In the Courtly Refinements of Royalty: Tales of Homosexuality in Imperial China
In the courtly affairs of kings and emperors of imperial China, ephemeral beauty was connected to the distrust of the courts. The ruler’s favorite lovers were frequently cast into suspicion. Portrayed by Han Fei Zi as the sexually cunning, betwixting, beguiling of rulers by beautiful people who blinded the emperor. Often thought of as narcissistic individuals themselves blinded by personal agendas and self-interest, it was not only female beauties capable of misleading kings, but young attractive males who captured the interests of male rulers. Although, these men were never portrayed as images of masculine evil similar to the fantasies of feminine evil frequently portrayed throughout history. In Imperial China there are many homosexual tales listed in various ancient Chinese text of how openly accepted gay male love was during this time.
Homosexuality itself was never portrayed as either bad or good, rather it was portrayed as a simply natural phenomenon. Yet, distrust is always cast in the courts of kings by courtiers and other royal associates to the king interested in maintaining their own power and positions.
Under the Han dynasty, the age was particularly rich in accounts of bi-sexual rulers. The Chinese Grand Historian known as Sima Qian, enlightens us with the “Biographies of the Emperor’s Male Favorites.” Qian wrote, “Those who served the ruler and succeeded in delighting his ears and eyes, those who caught their lord’s fancy and won his favor and intimacy, did so not only through the power of lust and love; each had certain abilities in which he excelled. Thus I made “The Biographies of the Emperor’s Male Favorites.”
Sima Qian’s account reveals how these male beauties influenced imperial court affairs. Many of these male individuals were famous generals, distinguished musicians or astrologers, and men who were “simply worthy and affectionate” companions to the “royal court.” Very rarely did someone from the lower classes gain access to the emperor’s intimate circle. However, there are accounts of men who owed their positions of power based merely on their handsome and desirable good looks or perhaps a whimsical chance meeting with an emperor, king or duke. The Grand Historian writes,
It is not women alone who can use their good looks to attract the eyes of the ruler; courtiers and eunuchs can play at that game as well. Many were the men of ancient times who gained favor in this way.
But as Han Fei Zi wrote many centuries before, “In dealing with those who share his bed the enlightened ruler may enjoy their beauty … Making use of bed fellows to influence a ruler is one of the eight villainies without prejudice to gender.” Han Fei Zi writes further, “The ruler is easily beguiled by lovely women and charming boys, by all those who can fawn and play at love.” Thus, policy may be threatened by feigning lovers.
“Intrigue of the Warring States” recounts a famous incident at the royal court of the King of Chu, who ruled in central China from 369 to 340 BCE. The beautiful An Ling was warned that the King’s regard for him was superficial and that he must make his position more secure. An Ling bides his time, and at the appropriate moment, proposed to be buried with his master as “a shield against the ants.” The gambit succeeded: the king, touched, conferred a nobleman’s estate on the young man.
Han Fei Zi (240 BCE) writes an acerbic treatise on the shared love affairs of bisexual and homosexual rulers. The moral of his stories is not the power of love, but rather “the fickleness of the mighty,” and the importance and advisability of rulers’ acts being determined by laws and not personal attachments.
In imperial China, the characteristics of Chinese male homosexual love affairs were an elegant diversion, suffused with poetic sentiments. China exalted, not the warrior, as was the practice in classical Greece with its heroic self-sacrifice in warrior society, but rather China exalted the scholar — the man of letters, refinements, and taste. It was the literati who under the Confucian ethos and imperial examination system, held positions of authority and power. In this society, moderation and good manners counted for much. In fact, in China, homoerotic desire was perceived as something to be regulated by thoughtful discretion, not force or indignation. It is of interest stories of homoerotic love in China do not come down to us in prose or romantic verse but in collections of political writings full of hard-headed advice about “the governing of states, their state’s affairs, and their populations.” The Chinese were acutely aware romance plays a fleeting role in human affairs.
As is in the courts of all royalty, courtiers, royal advisors, and favored lovers fall victim to the shifting powers of the political times; envy, intrigue and those jocking for power win at the games being played. Thus, continued favor was never guaranteed. Favored court advisors, confidants, lovers who did survive their protectors, were all too likely to be deprived of their fortunes or their lives by hostile relatives or hostile court officials. This precarious state of affairs was not peculiar to homosexuals. Wives, concubines, and mistresses were at risk for the same mischances. In the court of kings and emperors malignant and malevolent intrigue thrive.
Sources:
Crompton, Louis (2003). Homosexuality and Civilization. Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
