Emperor Ai of Han - “断袖之癖"

lydia1981
 November 25, 2008 at 07:55 PM posted in General Discussion

In ancient China, there was a famous emperor,

汉哀帝 （Emperor Ai of Han), who may be the first (and only) gay emperor of China!

He had a relationship with a minor official, Dong Xian, which power grew as their relationship developed. Eventually, when Emperor Ai died, Dong Xian was forced to commit suicide.

There is a 成语 which describes the relationship between the two, "断袖之癖"

哀帝对董贤的爱之深，可用一个例子来说明。一次午睡，董贤枕着哀帝的袖子睡着了。哀帝想起身，却又不忍惊醒董贤，随手拔剑割断了衣袖。后人将同性恋称为“断袖之癖”，便是源出于此。

(http://ks.cn.yahoo.com/question/1407011810118.html)

哀帝 - emperor Ai

董贤 - Dong Xian

袖子 【xiu4zi】- sleeve

枕 - 【zhen3】 - rest one's head on

起身 - here: to get up

不忍 - cannot bear to

惊醒 - wake up with a start

拔剑 - 【ba2jian4】 - draw one's sword

割断 - 【ge1duan4】to cut (off)

 

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pearltowerpete
 November 26, 2008 at 01:19 AM

Hi lydia,

Thanks for breaking this down. One small quibble, Han Aidi was definitely not the only gay emperor, or at least the only "bi-curious" one. Qianlong 乾隆 also springs to mind.

With thousands of years of history, and different sexual mores, it seems quite likely that there were many, many more.

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daizi
 November 26, 2008 at 12:08 AM

I remember reading this story when I took classical Chinese. Thanks for the reference. I'll share the 成语 with my students.