ABSTRACT
Before the revolution in 1949, China had a long history of male behavioural homosexuality within its rayal dynasties (Van Gulick, 1961; Ruan and Tsai, 1988; Lau and Ng, 1989; Hinsch, 1990). A tolerance for male sexual diversity can be found throughout Chinese history and is recorded in a well-developed literature. Such tolerance allowed men openly to show their sexual desires and orientation, particularly if the person concerned was literate, or of the court. The surviving literature demonstrates unequivocally an acceptance of homosexual behaviour among men by the royal courts, its practice being widespread among the nobility. Both the famous story of the Long Yang set in the Spring-Autumn and Warring States Period (770-221 BCE), and the story of the Cut Down Sleeve set in the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE), contain accounts of courtly love between rulers and subjects, homosexuality being seen as a noble virtue (Hinsch, 1990). From the Yuan dynasty onwards (1279–1368), and with the growth of urban populations and the appearance of the novel, accounts of homosexual behaviour among the common people increased, reaching a peak in the late Ming dynasty (1368–1644), a representative work being Bian Er Chai which contains four stories of male homosexuality among the then middle class. Detailed descriptions of anal sex between men can be found in scores of other erotic novels, as can mention of male prostitution.
