HY2206: China's Imperial Past

A melody by the birds entered the bedroom through the window. The Sun shone through, onto the face of Yutong. He opened his heavy eyes and stretched his body from head to toes. For a moment, the world seemed peaceful. The melody stopped. Yutong’s forehead began to sweat. His temples beat rhythmically, increasing in tempo. His breathing increased as he lay in a puddle of sweat. Fear had stepped into his mind. Had anyone seen them? What if his neighbors had walked past yesterday evening? They had been careful right? What had he got himself into? Memories of two years ago appeared on the forefront of his mind. Those events caused him to be left to his own devices by his community. They saw him as feminine, as a rabbit. Some had even said he was a woman in their eyes.[6] If he had just stayed in the shadows, waited until adulthood, he could have regained some of his friends. Perhaps if he fulfilled his duty by marrying a woman and having children.[7] But he wanted to continue his relations with Yuxi. Yuxi felt so comforting, as a protector, dominant. He wanted Yuxi to kiss him, to undress him, to… Yes, Yutong admitted to himself: he wanted Yuxi to penetrate him. He wanted Yuxi. But how? How could he let go of his deep desires in order to fulfill his duties?[8] He felt lost. He decided to go outside into the streets of Fuzhou.

Upon leaving the house, he saw Baihu (白虎) standing in a dark corner of the street. He waved to Yutong. Baihu had remained one of Yutong’s only friends, though only speaking where others could not see them together. Yutong had been really appreciative of Baihu. He walked to the corner.

“Hey, how have you been?” Baihu asked.

“Uh, okay I guess,” Yutong said, looking down.

“You sure? Something seems up. I saw you got back to your place in the middle of the night.”

Yutong’s stomach turned a little. He wasn’t sure whether to tell Baihu, afraid of his response. He had been so kind, not mentioning what had happened and not changing how he treated him. It would be awful to upset Baihu.

“Yutong?” Baihu became impatient.

Baihu had been so kind, Yutong thought. Surely, he would understand the situation. He decided to tell him.

“I have met someone.”

“Oh, Yutong that is great. What is her name?”

Yutong flinched. “It is not a girl.”

Baihu remained silent.

Yutong continued. “I met him some time ago, on the market. He kept looking at me. At first, I wasn’t sure what it meant. I thought perhaps he knows about me, about what happened with … you know…”

Baihu did not respond.

Yutong continued and got carried away in memories: “I walked further on the market, until I suddenly bumped into him. I looked up into his dark eyes. I got a warm feeling inside. We got to talk about where we grew up. It was good fun. He asked me to meet him later that night. Initially I was hesitant, but I decided to go. That night, we walked from the market, along the Min River, all the way to the city walls. We talked all the way, never an uneasy silence. As we stood beside the city walls, he put his hands on my shoulder, gently and comfortingly. Of course, I wasn’t sure if this meant anything, but we met up a few days later. And every now and then we’ve met up. As well as yesterday, where we hugged and kissed.

“Enough!” Baihu sneered. “You can’t do this to me. I have been nothing but merciful to you. I have continued to be your friend, risking my own status.”

Yutong looked at him with shock.

“This is it. You really are a rabbit. Get lost.” Baihu left into the bright street.

The shadows of the corner intensified. A cold breeze passed by, moving the sand and dust that accompanied Yutong. Droplets intermittently wet the ground.

A small puddle covered the sand of the street. If the Sun had shone bright, he could have seen his face reflected in the water. The Sun did shine. Brightly across the city. With its reach it warmed the skins of all who were under it. Yutong was not in reach. He stood in the disconsolate darkness of the shadow. The puddle did not reflect its face. Not only was the Sun unable to reach this part of the world, but it was also the surface of the water which trembled. The only reflection in this moment, in this place occurred in Yutong’s heart: a reflection of the darkness that encompassed this part of the street. Perhaps if he stood in the rays of the Sun, so would his heart warm up. But he could not. His limbs felt detached from his body. His body detached from himself. Yutong didn’t know whether he was really there, present in the moment. Time didn’t exist.

Frozen as he stood there, in the shadow, men and women, passed by in the Sun. But Yutong was okay with this feeling. He was okay with being in the shadow. It was where everyone had put him, in the shadow, on the outskirts of society. He knew that if he was present, he had to step in the Sun and continue. Only he didn’t know what to continue with. All his friends had left, and now Baihu as well. Everyone thought of him as feminine, a rabbit. They weren’t wrong though, he thought. He had never seen the point of being masculine, providing for a family, marrying a woman.[9] He didn’t desire this. No, he had desired men all along. He wanted to be dominated, to be comforted. Certainly, what happened two years ago traumatized him. In the beginning he couldn’t bring it up to anyone. He felt so disgusting and feared being outcast. Until the devil had told people in his community. He had no choice but to tell his side of the story.[10] Many friends left him. All but Baihu. And now he left, too. He could get him back. His good friend would accept him back if he let go of Yuxi. Yuxi. Yutong had never felt so comforted as in Yuxi’s presence. Time stood still when he was with Yuxi. All his worries left his mind. Oh, how he wanted Yuxi right now… Did he? Engaging any further with Yuxi meant absolute ostracization. No more friends, possibly no more future.

