[2] The historian Han Fei recorded a more exalted example in the relationship of Mizi Xia (彌子瑕) and Duke Ling of Wei (衛靈公).
[3] This phrase was linked with the earlier story of Mizi Xia's bitten peach to create the formulaic expression yútáo duànxiù (余桃断袖) to refer to homosexuality in general.
One mention by Ying Shao, who lived about 140 to 206, does relate palace women attaching themselves as husband and wife, a relationship called dui shi.
"[12] Except in unusual cases, such as Emperor Ai, the men named for their homosexual relationships in the official histories appear to have had active heterosexual lives as well.
Huo Guang was infatuated with his slave master, Feng Zidu, a fact that "provoked laughter in the wineshops of foreigners",[14] but which didn't have much effect on his own countrymen.
In this specific case, the relationship made it into the histories only because Liang Ji showed exceptional devotion to his wife, sharing the slave Qin Gong with her in a ménage à trois.
They were members of the anti-establishment Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, and their relationship reflected that group's vaunting of mystical, rustic, and simple life over the corruption, hierarchy, and intrigue at court.
[18] According to the Book of Jin, the Emperor Fu Jian, also the Shi Zu of Former Qin, used to take a beautiful princess and a prince together back to his palace, and loved them both.
Practically all officials of this class maintained a wife or wives to produce heirs, and used their economic advantage to engage in relationships, heterosexual and homosexual, which gave them unequal power.
There was a stereotype in the late Ming dynasty that the province of Fujian was the only place where homosexuality was prominent,[33] but Xie Zhaozhe (1567–1624) wrote that "from Jiangnan and Zhejiang to Beijing and Shanxi, there is none that does not know of this fondness.
"[34] Although the province of Fujian was not alone in open homosexuality in the 17th century, it was the site of a unique system of male marriages, attested to by the scholar-bureaucrat Shen Defu and the writer Li Yu, and mythologized by in the folk tale, The Leveret Spirit.
[36] A more individual example of a marriage-like relationship between men was that formed by the scholar-bureaucrat Bi Yuan 畢沅 (1730–1797) and the Suzhou actor Li Guiguan.
[3] It has been construed that this may have been part of an attempt to limit all personal expression outside government-monitored relationships, coming in response to the social chaos at the end of the Ming dynasty.
[citation needed] Even as late as the early 1980s, there were some Chinese men seeking asylum in other countries reported that they had faced systematic discrimination and harassment from the government because of their sexual orientation as well as similar mistreatment from family members.
[49] Likewise, the Chinese government did treat homosexuality as a disease and subjected gay men to electric shock therapy and other attempts to change their sexual orientation.
[54] In 1997, the Chinese criminal code was revised to eliminate the vague crime of "hooliganism", which had been used as a de facto ban on private, adult, non-commercial and consensual homosexual conduct.
On the other hand, a slight majority disagreed with the proposition that an openly gay person should be a school teacher, and 40% of respondents said that homosexuality was "completely wrong.
In late April 2004, the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (国家广播电影电视总局) initiated a campaign to clear violence and sexual content from the media.
[68] In early July 2011, Lu Liping, a famous actress, criticized homosexuality in a micro-blog post, calling it "a shameful conduct which is judged by God.
[71] Lu's husband, Sun Haiying, also made public comments in 2007 which condemned homosexuality and bisexuality as "criminal in nature" and akin to "one night stands, keeping of mistresses, wife-swapping and swinging",[72] attracting the attention of China Daily columnist Raymond Zhou[73] (who, in turn, received an email by Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church in response to his article[74]).
[54] On December 19, 2014, a Chinese gay man who goes by the pseudonym Xiao Zhen won a lawsuit filed with Beijing's Haidian District People's Court in May.
Xiao Zhen accused a psychiatric counseling clinic named Xinyu Piaoxiang in Chongqing province of offering him "conversion" therapy to "cure" homosexuality by administering hypnosis and electric shock.
After completing the therapy, Xiao Zhen decided to sue the clinic for causing physical, emotional and mental damage through electric shocks and hypnosis.
"[76] The Xinyu Piaoxiang clinic was ordered by the Haidian District People's Court to pay compensation of 3,500 yuan ($560) to Xiao Zhen for costs incurred in the therapy.
[79] The lawsuit concluded in December 2015 with a finding by Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court that the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) had not requested that hosting sites pull the documentary.
[80] Despite this ruling, which Fan felt was a victory because it effectively limited state involvement, "the film is still unavailable to see online on Chinese hosting sites.
[85][86] On December 31, 2015, the China Television Drama Production Industry Association posted new guidelines, including a ban on showing queer relationships on TV.
[95][96] On January 5, 2016, a court in Changsha, southern Hunan province, agreed to hear the lawsuit of 26-year-old Sun Wenlin filed in December 2015 against the Furong district civil affairs bureau for its June 2015 refusal of the right to register to marry his 36-year-old male partner, Hu Mingliang.
[97] On April 13, 2016, with hundreds of gay marriage supporters outside, the Changsha court ruled against Sun, who vowed to appeal, citing the importance of his case for LGBT progress in China.
[98] On May 17, 2016, Sun and Hu were married in a private ceremony in Changsha, expressing their intention to organize another 99 LGBT weddings across the country in order to normalize gay marriage in China.