Chapter 8: Encounter 2
"Oh, it turned out to be a friend of a thousand households. It's really disrespectful." Cao Muwen hurriedly politely. Anyway, since he is the "friend" of his boss in the future, how can he not flatters and say a few good words without losing his meat? Cao Muwen looked at this brother, and although he said it, he thought about another place in his heart.
To measure the degree of civilization of an era, it depends on the degree of tolerance of other cultures, the degree of tolerance of other ideas, and the attitude towards women. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Western learning was gradually and more able to accept foreign religions than Westerners. Those Chinese who believe in Christianity have changed Christianity to resist others. The essence of religion, for example, many of them believe in Catholicism, but they still respect etiquette and righteousness, and do not forget Chinese Taoism. Homosexual Western doctrines have always been tolerated, and those found to be executed by burning. However, in China, this emotional behavior has been acquiesced in all dynasties, and there are special cases in the Tang and Song Dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, same-sex marriage became popular in the southern region, which was obviously not advocated by the patriarchal system at the beginning. In the Ming Dynasty at that time, two men could marry. At that time, people called this relationship "brothers" or "father and son". How to put it, although China has always been a conservative farming country, it has always been cold for men. For example, it is the famous "Wei and Jin style bone". Male style is popular, and the image of powerful people playing with children has become fashionable. Second-class scholars and doctors escort prostitutes, and the first-class and really high-end one is to raise some boys to play day and night. Just like the Ming Dynasty when male style prevailed in the Wei and Jin Dynasties
The Ming Dynasty and later Qing Dynasty were all periods when male style was more prevalent
. Hu Yinglin, a literati in the Ming Dynasty, once wrote: "Left with Anling and right Longyang, beautiful green sleeves and delicate red makeup." Men and women are brought to the same position. Under the influence of this decadent mood similar to the doomsday carnival, there are men in all walks of life, from princes and nobles to ordinary people in the market. Nationwide, this phenomenon is more prominent in Beijing, Jiangsu and Zhejiang and southern Fujian. In the capital, this relationship mainly exists between officials and Lingyou (that is, actors). In Jiangsu and Zhejiang, there are merchants and small prostitutes (male prostitutes), while southern Fujian shows a completely different posture, that is, "brothers" and "father and son".
The origin of "Brother Qi" is in a popular male environment, and it is normal for many homosexuals who sincerely want to spend their lives together. When this firm mind appears, the birth of a contractual relationship similar to marriage is naturally expected. However, why does this kind of "contractual relationship" similar to marriage only appear in southern Fujian?
Shen Defu, a famous historian in the Ming Dynasty, believed that this custom originated from the sea pirates. In ancient times, due to superstition, people thought that women could not be brought on the ship, otherwise the ship would sink. However, the crew still needs to meet their normal needs so that they can replace women with beautiful male pets. At that time, the captain was called the father. In addition, some people believe that the occurrence of male marriage in southern Fujian is due to a serious imbalance in gender ratio, and many men are unable to marry. Shen Defu explained in detail in Wanliye: People in Fujian like men and women, and don't care about their status and the beauty and ugliness of appearance. As long as the two sides agree, they will form brothers. The older party is called the "qi xiong", and the other party is naturally the "qi di". When Brother Qi came to his brother's house, his parents regarded Brother Qi's son-in-law and took good care of him. The deed brother will sponsor the future living expenses and the expenses needed to marry and have children. That is to say, even if the two are brothers, the marriage of the two men will not be affected. Because in the society at that time, women had always been in a subordinate position, and they only played the role of breeding offspring, so the appearance of women did not affect the feelings between brothers and father and son.
Is the wedding of theqi brother the same as the marriage between a man and a woman?
Li Yu, who was in the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, introduced us to the wedding status of theqi brothers in southern Fujian at that time in the "Mother's Teaching and Three Moves" of Silent Drama: the "marriage" between men is the same as the marriage between men and women, such as marriage proposals, brideships and banquets, that is, the so-called "three media and six engagements", Whether it is a male marriage or a male marriage, they all pay attention to "bright media marriage". Moreover, if the second marriage is the first marriage, not the second marriage, then the bride price given by the brother will be heavier!
In the late Qing Dynasty, the gate of the country was opened by the strong ships of the West. Although playing with actors is still the main content of scholars' entertainment, the national situation and political situation have changed dramatically at this time, and the status of actors has also improved with the development of society. More importantly, with the inception of traditional Western concepts of extreme hatred of homosexuality, Western conservative blocking Catholicism is naturally an extreme rejection of acts contrary to God's will. It makes scholars in the new era gradually get tired of, disgusted and even ashamed of the relationship between men. In this atmosphere, the form of marriage such as "qi xiongdi" has gradually faded out of people's sight.
