As long as he did not behave like a lecher, a sex­
ually active old man in traditional China was not consider ed a 
dirty old man. Instead he was regarded as a fortunate, healthy 
male who enjoyed sex and longevity. Countless paintings, de­
signs on porcelain, jade and wood carvings , and embroidered 
robes show cloud-shr ouded dragons pursuing and toying with a 
giant pearl, which sometimes has flames shooting out of it. This 
pearl represents the condensed essence of mingled male and fe­
male sexual energy. PRUDI SHNE SS AND LASCIVIOU SNESS 
Despite the perv asiv e, even fornulized sexual syrnbolisn1 in art 
and elsewh ere, the pcnduh1n1 of sexuality has swung widely­
and wildly-in China. An1ong the cultures of the world, China 
has known sorne of the n1ost restrictive, as well as son1e of the 
most licentious, practices. During the n1ost prudish tirnes, respectable Chinese won1en 
could talk to n1cn who were not blood relatives only fron1 behind 
a screen. A nuidcn whose bare ann was accidentally touched, or 
whose partial nudity was accidentally seen, by a rnalc stranger had 
to nurry hirn to preservl' her virtue. A nurried sister could not sit at the san1e fatnily dining table with her own brother. Husbands 
and wives were not to touch each other outside their bedroorn. and their clothes were not to be hung next to each other on the 
san1e rack. Widows who refused to renurry wer e honored by 
their con1nntnities with stone n1onun1ents. Incest taboos were severe, and included a "nanH.' incest," 
which forbade a n1an to tnarry a wonun with the san1e last nan1e, 
even if they were not at all relatt·d. ThL' obsessio n with virginity 
was ran1pant; in son1e regions a piece of bloodstained cloth had to 
be exhibited by the proud husband the n1orning after the wedding 
night. In southern China the groon1's fatnily would send a whole 
roast suckling pig ceretnoniously through the streets when the 
bride visited her family three days after the wedding-but only if 
she had been found to be a virgin. Through this ritual the whole 
community would know her condition. Suicides. murders. and 
bloody clan feuds sotnetimes resulted if a young woman was 
found not to be a virgin. On the other hand, an emperor of China might have any­
where from 3, ooo to 40, ooo women in his inner sanctum, where, 
guarded by eunuchs, he could have sex with any of them. The 
feats of some of the most lecherous emperors, empresses, and 
aristocrats were faithfully recorded for posterity in official histo­
ries and scholarly chronicles. From time to time, sex cults engaged in mass orgies. In the 
fourteenth century aristocrats and commoners alike, coached by 
cult priests, indulged in such practices. For privacy in warm 
weather, participants shielded their windows with tiao-hsien, in­
genious blinds made of bamboo slats. They were used so widely 
on brothel windows that they eventually came to symbolize these 
establishments. (Earlier, tiao-hsien had inspired a foreign visitor 
named Marco Polo; the result was the so-called venetian blind.) A top attraction at Chinese festivals in the eleventh century 
consisted of wrestling matches between naked women. In some 
areas people practiced a custom we might think of as "rent­
a-wife," whereby a man could rent a wife from her husband for a 
contracted period, whether as a baby-maker or sexual partner. A 
famous prime minister of the Sung dynasty was born of such a 
contract. In spite of the seclusion of young women, men were 
able to seduce them in clandestine liaisons; these have inspired 
some of the finest classical poetry and drama. Affairs between When Confucius Wasn't Lookin� T H F S F N S l' A I I A N I> S C A I' f 
26 fathers-i n-la w and dau ghters-in-l aw, known as "rakin� ashes" in 
Chinese , were prevalent an1ong the royalty during certain eras. In 
recent centuries, a standard punishn1cnt for sexual misconduct 
was public spanking; a big paddle would be used on naked but­
tocks, of men as well as women, right inside the courtroom. NEo-CoNFUCIANISM TAKES OvE R 
Up to a thousand years ago, then, sexual life in China was colorful. The Art of the Bedchamber flourished and was practiced openly. During the three centuries of the Tang dynasty (61 8-907), sex 
and sexuality were robust and freewheeling, not only in the impe­
rial courts but also among the commoners. And women were as 
forward as men in their sexual pursuits, seductions, and clan­
destine trysts. During the Sung and Southern Sung dynasty, however, neo­
Confucianists began to advocate segregation of the sexes even 
within the family, and sex for procreation only; und erlying this 
was their belief in the inferiority of women. Their puritanical 
public stance has dominated China for almost the past thousand 
years. The neo-Confucianists were not against sex; they were just 
overdecorous prudes, who restricted sex to the sanctuary of the 
bedchamb er, outside which they pretended to see no sex, hear no 
sex, and speak no sex. They did, though, maintain the old Confucian obsession with 
begetting heirs. Even the most diehard neo-Confucianists copu­
lated, often spiritedly, to sire sons. In fact, they had utter con­
tempt for voluntary celibacy and saw the celibacy of Buddhist 
monks and nuns as unnatural. To the neo-Confucianists, family 
was the bedrock of social and political systems, so they practiced 
polygamy with a straight face. Until the recent past, polygamy had been customary in China. The upper and middle classes practiced it if they wanted, when 
they could afford it. They could justify it morally on the grounds 
that it was a way to guarantee n1ale heirs to carry on the family 
line. The Chinese had a curious form of polygan1y, distinct from 
that of other cultures. If a man had several wives, the first re­
mained the fen1ale head of the household; she could not be 
divorced unless she was caught in serious misconduct. The con-cubines, or subsequent and n1inor wives, had to deter to her. No 
one could usurp the tirst wife's status in the fatnily hiL'rarchy. whatever the husband's t�n1otional or sexual preferences. Under 
such an all-encon1passing fatnily structur e, ther e cou ld be vir­
tually no "scarlet won1en" or illegitin1atc children. The Chinese systcn1 of polygan1y obligated the husband to 
satisfy his wife and all his concubines sexually. This seemingly 
superhuntan teat was not itnpossiblc if the husband was an adept 
in the Art of the Bedchan1ber. Husbands who were exhausted or 
bored by conjugal duty at horne son1etin1es would take a night off 
and visit high-class courtesans, in whose con1pany they would in­
dulge in wine, poetry, and n1usic. Judging whether a Chinese concubine was happier or unhap­
pier than an An1erican divorcee or a French mistress is outside the 
scope of this book. Yet it is relevant to look, if only briefly, at the 
position of won1en in ancient China. As in many if not most an­
cient and n1edieval cultures, women in an cient China were deemed 
inferior to n1en, especially when nco-Confucianism prevailed. While neo-Confucianists did not say explicitly, they created 
n1oral codes that belittled or restricted women. A typical nco­
Confucian "rule" held that a woman without talent was virtuous. Although the neo-Confucianists considered women inferior, 
they did not despise them in the way medieval European church­
men, for instance, did; and even when Chinese women had little 
standing in society at large, they wielded considerable power 
within the family. This was partly due to the emphasis in Confu­
cianism on filial piety toward both parents. Even a grown-up son 
with his own family had to defer to his mother as long as she 
lived. And when it was necessary, it seems, Chinese women knew 
how to fight back. Chronicles abound with cases of politically or 
socially prominent men, their faces scratched or battered, appear­
ing in court with their wives for mediation of marital fights. Some of the most feared Chinese men met thei r match in their 
wives; some were even henpecked. Chinese women may have 
mastered the Taoist secret of conquering hardness with softness. HOMOS EXUA LITY 
As in most civilizations, homosexuality is found in much of 
China's history. Quite a few emperors, metnbers of royalty, liter-IVItrn Co�fiuir4S Wasn't Looki"R THE SENS UAL lAND SCAP E 
28 ary figures, and especially actors arc known to have been homo­
sexuals. Most homosex ual relations were between grown men 
and prepubesce nt boys, who traditionally were kept as pages by 
the royalty and the wealthy. When these boys reached puberty and 
their voices began to change, they would be released. As a reward 
for their prepubescent functions, they often were helped to find 
spouses. When, in the middle of the fifteenth century, a Ming emperor 
banned legalized, high-class prostitution for court and govern­
nlent mandarins, these bored men directed their libido elsewhere. In the traditional Chinese theater, both male and female roles 
were played by men; many actors who played female roles onstage 
played similar roles in bed. These actors, as well as specially 
trained young singers, becan1e the objects of affection for upper­
class men seeking a homosexual relationship . It was fashionable 
for the rich and famous (and lecherous) to keep in their house­
holds not only wives, concubines, and dancing girls but also pretty 
page boys and hotnosexual actors. During the nineteenth century, 
noted literary figures wrote books, essays, and poems describing 
and praising homosexual love. Most of the men engaging in ho­
mosexual activities, it should be noted, were bisexuals, who car­
ried on heterosexual relationships as well. Lesbianism was tolerated, sometimes even encouraged. Inge­
nious erotic devices for women were invented in China. When 
the last emperor of China was toppled fron1 his throne early in 
this century, revolutionaries found more than a thousand such 
sexual aids in the women's palaces of the Forbidden City. A CuR ious SEXUAL Vo GuE 
Sex life in ancient China, richly varied as it was, was remarkably 
healthy. It had little of what son1e today would call "patholog­
ical" or "perverse" behavior -except for one solidly entrenched 
sexual fetish. The binding of wmncn's feet was in essence an erotic 
practice. l)ne might say that it got out of hand for aln1ost a thou­
sand years; the modern Chinese, and nuny Westerners, conden1n 
it as a painful sytnbol of the social bondage of wonll'n. It was during the centuries of nco-Confucian sexual puritan­
isnl that the curious custon1 of foot-binding began. Yao Niang, a willowy, fcather like dan cer, was the favorite consort of the tenth­
cen tury Sou thern Tang dynasty king Li Yu. Yao Niang bound her 
feet with doth ribbons to strengthen then1 but keep then 1 looking 
dainty when she danc ed. She tnade such a hit in the in1perial court 
that high-bor n ladies bega n to bind thei r feet in in1itation of her . The fashion becan1e a fad, and the fad becarne a n1ania; won 1en of 
all classes-except peasant won1en-bound thei r feet. A wotnan 
would not be considered beautiful, in n1en's eyes or her own, un­
less she had tiny bound feet. Parents subjected their daughters to 
this grueling beauty treattnent when the girls were no more than 
six years old. The ain1 was to produce dainty little "golden lo­
tuses "-the ideal shape for the bound feet-five, four, even three 
inches long. During the nineteenth century, Europeans brought back from 
China the horror story of foot-binding, which they condemned 
as a barbaric custom. These Westerners, however, overlooked 
their own Victorian female fashion for tight-laced wasp waists-a 
practice that caused cardiac and pulmonary damage. And flagella­
tion, avidly enjoyed by some Victorian gentlemen and ladies to 
satisfy their lust, n1ight seem as strange as foot-binding. Thus toot-binding, which began as a feminine beauty treat­
ment with its accompanying daily routine and suffering, even­
tually became an entrenched custom affecting Chinese social and 
sexual life. Generations of Chinese men developed a passionat e 
fetish for small feet; they went into ecstasy merely upon touching 
a woman's foot. A won1an's bound foot might be an even more 
potent aphrodisiacal syn1bol to n1en than the vulva. When a woman 
had had her feet touched and fondled by a man, she would be 
completely powerless to resist his seduction. A Ming dynasty politician once proposed, with perfect seri­
ousness, to stop the incursions on China's northern borders by in­
troducing foot-binding to the northern barbarians. He reasoned 
that the invaders, seduced and enchanted by the golden lotuses of 
their own won 1en , would lose interest in China. The government 
never adopted this proposed strategy, and the northern barbar­
ians-the Manchus -ended up conquering China. During the 
three centuries of their rule, they forbade their own won1en to 
follow the practice of foot -binding . Although foot-binding forced a won 1an to walk with a wob­
ble, it was believed to strengthen the n1uscles of her buttocks and lVIrt'rr Cm�fruiw; Wastr't Lookin� TH E SENSUAL LANDSCAP E 
vagina. Combined with certain forms of exercise and deep breath­
ing, foot-binding was said to have prodigious effects on women's 
copulative prowess. At one time the women of Tatung in north­
west China were rega rded highly by Chinese bedroom sports­
olen. Won1en from this city were not known for their beauty, but 
they were celebrated for three superlatives: they had the tiniest 
feet, their vaginas had the tightest "double doors," and they were 
most generous with "bed calls" during lovemaking . Connoisseurs of eroticism during the Ming dynasty per­
