Lord Longyang: Difference between revisions

'''Lord Longyang''' ({{zh|first=t|t=龍陽君|s=龙阳君|p=Lóngyáng Jūn|w=Lung Yang Jun}}) was the favorite and lover of an unknown<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Venters |first=Laurie |date=2024-05-13 |title=Leftover peaches: Female homoeroticism during the Western Han dynasty |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10894160.2024.2334137 |journal=[[Journal of Lesbian Studies]] |pages= |doi=10.1080/10894160.2024.2334137 |issn=1089-4160}}</ref> king of [[Wei (state)|Wei]], often speculated to be either [[King Anxi of Wei|King Anxi]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Kendall H. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/47010676 |title=The Politics of Reclusion: Painting and Power in Momoyama Japan |publisher=[[University of HawaiìHawaii Press]] |year=1991 |isbn=0-585-34506-6 |location=Honolulu, HI|pages=24 |oclc=47010676}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Jiang |first1=Quanhong |last2=Tan |first2=Longyan |last3=Sun |first3=Mei |title=Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Social Science, Public Health and Education (SSPHE 2019) |chapterlast2=ResearchTan on|first2=Longyan Legislation|last3=Sun of Homosexuality in China|first3=Mei |date=2020-02-13 |chapter-urlpublisher=https://www.atlantis[[Atlantis Press]] |isbn=978-press.com/proceedings/ssphe94-19/1259341656252-904-5 |series=Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research |pages=138–141 |language=en |publisherchapter=AtlantisResearch Presson |pages=138–141Legislation of Homosexuality in China |doi=10.2991/assehr.k.200205.030 |isbnissn=9782352-945398 |chapter-6252url=https://www.atlantis-904press.com/proceedings/ssphe-519/125934165 |s2cid=212710463 |issn=2352-5398|doi-access=free |s2cid=212710463}}</ref> or [[Jia of Wei|King Jia]],<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Vitiello|first=Giovanni|date=1992|title=The Dragon's Whim: Ming and Qing Homoerotic Tales from "The Cut Sleeve"|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4528573|journal=T'oung Pao|volume=78|issue=4/5|pages=341–372|doi=10.1163/156853292X00045 |jstor=4528573 |issn=0082-5433}}</ref> during the [[Warring States period]] of the [[Zhou dynasty]].<ref name=":1" /> Little is known about him outside of his relationship with the king.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hinsch |first=Bret |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LmEC1b1bncC&q=lord+longyang&pg=PR11 |title=Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male Homosexual Tradition in China |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-520-91265-6 |location=Berkeley, CA |pages=32-33 |language=en}}</ref>

The story of Lord Longyang is recorded in the ''[[Zhan Guo Ce|Records of the Warring States]]'' ({{Zh|s=战国策|t=戰國策|p=Zhànguó cè}}) in a section called "Records of Wei" ({{Zh|s=魏策|t=魏策|p=Wèi cè}}),<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Pines |first=Yuri |date=2002 |title=Changing views of "tianxia" in pre-imperial discourse |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24047595 |journal=Oriens Extremus |volume=43 |pages=101–116 |issn=0030-5197 |jstor=24047595}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shi |first=Liang |date=2013-04-07 |title=Mirror Rubbing: A Critical Genealogy of Pre-Modern Chinese Female Same-Sex Eroticism |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2013.773824 |journal=[[Journal of Homosexuality]] |volume=60 |issue=5 |pages=771 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2013.773824 |issn=0091-8369}}</ref> and does not appear in any other sources. The ''Records of the Warring States'' is generally considered a work of history.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Kang |first=Wenqing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3UgBAAAQBAJ |title=Obsession: Male Same-Sex Relations in China, 1900-1950. |publisher=[[Hong Kong University Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-988-8052-61-5 |location=Hong Kong |pages=23 |language=en |oclc=1148078345}}</ref> In it, Lord Longyang and the king are in a fishing boat together when Longyang begins to cry. After the king pressures him to say why he is crying, Longyang reveals that he is afraid that the king will be tempted by other, more beautiful men and lose interest in him. The king then forbids anyone to mention other beauties in his presence under penalty of death.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Zhang |first=Xuan |date=2014 |title= Portrayals of gay characters in Chinese movies: A longitudinal look |type=Master's thesis |publisher=Iowa State University |url=https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/entities/publication/246940cd-00f0-431c-b408-eb7c9bacc087 |access-date= 2022-07-09}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> As a result of his status as a favorite of the king, Lord Longyang was given a small fief and a feudal title.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last1=Stevenson |first1=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aCElrXLgJukC |title=Homoeroticism in Imperial China: A Sourcebook |last2=Wu |first2=Cuncun |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-203-07744-3 |pages=13 |oclc=827947100}}</ref> His story took place sometime between 276 and 243 BCE, and is the second account of a male same-sex relationship in Chinese historical records.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ma |first=Jing Wu |date=2003-02-25 |title=From "Long Yang" and "Dui Shi" to Tongzhi: Homosexuality in China |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J236v07n01_08 |journal=[[Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy]] |volume=7 |issue=1–2 |pages=117–143 |doi=10.1300/J236v07n01_08 |issn=0891-7140}}</ref>

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 (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'' ({{Zh|s=龙阳逸史|t=龍陽逸史|p=Lóngyáng yìshǐ}})<ref>{{cite conference |urllast1=https://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/199677Wu |first1=Cuncun |date=2013 |title=Male Brothels, Urbanization and Xiaoguan Identity in Late Ming Fiction: The Forgotten Tales of Longyang |last1url=Wuhttps://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/199677 |first1conference=CuncunThe |date=2013 |publisher=FacultyInternational ofConference Arts,on The'Chinese UniversityMasculinities ofon Hongthe KongMove: |book-title=AbstractTime, BookSpace 1and | pages=1Cultures' |location=Hong Kong, China |conferencepublisher=TheFaculty 2013of InternationalArts, ConferenceThe onUniversity 'Chineseof MasculinitiesHong onKong the|pages=1 Move:|book-title=Abstract Time,Book Space and Cultures'1}}</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=Positionspositions: Asiaasia critique 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 Publishers|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'' ({{Zh|s=石点头|t=石點頭|p=Shí diǎn 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 name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Santangelo |first=Paolo |url=https://brill.com/display/title/54355 |title=The Culture of Love in Europe and China |last2=Boros |first2=Gábor |date=2020-01-13 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-90-04-39783-5 |location=Leiden}}</ref><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> Yu Muxia's entry on homosexuality in ''Shanghai Tidbits'' ({{Zh|c=上海鳞爪|p=Shànghǎi línzhǎo}}) used Longyang to make the same argument.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kang |first=Wenqing |date=2010-05-01 |title=Male Same-Sex Relations in Modern China: Language, Media Representation, and Law, 1900 – 1949 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/10679847-2010-011 |journal=positions: asia critique |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=489–510 |doi=10.1215/10679847-2010-011 |issn=1067-9847}}</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" /><ref name=":2" />

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> including in newspapers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Huang |first=Yixiong |date=2017-05-23 |title=Media Representation of <i>Tongxinglian</i> in China: A Case Study of the <i>People’s Daily</i> |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1317475 |journal=[[Journal of Homosexuality]] |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=338–360 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2017.1317475 |issn=0091-8369}}</ref> The term has been used 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 (journal)|Sexualities]] |language=en |volume=15 |issue=8 |pages=896–916 |doi=10.1177/1363460712459308 |s2cid=143355606 |issn=1363-4607 |s2cid=143355606}}</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: Contesting Desires in Li Yu's (1610–1680) Two <i>Huaben</i> Stories on Male Homoeroticism |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/prism/article-abstract/18/1/9/173600/The-Death-of-His-HusbandContesting-Desires-in-Li?redirectedFrom=fulltext&casa_token=yVs_GL8Qm4QAAAAA:-E7F-nHCTA-g_noSRyjsbYqyh0UeZkfXNA2Vhd4YgddVuXtb4bjBzLNmThpl1Ll1in7fKv5L |journal=Prism: Theory and Modern Chinese Literature |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages= |doi=10.1215/25783491-8922177 |issn=2578-3491 |s2cid=237976759 |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 (journal)|Late Imperial China]] |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–25 |doi=10.1353/late.1998.0004 |s2cid=144047410 |issn=1086-3257 |s2cid=144047410}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> The phrase ''lóngyáng pǐ'' ({{Zh|s=龍陽癖|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>