Yutong looked up. He saw the men and women walking in the Sun. The children jumped around, playing in the light. It was a joyful sight, but one in which he felt he could not take part anymore. He turned the other way, past the corner into the dark streets.

The water of the Min River streamed south-eastward through Fuzhou. It had travelled vast stretches of land, seeing its terrain change. The towns and cities had changed, expanding in size, changing its rulers, but the river had stayed the same. Flowing southward, making its final stop in Fuzhou before mouthing into the sea. It was in this final stop that a man walked along the river. He was tall, lean, and handsome. He walked in the Sun, enjoying the warmth on his skin, yet his forehead was composed in a frown. Ever since last evening he had been distressed and confused. He had felt ethereal last evening, standing in front of the city walls with Yutong. They had kissed and held each other. It was a blissful moment, in which time stood still. Not for long, though. Yutong had forcefully pulled away, confusing him. He had understood once he explained that he had been coercively sodomized before. He understood the stigma and shame Yutong must have felt. But in that moment, he had also doubted himself. Looking down to the river, he saw his reflection staring back at him. Was he attractive enough? Would Yutong actually want to go to bed with him? Oh, how he wished to touch his young soft skin.

He looked back into his reflection. It was something else that received his attention, however. Two rectangular pieces of wood drifted along with the water.[11] They seemed to depict some sort of image. He walked down to the water surface, grabbing the pieces of wood. Holding the two wet pieces of wood together, fitting them into one piece, Yuxi saw a somewhat odd figure. It could only be described as a rabbit. A bit baffled, Yuxi wondered what motivated someone to draw this image. More importantly, why would anyone destroy this seemingly insignificant image. He decided to go to the market with it and ask around.

On his way to the market, he saw warning signs on some of the roads.[12] “Promiscuous cults banned.” Yuxi went on. The market was busy as usual. Yuxi saw his old friend Li (李), standing behind his stall, selling fresh fish. Yuxi showed Li the wooden pieces, depicting the rabbit. Li was startled. “Put that away instantly, now,” Li looked around frantically.

“What does it mean?” Yuxi asked.

“Let’s not talk here, not in public,” Li whispered. “Meet me here when the market closes.”

Yuxi nodded in agreement. He was confused why his old friend had been so mysterious.

After waiting for a while, Yuxi walked to Li again: “So what was this all about?”

Li, still afraid to talk openly, asked Yuxi to walk to the side of the market.

“The image there is of a deity called Tu’er Shen,” Li said, looking around nervously.

“Tu’er Shen?” 

“Shhh, lower your voice. Weren’t you at the market earlier today?”

Yuxi shook his head: “No.”

Li continued: “Tu’er Shen is a deity with a following here in Fujian. The tales have it that a man named Hu Tianbao once fell in love with an imperial official. Because of the imbalance in status, Hu remained silent about his feelings. On one day, events took a turn. Hu was caught looking at the official being naked in the bathroom. He confessed to his feelings and the official ensured that he received the death sentence. A month later, Hu Tianbao appeared a dream of an elderly man, explaining his fate. Then, the King Yama, lord of the underworld, made him into Tu’er Shen, the Rabbit God, which would be in control of male-male desires and relations.[13] That is the Rabbit God!

“Oh, wow. I had no idea,” Yuxi said. “But why are you being so discrete?”

“Because there is a cult around Hu Tianbao, followers of this deity, who worship him. In fact, there is a temple outside the city walls.[14] But today, a new official for grain tax named Zhu Gui banned any and all promiscuous cults. And the temple will be put to a different use. So, forgive me if I didn’t want to be associated with this image of yours.”

Yuxi thanked his old friend. He looked at the broken image again. A god that rules on the desires of men for other men? But that’s it! That was exactly what he needed. He could pray to Tu’er Shen about his desires for Yutong. He needed to go to that temple before it was too late. He ran off to the eastern gate of Fuzhou.

The torment had besieged Yutong for a while now. Stuck between following his desires for Yuxi and his duties to marry and have children, he had thought long about his predicament. Now, he had reached a decision. Remaining in the shadows as he had, feeling worthless and unrecognized by his peers, he felt he deserved neither. He decided to leave Fuzhou. Starting over in another place where no one knew him, knew nothing about his past. Perhaps the travels would do him good. Yuxi would be disappointed, heartbroken even. But Yutong felt that he had no choice. He needed to leave this place. He went eastward to the city gates.

