#homosexuality in ancient china

[zhoudadudugongjin]

Still thinking about this article. all day everyday.

Since we can clearly identify when same-sex love appears in the historical texts, and we know that male love was accepted and normalised, it is not surprising to find in the Records of the Three Kingdoms that Cao Cao, along with other Han nobles of his time, had a sex life which included both men and women. Later translations of the Records understate the relationship between the two men, preferring – intentionally or mistakenly – to interpret it as platonic. Kong Gui is not mentioned at all in Cao Cao’s English language biography (Imperial Warlord: A Biography of Cao Cao 155-220 AD). Uncovering these relationships is therefore important, as without a nuanced history of sexuality our otherwise robust understanding of this time period becomes diluted.

[novelcain]

I meant like, the whole homophobia/transphobia thing, unless China was very accepting of enbys. Idk I don't really do history.

OOOOOOHHHH!!! Sorry I have a big dumb Skittle brain and am incapable of reading between the lines when it comes to nonverbal communication. 😅 Ok ok I did some research on this just now so I could give an accurate (as much as I can but I'm no expert for sure) answer.

And that answer is... it depends.

China has a very long history regarding sexually and its views of sex have shifted a LOT from one era to another. But for this post, we'll focus on the Tang Dynasty because that is the time period JTTW is set in (tho which time period of the Tang Dynasty is unclear)

So I'll start by saying that the Tang Dynasty was notoriously open about sex and sexual desires and homosexually was accepted in ancient but only in certain situations. Usually homosexuality or simply non-straight behavior was only accepted and allowed within the upper class. For example most if not all (I'm not too sure) Chinese emperors had several male lovers and they didn't hide it as it was often revered with great admiration.

NOW as far as gender orientation goes. This would HIGHLY depend on the person and their beliefs as during this period China was dominated by 2 religions Taoism and Buddhism.

Taoism was the official religion of the Tang Dynasty and states that nature is perfect as is and by proxy some believe that would mean they view transgenderism as a flaw of nature while most Taoists themselves do not view transgenderism negatively as the Tao is pretty unconcerned with identity and focuses on virtue and coming to accept things as they were born in nature. Therefore I think the only thing that would even remotely be said against transgenderism from a Taoist standpoint is that you shouldn't feel the need to change your body to reflect your mind. Conclusion: ancient Taoism would likely accept transgenderism so long as you don't pursue gender affirming surgery.

Now while the official religion of China at the time was Taoism, many emperors highly favored Buddhism and that can even be believed of the emperor described in JTTW.

That being said. Buddhism believes that the body is a cage that traps the spirit in suffering and should therefore be distanced from as much as possible. HOWEVER! The Buddha himself said that while you should try to separate yourself from the Earthly Realm one's body should be used as a tool of awakening, and given that awakening in to find Nirvana, one could argue that pursuing your gender identity is simply using your body to reflect your soul and therefore is good. But honestly Buddhists are pretty chill and as long as you ain't hurting anyone or anything I HIGHLY doubt a true Buddhist would care what you do so long as you live amicably. Conclusion: transgenderism would likely be cool with about 99% of Buddhists even in ancient China.

Overall conclusion: MOST people probably wouldn't care, though these are ancient times, so I'd really read the room before offering any info about being gender nonconforming or nonbinary. Having said that, the worst thing you'd have to do is pretend to be whatever gender you most closely resemble. But honestly I think a lot about how it'd be best to pretend to be a man when traveling as they are much less likely to be attacked, assaulted, or hate crimed.

So again, in situations like these you need to be flexible and willing to present as something you aren't. And while that can be hard, I feel like dying via whatever brutal death an extreme transphobe can think of is a lot harder. So if you play your cards right the most a nonbinary reader would get is probably some nasty comments and a few even nastier looks. Tho both could easily be corrected by Tripitaka explaining they shouldn't do that and that isn't what Buddhism believes if the person is a Buddhist and if that doesn't work or they aren't Buddhist then a few sharp glares from the Great Sage Equal to Heaven should be more than enough to get them to knock it the fuck off. Tho if you're good at talking people over to your side then they probably wouldn't even need to step in.

As for how the group would take it, I think they'd all accept it rather quickly after you explain what being enby is with maybe the exception of Bajie who just truly doesn't understand so you'd just have to explain the concept of other genders to him a few times.

