Traditional history has sought to understand past and present societies with categories of analysis. In the past twenty or so years other categories of analysis, not considered important in the past, have appeared as significant to many historians. Perhaps the most important of these is gender. To these historians Gender is the cultural meaning given to the rather limited facts of biology. One aspect of gender analysis consists in looking at how "men" and "women", "masculinity" and "femininity", are understood in a society - and at how such understandings play out in people's lives. Another, even newer, aspect of gender analysis looks at issues of sexual behavior and sexuality. In attempting to define the boundaries of subject it is often useful to look at the limits of social life - at where the lines are drawn. For this reason to understand heterosexual as well as homosexual behavior it is important to examine how a culture views homosexual behavior.

It was a Western medievalist, John Boswell, who legitimated lesbian and gay history as a field of study, and ended an older "great homosexuals of history" tradition. Although many people disagreed with his conclusions, he did demonstrate that a significant amount of source material existed. Since his book Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality (1980) it has become increasingly clear that the study of sexuality in the past is not only possible, but is also an essential component of a full understanding of past and present societies.

Boswell is most famous for advancing the notion that "Gay people" have always and everywhere existed. Since 1980, however, a very different theory the history of sexuality, has come to be accepted by the majority of historians working in the field. The model now is this:

·         Homosexual behaviors exist in most societies, and in most, including European society until about 1700, homosexuality falls into two main patterns (at least for men.) One pattern is based on age-dissonant sexual dominance; an older man (not always very much older by the way) will take a conventionally "male" role in a sexual relationship with a younger male, but will not, in doing so, be regarded as any different from other "male" men in general society. The second common pattern is based on gender-dissonant sexual dominance; this means that in a number of societies there were "biological" males who lived as "non-males" throughout their lives, and these people can also be the sexual partners of "male" men without the "men" loosing any status. The Native American berdache is perhaps the most famous example of a widespread phenomenon.

·         Around 1700, in Western Europe a change took place. A subculture of effeminate men arose in major cities, men who identified themselves as different. The word "molly" was used in London and other words elsewhere. Although they were prepared to have sex with "male" men these "mollies" were also prepared to have sex with each other. This is not, it seems, common across various societies. Some historians have called this the emergence of a "third gender".

·         Since "a third gender" is not the model of modern homosexuality in the West, there has been a question of when the "modern homosexual" emerged. Most writers have argued that that the medicalization of homosexuality in the late 19th century resulted in the creation of a new creature - the "modern homosexual" (and the "modern heterosexual"!) What distinguishes "homo-" and "heterosexuals" from earlier models of sexuality is that they are in strict opposition to each other, and are defined not by gender role, or even sexual role, but by "sexual orientation". A major recent readjustment of this theory, resulting from the work of George Chauncey in his recent Gay New York. Chauncey has called into question the last part of the traditional formulation. He argues that elite terminology and labels (also known as "medicalization") had no immediate effect on the mass of working class New Yorkers (with the suggestion that this was probably true elsewhere.) That although there were, eventually, some self-identified "queers", until as late 1940 [!] it was common for working-class men to have "male role" sex with other men ["fairies"] without in any way feeling that they were "homosexual". What happened around 1940, the Chauncey-amended model says is that, first, more and more of the mass of the population began to identify as "heterosexual" and see any homosexual behavior as transgressive; and secondly among self-identified "queers" a shift in desired sexual partner took place. Previously "queers" had tended to prefer "male" men but now "queers" began to prefer other "queers" as sexual partners.

How can we come to understand what their sexual behavior meant to the men discussed? What limitations do the texts impose on our abilities to understand?

1. Zhou Models: Mizi Xia, Pan Zhang and Lord Long Yang

Discussion of homosexual behavior in Chinese literature referred back to three classic tales of love from the Zhou period, the Story of Mizi Xia, the Story of Pan Zhang, and the Story of Lord Long Yang.

The Story of Mizi Xia

recorded in the Legalist philosophical work, the Han Fei Zi [Hinsch p. 20-21- from Burton Watson, trans, Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1964, 78-79)

In ancient times Mizi Xia won favor with the ruler of Wei. According to the laws of the state of Wei, anyone who secretly made use of the ruler's carriage was punished by having his feet amputated. When Mizi Xia's mother fell ill, someone slipped into the palace at night to report this to Mizi Xia. Mizi Xia forged an order from the ruler, got into the ruler's carriage, and went to see her, but when the ruler heard of it, he only praised him, saying, and ¡°How filial¡± For the sake of his mother he forgot all about the danger of having his feet cut off!" Another day Mizi Xia was strolling with the ruler in an orchard and, biting into a peach and finding it sweet, he stopped eating and gave the remaining half to the ruler to enjoy. "How sincere is your love for me!" exclaimed the ruler. "You forgot your own appetite and think only of giving me good things to eat!" Later, however, when Mizi Xia's looks had faded and the ruler's passion for him had cooled, he was accused at committing some crime against his lord. "After all," said the ruler, "he once stole my carriage, and another time he gave me a half-eaten peach to eat!" Mizi Xia was acting no differently from the way he always had; the fact that he was praised in the early days and accused of crime later on, was because the ruler's love had turned hate.

If you gain the ruler's love, your wisdom will be appreciated; you will enjoy his favor as well; but if he hates you, not only will your wisdom be rejected, but you will be regarded as a criminal and thrust aside.... scales."

