serpentino Posted March 3, 2006 at 02:58 AM Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 at 02:58 AM A friend asked me for a "single chinese character for gay". After a brief look into my set of dictionaries, which only produced one word, unfortunately written by three characters ("tongxinglian" 同性恋) I started wondering: Was there a word and/or a chinese character for "gay" in classical chinese? second, are there any other words in modern chinese than "tongxinglian" 同性恋 ? i've got the feeling there will be some differences between PRC/TWN/HKG/...? thanks everybody! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L-F-J Posted March 3, 2006 at 03:22 AM Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 at 03:22 AM 同志 tong2 zhi4 = comrade (slang for gay) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semantic nuance Posted March 3, 2006 at 03:39 AM Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 at 03:39 AM You can say a gay is of 斷袖之癖. Its origin is here. Or, a little bit derogative term is 玻璃. Some will use 0號, or 1號 to designate the homosexaul. For lesbians, T (Tom-boy) and 婆 are used. Another for queer is 酷兒. Hope it helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hakkaboy Posted March 3, 2006 at 10:24 AM Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 at 10:24 AM Or, a little bit derogative term is 玻璃. Some will use 0號, or 1號 to designate the homosexaul. For lesbians, T (Tom-boy) and 婆 are used.Another for queer is 酷兒. I would feel uneasy at using meaningless terms such as 玻璃 and 0號 all over China. Are you sure they would be understood in Kunming, say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiewouldgo Posted March 3, 2006 at 09:17 PM Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 at 09:17 PM 基 as in 基佬 in cantonese. It's pretty degrading, I would not recommend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L-F-J Posted March 3, 2006 at 09:21 PM Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 at 09:21 PM 基 gei1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted March 3, 2006 at 09:24 PM Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 at 09:24 PM It's just English Gay assigned a Chinese character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bokane Posted March 4, 2006 at 08:04 AM Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 at 08:04 AM 龙阳君 is another old-fashioned term, though it's a reference to a guy with a thing for catamites, rather than a reference to general gayness. I think 玻璃 is exclusive to Taiwan; at least, I've only ever heard it from Taiwanese speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted March 4, 2006 at 02:28 PM Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 at 02:28 PM I've heard of a character that was used for gay, it's like nan2 (male) but the lower part is nv3 instead of li4. I think this was used some centuries ago, somewhere in Fujian or sth? Am not sure. I also have no idea what the pronounciation would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted March 4, 2006 at 03:38 PM Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 at 03:38 PM But the top of 男 is simply 田 ... do you mean 孌 (luan2) as in 孌童? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semantic nuance Posted March 4, 2006 at 03:46 PM Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 at 03:46 PM Or 嬲 (niao3) ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted March 4, 2006 at 03:50 PM Report Share Posted March 4, 2006 at 03:50 PM another term is 安陵之好. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted March 5, 2006 at 04:01 PM Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 at 04:01 PM Skylee: No, I really mean tian2 on top and nv3 below. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted March 5, 2006 at 11:41 PM Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 at 11:41 PM Lu, according to Xiandai Hanyu Cidian, the word's pronunciation is ji1. The dictionary lists only one explanation - the word together with 姦, i.e. ji1 jian1, is the same as 雞姦 (ji1 jian1). Take a look at this online dictionary -> http://140.111.1.40/yitic/frc/frc02068.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted March 9, 2006 at 06:48 PM Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 at 06:48 PM That's the one I meant. 『明律有ji奸罪條,將男作女也。』, 'In Ming law there was an offence called jijian, which is when a men acts as a woman.' Hm, not a very nice way to describe homosexuality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chenpv Posted April 6, 2006 at 10:02 AM Report Share Posted April 6, 2006 at 10:02 AM Check this link: Brief Terminology for Homosexuality in Classic Chinese. and this link: Brief History of Homosexuality in Ancient China Informative but not exclusively authentic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doumeizhen Posted April 12, 2006 at 06:55 AM Report Share Posted April 12, 2006 at 06:55 AM After Brokeback Mountain won an Oscar and Li Ang became the glory of the Chinese (huaren zhi guang), the term "duan bei" ("dun bui" in Cantonese) is used every day loosely and widely in most newspapers in Hong Kong referring to any male relationships in doubt. http://english.sina.com/taiwan_hk/1/2006/0408/72191.html I think this is the most important step of linguistic assimilation of "the Other" into daily life context after the term "Tongzhi" (comrades) being transformed from the context of Revolution in both the Republican and the Communist government decades ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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