I hope this answers your question at least somewhat 😊

[guzhufuren]

this is how you tell apart bisexuals and homosexuals in ancient China

[makingqueerhistory]

Two of the most famous gay couples in Chinese history are also the sources of some of the most recognizable queer symbols in China: the bitten peach and the torn sleeve. Stories that are partially legend, partially based in some reality, have expanded beyond what anyone could have imagined and shifted from a romanticized look at a homosexual romance to a term to be clung to as a historical hook from past to present; a reminder that there is a precedent for the kind of queer love that continues in contemporary China, despite attempts to stamp it out.

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[biarritzzz]

I wish people would stop comparing ethnic minority groups who are location-specific with sexual minorities (homosexuals).

Biology being the same everywhere, homosexuals exists in every society, every civilization and every time period: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Ancient Persia, Maya Empire, Aztec Empire, imperial China. Conversely Africans and Asians weren’t commonplace in Western Europe until the 1980-90’s. Mass immigration is very recent. Stop inserting black/asian/arabic characters into Roman Empire movies, stop pretending Japanese shoguns were black, accept that you are NOT part of these brilliant civilizations and move the fuck on.

Depicting lesbian characters in medieval France is not woke. Casting a black actor for the role of 16th century English ambassador to France is.

[augustameretrix]

went and fetched myself a paper on female homosexuality in ancient china because I needed to know what maomao would think of it

anyways the answer would probably be something like: "thats just bound to happen when women are neglected by their husbands. but if they really like each other theyre lucky if they get to marry the same guy... they cant really run away, can they?"

[olderthannetfic]

I went down a rabbit hole on penis subincision, which lead to an edu article on sexual behavior in indigenous Hawaiian populations. (By Milton Diamond if you feel an urge to google). The article talked about how it was normal and even encouraged in a lot of these cultures for young people to engage in homosexual acts for the purpose exploring each other and simply having fun. This, in turn, reminded me of an assertion that Mark Thompson made in his book, Gay Spirit: Myth and Meaning...

--

....I’m not sure if you’ve read Thompson’s work but you posted passages from his book a while back. He compares the rejection a fixed gender identity and the phenomenon of "changing" to the archetypal definition of being a shaman, which is kind of fine. But then he goes on to claim that Diné (Navajo) people had a cross-dressing shamanic priesthood of gay people (the nadle) until white colonialism destroyed the tradition. Which, frankly, was a claim that I initially dismissed as...

…a gay white dude making things up until this whole subincision thing made me go look into it more closely. There are in fact many detailed articles on this. (They’re called Nádleehi, not nadle in these papers). So what I want to ask is if anyone knows exactly how common it was for LGBT+ to be accepted in non-colonial populations. Because I was under the impression that the consistent natural reaction to queerness in almost every human culture is to eradicate it.

Nonnie... WHUT?

YES, oh my god, a ton of cultures were okay with some form of something we would today see as queer.

YES, colonialism routinely wiped this out or at least tried to, and many of the places doing the colonizing also stamped out their own ancient traditions.

I don't recall that particular book or quoting it, but I post a lot.

It's not as clear-cut as total acceptance or acceptance of all forms of queerness. A common format is some kind of third gender role for nonconforming or trans or intersex people, often a combination of what we'd see today in the West as femme gay men and heterosexual trans women. Sometimes, this third gender had a specific social role, like shaman or entertainer. The modern split between gender identity and sexual orientation is not really how people saw it in a lot of past cultures (or, hell, in plenty of modern ones outside of the mainstream Western world).

When I was 14, I was fucking obsessed with this academic book of compiled journal articles called Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History.

In terms of binary m/m interactions... uh... Ancient Greece is right there. Did you... miss that?

Historically, Japan was all about it being manly to fuck dudes because they didn't have girl cooties until the Meiji Restoration. Similarly to Ancient Greece, it was unmanly to take it up the ass as a grown man, but that's different from m/m sex in general being a problem. As with many societies outside of the mainstream West post... like... mid 19thC, m/m sex was seen as something you did, not something you were.

Medieval Europe would have kicked your ass for "sodomy", including oral with your spouse, which also falls under that term in that period, but they still wouldn't have thought a man was "gay" for fucking men. They'd have thought he was falling prey to a common sin that any man could potentially be tempted into. Sexual orientation is pretty much not a thing until after we get psychology as a science.

China got more homophobic over the dynasties. There was a time that the emperor's boyfriends were in the fucking history books along with his baby mamas. That's where we get the term "cut sleeve" from.

We don't tend to know what f/f stuff was going on in most times and places because most of the written record is men writing about their dicks.