fected a set of forty-eight techniques of sexual dalliance, all in­
volving those dainty golden lotuses. They ranged from a man's 
using his tongue to pick out seeds and raisins placed in the hollow 
of a woman's foot, to his tying her feet high from the latticework 
of the traditional curtained bedstead with her foot-binding rib­
bons. The techniques included also various ways of holding, mas­
saging, and moving a woman's feet during foreplay and coitus. Small feminine feet, then, became an aesthetic and erotic 
symbol. And so did the shoes that went on them. It was a daring 
accomplishment for a man to drink wine from a woman's tiny silk 
shoe. The scholar Yang Tieh-yai loved partying, which in his time 
involved entertainment by professional female singers and danc­
ers. Whenever he saw one with especially tiny feet, he would re­
move one of her soft silk shoes and drink wine fron1 it. His friend 
Ni Yin-lin, a renowned landscape and erotic painter, and a com­
plusively neat individual, was repulsed by Yang 's habit. Every 
time Yang toasted with a won1an's shoe, Ni would angrily stalk 
out of the party, atnid roars of laughter frotn the other celebrants. A Ming scholar who obtained the shoe of a fan1ous courtesan, 
used it as a wine cup to treat his friends . who invariably got drunk . The shoe becanlt' J coveted conversation piece. THE SEx LIFE or MEN AND WoMEN OF CuLTURE 
Liter ary and artistic tigures in ancient China w ere no prudes in 
their privat e lives. The Ming scholar Tang Po-lnt, fatnous as a 
writer, poet, callig rapher , and paint er, was known also tor his 
won uniz ing. Chu Cho-to, a seventeenth-century poet, is re­
menlbcred for his two hundr ed love poen1s describing in detail 
his stolen morn ents with his sistt 'r-in-law, with whon1 he had a torrid affair. Tht' fantous Tang Taoist prit'stcss Yu Hsicn-chi was 
celebratc..'d for tht' irnpron1ptu poen1s she con1posed while carous­
ing with rnale literati. The Tang poc..'t Tu Mu had affairs with 
countless won1cn. Another l:1ng poet, Sung Chih-weng. tried to 
ingratiat e hin1sclf to the lascivious c..'nlpress Wu Tse-tien by hunl­
bling hintself and holding the urinal for the ern press's ntalc con­
cubine while the latter perfonned his toilet. Hut when Sung 
finally rnet the ern press, she rejected hint because of his halitosis. The brokenhearted Sung was left to write many poents about his 
"love lost." This was poetic license gone berserk. The renowned Sung dynasty poet Soo Tung-po, a rnandarin 
and n1agistrate, once sat injudgrnent over a Buddhist monk who 
had been accused of killing a courtesan during a jealous dispute. Soo sentenced the rnonk to death, delivering his verdict in verse. His ofticial duties did not reflect his own personal life. He would 
often call on a friend, Ta Tung, a pious Buddhist abbot, to sip 
wine and converse in impromptu verse. Sometimes Soo would 
bring along a courtesan, thus embarrassing the abbot; but Soo 
himself thought nothing of it. He once tried, as a lark, to have the 
courtesan seduce the great monk. Ta Tung, however, resisted the 
ten1ptation and sent Soo a poem that reiterated his own moral 
philosophy; he thereby gained Soo's great respect. Another of Soo's friends, the abbot Fu Yin, once teasingly 
asked Soo's younger sister, who had just become a bride, to de­
scribe her wedding night. She replied bashfully that it would be 
difficult for her to do so outright; she would put it into a poen1. The next day she told the abbot to look for her poem inside the 
huge temple bell of his monastery. When Fu Yin poked his shaven 
head into the bell, he saw a note saying simply: "It was exactly 
like this!" The visual joke sent the normally sedate abbot into hys­
terical laughter. CuL TURE D CouR TES ANS 
The fact that the great poet Soo brought along a courtesan when 
he called on his abbot friend may have ernbarrassed the devout 
Buddhist monk, but it is not shocking when viewed against the 
contemporary n1orcs. Ancient China, after all, was familiar with 
the world's oldest profession. Durin g the Tang dynasty, courte-WIJt'PI Cor!fruirH Wasn't Lookin .� sans were visited by upper-class men only, among them �. ;cholars, 
poets, painters, and hig h man darins. (Mer chants, no matter how 
wea lthy, were never considered upper-class.) Though technically 
prostitutes, these courtesans were professional hostesses trained 
in performing music and singing, dancing, painting, composing 
poetry, and discussing literature with their clients. The y granted 
sexual favors only when the clients wooed them for a certain 
period and only if the wooing was accepted . With their own code 
of ethics and professional pride, these courtesans would spurn 
any vulgar man, no matter how rich. Some were even celebrated 
for their "chastity." (Incidentally, the geishas of Japan are a relic 
of this Chinese system.) Probably because of increasingly strict moral standards advo­
cated by neo-Confucianists, and the related curtailment of wom­
en's freedom, prostitution in China grew rapidly from the tenth 
century on, and its standards steadily deteriorated . It flourished in 
the fourteenth century, during the Ming dynasty. Courtesans 
regularly entered the imperial palaces in Nanking to entertain at 
banquets; later, however, they were banned by one of the em­
perors. The capital had no fewer than sixteen officially registered 
"houses of joy." The government levied a "rouge-and-powder 
tax" on a vast army of courtesans, "singsong girls," and pro­
liferating common prostitutes. The Sung emperor Hui Tsung (ruled 1 101-1 126) carried on a 
five-year affair with the courtesan Li Sze-sze, the only one men­
tioned in the official history of the Sung dynasty. One day he vis­
ited her incognito, accompan ied by his trusted eunuchs. Like all 
her clients, the emperor had to take a bath, as insisted by Li's 
madam, who did not know his true identity. While Li was playing 
music for him, the impatient emperor tried to get to the basics. She brushed him off so angrily that he fell on the floor, then left in 
a huff. Soon rumors circulated about the emperor's visit. The 
madam almost died of fright; but as Li had predicted, within a 
month the emperor returned, having sent her a gift of a treasured 
musical instrument and a quantity of silver. Because of her fame, Li Sze-sze invited the poet Chou Pang-ni 
to write lyrics for her songs. One day when Chou was at Li's, 
comfortably settled in her boudoir, the emperor arrived unan­
nounced. Chou had to hide under Li's bed while the emperor 
shared it with her. Then and there Chou was inspired to write sotnc lyrics, which he later gave to Li. On the etnpcror's next visit 
when he heard Li singing this new song, he realized that it con­
tained intin1atc details that should be kno wn only to hitnsclf and 
her. He asked who had written it, and, enraged, ordered Chou 
into exile. On his next visit to her house, the ctnperor found that Li was 
out. She was saying farewell to Chou. Upon her tearful return she 
brought back Chou's latest poen1, describing the sweet sorrows of 
parting. The en1peror was so tnoved by its beauty that he decreed 
Chou be brought back to the capital and given a high position in 
government. The en1peror Hui Tsung could have moved the courtesan Li 
Sze-sze into his palace and n1adc her an in1perial consort, but for 
son1e reason he never did. Perhaps the neo-Confucianists ob­
jected, or perhaps it was n1ore stin1ulating for him to go to a cour­
tesan's house, but the etnperor continued to visit her as a client. So 
he would not have to travel in disguise, he ordered the construc­
tion of a tunnel more than a mile long between his suburban 
palace and Li's house; it took two and a half years to build. Dur­
ing their relationship he gave Li gifts galore, including generous 
amounts of gold and silver, a collection of jeweled lamps, and a 
master painting that today is in the British Museum. DEMON LOV ERS AND REAL ANIMA LS 
One fascinating theme in ancient Chinese folklore and literature 
was sexual union between human beings and supposed demon 
lovers. Tales of such liaisons usually involve lonely young male 
scholars who are seduced by exquisitely beautiful women, who, it 
turns out, arc fox spirits. A ghostly temptress would visit a soli­
tary young man night after night and have intercourse with him, 
and he would be powerless to resist. Some demon lovers would 
drain their victims to death sexually, while others would fall gen­
uinely in love and eventually depart in a sentimental farewell. Whether they represent purely literary fantasy or sexual delusion 
in lonely young men, tales of fox spirits copulating with n1en 
were believed widely. Sexual beliefs concerned not only den1ons but also aninuls. In 
southeast China, tnalc tnountain beavers were said to be so lewd �VIrctJ Cor!fucius Wa.nr't Lookin.� that exhausted fernale beavers had to evacuate an area soon after 
the nuting season began. A matcless male beaver, denied of his 
natural outlet, would embed its penis in a tree. If hunters came 
upon such a n1ating scene, they would kill the beaver and cut off 
the penis, which would then be dried in the sun and sold at a high 
price as an aphrodisiac. In spring, when women went to collect 
herbs in the mountains, male beavers would go after them in 
droves. The won1en would kill these lustful animals, cut off their 
penises, and sell them to herbalists. Fraud was common for such 
an expensive item, and to test one a woman would rub together 
her palms until they were warm, then place the dehydrated penis 
in her palm. If it stood erect, it was genuine beaver; if it remained 
lifeless, it was a fake. The southern Chinese treasured snake bile as a medicinal tonic 
for sexual potency. On the island of Hainan, one variety of 
python was said to be irresistibly attracted to the sexual odor of 
women. A hunter who came upon a python would cover the 
snake's head with a woman's underpants. It would then become so 
intoxicated that the hunter could bind it with rattan, slice it with a 
sharp knife, and take out its bile. The python then would be re­
leased and would live on. Turtles too figured among the Chinese sex menagerie. The 
turtle was a sytnbol of venerable longevity, especially during the 
Tang dynasty, when the itnage of the anin1al, or even the written 
character for the word, appeared as a common good-luck charm 
on gifts, paintings , scrolls, and other festive iten1s. Folklore told 
of fen1alc turtles' n1ating with rnale snakes, and eventually the 
turtle became a syn1bol of cuckoldry. Today, as in past centuries, 
calling a man in China a turtle is a vile insult. Because son1e tur­
tles have green n1oss on their shells, even the tenn "gr een hat" is 
offensive� no Chinese n1alc would ever put a green hat on his 
head. (In Japan, which derived nnteh of its culture fron1 China 
during the Tang dynasty, the turtle is still a syrnbol of long life; 
the world f(Jr "turtle" occurs in n1any Japanese narnes. ) SPICING UP SEXUAL UNION 
With their spices and seasonings, the Chinese can turn the n1ost 
mundane ingredients into gounnet dishes. They have tried the 
san1c with conjugal unions, which otherwise n1ight turn stale. After all, in the words of Confucius, "Food and sex arc hunun 
instincts." He was discerning enough to adn 1it: "I have never seen 
people love rnorals n1ore than they love sex." The great sage Confucius, for twenty-five centuries the ulti­
n1atc arbiter of Chinese tnorals, was not the fanatical ascetic son1e 
n1ight think. After being criticized for calling on Nan-tzu, the 
notoriously lascivious wife of the Prince of Wei, Confucius de­
fended hirnself by clain1ing that during their n1ceting Nan-tzu 
spoke to hin1 fron1 behind a screen, as was the custom. But he 
never told his disciples the details of that rather lengthy interview. Confucius reportedly divorced his wife because she was a poor 
cook. Sex was not unimportant to hitn, and indeed, it was consid­
ered necessary by all schools of Confucians. In the puritanical 
centuries of Chinese history, Confucius's image was transformed 
so that he became the stern overseer of Chinese morals. But de­
spite this looming presence, the Chinese have enjoyed food and 
sex in their own natural ways, especially when they thought Con­
fucius wasn't looking. JVIrctl C'or�/i1cius Wasn't Look itr,(! _h 4 
In the Forbidden Palace 
Amor ous Emperors and 
Lascivious Ladies 
IT IS EARLY in the seventh century, at the Grand Canal of China. Thousands of cavalrymen ride on horseback along the banks. A 
flotilla of a thousand boats, extending for seventy miles, sails 
slowly southward in the canal. Ncar the middle of the flotilla 
glides a giant barge with a hundred halls and cabins on its four 
decks. On this brcezcless summer day, the boat's colorful sails arc 
folded at the base of its bright red masts. On the towpaths, tlve 
hundred chanting, giggling young palace n1aids in pastel silk 
dresses arc pulling the barge with tnultihued silk ropes. On a spa­
cious stage at the stern of the boat. twenty lithe fetnalc dancers 
move sinuously with their gossar ncr silk scarves to tnusic played 
by an all-fenulc string and wind orches tra. Nob lcwo n1en, high 
imp erial ofticials, and a sprinkling of Buddhist rnonks and Taoist 
priests stroll on the open decks, sip wine , and sniff the exotic 
flowers set in wooden plantl'rs. In the throne roon1 on the top 
deck sits the ernperor, surr ounded by his royal consorts and gaz­
ing in1periou sly at his subjects kowtowing on the banks. Such was thl· royal voyage of the Sui dynasty en1peror Yang 
