Gender has always played a major role in the ancient China and 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.
Confucianism
In the ancient 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 shy and prudent. 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.
Love and lyre
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.
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.
Foot bandaging in the ancient China
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. And 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. To live their sexual fantasies, men could see prostitutes for money, wash them, use their bare feet to satisfy their desires. They made tea from their wash water, to which they attributed a special, healing power!
*Source: https://hu.wikipedia.org
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