Modern Thailand has all kinds of interesting things going on, and that whole region of SE Asia has had at points, though the more colonialism, the more local shit got suppressed. I can't speak to the total accuracy, but here's a wikipedia article on gender identities in Thailand.

Tibetan monasteries had abbots openly promoting their boyfriends. As long as you were doing it between the thighs and not touching icky girls, it was fine.

American Indian cultures are well known to have had fucktons of priesthoods/shamans of that type. It wasn't every group. Some were more prone to punishing gender nonconformity. AFAIK, a specific variant role for AMABs is more common than just letting people do whatever. In some, you could become a shaman, but they also tended to scapegoat the shamans in times of crisis. I'm no expert. I'd look up what modern two-spirit people have to say about their cultural traditions along with journal articles. The historical record is fragmentary and full of missionaries' unhelpful opinions.

Humans do often punish difference, but tons of cultures didn't see m/m sex or some specific form of third gender as anomalous. A ton probably didn't care about f/f sex, though it's harder to tell.

Gender conformity is often enforced... but why on earth would you assume most cultures only have 2 and that they map exactly onto our modern ideas of gender?

Seriously, nonnie, where have you been?

[clearlakeve]

thoughts on female queerness as a queer Asian woman

Growing up, I was often told stories about my culture by my parents. Stories like the woman who floated to the moon, the archer who shot down the suns, the white deer who led the hunters to Sun-Moon Lake. Many of these stories were about heroes or heroines who fought monsters and fell in love -- but as I grew older, it became clear that these stories only existed within the sphere of what is considered culturally appropriate in Asian culture.

To be female, queer, and of Asian descent in the United States is to struggle with identity for much of your life. It is easy to define oneself by only one of those things, or maybe even two. But to be all three is to look back into history to find a gap in knowledge before the modernization of China. Only recently has there been a push to promote such Asian histories in the Western world -- moreover, any of the sparse sources found tend to be limited to post-1900s Asia. However, this is still a marked improvement from previous centuries, when even a mention of female queerness tended to represent a sort of social taboo.

In many other cultures, we have ancient letters from women to women, about their love for each other - and yet we do not possess the same for Chinese women. Perhaps the irony of it all is that while some degree of acceptance of homosexuality existed prior to Western/Christian influence, the only documents written by women about same-sex desire are from the latter half of Chinese history. We know these people existed! There are oblique references to women who took female companions, who lived with them in relationships that could be construed as marriage-like. We have stories of “Golden Orchid Associations”, “paired eating”, even fiction stories (written by men) that focus on female-female queer relationships. However, none of these are from a woman’s perspective, and even fewer of them paint such relationships in a positive light.

[pumpkinpaix]

once again reminded of how many people in mdzs/cql fandom really said with a straight face that homosexuality was "akin to normal" (false) in "ancient china" (a vague notion of a concept that spans thousands of years and thousands of miles)

and then somehow twisted that into "so mxtx is a homophobic bitch"

[sicmvndvscreatvsest]

BASICS

FULL NAME: SEON HAE [ 선해 ]

OTHER NAMES: AKIRA, AKIRA HAE, SEON HAE [ 아키라  in Korean, あきら in Hiragana, アキラ in Katakana, and 明 in Kanji. 선해.]

» MEANING: Seon [ As a family name, Seon may be written with either of two hanja, one meaning "to announce" (宣) and the other meaning "first" (先). Each has one bon-gwan: for the former, Boseong, Jeollanam-do, and for the latter, Jinseong, Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, both in what is today South Korea.. ]; Hae [ Hae in Korean means 'sun.' The Chinese character behind "Hae" (해) in Korean names, meaning "sun", is 海 (hǎi) in Mandarin Chinese and 해 (hae) in Korean Hanja. It is a combination of the characters for "sea" (海) and "sun" (日), and can be interpreted as "ocean sun" or "sun over the ocean". ]; Akira [ Akira (あきら, アキラ) is a given name present in a few languages. It is a unisex Japanese given name that is predominantly used for males. There are several kanji for Akira. In Thai, Akira or Arkira (Thai: อาคิรา, อาคีรา, อาคีระ) is a unisex name meaning 'the sun' or 'sunlight'. In Japanese there are many alternative ways to write the name Akira in kanji. This is not an exhaustive list. A popular kanji is 明 (the combination of the two different characters 日 = sun and 月 = moon) which means "the light coming from the sun", "sunlight and moonlight", "bright", "intelligent", "wisdom" or "truth". Though Akira is generally used to name males, sometimes it can be a female name as well.]

NICKNAME: Sunny, Aki.

AGE: Nearly 300-years old; 28 in appearance.

DATE OF BIRTH: 13th November, 18th century South Korea.

PLACE OF BIRTH: Kumiho realm, in fall.

OCCUPATION: Bodyguard to a powerful and rich vampire businessman.... Akira trained with her friend Seung-yong.

RELIGION: N/A

ORIENTATION: Homosexual; Homoromantic.

GENDER: Cisgender Female.

SPECIES: Kumiho

A kumiho or gumiho (Korean: 구미호; Hanja: 九��狐, literally "nine-tailed fox") is a creature that appears in the folktales on East Asia and legends of Korea. It is similar to the Chinese huli jing, the Japanese kitsune and the Vietnamese hồ ly tinh. It can freely transform into a beautiful woman often set out to seduce men, and eat their liver or heart (depending on the legend). There are numerous tales in which the kumiho appears, several of which can be found in the encyclopedic Compendium of Korean Oral Literature (한국 구비문학 대계/韓國口碑文學).

Mythology

The old Chinese text Classic of Mountains and Seas, the earliest record to document the nine-tailed fox, mentioned that the fox with nine tails came from and lived in the country called Qingqiu (靑丘) three hundreds miles east, the term meaning "green hill" interpreted as the country or region of the east and was later historically used to refer to the region of Korea at least since the era during the Three Kingdoms of Korea. However, the name of Gojoseon (called Joseon in the record), the Korean kingdom that existed along with other minor states of the Korean peninsula at the time, was separately introduced in the same record. Kumiho and other versions of the nine-tailed fox myths and folklores share a similar concept. All explain fox spirits as being the result of great longevity or the accumulation of energy, said to be foxes who have lived for a thousand years, and give them the power of shapeshifting, usually appearing in the guise of a woman. However, while China's huli jing and Japan's kitsune are often depicted as either good, evil or neutral, the kumiho is almost always treated as a malignant figure who feasts on human flesh. It is unclear at which point in time Koreans began viewing the kumiho as a purely evil creature, since many ancient texts mention the benevolent kumiho assisting humans (and even make mentions of wicked humans tricking kind but naïve kumiho). In later literature, kumiho were often depicted as bloodthirsty half-fox, half-human creatures that wandered cemeteries at night, digging human hearts out from graves. The fairy tale The Fox Sister depicts a fox spirit preying on a family for their livers.

Knowledge beads

The most distinctive feature that separates the kumiho from its two counterparts (Japanese kitsune, and Chinese huli jing) is the existence of a 'yeowoo guseul' (여우구슬, literally meaning fox marble/bead) which is said to consist of knowledge. According to Korean mythology, the yeowoo guseul provides power to the kumiho and knowledge (and intelligence) to people if they can steal and swallow one. The kumiho can absorb humans' energy with it. The method of absorbing energy with the "yeowoo guseul" resembles a "deep kiss" (i.e. a kiss using a tongue). The kumiho sends the yeowoo guseul into people's mouths and then retakes it with their tongues. If that person swallows the yeowoo guseul, however, and then observes "sky, land, and people", each observation gives the observer preternatural knowledge. But the person fails to watch the "sky" in most tales, so they get a special ability but not the most important one.

Powers

Most legends state that while a gumiho was capable of changing its appearance, there is still something persistently fox-like about it (i.e. a foxy face, a set of ears, or the tell-tale nine tails) or a magical way of forcing; its countenance changes, but its nature does not. Although ancient legends indicated that kumiho could help humans, in modern times, these animals are known to eat human livers and hearts. They usually carry out their evil acts by tricking people into consuming their organs. Unlike Japanese kitsunes, which are portrayed as having multiple tails and magical abilities, kumiho is a nine-tailed creature all throughout their lives. According to Korean mythology, if a kumiho doesn’t eat human flesh for a thousand years, it might transform into a human. This is because the animal’s soul can still seek human flesh.

**Akira is deemed to be very strong even at a young age as a kumiho. She fights well because of her extensive training and has the ability to use her kumiho powers of bending and stopping time, appearing and disappearing, etc. Although sometimes, she can be impulsive. Akira is trained in taekwondo, sword fight, and other forms of martial arts. She also boxes often with Seungyong.

PERSONALITY

STRENGTHS: Powerful, Brave, Loyal, Passionate, Resourceful.

WEAKNESSES: Distrusting, Violent, Stubborn, Manipulative, Jealous.

APPEARANCE

FACE CLAIM: Han So-hee.

HEIGHT: 5'5 [165 cm.]