(ruled (>05-6 17), builder of the Grand Canal, royal highways, and 
grand iosl ' palaces. renovator of the Great Wall, epicurean, tyrant­
and kchl·r. ()nee on thl' throne, he forcibly tnoved thousands of affluent n1erchant s and their fatnih. 's fron1 other cities to the capi­
tal of Loyang. As part of his giant construction project in the 
western suburb of the capital, lakes wer e dug , alliin ked by canals. The soil that was dug up was used to n1ak e a nt11nber of hill s, each 
a few hundred feet high. A nlJste r architect built sixteen lux­
urious palaces on the hills and by t he lakes. Rar e plant s and ani­
nlals and odd-shaped boulders fron1 all ove r China dott ed the 
artificial landsc ape. For the constr uction of the Grand Canal, Yang cons cripted 
n1ore than 3 n1illion n1en as forced laborers, and assigned so,ooo 
soldiers as task In asters. Hundr eds of thousands died in the build­
ing of the cana l. The etnperor conscrip ted tnore than a million 
slave laborers to repair the Great Wall, which was started by an­
other tyrant nine cen turies earlier to keep the northern barbarians 
out. In addition , the restless Yang had palaces built in far-flung 
provinces, for his many travels. On this voyage the emperor was sailing to Yangchow, a great 
city of pleasure he had visited before. When his barge ran aground 
at a shallow spot, he ordered a complete survey of the canal. The 
canal bottom was found shallower than the specified depth in 1 29 
spots, and Yang promptly commanded that the engineers and la­
borers responsible, some so,ooo men in all, be executed. Even though he was surrounded by thousands of beautiful 
women on his palatial playgrounds, Emperor Yang was con­
stantly looking for new thrills, and he cultivated a number of 
hobbies accordingly. His Maze Palace was decorated with erotic 
murals. The walls of his bedchamber had nine large bronze mir­
rors so he could watch himself indulge with his women. A tal­
ented imperial aide invented two of his most treasured toys. One 
was a couch with straps and cuffs, designed especially to restrain 
unwilling vir gins so he could deflower them more easily. The 
other, known as the "carriage of the heart's desire," featured a bed 
that would rock and vibrate when the vehicle moved. If the pas­
sengers became too passionately noisy, the carriage's many tin­
klingjade bells would drown out the noise. The emperor brought 
these and other devices along when he traveled. Emperor Yang's lavish spending, and his tyranny and debauch­
ery, soon caught up with him. As his flotilla reached Yangchow, 
he received reports of unrest and rebellion frotn all over China. He made his way back to the capital, but insurgents eventually !11 tllf F<lrhidde11 Pttlacr 
37 TH E SE NSU AL tA NDS CAPE 
killed him. A rebel general succeeded in ending the brief glory of 
the Sui dynasty and founded the great dynasty, the Tang, that 
brought three centuries of peace, prosperity , and cultural refine­
ment to China. Emperor Yang's outrageous conduct made hitn one of the 
more notorious examples of disastrous tyranny in Chinese his­
tory. His splendid lifestyle and love of erotic pleasure were, 
however, the norm rather than the exception in the long line of 
emperors of China. According to a solidly entrenched Confucian dictum, the em­
peror had a mandate from heaven to rule his people like an author­
itative but benevolent father. The people had to obey and be loyal 
under this paternalism. If the emperor misruled, the mandate 
would be withdrawn. In reality, of course, he might be benevo­
lent or tyrannical, able or incompetent, virtuous or licentious . His 
mandate from heaven could be withdrawn only by a palace coup 
or a popular revolution. Whatever the case, the emperor had the 
prerogative of life and death over his subjects, and the privilege of 
choosing whom he went to bed with. Even virtuous emperors ex­
ercised this privilege. THE PowER OF EuNu cHs 
Libidinous emperors were able to keep thousands of won1en in 
their courts safe fron1 an1orous cotnplication through an inge­
nious and diabolical systen1. Since the tlrst or second century B. c., 
besides the etnperor, the only tnales allowed in the royal sanctum 
were eunuchs. The etnperor's won1cn were tucked away safely, 
protected outside by in1perial guards and inside by sexually neu­
tral eunuchs. The systen1 of forbidden palaces went on for two 
thousand years. Where were recruits for this special corps found? Initially they 
can1e frotn punished t;11nilies: as everything else in China, the 
penal systcn1 was farnily-oriented, and when a high irnperial offi­
cial was executed by the ctn peror, his daughters were put in the 
palace as nuids and his sons were castrated and becan1e court eu­
nuchs. Eventually, being a eunuch ceased to be a punishtnent. Sons of poor t;11nilies or young n1en who wanted to work as eu­
nuchs had thetnselves castrated. In tnany cases. especially in earlier cen turies, castration in­
volved the ren1oval of only the testicles. The penis was left intact 
but rt'tH.iered sexually useless. During the later dynasties, sur­
geons son1etin1es rt'nloved the entire genitalia. If a boy was cas­
trated bcf()re puberty. he grew up with a sque aky voice. enlarged 
hips. and hair on his scalp but little elsewher e. If an adult were 
castrated. he retaine d his rnalc voice and body hair . Even though a 
t'unuch 's sexual capability had been taken away , his sexual desi re 
n1ight rt'tnain. especially if he was castr ated after puberty or in his 
adult yt'ars. During the last two dynasties, son1e hig h eunuchs 
were known to frequent brothels. l)ne Ming dynasty eunuch 
even had a wife and several concubines-although this probably 
was n1ore for sho\v than tor substance. During some dynasties, 
eunuchs were allowed to sleep with palace ladies to give them "a 
touch of Yang essence." They would engage in various forms of 
sex play but no actual intercourse. If the operation was not done properly, the supposedly cas­
trated n1an still could have erections. Such was suspected in the 
case of An Teh-hai, chief eunuch under Tzu Hsi, the celebrated 
Ern press Dowager who virtually ruled--or misruled-China from 
1862 to 1908. Informally called the Western Empress because her 
quarters were in the western part of the palace, the Empress 
Dowager and the Eastern Empress were co-regents for Tzu Hsi 's 
son, the boy emperor Tung Chih (ruled 1862-1 875). Young, 
handsom e, and smart, An was not only Tzu Hsi 's majordomo and 
factotum but also her unofficial political advisor. An controlled 
the access of all imperial officials to the empress, notwithsta nd­
ing dynastic laws that forbade political roles for eunuchs. As her 
ultimate confidant, he spent an inordinate amount of time with 
her in private� run1ors, naturally, soon were being whispered in 
the palace. Once the young emperor saw An leaving his mother's 
chamber after a lengthy visit. He ordered his retainers to seize and 
strip the chief eunuch on the spot, and a young eunuch to mastur­
bate him. Either An's castration was complete or he was too 
frightened� his penis remained limp, and the emperor had to let 
him go. An bccan1c increasingly arrogant. Even though by law eu­
nuchs were not allowed to leave the capital, he went on an im­
perial mission to another city to order ceremonial robes for the 
Empress Dowager, who gave hirn permission. Her palace enemies /, tlu· f'l.lr-/liddt·, Palace 
39 persuaded her co-regent to apprehend An and have him executed 
in public for violating the imperial law. The Empress Dowager 
was devastated but could do nothing. En1press Tzu Hsi then cultivated another favorite eunuch, Li 
Lien-ying, who became even more powerful than An, although 
he managed to be n1ore discreet. As regent for her five-year-old 
nephew, the emperor Kuang Hsu (ruled I 875-1908), the Empress 
Dowager had free rein, with Li as her confidant. Li was later in­
strumental in the imprisonment of the young emperor, who ad­
vocated reform and modernization of the country. China, by then 
rapidly deteriorating, was on the verge of being dismembered by 
greedy European powers, and the erratic policy of the Empress 
Dowager and her favorite eunuchs propelled the empire down a 
disastrous path of disintegration. Because of their proximity to the seat of power, the men who 
had been mutilated deliberately to safeguard the sexual sover­
eignty of polygamous monarchs ended up not only engaging in 
palace intrigues but also meddling in state politics. Eunuchs and 
the systein supporting them were an indirect cause of the decline 
and fall of four of China's greatest dynasties, the Han, Tang, Ming, 
and Ching. THE fOR BIDDE N pARADISE 
If the forbidden palaces of ancient China gave these half-men un­
suspected opportunities for self-aggrandizen 1ent, they were a 
paradise for the emperors with their absolute sexual prerogative. The number of won1en in the palace varied according to the 
reigning monarch's treasury and libido. There were usually be­
tween J,ooo and 8,ooo women at court; an1ong thein, a smaller 
nun 1ber constituted the en1peror's consorts and potential con­
sorts, while the Inajority held various roles, fron1 high-ranking 
officials to scullery rnaids. The n1ethod of recruiting palace won1cn differed fron1 dy­
nasty to dynasty. A victorious war usually brought in a rich fenli­
nine booty. Son1c tyrannical en1perors would send out search 
parties to conscript young and attractive girls, often setting off 
nationwide panic. Weddings were hastily arranged, and attractive 
girls disguised thcn 1sclv es with rags and dirt to dodge the royal 
draf t. In later dynasties the recruitment of women was more civi­
lized. During the Ming dynasty, palace ladies, the empress in­
cluded, were chosen from the people, somewhat as in a beauty 
contest. Emissaries combed the empire for candidates, and the 
best were selected as potential consorts of the emperor. Especially 
educated and talented women were appointed high palace offi­
cials, while the rest served as palace maids. Women who were 
eliminated from the running received gold, jewelry, brocade, and 
imperial certificates. These young women were eagerly sought 
after by eligible bachelors of the upper class. Whatever the emperor's sexual fancy, he traditionally accepted 
a spousal hierarchy. Huang Ti, the legendary Yellow Emperor 
(ruled c. 2697 B. c.) had four consorts who gave him twenty-five 
sons. This is the earliest known instance of Chinese royal polyg­
amy. During the Hsia dynasty (2205-I766 B.c.) each monarch had 
twelve consorts. The quota was increased to thirty-nine in the 
next dynasty. During the Chou dynasty {I I22-255 B.c. ), rulers by 
tradition each had I 2 I spouses, ranked in five grades. In later dy­
nasties, the systen1 of ranking became less rigid. The method of selecting the empress and other high-ranking 
consorts varied greatly. Some were picked from the inner pal­
aces; others, as in the Han dynasty, were chosen from prominent 
families. One Han emperor drew lots for his empress, from 
among four finalists. Ming crown princes usually chose three fi­
nalists, then let their mothers pick the lucky one from the trio. One fourth-century emperor is known to have made a humble, 
homely weaving girl his empress, upon the advice of a physiog­
nomist. Physiognomists, who could supposedly tell a person's 
temperament, character, health outlook, sexual proclivities, and 
fortune in life from facial and other bodily features, were as re­
spected in ancient China as many psychoanalysts are in modern 
America. llecoming empress or consort meant great honor and fortune, 
but it did not necessarily lead to a happy ending. During certain 
dynasties, when an empress or imperial consort gave birth to a 
son who could someday become the crown prince, by law she had 
to die. The mother of a crown prince might n1eddle in palace and 
state politics, so for the alle ged sake of the nati on she had to dit·. The infant then was reared by a wet nur se. Conse quently , a crown 
prince often grew up emotion ally attached to his wet nur se. Wht·n In the Forbidden Pala ce 42 he inherited the throne, he might make her a high-ranking aristo­
crat. During later centuries, even the husband of a wet nurse 
n1ight receive an aristocratic title. A BEDMATE FOR THE NIGHT 
While choosing the emperor's consorts was more or less dictated 
by custom and tradition, choosing his bedmate for the night was 
another matter. In antiquity, royal astrologers usually planned the 
king's copulatory schedule, and a female official of the royal 
chamber handled the arrangements. The sovereigns of the Chou 
dynasty, each with his I 2 I spouses, followed a preordained sched­
ule each lunar month: From day I through day 9, the king slept 
each night with nine of the eighty-one lowest-ranking concu­
bines. From day I o through day I 2, he slept each night with nine 
of his twenty-seven honorable dames. On day I 3 he spent a single 
night with his nine royal consorts, and the next night was given to 
his three royal concubines. Day I 5, the time of the full moon, was 
devoted to the queen. During the second half of the month, the 
monarch's sexual obligations were reversed, and he worked his 
way down from the queen to the lowest rank. The Art of the Bedchamber thus was already in its embryonic 
stage some three thousand years ago. A schedule like that of the 
Chou dynasty was based on the theory that if the king absorbed 
sufficient Yin essence from his various partners, when it came 
