龙阳癖 Lóng Yáng pǐ (lohng yahng pee)
Literally “the passion of Long Yang” and a euphemism for homosexuality. Lord Long Yang was a gay nobleman mentioned in the eighteenth-century classic Dream of the Red Chamber. According to the tale, which takes place during China’s warring states period (from sometime during the fifth century BC to 221 BC), Lord Long Yang was fishing with his lover, the ruler of Wei, and suddenly burst into tears. The king asked what was wrong, upon which Long Yang said that catching bigger fish made him want to throw back the smaller ones, which surely meant that, with so many beauties in the world, some day the ruler would discard him in favor of a greater beauty. Romantically, the ruler of Wei then made a public decree that “Anyone who dares to speak of other beauties will be executed along with his entire family.” To this day, Lóng Yáng is sometimes used to refer to a young, pretty boy in a gay relationship, and it is also the name for an international gay Asian network called the Long Yang Club.
男风 nán fēng (nahn fung) or 南风 nán fēng (nahn fung)
The former literally means “male practice” and was more or less a technical term referring to homosexuality during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). The latter was a homophonous, and poetic, play on that word and literally means “southern custom,” also connoting “southern wind.” The euphemism “southern custom” was based on a common belief throughout China that homosexuality originated in, or at least was more common in, the South (mainly Fujian and Guangdong provinces). There is indeed a great deal of documentation of commonly practiced homosexual customs in those areas. For example, it was noted during the seventeenth century that it was usual for upper-class and educated men in Fujian to marry other men. An older man would buy a boy-bride from the boy’s parents, a marriage ceremony was performed, and the older man’s family would financially support the younger man in every way, just as in a traditional heterosexual marriage. The older man was called 契兄 qìxiōng (chee shyohng), literally “sworn older brother,” and the younger one was called 契弟 qìdì (chee dee), “sworn little brother.” There is documentation of some such marriages that lasted as long as twenty years, but typically they only lasted until the younger man reached the standard age for heterosexual marriage, upon which they “divorced” and the older man often paid to secure him a good female bride and otherwise helped establish him in society.
对食 duìshí (dway shih)
Literally “eat facing each other.” The earliest mention of lesbianism in Chinese history was of two women from the harem of the emperor Cheng of Han, who, according to imperial records, always ate facing each other and slept together.
Contemporary terms
Many Chinese simply say “gay” in English. “Gay” is usually understood to mean gay men, while lesbians mainly go by 拉拉 lālā (lah lah). Nonetheless, there are several Chinese terms for homosexuality as welclass="underline"
同性恋 tóngxìnglìan (tohng sheeng lyinn)
Homosexual.
同性爱 tóngxìng’ài (tohng sheeng aye)
Gay love. Literally “same-sex love.”
同志 tóngzhì (tohng jih)
Gay. Literally “comrade,” the form of address used during revolutionary times and still used today by government officials and older Chinese. First adopted in 1987 by gay rights activists in Hong Kong.
女同志 nǚ tóngzhì (nee tohng jih)
Lesbian. Literally “female comrade.”
大同 dàtóng (dah tohng)
A relatively new term coined by university students, short for 大学生同志 dàxuéshēng tóngzhì (dah shreh shung tohng jih), which means “gay university students.”
断背 duànbèi (dwun bay)
Literally “brokeback,” after Ang Lee’s movie Brokeback Mountain. A euphemism for homosexuality.
Duàn bèi
玻璃 bōlí (bwuh lee)
A euphemism for “gay.” Literally “crystal” or “glass.” Not often used in speech, but known by most gay Chinese people. It comes from the seminal 1980 novel Crystal Boys, by the gay Taiwanese writer Pai Hsien-Yung. The novel’s mention of “crystal boys” is itself a reference to a passage from the classic work Dream of the Red Chamber.
拉拉 lālā (lah lah) or 拉子 lāzi (lah dz)
The most commonly used word for “lesbian.” Lāzi is used in Taiwan and was coined (based on the sound of the English “lesbian” or “lez”) by a lesbian Taiwanese writer named 邱妙津 Qiu Miaojin (chyoe myow gene). When the term spread to the mainland it became lālā instead.
T & P
Terms for lesbian roles. The T stands for “tomboy” and the P refers to 老婆 lǎopó (laow pwuh), or “wife” in Chinese. The terms are equivalent to “butch” and “femme” in English.
娘 T niáng T (nyahng T)
Girly T, soft butch. A lesbian who identifies asaTbut is still a bit feminine or girly.
爷 P yé P (yeh P)
Grandfather P. A lesbian who identifies as a P but is a bit manly.
不分 bù fēn (boo fen)
Literally “don’t differentiate.” Means that you don’t particularly identify as a T or P, and that you also have no preference in terms of which type you’re into.
帅 T 美 P shuài T měi P (shwhy T may P)
帅 T Shuài T (shwhy T) means “handsome tomboy(s)” and 美 P měi P (may P) is “pretty wife” or “pretty wives.” You might use them together to say something like “This club is full of handsome tomboys and pretty wives tonight!”
TT 恋 TT liàn (TT lyinn)
Tomboy-tomboy love, when two tomboys date.
T 吧 T ba (T bah)
A lesbian bar just for tomboys. Since most Chinese lesbians believe that a T and a P should date each other, the exact reason for the existence of a tomboy-only bar is somewhat mystifying.
自梳女 zì shū nǚ (dz shoe nee)
Comb sisters (literally “a woman who combs her hair by herself”). Referring to a group of women in Guangdong and other parts of southern China during the late 1800s and early 1900s who vowed to resist the oppressions of the Confucian conception of marriage. While zì shū nǚ were not necessarily all lesbians, they are perceived in popular culture as some sort of lesbian cult and have also been embraced as such by the Chinese lesbian community.
主动 zhǔdòng (joo dohng)
Top, giver, pitcher, husband. Literally “active.”
被动 bèidòng (bay dohng)
Bottom, taker, catcher, wife. Literally “passive.”
1 号 yī hào (ee how) or just 1 yī (ee)
Literally “number one” or just “one.” Means “top,” “pitcher,” or “husband” because the number one looks like a penis.