WEIGHT: 105 lbs. [48 kg.]

BUILD: Lean.

GAIT: TBA

HAIR COLOR: Reddish.

EYE COLOR: Amber in kumiho form; she likes wearing contact lenses for the colors.

BIRTHMARK: Yes.

OVERVIEW: » SCARS: Yes. » TATTOOS: Hell yeeees!

BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: Spirit world; kumiho world.

RESIDENCES: Spirit world; Seoul, South Korea. She has a home in Japan, too.

NATIONALITY: Well, South Korean.

ETHNICITY: Asian.

FINANCIAL STATUS: Upper-class, she is also mad rich.

EDUCATION LEVEL: Akira took many courses coz she gets bored easily, she probably finished some of them or almost finish some of them.

DEGREES: Something...

SPOKEN LANGUAGES: Korean, Japanese, other Asian languages, she's been learning Thai but she sounds awful. English and Hebrew... She said she likes the way it sounds so she just picked it up. Then she got into Arabic, too. She's a mess.

RELATIONSHIPS

PARENTS: Kumiho gods/spirits. They're alive and well and just want Akira to settle down. Never happening, she said.

SIBLINGS: Lots....

CHILDREN: None.

PETS: She's got a pet dragon, but not really coz this 'pet' is a FULL GROWN dragon. More like bffs.

SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS: » Dragon bff.

FAMILY HISTORY: Akira is a mischief and lazy and her parents prayed to the kumiho gods and guardians to help them straighten her. A kumiho have nine tails all throughout their lives but the gods decided that Akira will be working for hers. She was to earn a tail for each 100 year she lives and make her parents proud. Later on, Akira met Seung-yong, a human who bonded with a dying dragon's ball and earned its powers. She became very close to the young witch/dragon and trained with him as a soldier/fighter. Seungyong became a bodyguard which interested Akira but her parents didn't think it was a suitable job for her. Akira pursued different careers then and witnessed how her kind were treated and taken advantage of by humans. When a childhood acquaintance got into a mess caused by a human, Akira became vindictive and haunted humans who has a dark heart and feasted on them.

Her parents didn't want her getting in trouble so they allowed her to finally train with Seungyong and pursue a career that would keep her focus. She has been working as a body guard for various entities and the latest was for a rich vampire who is living among the humans.

Seungyong wanted to investigate this vampire who has been connected with some known murders in other realms. Akira is helping his friend by sticking with the vampire and collecting info for her bounty hunter friend.

Akira travels everywhere due to the nature of her job.

ROMANTIC HISTORY: Messy. She had a lover that she had a roller-coaster relationship with. Akira can get overwhelming and many times, this reincarnated lover/partner, left her.

PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS: Dragon bff, Seung-yong.

THOUGHTS ON LOVE: "It's messy."

HEALTH

PHOBIA(S): None.

HANDICAP(S): None.

MENTAL DISORDER: None.

PHYSICAL DISEASE(S): None.

PREDISPOSITION(S): N/A.

[web-novel-polls]

Baihe Character Mini-Tournament

Round 1 will open Wednesday, October 11th, 2023, at noon CST and will remain open until October 18th.

Qi Yan vs. Bo Qingbo vs. Li Shiyi

Xiang Tiange vs. Nagsi Jiya

Yun An vs. Lin Wanyue vs. Nangong Jingnu

Yu Rubing vs. Li Xian vs. Li Yanru

Tag: #baihe character tournament

List of Characters below the cut

Jing Wei Qing Shang / Clear and Muddy Loss of Love

Qi Yan from JWQS

Prince of the Chengli tribe AKA Qiyan Agula

Submission: 

she 💗💗 character of all time

Raised as a man due to politics & then pretended to be a frail scholar to get revenge on the Wei Kingdom that destroyed her tribe, which led her to become Princess Nangong Jingnu’s fuma. 

A Horse Girl™ with a rap sheet a mile long 😍 /light-hearted

Nangong Jingnu from JWQS

Submission:

I love her dearly

The only legal child of the Emperor; Zhenzhen Princess 

Li Yanru / the Masked Person from JWQS

No propaganda submitted

the eldest princess from the previous dynasty

Gave Qi Yan top surgery?

Nagsi Jiya from JWQS

No propaganda submitted

The Youngest Princess of the Tuba tribe who was originally offered to be Qi Yan’s wife. After the destruction & conquest of the plains, Nagsi Jiya decided to marry Emperor Nangong Rang as a consort for power. Overall? Sounds like a girl boss

Wiki Trivia: “She is the first character to encourage and engage in a full-fledged homosexual relationship in the novel (where both parties know that they are both women, as Nangong Jingnu is under the impression that she is in a heterosexual relationship).”