Yuxi stood by the gates, enjoying the scenery. The walls had protected the city, kept everyone safe. Merchants went in and out of the gates. Farmers went back to their farms. But among the many people that walked past, he recognized one. His heart skipped a beat.

“Yutong!” He exclaimed. A fuzzy feeling started in his stomach, which changed to churning quickly. Would Yutong even want to interact with him?

Yutong turned around to see Yuxi. He froze. A mixture of emotions broke loose. Joy of seeing someone he had admired. Sadness of thinking that this might be the last time. Fear of losing someone.

“Where are you going,” Yuxi asked.

Yutong hesitated. “I am leaving.”

Yuxi feared he was the reason. “Why?”

Yuxi sighed. “Because there is no place for me here. I have lost all my friends. I am a rabbit in their eyes. I don’t want to fulfill my duties to marry a woman. And even if I did, who would want to be with a feminine person like me? It is time I go somewhere else, where people do not know of my past. Where they do not know I am a rabbit.”

“Yutong, there is hope.”

Yutong looked at him with disbelief. “How can you say that? I have nothing.”

“I found this image.” He showed it to Yutong. “It is a deity called Tu’er Shen, the Rabbit God.”

“What is this mockery? Have you turned against me?”[15]

“No, no! This god governs the sexual desires between men. In fact, there is a temple located outside the city. Today, the new grain tax official banned the cult surrounding this deity: the cult of Hu Tianbao. He was the man that eventually returned as Tu’er Shen!”

Yutong looked at the broken image.

“I thought I could go to the temple before it is too late and wish for a positive outcome for us.” Yuxi feared that he had put Yutong off by saying this. “You do want a positive outcome for us, right?

Yutong looked up to Yuxi. A tear strolled down his face. “Yes.”

A sigh of relief blew out of Yuxi’s mouth. “Let’s go see the temple!”

“A cult you say? Meaning there could people like us. People that struggle with the stigma?”

Yuxi hadn’t thought about this. “Yes, you may be right.”

“Perhaps we don’t need to go to the temple. It may be too late anyway. We can find these people.”

Yuxi nodded. “Let’s find these people together.”

Yutong smiled.

A tear rolling down his face glistened in the Sun.

For the Individual Passion Project, I decided to write a fictional historical short story. The two main themes are male-male sexual and romantic relations, as well as the stigmatization of penetrated men. Due to my own queer identity, I was interested in delving further into homosexuality, or more accurately male-male sexual relations in China’s imperial past. As I am intrigued by the connections between the past and present, I thought to look into the early Qing dynasty. Moreover, in another module I follow – HY3245 – another group directed my attention to the cult of Hu Tianbao. As such, I combined these two interests into this project.

The reason for a fictional novel based on historiographical work is to add color to the academic, neutral language which academics aspires to achieve. The sources I consulted addressed with little to no emotion the stigmatization of the penetrated male. Naturally, that is the purpose of academia, to document and argue about the world. The creative aspect of this project allowed me to fill in the gaps with some imagination, because I believe that is what makes many of us passionate about history: to know what the past looked like, to imagine and relate to the past. The emotion, trauma, and internal turmoil provide an interesting avenue to explore history and learn more about this specific time period. I believe it is important to focus on non-heterosexual relations, too, as these are often overlooked. The representation is lacking, and writing this project, I wish to contribute in shedding more light on the history of male-male sexual relations. The way the protagonist deals internally with the stigmatization of being penetrated rests on personal stories and of those in my surroundings. Still, the events such as the breaking of the image, the changing of the temple, and the stigmatization of the penetrated male are based on academic sources underlining these aspects. The historical events are, thus, supplemented with imagined personal emotions and turmoil.

Looking to the present, this cult of Hu Tianbao and the societal attitudes towards male-male sexual relations make for an interesting link. For instance, the derogatory term ‘rabbit’ is used today in China to denote gender-nonconformity and homosexuality.[16] In addition, scholars argue that Confucianism today still has an impact on the way society views homosexuality. The inability of homosexuals to produce offspring creates negative views towards male-male sexual relations. The gender hierarchy also influences social views.[17] However, discontinuities also exist in the historical oppression of homosexuality in China. It was only in the early 20^th century that widespread pathologization started which influences social views in contemporary China.[18] Prior, the conceptualization of male-male sexuality was not influenced by medical views.[19] Regarding Tu’er Shen, there exist some popular culture expressed in films and fan art.[20] In Taipei, a temple devoted to this rabbit deity still exists. Due to Taiwan’s proximity to Fujian, it is not surprising that a temple is situated here. I find it is additionally interesting that this temple is located in Taiwan, which is known for more progressive attitudes towards homosexuality.