time for a close encounter with the queen, his Yang essence would 
peak, and give him the best chance to sire a healthy, bright son and 
heir. This rigid schedule was discarded in the Han dynasty . Em­
perors began to choose their bedmates with capriciousness and 
diabolical ingenuity. One emperor would roam his palace grounds 
daily, in a cart pulled by three or four goats. When the goats 
stopped, the nearest wornan would be his sexual partner for the 
night. To push their luck a bit, palace ladies would put ban1boo 
leaves and salt outside their quarters, knowing how eagerly the 
goats ate thern. The Han ernperor Cheng, who had a fetish for the 
Lolor black, used that very fixation to choose his bedmates. His 
night palace had black walls, black drapery, and black furniture, 
and all his women wore black dresses and black veils. At night he often extinguished all the candles , wh ich were black too, and 
groped around in the dark. Wh oever he caught would he his 
bedrnate-in pitch-darkness. The Tang en1peror Hsuan Tsu ng wou ld n1ake his selection by 
giving each of his three thousand consorts a flower for her hair , 
then releasing a giant but terfly . His bed nute t<. )r the night would 
be the consort on whose hair the butterfly landed. Another Tang 
etnperor, Ching Tsung, would shoot sachets of n1usk or other 
perfun1ed powder at his \VOlllt'n with a bow. Whoever got hit, 
and covered with the scented powder, was his lady for the night. Even rnore elaborate and poetic was the technique of the Ming 
en1peror Cheng Tsung, who at dusk in springtin1e would sail on 
the palace lake with a group of women. He would release hun­
dreds of fireflies, and the won1en on whose hair the fireflies set­
tled became finalists. The wotnan who attracted the most fireflies 
was queen for the night. Many won1en smeared crushed rose pet­
als in their hair to lure the fireflies. Another of Cheng Ts ung's 
methods was literally poetic: He would inscribe the first two lines 
of several well-known four-line Tang poems on a tree leaf, and his 
ladies would write on their own leaves the last two lines. The 
leaves then were set adrift in a palace canal. When one of the em­
peror's leaves drifted alongside one of the ladies', the leaves were 
fished out and read. If the lines were from the same poem, the 
woman who had inscribed the lines was the emperor's for the 
night. During the Ching dynasty (1644-191 1), emperors' methods 
for choosing a nocturnal companion were less whirnsical, though 
often equally bizarre. This dynasty was founded by a northern 
tribe, the Manchus, who in conquering China adopted so much 
of its native culture that they were eventually assimilated. Fearing 
assassination by their Chinese subjects, Manchu emperors took 
strict security measures. On the morning that he chose a woman 
as bedmate, the monarch had her nan1e displayed prominently on 
a special green plaque in the palace. She would spend the day pre­
paring herself by washing and burning incense, and in the eve­
ning a eunuch would come to check her identity. She was stripped 
completely and searched closely, wrapped in a big silk bag, and 
then carried on the eunuch's back to the emperor's bedchan1-
ber . After the union she was repackaged and carried back to her 
quarters. lrr tlu· J.C,r/Jiddcrr Pt�lacc 
43 THE SENSUAL LAND SCAP E 
MoNI TOR ING IMPERIAL SEx 
One of the most fascinating aspects of an emperor's sex life was 
the official monitoring of his intercourse. In order to verify the 
time and circumstances of conception and authenticate the em­
peror's paternity when a consort gave birth to a son, complete rec­
ords were kept of the emperor's sexual activities: date, hour, name 
of consort, duration of intercourse, even the number of imperial 
thrusts. These records were classified as top secret, but they be­
came known when dynasties fell. As early as the twelfth century 
B. c., a female official in the royal palace had as her sole duty the 
programming and monitoring of the king's sexual un ions. She 
arranged particular bedmates for him, and when the hour ap­
proached, she put a silver ring on the chosen consort's right hand 
and escorted her to the emperor's bedcham ber. She observed the 
encounter and recorded the details with a vermilion brush-pen. After the union she shifted the ring to the woman's left hand and 
escorted her away. If the woman became pregnant later, she would 
be given a gold ring to wear. (This rite, by the way is believed to 
be the origin of the modern custom of wedding rings.) In later centuries, during the Ching dynasty for instance, a eu­
nuch did the monitoring, and the ritual became more elaborate. Right after the emperor's ejaculation, the eunuch would crawl on 
all fours by his bed, kowtow, and ask: "Your Majesty, retain or 
not?" If the emperor said no, another eunuch, a grand n1aster of 
acupressure massage, would immediately take the woman to an 
adjoining chamber and work vigorously on her pubic region 
to expel the royal spern1. Records do not indicate conclusively 
whether this method of birth control was effective. The typical Manchu etnperor led a very frustrating sex life. Not only was he rnonitored, but he could be stopped in the mid­
dle of intercourse by a eunuch, should the latter deen1 that the in­
tercourse had been too lengthy for the en1pcror's health. If an 
en1peror in the throes of passion ignored such a request, the eu­
nuch had a foolproof way of cutting short the in1perial motions: 
he would kneel down and start reading a hortatory 1nen1orandun1 
fron1 the emperor's father or grandfather, or another ancestor. It 
was a strict tradition an1ong n1any Chinese to hold sacred such 
fatnily n1en1orandun1s urging the descendants to morality, dili­
gence, and other virtues; indeed, these doctuncnts were read rev-erently frotn tin1e to tinlt'. like the Bible. If a eunuch started read­
ing one of thest' tan1ily a<. :hnonitions, the ernperor would feel 
obliged to suspend his activity and kne el down at once. The occa­
sion \VJS sornething like hearing a national anther n . Understandably . rnonitoring and related killjoy rituals slut­
tcrcd the ron1Jntic prospects and the pleasure ekrnent in an enlper­
or's sex life. Son1e n1onarchs rnan aged to abolish the rnonitoring 
during their reigns, while others cirnunvcnted the practice­
sowing their wild oats or even visiting prostitutes, away fron1 the 
intperial voyeurs. DE VOT ION AND DECADENCE 
In spite of their absolute sexual privileges, many monarchs led 
reasonable conjugal lives. Son1e were known for their loyalty to a 
single n1ate. One Ming cn1peror was so enamored of his mother's 
chan1bern1aid, who was seventeen years his senior, that he made 
her his in1perial concubine as soon as he got on the throne. His 
devotion to her lasted twenty-thr ee years, until she died; he was 
unshakably despondent after her death, and died a year later. Such examples of marital constancy, however, were not as 
well-known as those of licentious lavishness. In the eighteenth 
century B. c., the last monarch of the Hsia dynasty had an artificial 
lake filled with wine, and trees in a forest hung with barbecued 
meat. He set loose three thousand naked noblemen and noble­
women to engage in drunken orgies and posted lifeguards to fish 
out drunks who fell into the wine lake. The tenth-century ruler 
Wei Chung frolicked with palace ladies on an enormous bed be­
hind crystal folding screens. Other monarchs would have naked 
women row on palace lakes in summer and play in hot tubs in 
wtnter. These practices often turned utterly decadent. A Ming noble­
man used the mouths of maidservants as spittoons. In his mansion 
were numerous female statues, dressed in finery and decorated 
with powder and rouge. These figures, which either kneeled or 
lay on their back, with their open mouths, were used as urinals by 
his male guests. One of the lewdest monarchs was the Yuan emperor Shun 
(ruled 1333-1 368), who twice a year collected virgins from all over /11 the FMhiddctl PalaCl' 
45 THE SENS UAL LAN DSCAPE 
China for his pleasure, and who is said to have raped at least forty 
noblcwatnen. He installed two charlatan lamas as palace priests to 
coach hin1 in sexual techniques. One of then1 was awarded the 
n1ajestic title of "Grand Master of the Great Yuan Empire." Un­
der Shun's reign civil strife and rebellion spread through that great 
empire, and eventually Shun was pursued by rebel troops. To slow 
down the pursuing army, he left clusters of beautiful palace won1en 
here and there along his escape route as bait. The strategy worked, 
and he managed to flee to his ancestral home in Mongolia. With 
his flight ended eighty-eight years of Mongolian rule of China. The rebel leader who then seized the throne was a Buddhist 
monk. He founded the illustrious Ming dynasty, under which 
Chinese culture enjoyed a great renaissance, with the arts-and 
the cult of elegant living-reaching their zenith. This dynasty 
had its own lecherous black sheep, Emperor Wu Tsung (ruled 
I 506-1 522). He was notorious for dropping in on his wealthier 
subjects and san1pling not only the delicacies on their table but 
also their wives and daughters. If he liked what he tasted, he 
would carry it-or her-off to his palace. His subjects so dreaded 
his visits that at word of his con1ing, streets emptied and most 
houses were locked. Wealthy families even built secret rooms and 
cellars for their women to hide in when the en1peror was on the 
prowl. A number of monarchs are known for their ron1antic eroti­
cism. The Tang emperor Mu Tsung (ruled 821-825) wrote love 
poems on silk blouses, which his consorts then donned when 
they were sumn1oned to his chambers. He would read the poems 
aloud while copulating. Meng Chang of the Later Shu dynasty 
(925-960), tall and handson1e, was an en1inent poet. One day, 
while walking in the street incognito, he saw an attractive wornan 
beating up several n1en who had been n1aking passes at her on the 
street. He bcc1n1e enarnon:d of the \vonun and took her to his 
palace. Not only was she a rnartial arts expert, a poet, and a nlusi­
cian, but she was also good in bed. She was so good in fact that he 
bestowed on her the poetic title of "Madan1e Flower Pistil." In 
Chinese literature, "flower pistil," like "flower heart," refers to 
the innennost part of the vagina, the cervix. Li Yu (ruled 962.--y78) was a ronuntic, and tragic, rnonarch of 
the Southern Tang kingdom. He was an excellent painter, poet, 
calligrapher, chess player, and zither player. His queen was tal-ented in n1usic and poetry, and a compos er of songs. The two 
spent rnost of their tin1e writing pocn1s and playing rnusic. Their 
cultural pursuits, unfortunately. \Vere no nutch for a hungry 
neighboring power, and Li Yu died a captiv e in prison. Perhaps the n1ost renowned an1orous n1onarch of China was 
the Tang en1peror Hsuan Tsung (ruled 71 3-756), whose poignant 
life is in1n1ortalized in Chinese poetry and dranu. He had 40,000 
palace won1cn, the highest nurnbcr on record, of whon1 3,000 
were his consorts, served and guarded by 3 ,ooo eunuchs in his 
three palaces in the capital of Changan (now X ian). Hsuan Tsung 
was the en1peror who chose his bednutes with butterflies-until 
he fell in love with a nun, who had been his late father's consort. He nude her Irnperial Concubine Yang and canceled his daily 
n1orning audience so he could spend tin1e with her. Hsuan Tsung's devotion was mor e one-sided than he realized, 
however. He had a trusted aide named An Loh-shan, a Tartar, 
from the north. Bright and wily, An was fat but an agile dancer. With the en1peror's consent, Yang playfully called An her godson. An paid n1ore than normal respect to his "godmother," and showed 
her more than normal affection. Yang had exquisite porcelain skin and was on the plump side, 
as was the fashion for women of the Tang era. She enjoyed bath­
ing in the famous hot springs of the emperor's Hua Ching palace 
near Changan. Whenever she was intoxicated, she loved to expose 
her breasts, described by the emperor as "newly skinned foxnuts" 
and by her loving godson as "congealed yogurt." The godson was 
once so hungry for this yogurt that he left fingernail marks on her 
breasts. To cover up the telltale sign, Yang devised a bosom cover­
ing of red silk, and the fashion immediately caught on among 
palace ladies. Yang's status in the bedchamber brought inst ant aristocracy 
and wealth to her three sisters and a foster brother. They vied with 
each other and with the emperor's brothers in their sumptuous, 
erotic lifestyles. In part because of this concentration on eroticism, Emperor 
Hsuan Tsung neglected his governmental duties. Eventually An 
Loh-shan started a revolt, and the emperor fled the capital with 
Yang's family. At one point the emperor's restive troops refused to 
go farther unless he executed her and all her family member s. The 
grief-stricken monarch was forced to give the order. After his In tire Forbidden Palace 
47 THE SE NSUA L LANDSCAPE 
beloved consort was strangled with a silk scarf, Hsuan Tsung 
continued his flight. At the site where the famous beauty had 
died, a poor old crone displayed a stocking she claimed was 
Yang's. She charged a fee for a sniff and made a fortune. Seven years later, the emperor-by then retired-returned 
from his exile to Changan; he was heartbroken as he walked by his 
old palace, now overgrown with weeds, murmur ing Yang's name. This story inspired the great Tang poet Po Chu-i to write one of 
the most touching narrative poems of classical Chinese literature, 
The Song of Long Sorrow s. 