Other

Yun An from Matrilocal Marriage/RUZHUI

Propaganda:

She's a massive lesbian duh

Volunteered to go back in time to get over a breakup

Tried to get a meal and ended up marrying into the excessively rich Lin family 

Explained Dragon Ball Z in ancient China???

Lin Wanyue from Female General and Eldest Princess

No propaganda submitted

“In this life of mine, I’m so glad that I could have you as my wife…” - Lin Wanyue to Li Xian (source)

The Female General who took on her brother’s identity - Lin Feixing - to get revenge against the Huns that destroyed her village and killed her family. 

Li Xian from Female General and Eldest Princess

No propaganda submitted

The Eldest Princess who’s trying to keep herself and her sickly brother, Crown Prince Li Zhu, alive during a fight for the throne

"If you go fight against the enemy now, that is the best way to protect me." - Ch. 25, Li Xian

"The highest level of using people is to let that person remain completely unaware that you are using them. You must make them feel that everything they do is their own decision. Do not always think about steering, but understand how to influence." - Ch. 33, Li Xian

Li Shiyi from Wen Guan/Reading the Remnants 

No propaganda submitted

Li Shiyi is tasked with guiding the dead to reincarnation and letting go of their pasts.

Yu Rubing from She is the Protagonist

Submission: 

Staying silly :3

She was transmigrated into the protagonist while the villainess Tang Han Qiu was finally reborn with free will. Yu Rubing rebels against the system she hates & shamelessly supports Tang Han Qiu in doing whatever the hell she wants (<-has not read it)

Dealer’s Choice

Bo Qingbo from The General’s Manor Young Concubine Survival Report

She is so special to me. Upon reincarnating as a newly-married concubine staying at a (female) General’s estate, she just. Assumes she was married to the general (who is their husband’s main wife). 

Xiang Tiange from The General’s Manor Young Concubine Survival Report

Badass general who girl bossed so hard that her husband (Prince Yixing) hired a fake concubine (Bo Qingbo) to get rid of her

[fubuwu]

Hmm.... Just saw someone say that jcs "homophobia" has nothing to do with the society or the time period he was born in and it still means he's bad and I just e-e

---

Society and time period kinda does effect how one might think of other groups tho. They've been raised and brainwashed to think that way, so much so that being homophobic is the norm whilst... Unfortunately... Being gay was deemed "evil", "bizarre""morally incorrect...."

---

This isn't me condoning homophobes BTW. Obviously it's bad and you are valid to feel upset by his actions. But at the same time you got to appreciate the social context here... Him being homophobic in such a setting doesn't entirely make him a bad person because that was just how he was taught to be and was the norm.

---

Jc is described as a person who follows social norms. Had he been born today where homophobia is generally frowned upon, I wonder if he will be more approving of homosexuality then? >.> Being accepting of homosexuality (depending on your society of course. It's still dangerous for many gay people around the world to be out and proud) is now the soical norm. Makes me think will he be much more accepting had the social circumstances been different or if this was a modern setting?

---

Furthermore, his "homophobia" wasn't aggressive or anything and could have been read as him being repulsed by PDAs too as I've seen others pointed out *shrug*

---

For someone from ancient china, I'd say he was a lot more tolerant than others in the book seeing as homosexuals back then were often executed, persecuted, kicked out as we seen with mxy etc. Plus, he let wwx go in the end to be with lwj. He never brought up their relationship again or showed physical disgust depsite knowing full well what they're going to be getting up to XD. Therefore, i feel with time and better education/understanding, someone like jc can easily grow to be more tolerant. It's not like he was going around, seeking out gay people and murdering them. Idk.... Just kinda think it's another case of people reading deeply into things as other members have mentioned in this tag before.....?

---

Would also like to point out that there are other characters in the book who have made homophobic comments and more frequently than jc too.... Wwx himself used a homophobic slur in the beginning before realising his own gay awakening because again that was the normal thing to doo.... Kinda interesting that antis never talk about those points but eh.... It's just a book. It doesn't need to be read that deep. We're not writing essays on it.

[bingsoo-jung]

Old Farmer and a Dragon

This myth was taken from glbtq archives and was translated into English by Hong Kong Gay rights activist Xiaomingxiong. I’ve personally never been able to find other versions of this myth, but it is likely due to a lack of resources.

