In his book ''Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male Homosexual Tradition in China,'' Bret Hinsch writes that the story of Lord Longyang serves as an example of both the sexual opportunism and openness of homosexuality in Zhou dynasty courts.<ref name=":0" />
The story of Lord Longyang also influenced later Chinese literature. In the poetry of [[Ruan Ji]], Lord Longyang is used, along with Anling, to figuratively evoke male beauty and love between men, and specifically royal favor.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zhang|first=Benzi|date=2010-06-30|title=The Cultural Politics of Gender Performance|journal=Cultural Studies|language=EN|volume=25|issue=3|pages=294–312|doi=10.1080/09502386.2010.483803|s2cid=143191009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Owen|first1=Stephen|title=The Poetry of Ruan Ji and Xi Kang|last2=Swartz|first2=Wendy|last3=Tian|first3=Xiaofei|last4=Warner|first4=Ding Xiang|publisher=De Gruyter|year=2017|isbn=978-1-5015-0387-0|location=Berlin|oclc=999369785}}</ref> The 1632 book ''The Forgotten Tales of Longyang'' or ''The Forgotten Stories of Longyang'' (traditional Chinese: 龍陽{{Zh|s=龙阳逸史; simplified Chinese: |t=龍陽逸史;|p=Lóngyáng pinyin: ''Longyang yishi''yìshǐ}})<ref>{{cite conference |url=https://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/199677 |title=Male Brothels, Urbanization and Xiaoguan Identity in Late Ming Fiction: The Forgotten Tales of Longyang |last1=Wu |first1=Cuncun |date=2013 |publisher=Faculty of Arts, The University of Hong Kong |book-title=Abstract Book 1 | pages=1 |location=Hong Kong, China |conference=The 2013 International Conference on 'Chinese Masculinities on the Move: Time, Space and Cultures'}}</ref> tells twenty stories of [[Male prostitution|male same-sex prostitution]] in the late [[Ming dynasty]]. In it, the author, known by the ''nom de plume'' "Jingjiang's besotted with bamboo recluse," uses the story of Lord Longyang to evoke an earlier golden age characterized by feeling;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wu |first=Cuncun |url=https://hongkong.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.5790/hongkong/9789888208562.001.0001/upso-9789888208562-chapter-005 |title=Changing Chinese Masculinities: From Imperial Pillars of State to Global Real Men |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-988-8313-71-6 |editor1-last=Kam |editor1-first=Louie |location=Hong Kong |pages= |language=en-US |chapter=The Plebification of Male-Love in Late Ming Fiction: The Forgotten Tales of Longyang |doi=10.5790/hongkong/9789888208562.001.0001}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Vitiello|first=Giovanni|date=1996-05-01|title=The Fantastic Journey of an Ugly Boy: Homosexuality and Salvation in Late Ming Pornography|url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/positions/article-abstract/4/2/291/21898/The-Fantastic-Journey-of-an-Ugly-Boy-Homosexuality|journal=Positions: Asia Critique|language=en|volume=4|issue=2|pages=291–320|doi=10.1215/10679847-4-2-291|issn=1067-9847}}</ref> this is juxtaposed with the stories and characters in the collection.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vitiello |first=Giovanni |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vSk7EAAAQBAJ&q=Linked+Faiths+Essays+on+Chinese |title=Linked Faiths: Essays on Chinese Religions and Traditional Culture in Honour of Kristofer Schipper |publisher=Brill |year=2000 |isbn=978-90-04-48893-9 |editor-last=Engelfriet |editor-first=Peter |location=Leiden, Netherlands |pages=227 |language=en |chapter=The Forgotten Tears of the Lord of Longyang: Late Ming Stories of Male Prostitution and Connoisseurship |editor-last2=de Meyer |editor-first2=Jan}}</ref> The prologue of the late Ming dynasty collection ''The Rocks Nod Their Heads'' (traditional Chinese: {{Zh|s=石点头|t=石點頭;|p=Shí simplifieddiǎn Chinese: 石点头; pinyin: ''Shi dian tou''tóu}})<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wang |first=Xian |title=Langxian's Dilemma over the Cult of Martyrdom and Filial Piety: A World of Emptiness in "The Siege of Yangzhou" |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/0147037X15Z.00000000046 |journal=Ming Studies |year=2015 |language=en |volume=2015 |issue=72 |pages=46–68 |doi=10.1179/0147037X15Z.00000000046 |s2cid=161442773 |issn=0147-037X}}</ref> references the story of Lord Longyang, among others, to argue that sexual relationships between men were normal because they had existed since antiquity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Vitiello|first=Giovanni|date=2000|title=Exemplary Sodomites: Chivalry and Love in Late Ming Culture|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156852600750072259|journal=NAN NÜ|volume=2|issue=2|pages=207–257|doi=10.1163/156852600750072259|issn=1387-6805}}</ref> In the Ming and Qing collection ''The Cut Sleeve'' (a section of the Encyclopedia of Love) the story "Wan the Student," in which Wan falls in love with another male student, Lord Longyang is used (along with Anling) to refer to homosexuality.<ref name=":3" />
The word ''longyang'' is also used in China to euphemistically refer to gay men,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-01-16 |title=A long history of 'cutting sleeves' |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/703796/long-history-cutting-sleeves |access-date=2020-08-18 |website=[[South China Morning Post]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kong|first=Travis S. K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hBnIDwAAQBAJ&q=lord+longyang&pg=PR2|title=Oral Histories of Older Gay Men in Hong Kong: Unspoken but Unforgotten|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|year=2019|isbn=978-988-8528-06-6|location=Hong Kong|pages=4, 7|language=en}}</ref> and has been through much of Chinese history,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woods |first=Gregory |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/59453858 |title=A History of Gay Literature: The Male Tradition. |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=0-300-08088-3 |location=New Haven, CT |pages=60 |oclc=59453858}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mungello |first=David E. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/804964296 |title=Western Queers in China: Flight to the Land of Oz |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4422-1556-6 |location=Lanham, MD |pages=38 |oclc=804964296}}</ref> serving as a common classical literary term for male homosexuality.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kong |first=Travis SK |date=2012 |title=A fading Tongzhi heterotopia: Hong Kong older gay men's use of spaces |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1363460712459308 |journal=Sexualities |language=en |volume=15 |issue=8 |pages=896–916 |doi=10.1177/1363460712459308 |s2cid=143355606 |issn=1363-4607}}</ref> ''Longyang'' is also sometimes translated as "catamite,"<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Xin |first=Zhaokun |date=2021-03-01 |title=The Death of His Husband |journal=Prism |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=9–26 |doi=10.1215/25783491-8922177 |s2cid=237976759 |issn=2578-3491|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Vitiello |first=Giovanni |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/880976492 |title=The Libertine's Friend: Homosexuality and Masculinity in Late Imperial China |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-226-85792-3 |location=Chicago, IL |language=en |oclc=880976492}}</ref> or used to refer specifically to the passive partner in intercourse.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Szonyi |first=Michael |date=1998 |title=The Cult of Hu Tianbao and the Eighteenth-Century Discourse of Homosexuality. |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/19509 |journal=Late Imperial China |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–25 |doi=10.1353/late.1998.0004 |s2cid=144047410 |issn=1086-3257}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> The phrase ''longyanglóngyáng pipǐ'' (traditional Chinese: {{Zh|s=龍陽癖; simplified Chinese: |t=龙阳癖}}) or "passion of Longyang" refers to male same-sex attraction or passion.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wu |first=Cuncun |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/867267663 |title=Homoerotic Sensibilities in Late Imperial China |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-415-64836-3 |location=Abingdon, UK |oclc=867267663}}</ref>