LASCIVIOUS LADIES 
The behavior of some monarchs in treating women like property 
or toys, while characteristic of many ancient cultures, might seem 
even more pronounced in ancient China, because of its socially 
entrenched customs regarding women. But whenever the tables 
were turned, women acted exactly like men. Once in control, 
they too played the game of power intrigues. Given the oppor­
tunity, women could lead lascivious lives and treat men like sex­
ual toys. An early example is the mother of the First Emperor of Chin, 
in the third century B. c. She had a lover who, sexually exhausted 
by her, tried to detach himself fron1 her. He found a replacement 
candidate, an unusually well-endowed man named Lao Ai, and 
chose a method of introduction at once subtle and blatant. At his 
suggestion, Lao marched at a carnival with a wagon wheel on his 
erect penis, spinning it while parading. Naturally this feat becan1e 
the talk of the capita l, and Lao soon was sununoned into the bed­
charnber of the en1p eror's n1other. Sonu�t in1es, nulc partners were supplied to wornen by their 
sons, as in the case of King Yueh Ling in the sixth century. One 
day the n1onarch asked his n1oth er why she looked unhappy. She 
replied that whik he was enjoying life, she wonder ed if he ever 
thought of her. The king got the hint and gave his n1other a pres­
ent of forty nulc concubines. San Yin, sister of Ernperor Fei of the Sung dynasty (of the 
House of Liu) , con1 plain ed to her brother that while he kept sev­
eral thousand wornen in the palace, she had only one mate. Her 
loving brother assig ned thirty nule consorts for her pleasure. The two sisters who beca n1e the t:1vorites of the Han ctnperor 
Cheng (rult �d 32-36 B. c.) wer e known t()f their dancing talents, 
body fragranc e, and t'rotic skill. The older sister, Clu�o Fci-yi, 
pretended to bt' a virgin in front of the en1peror. For three nights, 
her histrionics of shan 1e and pain kept the etnperor froan consunl­
nuting their union. She lat er confided to a close friend that know­
ing the Art of the Bt�dcha tnber had enabled her to fake virginity. She beca nte entpress, but had sexual liaisons with so n1any palace 
nten (the eunuch systent had not yet bet'n intr oduc ed) that the 
etnperor shifted his affections to her sister Heh-teh , a co-consort. Heh-tdt was a tease who, unli ke her blatantly sexual older sister, 
titillated the ctnperor with her fctninine wiles. One day she acci­
dentally killed hint with an overdose of aphrodisiac. Hsia Chi, a noblewoman in the Kingdom of Chen at the time 
of Confucius, was renowned for her erotic lifestyle. Kings and 
noblen1en vied for her sexual favor, even showing her underwear 
at court to flaunt their intimacy with her. All those who entered 
into serious relationships with her died prematurely-whether 
by murder, in duels, or as a result of illness or debility. This 
femn1e fatale-thr ee times a queen, seven times a wife, nine times 
a widow-was a true connoisseur of the Art of the Bedchamber . Among the most lascivious women in Chinese history was 
Empress Chia, whose husband, Emperor Wei (ruled 29o-307), 
was not too bright. When his aides told him that there was a fam­
ine, that the people had no grain, he asked: "Why don't they eat 
mincemeat?" (This was fifteen centuries before Marie Antoi­
nette's supposed "Let them eat cake.") Wanting to produce an heir 
and thereby consolidate her power, Empress Chia slept with 
numerous palace officials and servants. This jealous and vicious 
woman had several of the emperor's pregnant consorts and influ­
ential aides killed. Two years older than her husband, she worked 
hard to preserve her youth and looks. She even kept a stable of 
young men for weekly extractions of semen, which she drank, 
mixed with honey, as a health tonic. Chia kept herself as busy sexually as many an emperor. After 
she asked the imperial doctor to teach her the Art of the Bed­
chamber, the two became lovers; their noisy sexual encounters 
were often heard from outside her bedchamber. She secretly sent 
emissaries to round up handsome young men for her sexual 
amusement. The young men knew only that they were taken in a lt1 the Forbidden Palace 
49 I H f- S f- N ' l 1 :\ I I . '\ N P ' t - :\ I' I 
so wind ow less carriage to a great mansion where they had sex with a 
highborn lady . If any onc betrayed evcn a \Uspic ion ,,f the worn­
an's rcJI idcntity, hc paid with his life. Evcn more lascivious, and bcttcr known , was Empress Wu "1\e­
ticn (ruled 684-705), a brilliant monarch and ruthless schemer. At 
fourteen, the attractive, an1bitious girl was the maid of the cham­
ber pot to the Tang emperor Tai Tsung (rulcd 027-050). She was 
made his concubine but became a nun after his death. When fate stepped in a few years later, Wu's ambition was re­
alized beyond her wildest dreams. Her husband's son, the reign­
ing emperor Kao Tsung (ruled o 5o-684), favored his imperial 
concubine Hsiao over his official spouse, Em press Wang. The 
unhappy empress came up with a plan to sink her rival. First she 
ordered Wu to grow back the hair she had had to cut off as a nun. Then one evening she gave a banquet for the emperor at her quar­
ters, where she presented the stunning Wu, dressed seductively 
and now with long flowing hair. That very night the emperor 
was enthralled by the former nun in his bedcham ber. Empress 
Wang was glad: she had replaced her rival with an ally. Or so she 
thought. Installed as the emperor's favorite, Wu gave birth to an infant 
girl. She devised a diabolical plot. One day, right after the friendly 
empress visited Wu's quarters, Wu strangled her own baby and 
covered the body with a blanket. Then she invited the emperor to 
visit her and in his presence "discovered" that her baby had been 
murdered. The only person known to have come by earlier that 
day, Empress Wang, became the prime suspect. The angry em­
peror deposed her and made Wu empr ess. Once firmly in power, 
Wu ordered the murder of Wang and hundreds of nobles and pal­
ace officials whom she considered potential rivals. In 690, at the age of sixty-seven, Wu usurped the Tang throne, 
proclaimed herself reigning empress, and started her own dy­
nasty, the Chou. She ruled brilliantly for more than a decade, with 
the help of many capable imperial administrators, until a palace 
revolution ended her reign. Empress Wu was something of a fen1inist in her day. She is­
sued a decree permitting all nuns, whose ordination and retire­
ment had been controlled by the government, to cancel their 
vows, leave their nunneries, and marry, if they so desired. Shere­
jected a petition by top imperial officials to honor widows who refused to remarry, and in fact offically persuaded widows to re­
marry. Empress Wu's colorful sex life n1ight seem to overshadow 
those pioneering political achievements. Although in her late six­
ties when she took over the throne, she looked more like a volup­
tuous woman in her thirties. Understandably, Wu had numerous 
lovers. One, a Buddhist monk, built a huge image of the Buddha 
and a lavish temple on her palace grounds. At the same time she 
was carrying on with him, she had a torrid affair with the impe­
rial doctor, who coached her in the Art of the Bedchamber and 
concocted sexual recipes for her. The doctor had the monk's tem­
ple burned to the ground. When the empress tired of the two lovers, her secretary dis­
creetly supplied her with new recruits. Wu's daughter Tai Ping of­
fered her own love interest, Chang Chang-tsung, to her mother. Wu, quite taken with him, made him her main consort. Empress Wu was noted for her voracious sexual appetite. When she had intercourse with her lovers, palace gossips said, 
they sounded like "eight horses rolling in wet mud." To camou­
flage the embarrassing sounds, she kept a band of musicians out­
side her bedchamber to play while she indulged in her favorite 
sport. A specific type of music, tai ko, is believed to have evolved 
from these unique bedchamber concerts. When the empress became old and sick, her daughter and oth­
ers engineered a coup that restored the Tang dynasty, with Wu's 
son, whom she earlier had deposed, as emperor. During the coup 
Chang Chang-tsung was killed and his body cut up by a mob. Wu's secretary retrieved Chang's penis and brought it to her. Wu 
took one look and burst out tearfully: "This is Loh Long!" (This 
was the pet name she used for Chang .) She placed the severed 
organ lovingly in a jade box and ordered that it be buried with her 
when she died . Wu\ sex ual behavior set a pattern for many around her. Her 
dau ghter Tai Ping married twice, then had affairs with dozens of 
nob lemen , palace officials, and prin1e ministers. Many erotic aids 
were found in her palace after her death. Upon Wu\ death her �ecretary, Shangkuan Wan-t·rh, beca me 
very influ ential at court. A tnong her num erous lovers was the 
min ister of the. : army , T�u i Shih, a t<>rmc..:r heJ mat e of the em­
press. Tsui later had an affair with 'bi Ping, who jilted her own ltr the Forbidden Palace 
'I THE SENSUAL LANDSCAP E 
lover, a duke. The outraged duke threatened to expose Tsui 's af­
fair with the princess to the powerful Shangku an-unless Tsui let 
him spend a night with his beauteous wife. To pacify the duke and 
protect his own career, Tsui offered his wife to the duke, who 
turned out to be a tattletale: soon other noblemen were demand­
ing that Tsui pacify them too. Tsui ended up offering not only his 
wife but his two stepdaughters as well. THE PowER OF WoMEN 
The course of ancient Chinese history was altered sometimes by 
women, but even more often because of women. Hsi Shih, an ex­
quisite woman in the fifth century B. c., was given as tribute by the 
king of the conquered state of Yu to the king of the state of Wu. The latter, softened by his romantic life with the storied beauty, 
neglected affairs of state. Meanwh ile, the monarch he bested, liv­
ing a spartan life of vigilance, strengthened his own position. Eventually Wu was vanquished by Yu. In 3 3 B. c., a Han emperor gave a palace beauty, Wang Chao­
cheun, to a Hun chieftain. The chieftain was so happy with her 
that the Huns did not attack China's border for decades. In the eighteenth century, the Ching emperor Chien Lung 
sent a military expedition to Sinkiang for the specific purpose of 
capturing a Muslim princess celebrated for the fragrance of her 
body. Brought back to the capital, the princess became Fragrant 
Imperial Concubine. Although the emperor tried everything to 
please her and alleviate her homesickness -even building a palace 
with a mosque-she ren1ained unhappy and eventually com­
mitted suicide.