A 60-year-old farmer named Ma strolled along a field, when suddenly there was thunder and a rainstorm and the sky turned gray. He felt a crow scratch his back and he thought it signified wrath from Heaven. So he crawled down and lay still. 

Rather than wrath from Heaven, however, the curious events were caused by a dragon descending from the sky. Finding Ma lying still, the dragon sodomized him, while biting his head. After the dragon finished sodomizing the farmer, it ascended to the sky and bellowed with the thundering noise; the farmer was left alone on the ground with stinking liquid all over his body. At first, the farmer dared not mention what had happened to him to his family, until his rear hurt so much that he asked a doctor for a cure; then the event was revealed. 

Notes

While most of the animal fairies in Chinese mythology enjoy homosexual relationships with younger men or boys, only the dragon consistently enjoys sexual relationships with older men. As the dragon was the symbol for the rainbow in ancient China, they frequently appeared during thunderstorms and then they captured old men for gay sex.

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

[extract: cao cao is bisexual dot jpeg] “Ah, Cao Mengde is here!” Dong Zhuo exclaimed, “son, this is the promising young fellow I was telling you about.” 

“Oh, so this is he?” Lu Bu murmured, making a show of looking him over. He stalked a languid circle around Cao Cao, his fingers tapping leisurely on the jewelled pommel of his sword. He wore soft-toed riding boots, and his gait was unnervingly quiet, reminiscent of a leopard Cao Cao had seen once in a menagerie. All that coiled, deadly strength, trapped in a too-small cage. His voice, likewise was a low, throaty, growl as he remarked lazily, “the honour is mine, to be sure.” 

“Tales of your valor echo far and wide, General Fengxian,” Cao Cao made a show of being star-struck—not that he needed to try particularly hard. Call it a foible, but he found handsome, arrogant men as impressive as they were annoying. “As the saying goes; ‘amongst men, Lu Bu has no equal. Amongst horses, Red Hare.’” 

Lu Bu preened “so they’ve been talking about me behind my back, have they?” 

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it!” Cao Cao enthused. Greedy Back-stabber, Wandering Demon, Bastard-with-three-fathers —and those were some of the more pleasant ones. ---------- notes: - main inspiration for this was sima qian's writing. ancient china had this very matter-of-fact, almost refreshingly non-judgemental attitude towards homosexuality and/or male-male sexuality. and idk. i guess it's nice knowing history isn't about linear progress, different time periods can surprise you. - it's kind of refreshing to read stuff like "yeah so the court came togather and brutally assassinated the emperor's male lover. not bc we're homophobic btw (most of us have tried to dress like the guy just to get the emperor's attention), but it was bc he was amassing too much political influence" - diversity win! i guess! - my characterisation isn't so much as "who is gay/bisexual" but rather "this is the han dynasty, guys, and we're spending 80% of our time in the army. who amongst us HASN'T had a homoerotic experience?"

[coreofgold]

Was that [JI LI]? Oh no no, that was just [SHI MEI/SHI MINGJING], a [CANON CHARACTER] from [ERHA/THE HUSKY AND HIS WHITE CAT SHIZUN]. They are [TWENTY-FOUR ] years old, use [HE/HIM], and [ARE NOT] aware that they are not actually from Washington DC. Too bad they can’t stray from this city for long

How long has your character been here Shi Mei thinks he's lived here since he was 8 but he's only been in D.C for a few weeks in actuality.

What is your character’s job He works as a blind travel doctor (like David Hartman), but instead of traveling to places worldwide, his focus is primarily on hospitals and clinics in D.C. that are understaffed and can't afford new doctors.

Where has your character been pulled from in their fandom Points to the end of the current timeline when he freed Chu Wanning, is blind and left as a traveling cultivator that heals all those who need it to atone; That traumatic and sad ending. He's taken from that, so even without his memories, he feels lost, unaccepted in all places and times, wondering why he is the way he is.

Has any magic affected your character It got rid of his memories and replaced it with a whole new life. He was adopted by an American family after being orphaned by his crazy father, killing and eating his mother. The adopted family fell through because they mistreated him, so he ran away and spent his life on the streets (open to found family plots). He already had a weak constitution, so he was weaker in terms of fighting, so he focused on healing and worked his butt off to get into med school and to get his job as a traveling doctor (though it's mostly interning now and working closely with a more experienced one just due to his age). Also, because he lived on the streets, he was used to manipulating others to survive and pave a place in a world that oppressed him (though in this place, instead of him following Hua Binan, Hua Binan is like the voice in the back of his head telling him what to do; Like an evil conscious that wants to survive. Though it's nothing like what happened in the novels; Just lying and playing up his innocence to get money and learn things to bring others down). He regretted everything once he got older, and while trying to atone, an accident occurred (he doesn't remember, but he knows his eyesight/eyes are gone from it a la Xiao Xingchen-like). That didn't stop him from wanting to atone, live a better life, and work as a travel doctor. Because he doesn't remember anything, he is depressed, he's lost, he doesn't know why, but he feels like he has regrets and pain that started centuries ago from a life he doesn't remember.

