Gender has always played a major
role in Chinese thinking and society. However, the recognition of sexuality has
gone through great ripples throughout Chinese history, from unscrupulous
writings and depictions to quite harsh prohibitions and prairies.
The Forbidden City, the symbol of the ancient China
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In China i.e. from the 5th century
onwards, Confucianism began to take over, defining the morale of the literate
class. This is also the reason why in Chinese antiquity, there is little trace
of eroticism or pornography in written sources. Confucianism proclaimed strict
principles regarding sexuality, defined the role of women in society and within
the family, as well as the behavior expected of them, which is constrained to
such an extent that it made it completely impossible to portray eroticism.
Confucius ’morals were so shy and
prudent that he did not mention the sexual side of the relationship between the
two sexes in his main work, Conversations, and Sayings (Lun Yu). In ancient
times, writing about bedroom stories was a social taboo. Nevertheless, some
eroticism appeared in high literature.
Interestingly, however, the
artistic formation of love is strikingly lacking in ancient Chinese literature.
A contradictory example of this statement is the first large lyrical collection
supposedly written by Confucius, the Book of Songs. The form known today is i.
e. It dates from the 2nd century, but most of the poems can be proved much
earlier (10th-6th centuries BC). The Book of Songs contains a total of 305
poems, part of which is a folk song, the other part a folk song, a song of
praise, an anthem, or ode. All were performed during the ceremonies, probably
sung by a choir and accompanied by a dance. From them, the customs of love,
courtship, and marriage can be learned.
Confucius
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Incidentally, the Chinese far
refrained from touching each other in everyday life and generally regulated
their physiological functions with great self-control. The men made sure their
clothes covered their entire bodies. However, peasants and manual workers were
exceptions to this. In the case of women, this was even stricter, even the
women condemned to do so were only woven through their clothes.
Interestingly, public breastfeeding
was not considered obscene in women. Also among women, we can find the
thousand-year-old bizarre tradition of foot bandaging. This tradition first
spread to the rich in northern China. A rich woman didn’t have to work, so they
tied her legs and so she couldn’t work anymore. The tied foot was thus a
visible symbol of wealth, it was a shame if a rich woman had a normal-sized
foot. On the other hand, women became virtually immobile, unable to travel
alone, only by car or escort. Men could thus be more sure that their wife would
not cheat on them (because she could not solve it), for the children she gave
birth to, she was indeed their father. This habit then slowly spread to other
levels of society, except among the poorest. The tied foot was a sexual symbol,
the most erotic part of the body for women. These golden-lotus-shaped legs,
shrunk to 7.5 cm, have become symbols of beauty, status, and femininity.
symbol of beauty in the ancient China
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