An early social mentality of tolerance and inclusion
In China, the earliest historical record of homosexuality comes from the Shang Shu - Yi Xun of the Shang Dynasty, some 4,000 years ago.
After this time, homosexuality has not disappeared from Chinese culture. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, homosexual relations became more active, with Meizi Xie, favoured by the Duke of Wei Ling, and Long Yang, the favourite of the King of Wei, giving homosexuals the names 'Yu Tao' and 'Long Yang' respectively. During the powerful Han dynasty, homosexual activity by emperors and generals was commonplace. According to the Chinese historical works "The Records of the Grand Historian" and "The Book of Han", almost every emperor of the former Han Dynasty had a homosexual lover. It is worth noting that the attitude towards homosexuality in ancient China was at best neutral, i.e. not positive or negative, and there is no glorification of homosexuality in historical records. Homosexual relationships were mostly characterised by pleasure and never posed any challenge or threat to the family ethics that sustained feudal society, so society tended to be more tolerant of homosexuality.
Medium-term Boycott, Criminalisation of Harm
With the growth of Confucianism in China, traditional rituals advocated a 'proper name' and a strict social order, emphasising women's matriarchal duties, men's duties as fathers and husbands, and the family's responsibility to carry on the family tradition, however homosexuality directly contradicted these ideas. The rulers were not too concerned, but as homosexuality took on unprecedented momentum in literature or in the literary journals, it led to a focus on homosexuality and made it a “social issue”. For the first time in China's history, homosexuality was socialised with the introduction of a decree on homosexuality - it was no longer a private matter, it was treated as a 'social hazard' and subject to legal intervention. Western Christianity and Chinese ritualism have finally come to the same path in the suppression of homosexuality.
In 1740, the Qing Dynasty enacted the first explicit law in Chinese history to punish homosexuality - the Anti-Sodomy Law. This law criminalised the act of sodomy (consensual sex between men of the same sex) between adult males, and in this way combated homosexuality.
The Road of Fighting for the Rights to Work
It was in 1997 that China decriminalised homosexuality and removed it from the classification of mental illness in 2001. In China, homosexuals make up about 4% of the population, which means that there are about 56 million people. Nowadays, the West is showing increasing openness towards the LGBTQ community, yet in mainland China, and indeed the whole of Asia (except Taiwan, China), gay couples cannot marry or adopt children, so gay couples do not qualify for the same legal protection as heterosexual couples. And there are no anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people. So, despite the fact that there are so many gay people, they are still in a situation where they may be discriminated against for revealing their identity. For example, the words "abnormal sexual orientation" and "psychological disorder" can still be heard in these parts of the world, and homosexuality seems to be a topic that needs to be hidden, which leaves homosexuals in China (mainland) feeling that they are not really treated with equality and respect. Author: Penny Peng
Reviewed & Revised & Published & Typeset by Lyn Liu