Even in Catholic-dominated Europe, there are exceptions. However, the European brother does not take care of the brother, but the two sides jointly support the family. There is a formal ceremony similar to the heterosexual marriage. They should swear in front of the notary that there must be witnesses. From then on, the two sides will live together under the same roof and share "the same piece of bread, the same glass of wine, the same wallet" , make a decision together and become each other's first successors, which is even more forward than other blood relatives. Although such a relationship is not necessarily equivalent to same-sex marriage, such a ceremony can be held by brothers, which is different from China's "qi xiongdi". Same-sex or married men who have relatives do this to support their families together for economic reasons, but it is also because of this kind of economic confusion. If such a ceremony is held without marriage, it will be more difficult to ask for a wife in the future, and they can only ask for a corrupt woman to marry. However, it is said that King Edward II had held such a ceremony with his favorite minister Pierce Gaston. However, in the end, the death method of the cowardly King was a little curious... Generally speaking, in the Ming Dynasty, although it had reached a serious level for women due to the development of feudal etiquette, , very bastard, but more and more "tolerant" for men. So much so that there are also literary carriers - novels.
"bian er cha" is probably the first in the history of the world and the only cost novel dedicated to gay men before the 20th century. bian er cha is a vernacular novel of the Ming Dynasty. One of the sex novels that praise homosexuality. The title "Written by the owner of the West Lake Heart Moon" was published during the reign of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty. The book is divided into four episodes: "The Chronicle of Love", "The Chronicle of Love", "The Chronicle of Love". Five episodes each, tell a story. The officials written in "bian er cha" are all positive characters, which is a hymn of male homosexuality. In this way, this is simply a work written by a corrupt woman in advance by the author of the Ming Dynasty hundreds of years later. Cao Muwen also happened to know that the ancients in China were still very open, tolerant and creative. To say that Chinese people are old-fashioned, that's only on the one hand. On the other hand, our ancestors are still very happy, and happy. Saints also have the saying: "Be happy but not **, sad but not sad." Two big men are having fun together and exchanging emotions. Why not? It's the so-called "be happy but not **"!
Cao Muwen seems to have just swallowed a fly. Although he is a very conservative person, this is just an "action" rather than a "thought". Cao Muwen was looking at the Qianhu "friend" opposite, and the other party opened his mouth again.
"I don't know why this gentleman has been looking at me?" The other party is very puzzled. It is still difficult for ancient people to understand what is thinking in the mind of a person like Cao Muwen with past "modern" ideas.
Cao Muwen cleared his throat. There was no moisture in it, and it was dry to death. Cao Muwen felt that his throat was tight and thought to him, "Anyway, this brother must still have a good relationship. After all, Yuan Pingzhang is a thousand households. I'm just a small hundred households. It's better for county officials to manage it now.
If so, let's break the embarrassment in front of us first. Thinking of this, Cao Muwen quickly arched his hand and said sincerely to the "poor man" opposite who had been delusioned many times: "This prince, it is fate to meet here today. Since you are also a good friend of Lord Qianhu, I will serve here in the future. We must have met many times. . Hey hey, then we must come and go often in the future. Cao Muwen had a "sincere" smile on his face.
"Oh, by the way, look at you, you have to report there. It seems that it's really my fault. I'm really sorry for delaying your time. After saying that, the other party also hurriedly apologized to Cao Muwen. Cao Muwen said, "This guy is really good. He is both good-looking and good-looking. Well, this bad old man surnamed Yuan has a good vision. Cao Muwen has covered the coffin in his heart, but he suddenly shone the black pot on the head of a thousand households in the courtyard.
The elegant man quickly gave in and left a path to signal that Cao Muwen could move forward. Cao Muwen also went forward, smiled at him, turned around and continued to move forward. After a few steps, it suddenly occurred to me, "Really, it's lucky to see two strange people a few days after coming here!" Suddenly, Cao Muwen remembered another thing, "Oh, it seems that I forgot to ask his name again.
"Yes, I forgot to ask your name." Cao Muwen took a few steps and turned his head to ask him, who was also slowly walking down.
"In Gong Chen, I'm lucky to see Cao Baihu." After turning around leisurely, the other party smiled and said his name. At this time, Cao Muwen thought to himself, "My aunt didn't turn him into a girl, which is really an insult to the world."