The Story of Pan Zhang

[Hinsch, 24-25]

When Pan Zhang was young he had a beautiful appearance and bearing, and so people of that time were exceedingly fond of him. Wang Zhongxian of the state of Chu heard of his reputation and came to request his writings. Thereafter Wang Zhongxian wanted to study together with him. They fell in love at first sight and were as affectionate as husband and wife, sharing the same coverlet and pillow with unbounded intimacy for one another.

Afterwards they died together and everyone mourned them. When they were buried together at Lofu Mountain, on the peak a tree with long branches and leafy twigs suddenly grew. All of these embraced one another! At the time people considered this a miracle. It was called the "Shared Pillow Tree."'

The Story of Lord Long Yang

[Hinsch, 32]

The King of Wei and Lord Long Yang shared a boat while fishing. Lord Long Yang began to cry, so the King asked why he wept. "Because I caught a fish." "But why does that make you cry?" the king asked.

Lord Long Yang replied, "When I caught the fish, at first I was extremely pleased. But afterward I caught a larger fish, so I wanted to throw back the first fish I had caught. Because of this evil act I will be expelled from your bed!

"There are innumerable beauties in the world. Upon hearing of my receiving your favor, surely they will left up the hems of their robes so that they can hasten to you. I am laos a previously caught fish! I will also be thrown back! How can I keep from crying?"

Because of this incident the King of Wei announced to the world "Anyone who dares speak of other beauties will be executed along with his whole family".

2. Han Favorites: Another Kind of Evidence

[Hinsch, 35-36] Just as Edward Gibbon observed that all but one of the first 14 Roman emperors were either bisexual or exclusively homosexual, for two centuries at the height of the Han, China was ruled by ten openly bisexual emperors. The names of the emperors, with their acknowledge favorites were recorded in the official histories of the period by Sima Qian and Ban Gu.

 [Hinsch also notes that following emperors from later periods also had open homosexual relationships]

3. Homosexual Poetry from the Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties Period

[Hinsch. 70-71]

The complexity of homosexual relationships inevitably led to the creation of poetic works immortalizing conflicting sentiments. Ruan Ji (210- 263CE), lover of Xi Kang, was one of the most famous poets to apply his brush to a homosexual theme. This work, one of several dealing with homosexuality from the "Jade Terrace" collection of love poetry, beautifully illustrates the stock imagery on which men of his time could draw in conceptualizing and describing love for another man.

4. Western Shock and Horror at Chinese Homosexuality

Early western observers, such as the Jesuit Matthew Ricci long noted the acceptance of homosexuality in China, but could do little to change it. In modern China, however, homosexuality is looked down on. Part of the reason for this was the huge impact made by the West from the 19th century on. After the impact of Buddhism, Western Science is the outside cultural force with the most impact on Chinese culture. Until recent years the full weight of this science depicted homosexuality as abnormal and evil.

Here is one British official's view from 1806: The commission of this detestable and unnatural act is attended with so little sense of shame, or feelings of delicacy that many of the first officers of the state seemed to make no hesitation in publicly avowing it. Each of these officers is constantly attended by his pipe-bearer, who is generally a handsome boy, from fourteen to eighteen years of age, and is always well dressed.

courtesy of Greg Reeder 

FLOOR PLAN OF THE TOMB OF NIANKHKHNUM AND KHNUMHOTEP

In 1964 in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, Egyptian archaeologist Mounir Basta discovered a series of rock-cut passages into the escarpment facing the causeway to the pyramid of Unas. Crawling on his hands and knees through the passages Basta came upon an Old Kingdom offering chamber. He was impressed with its unique scenes of two men in intimate embrace. Archaeologists working on the restoration of the causeway discovered that some of the stone blocks that had been used to build the causeway had been appropriated in ancient times from a dismantled mastaba that had originally served as the entrance to the tomb. The archaeologist reconstructed the mastaba using the blocks found in the substructure of the causeway. It was revealed that this tomb had been built for TWO MEN to cohabit and that both shared identical titles in the palace of King Niuserre of the Fifth Dynasty: "OVERSEER OF THE MANICURISTS IN THE PALACE OF THE KING."

OVERSEEING THE OFFERINGS
BROUGHT TO THEIR TOMB

THE TWO COMPANIONS WALKING ON A TOUR OF INSPECTION

THEIR NAMES CARVED ABOVE
THE ENTRANCE TO THE ROCK-CUT CHAMBER

At the far Southern end of the rock-cut chamber is THE BANQUET scene where Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep are shown feasting on offerings and being entertained by dancers, clappers, singers and musicians.

The doorways on the right lead into the offering chamber and to the false doors of the two men.

THE BANQUET IN THE ROCK-CUT CHAMBER 

THE BANQUET OF
NIANKHKHNUM & KHNUMHOTEP

It is here at the offering chapel that the most intimate portrayals appear. This scene is at the entrance, between two doorways. The identically attired manicurists are shown embracing, nose to nose. Their children surround them, (this photo is a close-up, more children are represented) but the wives are not represented here. The relationship between the two men is not clear. Egyptologists consider it "problematical." Are they brothers? Could they be twin brothers? Are they close friends or are they lovers ? Are they all of the above? A reasoned argument can be made defending any and all of these positions.

THE EMBRACE BETWEEN THE FALSE DOORS

THE ETERNAL EMBRACE
IN THE OFFERING CHAMBER