan

畢沅

(1730–1797)andthe

Suzhou

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

PreciousMirrorofRankingFlowers《品花寶鑒》

by

ChenSen陳森.“蘇伶有號(hào)‘碧成夫人’者，姓李名桂官，字秀章，吳縣人。昔在慶成部，名重一時(shí)，嘗與某巨公鄉(xiāng)誼，時(shí)佐其困乏，情好無(wú)間。后巨公蒞外省，桂官亦脫身同往，于今十?dāng)?shù)年矣?！盩he

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