vdoc.pub_the-yin-yang-butterfly-ancient-chinese-sexual-secrets-for-western-lovers.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        As long as he did not behave like a lecher, a sex­
ually active old man in traditional China was not consider ed a 
dirty old man. Instead he was regarded as a fortunate, healthy 
male who enjoyed sex and longevity. Countless paintings, de­
signs on porcelain, jade and wood carvings, and embroidered 
robes show cloud-shr ouded dragons pursuing and toying with a 
giant pearl, which sometimes has flames shooting out of it. This 
pearl represents the condensed essence of mingled male and fe­
male sexual energy. PRUDI SHNE SS AND LASCIVIOU SNESS 
Despite the perv asiv e, even fornulized sexual syrnbolisn1 in art 
and elsewh ere, the pcnduh1n1 of sexuality has swung widely­
and wildly-in China. An1ong the cultures of the world, China 
has known sorne of the n1ost restrictive, as well as son1e of the 
most licentious, practices. During the n1ost prudish tirnes, respectable Chinese won1en 
could talk to n1cn who were not blood relatives only fron1 behind 
a screen. A nuidcn whose bare ann was accidentally touched, or 
whose partial nudity was accidentally seen, by a rnalc stranger had 
to nurry hirn to preservl' her virtue. A nurried sister could not sit at the san1e fatnily dining table with her own brother. Husbands 
and wives were not to touch each other outside their bedroorn. and their clothes were not to be hung next to each other on the 
san1e rack. Widows who refused to renurry wer e honored by 
their con1nntnities with stone n1onun1ents. Incest taboos were severe, and included a "nanH. ' incest," 
which forbade a n1an to tnarry a wonun with the san1e last nan1e, 
even if they were not at all relatt·d. ThL' obsessio n with virginity 
was ran1pant; in son1e regions a piece of bloodstained cloth had to 
be exhibited by the proud husband the n1orning after the wedding 
night. In southern China the groon1's fatnily would send a whole 
roast suckling pig ceretnoniously through the streets when the 
bride visited her family three days after the wedding-but only if 
she had been found to be a virgin. Through this ritual the whole 
community would know her condition. Suicides. murders. and 
bloody clan feuds sotnetimes resulted if a young woman was 
found not to be a virgin. On the other hand, an emperor of China might have any­
where from 3, ooo to 40, ooo women in his inner sanctum, where, 
guarded by eunuchs, he could have sex with any of them. The 
feats of some of the most lecherous emperors, empresses, and 
aristocrats were faithfully recorded for posterity in official histo­
ries and scholarly chronicles. From time to time, sex cults engaged in mass orgies. In the 
fourteenth century aristocrats and commoners alike, coached by 
cult priests, indulged in such practices. For privacy in warm 
weather, participants shielded their windows with tiao-hsien, in­
genious blinds made of bamboo slats. They were used so widely 
on brothel windows that they eventually came to symbolize these 
establishments. (Earlier, tiao-hsien had inspired a foreign visitor 
named Marco Polo; the result was the so-called venetian blind. ) A top attraction at Chinese festivals in the eleventh century 
consisted of wrestling matches between naked women. In some 
areas people practiced a custom we might think of as "rent­
a-wife," whereby a man could rent a wife from her husband for a 
contracted period, whether as a baby-maker or sexual partner. A 
famous prime minister of the Sung dynasty was born of such a 
contract. In spite of the seclusion of young women, men were 
able to seduce them in clandestine liaisons; these have inspired 
some of the finest classical poetry and drama. Affairs between When Confucius Wasn't Lookin� T H F S F N S l' A I I A N I> S C A I' f 
26 fathers-i n-la w and dau ghters-in-l aw, known as "rakin� ashes" in 
Chinese, were prevalent an1ong the royalty during certain eras. In 
recent centuries, a standard punishn1cnt for sexual misconduct 
was public spanking; a big paddle would be used on naked but­
tocks, of men as well as women, right inside the courtroom. NEo-CoNFUCIANISM TAKES OvE R 
Up to a thousand years ago, then, sexual life in China was colorful. The Art of the Bedchamber flourished and was practiced openly. During the three centuries of the Tang dynasty (61 8-907), sex 
and sexuality were robust and freewheeling, not only in the impe­
rial courts but also among the commoners. And women were as 
forward as men in their sexual pursuits, seductions, and clan­
destine trysts. During the Sung and Southern Sung dynasty, however, neo­
Confucianists began to advocate segregation of the sexes even 
within the family, and sex for procreation only; und erlying this 
was their belief in the inferiority of women. Their puritanical 
public stance has dominated China for almost the past thousand 
years. The neo-Confucianists were not against sex; they were just 
overdecorous prudes, who restricted sex to the sanctuary of the 
bedchamb er, outside which they pretended to see no sex, hear no 
sex, and speak no sex. They did, though, maintain the old Confucian obsession with 
begetting heirs. Even the most diehard neo-Confucianists copu­
lated, often spiritedly, to sire sons. In fact, they had utter con­
tempt for voluntary celibacy and saw the celibacy of Buddhist 
monks and nuns as unnatural. To the neo-Confucianists, family 
was the bedrock of social and political systems, so they practiced 
polygamy with a straight face. Until the recent past, polygamy had been customary in China. The upper and middle classes practiced it if they wanted, when 
they could afford it. They could justify it morally on the grounds 
that it was a way to guarantee n1ale heirs to carry on the family 
line. The Chinese had a curious form of polygan1y, distinct from 
that of other cultures. If a man had several wives, the first re­
mained the fen1ale head of the household; she could not be 
divorced unless she was caught in serious misconduct. The con-cubines, or subsequent and n1inor wives, had to deter to her. No 
one could usurp the tirst wife's status in the fatnily hiL'rarchy. whatever the husband's t�n1otional or sexual preferences. Under 
such an all-encon1passing fatnily structur e, ther e cou ld be vir­
tually no "scarlet won1en" or illegitin1atc children. The Chinese systcn1 of polygan1y obligated the husband to 
satisfy his wife and all his concubines sexually. This seemingly 
superhuntan teat was not itnpossiblc if the husband was an adept 
in the Art of the Bedchan1ber. Husbands who were exhausted or 
bored by conjugal duty at horne son1etin1es would take a night off 
and visit high-class courtesans, in whose con1pany they would in­
dulge in wine, poetry, and n1usic. Judging whether a Chinese concubine was happier or unhap­
pier than an An1erican divorcee or a French mistress is outside the 
scope of this book. Yet it is relevant to look, if only briefly, at the 
position of won1en in ancient China. As in many if not most an­
cient and n1edieval cultures, women in an cient China were deemed 
inferior to n1en, especially when nco-Confucianism prevailed. While neo-Confucianists did not say explicitly, they created 
n1oral codes that belittled or restricted women. A typical nco­
Confucian "rule" held that a woman without talent was virtuous. Although the neo-Confucianists considered women inferior, 
they did not despise them in the way medieval European church­
men, for instance, did; and even when Chinese women had little 
standing in society at large, they wielded considerable power 
within the family. This was partly due to the emphasis in Confu­
cianism on filial piety toward both parents. Even a grown-up son 
with his own family had to defer to his mother as long as she 
lived. And when it was necessary, it seems, Chinese women knew 
how to fight back. Chronicles abound with cases of politically or 
socially prominent men, their faces scratched or battered, appear­
ing in court with their wives for mediation of marital fights. Some of the most feared Chinese men met thei r match in their 
wives; some were even henpecked. Chinese women may have 
mastered the Taoist secret of conquering hardness with softness. HOMOS EXUA LITY 
As in most civilizations, homosexuality is found in much of 
China's history. Quite a few emperors, metnbers of royalty, liter-IVItrn Co�fiuir4S Wasn't Looki"R THE SENS UAL lAND SCAP E 
28 ary figures, and especially actors arc known to have been homo­
sexuals. Most homosex ual relations were between grown men 
and prepubesce nt boys, who traditionally were kept as pages by 
the royalty and the wealthy. When these boys reached puberty and 
their voices began to change, they would be released. As a reward 
for their prepubescent functions, they often were helped to find 
spouses. When, in the middle of the fifteenth century, a Ming emperor 
banned legalized, high-class prostitution for court and govern­
nlent mandarins, these bored men directed their libido elsewhere. In the traditional Chinese theater, both male and female roles 
were played by men; many actors who played female roles onstage 
played similar roles in bed. These actors, as well as specially 
trained young singers, becan1e the objects of affection for upper­
class men seeking a homosexual relationship. It was fashionable 
for the rich and famous (and lecherous) to keep in their house­
holds not only wives, concubines, and dancing girls but also pretty 
page boys and hotnosexual actors. During the nineteenth century, 
noted literary figures wrote books, essays, and poems describing 
and praising homosexual love. Most of the men engaging in ho­
mosexual activities, it should be noted, were bisexuals, who car­
ried on heterosexual relationships as well. Lesbianism was tolerated, sometimes even encouraged. Inge­
nious erotic devices for women were invented in China. When 
the last emperor of China was toppled fron1 his throne early in 
this century, revolutionaries found more than a thousand such 
sexual aids in the women's palaces of the Forbidden City. A CuR ious SEXUAL Vo GuE 
Sex life in ancient China, richly varied as it was, was remarkably 
healthy. It had little of what son1e today would call "patholog­
ical" or "perverse" behavior -except for one solidly entrenched 
sexual fetish. The binding of wmncn's feet was in essence an erotic 
practice. l)ne might say that it got out of hand for aln1ost a thou­
sand years; the modern Chinese, and nuny Westerners, conden1n 
it as a painful sytnbol of the social bondage of wonll'n. It was during the centuries of nco-Confucian sexual puritan­
isnl that the curious custon1 of foot-binding began. Yao Niang, a willowy, fcather like dan cer, was the favorite consort of the tenth­
cen tury Sou thern Tang dynasty king Li Yu. Yao Niang bound her 
feet with doth ribbons to strengthen then1 but keep then 1 looking 
dainty when she danc ed. She tnade such a hit in the in1perial court 
that high-bor n ladies bega n to bind thei r feet in in1itation of her. The fashion becan1e a fad, and the fad becarne a n1ania; won 1en of 
all classes-except peasant won1en-bound thei r feet. A wotnan 
would not be considered beautiful, in n1en's eyes or her own, un­
less she had tiny bound feet. Parents subjected their daughters to 
this grueling beauty treattnent when the girls were no more than 
six years old. The ain1 was to produce dainty little "golden lo­
tuses "-the ideal shape for the bound feet-five, four, even three 
inches long. During the nineteenth century, Europeans brought back from 
China the horror story of foot-binding, which they condemned 
as a barbaric custom. These Westerners, however, overlooked 
their own Victorian female fashion for tight-laced wasp waists-a 
practice that caused cardiac and pulmonary damage. And flagella­
tion, avidly enjoyed by some Victorian gentlemen and ladies to 
satisfy their lust, n1ight seem as strange as foot-binding. Thus toot-binding, which began as a feminine beauty treat­
ment with its accompanying daily routine and suffering, even­
tually became an entrenched custom affecting Chinese social and 
sexual life. Generations of Chinese men developed a passionat e 
fetish for small feet; they went into ecstasy merely upon touching 
a woman's foot. A won1an's bound foot might be an even more 
potent aphrodisiacal syn1bol to n1en than the vulva. When a woman 
had had her feet touched and fondled by a man, she would be 
completely powerless to resist his seduction. A Ming dynasty politician once proposed, with perfect seri­
ousness, to stop the incursions on China's northern borders by in­