And any other information you might find useful for us and the other members to know!! Wiki Here Birthday: November 2 Siblings: Mu Yanli (half-sister) Zodiac: Scorpio Species: Half demon/half human Eye Color: Has no eyes/has a white bandage around where his eyes should be Hair Color: Black Scars: Missing eyes, various ones strewn about his body both from his life in ancient China and from being homeless in D.C. (because he did end up getting hurt here as well) Personality: kind-hearted, polite, wanting to reason with people instead of fighting, sweet temper and doesn't hold grudges, mediator, diplomacy and submissive, has a hidden bloodthirsty essence, manipulative, morally dubious Romantic Orientation: homosexual Sexual Orientation: homosexual

I am open to plots so please don’t hesitate to message me for plots and to know about his past !

[nvrcmplt]

Where have you seen Yahui Tokoyami???

What a silly question! He’s everywhere!

A public figurehead for the LGBTQ+ in the business industry.

The son of Two Politicians from both Japan and China. His Family’s been in the papers long enough with rumours of their divorce and marriage sham. Celebrity gossip strong across the internet but rather hush hush on paper fronts. He was also in the news the day he broke away from his families pressures to become a politician himself.

He was first believed to be a girl from the day he was born til he was 10. ( Though the public was and is still very confused from this point on. ) This was due to Yahui being very petit, slender and curvy. His Father and Grandfather of the Japanese side of his heritage; dressed him as a girl following the tradition where young boys are dressed as girls so they would become stronger when they grow older.

Yahui’s hair was short at one point in his life, at 14 where the public solidified his gender as a male. Yahui grew his hair back out in defiance and from a deeper, body dysmorphic mindset about himself in general that wasn’t really registered until his late teens, 19 - 20s.

- Yahui feels confident in calling himself Genderfluid, and is very proud to state he is Homosexual. - His first love was Archer, his first kiss was Archer, his first heartbreak was Archer. - Even now, Yahui thanks Archer for not making him feel strange or weird about himself, nor his love for him, not that Yahui told him, but not rejecting his closeness at any point. - Yahui hurts still, yes, but he is slowly recovering from his one-sided love. - Yahui’s best friend is Archer Kessler… You all know about him. - His school friends were Reo and Shigure Aomori, a few pictures with them - mostly from Yahui's forced friendship shots. - Yahui is often in many pictures with Archer in public, when they were teens in schooling and partying. They were near inseparable. - Yahui is often on TV within interviews, talk shows, talent shows and promotional ADs.

He is the face of a Men’s Face Cream, Unisex Hair and Shampoo, Unisex Gym Muscle Supplements and Protein Drinks. He is a Fashion Icon, in the form of Advertisements that are choreographed fashion shows. He has his own Fashion company, that makes and sells traditional Chinese and Japanese mixed urban clothing. Though with how big it’s got now, he is more of a Figurehead with thousands of talents under his Co. He funds several hundreds of schools in the poverty ridden sides of the countries he is from. He hates how ignored they are, and he is an avid donator to gay spaces, making four clubs so far that are LBGTQ+ zones. ( these are found in the “gay districts” in Japan and china. )

He was once banned from TV for showing off his bra to a TV host who was calling him all sorts of names behind “jokes”. After his stunt, the TV Show was sued for discrimination and harassment and flooded with bad reviews due to the sheer audacity of the host. After being called a ’shemale’ and a ’confused f*ggot’, Yahui removed his tie, unbuttoned his shirt and literally took his shirt off to show his lingerie set and obviously masculine chest and abs - whilst glowering at the Host. The episode was cut off five seconds afterwards, the Host trying to get Yahui’s shirt back on and the audience gawking in shock and some cheering.

He is also very talented, not only in business and being a CEO of his own businesses, like his Mother. He is a very avid collector of ancient weaponry and artefacts, like his Father. He is often seen at charity auctions, private auctions and public auctions where he shows in person to buy and see what people give away without knowing what it is.