The key takeaways of this fictional historical short story are the dynamics of age, status, masculinity, and femininity, in combination with the role of the penetrant/penetrated. The way that the young, penetrated male received stigma of being feminine, a rabbit, and in extreme cases a woman, is central to the learning from this piece. Furthermore, I hope that through the education about the cult of Hu Tianbao and Tu’er Shen, I have peaked other students’ interests the history of homosexuality in China and beyond. Finally, with the imagined aspects of trauma, emotions and more, I wish to reignite some of my peers interests in relating to the past and remember that these were or could have been real lived experiences.

1. Sommer, Matthew H. “The Penetrated Male in Late Imperial China: Judicial Constructions and Social Stigma,” Modern China 23, no. 2 (1997): 142.

As Matthew Sommer argues, there existed a strong hierarchy in male-male sexual relations. The penetrant was considered masculine, and his role “[…] correspond[ed] to the husband/father role in society.” (p. 142). On the other hand, the male being penetrated were considered more feminine. In fact, it was male feminine youth that attracted male penetrants (p. 160). It was the penetrated male that received much social stigma (p. 142). See also Szonyi, Michael. “The Cult of Hu Tianbao and the Eighteenth-Century Discourse of Homosexuality,” Late Imperial China 19, no. 1 (1998): 13, on the argument that being penetrated challenged social hierarchies (p. 21), and on how penetration challenged masculinity itself.

2. Sommer (1997), p. 164. He points out that Chinese society called male prostitutes rabbits in a derogatory manner.
3. For a summary of the judicial discourse on sodomy and rape in the Ming and Qing dynasty, see Sommer pp 143-159.
4. , p. 160. He argues that the penetrant/penetrated sexual roles reflected social and age hierarchies. Older males penetrated younger males, and employers penetrated their employees or servants.
5. , p. 165. Penetrated males in both amicable as well as coercive sexual relations with other males often did not seek judicial remedies in fear of stigmatization, as public knowledge of being penetrated was considered “loss of face.”
6. , p. 140. Due to the challenge of the social gender hierarchy which penetration provided, penetrated men were sometimes considered women.
7. , 168-169. Men were expected to marry a woman and produce offspring to continue the family line. The non-heterosexual relations could not disrupt this duty.
8. Szonyi (1998), p. 11-12. Note that the protagonist is not speaking of his identity, but of his deep desires. Some philosophers at the time did not consider homosexuality an identity, but part of innate human desire.
9. Huang, Martin W. “Male-Male Sexual Bonding and Male Friendship in Late Imperial China,” The Journal of the History of Sexuality 22, no. 2 (2013): 319. Although the Confucian duty to continue the patrilineal line was strong, there are stories of men who expressed refusal to marry a woman due to desires for other men.
10. Sommer (1997), p. 164-165. Sommer notes the case of Li Xuan, whose rapist told others about Li being sodomized. Upon being called a rabbit, Li killed his rapist. In fact, being sodomized endured more criticism and stigmatization than the act of sexual assault.
11. Szonyi (1998), p. 1. In an effort to ban licentious cult to restore morality in Fujian, Zhu Gui split the imagery on wood of the deity Tu’er Shen into to two pieces and threw them in the Min River.
12. , p. 1-2. Zhu Gui had issued warnings about the promiscuous cults on some roads.
13. Rabbit God” The Singapore LGBT Encyclopedia Wiki. Accessed on 17 November 2022. Interestingly, it is through Zhu Gui oppression of the cult of Hu Tianbao that we know most of the information about this cult. Szonyi (1998), p. 1-2, says it grants wishes of men who have desires for younger men.
14. Szonyi (1998), p. 1.
15. Rabbit God” The Singapore LGBT Encyclopedia Wiki. Accessed on 17 November 2022. Later interpretations note the irony of this deity being the rabbit god due to the derogatory term rabbit for sodomized men.
16. Zhou, Zhiqiu Benson. “Besides Tongzhi: Tactics for Constructing and Communicating Sexual Identities in China,” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 32, no. 2 (2022): 288.
17. Ying, Xie and Minggang Peng. “Attitudes toward Homosexuality in China: Exploring the Effects of Religion, Modernizing Factors, and Traditional Culture,” Journal of Homosexuality 65, no. 13 (2017): 1765-1766.
18. Whyke, Thomas William. “Discourses of Heteronormativity and Power: The Ethical Position of Confucianism on Same-Sex Behavior in China,” Journal of Homosexuality (2022): 2.
19. Sommer (1997), p. 142.
20. Rabbit God” The Singapore LGBT Encyclopedia Wiki. Accessed on 17 November 2022.