troducing foot-binding to the northern barbarians. He reasoned 
that the invaders, seduced and enchanted by the golden lotuses of 
their own won 1en, would lose interest in China. The government 
never adopted this proposed strategy, and the northern barbar­
ians-the Manchus -ended up conquering China. During the 
three centuries of their rule, they forbade their own won1en to 
follow the practice of foot -binding. Although foot-binding forced a won 1an to walk with a wob­
ble, it was believed to strengthen the n1uscles of her buttocks and lVIrt'rr Cm�fruiw; Wastr't Lookin� TH E SENSUAL LANDSCAP E 
vagina. Combined with certain forms of exercise and deep breath­
ing, foot-binding was said to have prodigious effects on women's 
copulative prowess. At one time the women of Tatung in north­
west China were rega rded highly by Chinese bedroom sports­
olen. Won1en from this city were not known for their beauty, but 
they were celebrated for three superlatives: they had the tiniest 
feet, their vaginas had the tightest "double doors," and they were 
most generous with "bed calls" during lovemaking. Connoisseurs of eroticism during the Ming dynasty per­
fected a set of forty-eight techniques of sexual dalliance, all in­
volving those dainty golden lotuses. They ranged from a man's 
using his tongue to pick out seeds and raisins placed in the hollow 
of a woman's foot, to his tying her feet high from the latticework 
of the traditional curtained bedstead with her foot-binding rib­
bons. The techniques included also various ways of holding, mas­
saging, and moving a woman's feet during foreplay and coitus. Small feminine feet, then, became an aesthetic and erotic 
symbol. And so did the shoes that went on them. It was a daring 
accomplishment for a man to drink wine from a woman's tiny silk 
shoe. The scholar Yang Tieh-yai loved partying, which in his time 
involved entertainment by professional female singers and danc­
ers. Whenever he saw one with especially tiny feet, he would re­
move one of her soft silk shoes and drink wine fron1 it. His friend 
Ni Yin-lin, a renowned landscape and erotic painter, and a com­
plusively neat individual, was repulsed by Yang's habit. Every 
time Yang toasted with a won1an's shoe, Ni would angrily stalk 
out of the party, atnid roars of laughter frotn the other celebrants. A Ming scholar who obtained the shoe of a fan1ous courtesan, 
used it as a wine cup to treat his friends. who invariably got drunk. The shoe becanlt' J coveted conversation piece. THE SEx LIFE or MEN AND WoMEN OF CuLTURE 
Liter ary and artistic tigures in ancient China w ere no prudes in 
their privat e lives. The Ming scholar Tang Po-lnt, fatnous as a 
writer, poet, callig rapher, and paint er, was known also tor his 
won uniz ing. Chu Cho-to, a seventeenth-century poet, is re­
menlbcred for his two hundr ed love poen1s describing in detail 
his stolen morn ents with his sistt 'r-in-law, with whon1 he had a torrid affair. Tht' fantous Tang Taoist prit'stcss Yu Hsicn-chi was 
celebratc. 'd for tht' irnpron1ptu poen1s she con1posed while carous­
ing with rnale literati. The Tang poc. 't Tu Mu had affairs with 
countless won1cn. Another l:1ng poet, Sung Chih-weng. tried to 
ingratiat e hin1sclf to the lascivious c. 'nlpress Wu Tse-tien by hunl­
bling hintself and holding the urinal for the ern press's ntalc con­
cubine while the latter perfonned his toilet. Hut when Sung 
finally rnet the ern press, she rejected hint because of his halitosis. The brokenhearted Sung was left to write many poents about his 
"love lost. " This was poetic license gone berserk. The renowned Sung dynasty poet Soo Tung-po, a rnandarin 
and n1agistrate, once sat injudgrnent over a Buddhist monk who 
had been accused of killing a courtesan during a jealous dispute. Soo sentenced the rnonk to death, delivering his verdict in verse. His ofticial duties did not reflect his own personal life. He would 
often call on a friend, Ta Tung, a pious Buddhist abbot, to sip 
wine and converse in impromptu verse. Sometimes Soo would 
bring along a courtesan, thus embarrassing the abbot; but Soo 
himself thought nothing of it. He once tried, as a lark, to have the 
courtesan seduce the great monk. Ta Tung, however, resisted the 
ten1ptation and sent Soo a poem that reiterated his own moral 
philosophy; he thereby gained Soo's great respect. Another of Soo's friends, the abbot Fu Yin, once teasingly 
asked Soo's younger sister, who had just become a bride, to de­
scribe her wedding night. She replied bashfully that it would be 
difficult for her to do so outright; she would put it into a poen1. The next day she told the abbot to look for her poem inside the 
huge temple bell of his monastery. When Fu Yin poked his shaven 
head into the bell, he saw a note saying simply: "It was exactly 
like this. " The visual joke sent the normally sedate abbot into hys­
terical laughter. CuL TURE D CouR TES ANS 
The fact that the great poet Soo brought along a courtesan when 
he called on his abbot friend may have ernbarrassed the devout 
Buddhist monk, but it is not shocking when viewed against the 
contemporary n1orcs. Ancient China, after all, was familiar with 
the world's oldest profession. Durin g the Tang dynasty, courte-WIJt'PI Cor. fruirH Wasn't Lookin. � sans were visited by upper-class men only, among them �. ;cholars, 
poets, painters, and hig h man darins. (Mer chants, no matter how 
wea lthy, were never considered upper-class. ) Though technically 
prostitutes, these courtesans were professional hostesses trained 
in performing music and singing, dancing, painting, composing 
poetry, and discussing literature with their clients. The y granted 
sexual favors only when the clients wooed them for a certain 
period and only if the wooing was accepted. With their own code 
of ethics and professional pride, these courtesans would spurn 
any vulgar man, no matter how rich. Some were even celebrated 
for their "chastity. " (Incidentally, the geishas of Japan are a relic 
of this Chinese system. ) Probably because of increasingly strict moral standards advo­
cated by neo-Confucianists, and the related curtailment of wom­
en's freedom, prostitution in China grew rapidly from the tenth 
century on, and its standards steadily deteriorated. It flourished in 
the fourteenth century, during the Ming dynasty. Courtesans 
regularly entered the imperial palaces in Nanking to entertain at 
banquets; later, however, they were banned by one of the em­
perors. The capital had no fewer than sixteen officially registered 
"houses of joy. " The government levied a "rouge-and-powder 
tax" on a vast army of courtesans, "singsong girls," and pro­
liferating common prostitutes. The Sung emperor Hui Tsung (ruled 1 101-1 126) carried on a 
five-year affair with the courtesan Li Sze-sze, the only one men­
tioned in the official history of the Sung dynasty. One day he vis­
ited her incognito, accompan ied by his trusted eunuchs. Like all 
her clients, the emperor had to take a bath, as insisted by Li's 
madam, who did not know his true identity. While Li was playing 
music for him, the impatient emperor tried to get to the basics. She brushed him off so angrily that he fell on the floor, then left in 
a huff. Soon rumors circulated about the emperor's visit. The 
madam almost died of fright; but as Li had predicted, within a 
month the emperor returned, having sent her a gift of a treasured 
musical instrument and a quantity of silver. Because of her fame, Li Sze-sze invited the poet Chou Pang-ni 
to write lyrics for her songs. One day when Chou was at Li's, 
comfortably settled in her boudoir, the emperor arrived unan­
nounced. Chou had to hide under Li's bed while the emperor 
shared it with her. Then and there Chou was inspired to write sotnc lyrics, which he later gave to Li. On the etnpcror's next visit 
when he heard Li singing this new song, he realized that it con­
tained intin1atc details that should be kno wn only to hitnsclf and 
her. He asked who had written it, and, enraged, ordered Chou 
into exile. On his next visit to her house, the ctnperor found that Li was 
out. She was saying farewell to Chou. Upon her tearful return she 
brought back Chou's latest poen1, describing the sweet sorrows of 
parting. The en1peror was so tnoved by its beauty that he decreed 
Chou be brought back to the capital and given a high position in 
government. The en1peror Hui Tsung could have moved the courtesan Li 
Sze-sze into his palace and n1adc her an in1perial consort, but for 
son1e reason he never did. Perhaps the neo-Confucianists ob­
jected, or perhaps it was n1ore stin1ulating for him to go to a cour­
tesan's house, but the etnperor continued to visit her as a client. So 
he would not have to travel in disguise, he ordered the construc­
tion of a tunnel more than a mile long between his suburban 
palace and Li's house; it took two and a half years to build. Dur­
ing their relationship he gave Li gifts galore, including generous 
amounts of gold and silver, a collection of jeweled lamps, and a 
master painting that today is in the British Museum. DEMON LOV ERS AND REAL ANIMA LS 
One fascinating theme in ancient Chinese folklore and literature 
was sexual union between human beings and supposed demon 
lovers. Tales of such liaisons usually involve lonely young male 
scholars who are seduced by exquisitely beautiful women, who, it 
turns out, arc fox spirits. A ghostly temptress would visit a soli­
tary young man night after night and have intercourse with him, 
and he would be powerless to resist. Some demon lovers would 
drain their victims to death sexually, while others would fall gen­
uinely in love and eventually depart in a sentimental farewell. Whether they represent purely literary fantasy or sexual delusion 
in lonely young men, tales of fox spirits copulating with n1en 
were believed widely. Sexual beliefs concerned not only den1ons but also aninuls. In 
southeast China, tnalc tnountain beavers were said to be so lewd �VIrctJ Cor. fucius Wa. nr't Lookin. � that exhausted fernale beavers had to evacuate an area soon after 
the nuting season began. A matcless male beaver, denied of his 
natural outlet, would embed its penis in a tree. If hunters came 
upon such a n1ating scene, they would kill the beaver and cut off 
the penis, which would then be dried in the sun and sold at a high 
price as an aphrodisiac. In spring, when women went to collect 
herbs in the mountains, male beavers would go after them in 
droves. The won1en would kill these lustful animals, cut off their 
penises, and sell them to herbalists. Fraud was common for such 
an expensive item, and to test one a woman would rub together 
her palms until they were warm, then place the dehydrated penis 
in her palm. If it stood erect, it was genuine beaver; if it remained 
lifeless, it was a fake. The southern Chinese treasured snake bile as a medicinal tonic 
for sexual potency. On the island of Hainan, one variety of 
python was said to be irresistibly attracted to the sexual odor of 
women. A hunter who came upon a python would cover the 
snake's head with a woman's underpants. It would then become so 
intoxicated that the hunter could bind it with rattan, slice it with a 
sharp knife, and take out its bile. The python then would be re­
leased and would live on. Turtles too figured among the Chinese sex menagerie. The 
turtle was a sytnbol of venerable longevity, especially during the 
Tang dynasty, when the itnage of the anin1al, or even the written 
character for the word, appeared as a common good-luck charm 
on gifts, paintings, scrolls, and other festive iten1s. Folklore told 
of fen1alc turtles' n1ating with rnale snakes, and eventually the 
turtle became a syn1bol of cuckoldry. Today, as in past centuries, 
calling a man in China a turtle is a vile insult. Because son1e tur­
tles have green n1oss on their shells, even the tenn "gr een hat" is 
offensive� no Chinese n1alc would ever put a green hat on his 
head. (In Japan, which derived nnteh of its culture fron1 China 
during the Tang dynasty, the turtle is still a syrnbol of long life; 
the world f(Jr "turtle" occurs in n1any Japanese narnes. ) SPICING UP SEXUAL UNION 
With their spices and seasonings, the Chinese can turn the n1ost 
mundane ingredients into gounnet dishes. They have tried the 
san1c with conjugal unions, which otherwise n1ight turn stale. After all, in the words of Confucius, "Food and sex arc hunun 
instincts. " He was discerning enough to adn 1it: "I have never seen 
people love rnorals n1ore than they love sex. " The great sage Confucius, for twenty-five centuries the ulti­
n1atc arbiter of Chinese tnorals, was not the fanatical ascetic son1e 
