Classifying Lust: The Seventeenth-Century Vogue for Male Love

The people of-Min [present-day Fujian] consider sexual attaction between men (nan se ji) to be very important. Whether rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, each unites with his kind. The elder one is the sworn older brother, the younger the sworn younger brother. When the elder enters the younger's home, the younger one's parents cherish him as a son-in-law (xu 4). The younger one's plans for later life, including his expenses for taking a wife, are all managed by the elder brother. Some among them are so devoted to each other that even past the age of thirty they still share a bed-chamber as husband and wife (kang li {ftIs). As for those who have affairs with other men, they will be charged with the offense of 'jijian H:!. The character 'Ji is not to be found in dictionaries. Nowadays there are those who call themselves sons, and older men who are sexually dissolute use much money to purchase the pretty ones in order to go to bed with them. These men cast themselves in the position of fathers, and have an array of young boys and concubines living with them. This is incestuous to the greatest degree. I have heard that this business began with sea pirates. It is forbidden to have women on the open seas for fear that their presence makes the boat