Class and taste

During the later part of the Ming dynasty the literati experienced a period of lively debate and a diversity of ideas. As we have seen, many of the experiments in individualism included sexual experiment. Compared with their position in the Ming dynasty the Qing literati are often described as being in a much weaker position in political, social and cultural terms. ¹ It is also sometimes argued that the traditional intellectual elite was much chastened after the fall of the Ming dynasty to barbarian invaders. In this chapter I argue, first, that this view of the period should not overlook the continuing cultural contributions of the literati under Manchu rule, and, furthermore, that the closing centuries of the imperial period continued in at least some ways to be dominated by the agendas of the literati class. ² The primary aim of the chapter, however, is to examine the fate of homoerotic sensibilities in the period of transition between the two dynasties, continuing into the first century of Qing rule. In doing so I argue that the literati class was central to the increasing role homoerotic sensibilities played in the culture of the capital, Beijing. Furthermore, the role and status of the male-mode (nanfeng), as well as its forms and expressions, change continually throughout this period and, subsequently, the entire Qing dynasty. The argument in this last part of the chapter’s analysis is applied throughout the remaining chapters.