n1ight think. After being criticized for calling on Nan-tzu, the 
notoriously lascivious wife of the Prince of Wei, Confucius de­
fended hirnself by clain1ing that during their n1ceting Nan-tzu 
spoke to hin1 fron1 behind a screen, as was the custom. But he 
never told his disciples the details of that rather lengthy interview. Confucius reportedly divorced his wife because she was a poor 
cook. Sex was not unimportant to hitn, and indeed, it was consid­
ered necessary by all schools of Confucians. In the puritanical 
centuries of Chinese history, Confucius's image was transformed 
so that he became the stern overseer of Chinese morals. But de­
spite this looming presence, the Chinese have enjoyed food and 
sex in their own natural ways, especially when they thought Con­
fucius wasn't looking. JVIrctl C'or�/i1cius Wasn't Look itr,(. _h 4 
In the Forbidden Palace 
Amor ous Emperors and 
Lascivious Ladies 
IT IS EARLY in the seventh century, at the Grand Canal of China. Thousands of cavalrymen ride on horseback along the banks. A 
flotilla of a thousand boats, extending for seventy miles, sails 
slowly southward in the canal. Ncar the middle of the flotilla 
glides a giant barge with a hundred halls and cabins on its four 
decks. On this brcezcless summer day, the boat's colorful sails arc 
folded at the base of its bright red masts. On the towpaths, tlve 
hundred chanting, giggling young palace n1aids in pastel silk 
dresses arc pulling the barge with tnultihued silk ropes. On a spa­
cious stage at the stern of the boat. twenty lithe fetnalc dancers 
move sinuously with their gossar ncr silk scarves to tnusic played 
by an all-fenulc string and wind orches tra. Nob lcwo n1en, high 
imp erial ofticials, and a sprinkling of Buddhist rnonks and Taoist 
priests stroll on the open decks, sip wine, and sniff the exotic 
flowers set in wooden plantl'rs. In the throne roon1 on the top 
deck sits the ernperor, surr ounded by his royal consorts and gaz­
ing in1periou sly at his subjects kowtowing on the banks. Such was thl· royal voyage of the Sui dynasty en1peror Yang 
(ruled (>05-6 17), builder of the Grand Canal, royal highways, and 
grand iosl'palaces. renovator of the Great Wall, epicurean, tyrant­
and kchl·r. ()nee on thl' throne, he forcibly tnoved thousands of affluent n1erchant s and their fatnih. 's fron1 other cities to the capi­
tal of Loyang. As part of his giant construction project in the 
western suburb of the capital, lakes wer e dug, alliin ked by canals. The soil that was dug up was used to n1ak e a nt11nber of hill s, each 
a few hundred feet high. A nlJste r architect built sixteen lux­
urious palaces on the hills and by t he lakes. Rar e plant s and ani­
nlals and odd-shaped boulders fron1 all ove r China dott ed the 
artificial landsc ape. For the constr uction of the Grand Canal, Yang cons cripted 
n1ore than 3 n1illion n1en as forced laborers, and assigned so,ooo 
soldiers as task In asters. Hundr eds of thousands died in the build­
ing of the cana l. The etnperor conscrip ted tnore than a million 
slave laborers to repair the Great Wall, which was started by an­
other tyrant nine cen turies earlier to keep the northern barbarians 
out. In addition, the restless Yang had palaces built in far-flung 
provinces, for his many travels. On this voyage the emperor was sailing to Yangchow, a great 
city of pleasure he had visited before. When his barge ran aground 
at a shallow spot, he ordered a complete survey of the canal. The 
canal bottom was found shallower than the specified depth in 1 29 
spots, and Yang promptly commanded that the engineers and la­
borers responsible, some so,ooo men in all, be executed. Even though he was surrounded by thousands of beautiful 
women on his palatial playgrounds, Emperor Yang was con­
stantly looking for new thrills, and he cultivated a number of 
hobbies accordingly. His Maze Palace was decorated with erotic 
murals. The walls of his bedchamber had nine large bronze mir­
rors so he could watch himself indulge with his women. A tal­
ented imperial aide invented two of his most treasured toys. One 
was a couch with straps and cuffs, designed especially to restrain 
unwilling vir gins so he could deflower them more easily. The 
other, known as the "carriage of the heart's desire," featured a bed 
that would rock and vibrate when the vehicle moved. If the pas­
sengers became too passionately noisy, the carriage's many tin­
klingjade bells would drown out the noise. The emperor brought 
these and other devices along when he traveled. Emperor Yang's lavish spending, and his tyranny and debauch­
ery, soon caught up with him. As his flotilla reached Yangchow, 
he received reports of unrest and rebellion frotn all over China. He made his way back to the capital, but insurgents eventually. 11 tllf F<lrhidde11 Pttlacr 
37 TH E SE NSU AL tA NDS CAPE 
killed him. A rebel general succeeded in ending the brief glory of 
the Sui dynasty and founded the great dynasty, the Tang, that 
brought three centuries of peace, prosperity, and cultural refine­
ment to China. Emperor Yang's outrageous conduct made hitn one of the 
more notorious examples of disastrous tyranny in Chinese his­
tory. His splendid lifestyle and love of erotic pleasure were, 
however, the norm rather than the exception in the long line of 
emperors of China. According to a solidly entrenched Confucian dictum, the em­
peror had a mandate from heaven to rule his people like an author­
itative but benevolent father. The people had to obey and be loyal 
under this paternalism. If the emperor misruled, the mandate 
would be withdrawn. In reality, of course, he might be benevo­
lent or tyrannical, able or incompetent, virtuous or licentious. His 
mandate from heaven could be withdrawn only by a palace coup 
or a popular revolution. Whatever the case, the emperor had the 
prerogative of life and death over his subjects, and the privilege of 
choosing whom he went to bed with. Even virtuous emperors ex­
ercised this privilege. THE PowER OF EuNu cHs 
Libidinous emperors were able to keep thousands of won1en in 
their courts safe fron1 an1orous cotnplication through an inge­
nious and diabolical systen1. Since the tlrst or second century B. c. , 
besides the etnperor, the only tnales allowed in the royal sanctum 
were eunuchs. The etnperor's won1cn were tucked away safely, 
protected outside by in1perial guards and inside by sexually neu­
tral eunuchs. The systen1 of forbidden palaces went on for two 
thousand years. Where were recruits for this special corps found. Initially they 
can1e frotn punished t;11nilies: as everything else in China, the 
penal systcn1 was farnily-oriented, and when a high irnperial offi­
cial was executed by the ctn peror, his daughters were put in the 
palace as nuids and his sons were castrated and becan1e court eu­
nuchs. Eventually, being a eunuch ceased to be a punishtnent. Sons of poor t;11nilies or young n1en who wanted to work as eu­
nuchs had thetnselves castrated. In tnany cases. especially in earlier cen turies, castration in­
volved the ren1oval of only the testicles. The penis was left intact 
but rt'tH. iered sexually useless. During the later dynasties, sur­
geons son1etin1es rt'nloved the entire genitalia. If a boy was cas­
trated bcf()re puberty. he grew up with a sque aky voice. enlarged 
hips. and hair on his scalp but little elsewher e. If an adult were 
castrated. he retaine d his rnalc voice and body hair. Even though a 
t'unuch's sexual capability had been taken away, his sexual desi re 
n1ight rt'tnain. especially if he was castr ated after puberty or in his 
adult yt'ars. During the last two dynasties, son1e hig h eunuchs 
were known to frequent brothels. l)ne Ming dynasty eunuch 
even had a wife and several concubines-although this probably 
was n1ore for sho\v than tor substance. During some dynasties, 
eunuchs were allowed to sleep with palace ladies to give them "a 
touch of Yang essence. " They would engage in various forms of 
sex play but no actual intercourse. If the operation was not done properly, the supposedly cas­
trated n1an still could have erections. Such was suspected in the 
case of An Teh-hai, chief eunuch under Tzu Hsi, the celebrated 
Ern press Dowager who virtually ruled--or misruled-China from 
1862 to 1908. Informally called the Western Empress because her 
quarters were in the western part of the palace, the Empress 
Dowager and the Eastern Empress were co-regents for Tzu Hsi's 
son, the boy emperor Tung Chih (ruled 1862-1 875). Young, 
handsom e, and smart, An was not only Tzu Hsi's majordomo and 
factotum but also her unofficial political advisor. An controlled 
the access of all imperial officials to the empress, notwithsta nd­
ing dynastic laws that forbade political roles for eunuchs. As her 
ultimate confidant, he spent an inordinate amount of time with 
her in private� run1ors, naturally, soon were being whispered in 
the palace. Once the young emperor saw An leaving his mother's 
chamber after a lengthy visit. He ordered his retainers to seize and 
strip the chief eunuch on the spot, and a young eunuch to mastur­
bate him. Either An's castration was complete or he was too 
frightened� his penis remained limp, and the emperor had to let 
him go. An bccan1c increasingly arrogant. Even though by law eu­
nuchs were not allowed to leave the capital, he went on an im­
perial mission to another city to order ceremonial robes for the 
Empress Dowager, who gave hirn permission. Her palace enemies /, tlu· f'l. lr-/liddt·, Palace 
39 persuaded her co-regent to apprehend An and have him executed 
in public for violating the imperial law. The Empress Dowager 
was devastated but could do nothing. En1press Tzu Hsi then cultivated another favorite eunuch, Li 
Lien-ying, who became even more powerful than An, although 
he managed to be n1ore discreet. As regent for her five-year-old 
nephew, the emperor Kuang Hsu (ruled I 875-1908), the Empress 
Dowager had free rein, with Li as her confidant. Li was later in­
strumental in the imprisonment of the young emperor, who ad­
vocated reform and modernization of the country. China, by then 
rapidly deteriorating, was on the verge of being dismembered by 
greedy European powers, and the erratic policy of the Empress 
Dowager and her favorite eunuchs propelled the empire down a 
disastrous path of disintegration. Because of their proximity to the seat of power, the men who 
had been mutilated deliberately to safeguard the sexual sover­
eignty of polygamous monarchs ended up not only engaging in 
palace intrigues but also meddling in state politics. Eunuchs and 
the systein supporting them were an indirect cause of the decline 
and fall of four of China's greatest dynasties, the Han, Tang, Ming, 
and Ching. THE fOR BIDDE N pARADISE 
If the forbidden palaces of ancient China gave these half-men un­
suspected opportunities for self-aggrandizen 1ent, they were a 
paradise for the emperors with their absolute sexual prerogative. The number of won1en in the palace varied according to the 
reigning monarch's treasury and libido. There were usually be­
tween J,ooo and 8,ooo women at court; an1ong thein, a smaller 
nun 1ber constituted the en1peror's consorts and potential con­
sorts, while the Inajority held various roles, fron1 high-ranking 
officials to scullery rnaids. The n1ethod of recruiting palace won1cn differed fron1 dy­
nasty to dynasty. A victorious war usually brought in a rich fenli­
nine booty. Son1c tyrannical en1perors would send out search 
parties to conscript young and attractive girls, often setting off 
nationwide panic. Weddings were hastily arranged, and attractive 
girls disguised thcn 1sclv es with rags and dirt to dodge the royal 
draf t. In later dynasties the recruitment of women was more civi­
lized. During the Ming dynasty, palace ladies, the empress in­
cluded, were chosen from the people, somewhat as in a beauty 
contest. Emissaries combed the empire for candidates, and the 
best were selected as potential consorts of the emperor. Especially 
educated and talented women were appointed high palace offi­
cials, while the rest served as palace maids. Women who were 
eliminated from the running received gold, jewelry, brocade, and 
imperial certificates. These young women were eagerly sought 
after by eligible bachelors of the upper class. Whatever the emperor's sexual fancy, he traditionally accepted 
a spousal hierarchy. Huang Ti, the legendary Yellow Emperor 
(ruled c. 2697 B.
Women were considered inferior to men, but they wielded considerable power within the family due to the emphasis on filial piety.
In ancient China, what was the role of women in society?