serpentino 10 Report post Posted March 3, 2006 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
L-F-J 53 Report post Posted March 3, 2006 同志 tong2 zhi4 = comrade (slang for gay) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
semantic nuance 118 Report post Posted March 3, 2006 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hakkaboy 10 Report post Posted March 3, 2006 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eddiewouldgo 10 Report post Posted March 3, 2006 基 as in 基佬 in cantonese. It's pretty degrading, I would not recommend it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
L-F-J 53 Report post Posted March 3, 2006 基 gei1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quest 19 Report post Posted March 3, 2006 It's just English Gay assigned a Chinese character. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bokane 19 Report post Posted March 4, 2006 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu 3,171 Report post Posted March 4, 2006 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skylee 1,912 Report post Posted March 4, 2006 But the top of 男 is simply 田 ... do you mean 孌 (luan2) as in 孌童? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
semantic nuance 118 Report post Posted March 4, 2006 Or 嬲 (niao3) ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skylee 1,912 Report post Posted March 4, 2006 another term is 安陵之好. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu 3,171 Report post Posted March 5, 2006 Skylee: No, I really mean tian2 on top and nv3 below. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skylee 1,912 Report post Posted March 5, 2006 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu 3,171 Report post Posted March 9, 2006 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chenpv 9 Report post Posted April 6, 2006 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doumeizhen 13 Report post Posted April 12, 2006 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 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites