SERIES: Books to better understand China
IV part: the SUI dynasty and the question of “consent”
Even if mentalities have changed a little among young Chinese, there is still a certain discretion, reservations about talking about the subject. And so much the better. In the West, the subject goes beyond the private sphere and sprawls back and forth in all the media … But where do what we wrongly call taboos come from, and which are cultural codes that are simply different from ours? A long time ago, but the book remains a benchmark, a great lover of China, great novelist and essayist, Robert van Gulik, tackled the complex question of the history of sexuality in China. Here is the 4th part of the presentation of this essential book.
Sex life during the height of the Chinese Empire
The history of ideas in China is not as linear as in Europe. Themes are repeated from generation to generation and are explored in depth. It would be more like a spiral movement.
In this part, it is always a question of cosmic sexuality; to ensure the regularity of Yin and Yang to lengthen longevity; all this to the rhythm of the 5 elements; aim for the Sky-Earth balance; but also on a human scale to transmit the best techniques so that the “Jade Stem” and “the Jade Gate” awaken the primordial energies and operate reproduction and / or cosmic harmony through the sexual act.
Van Gulik rereads the textbooks of the short Sui dynasty to learn about the evolution and even the height of the famous sexuality textbooks.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SEXUAL MANUAL: COSMIC TECHNIQUES
We continue on what for us are poetic names of sexual positions which have for the Chinese a quais-scientific precision: “the unwinding of the Silk”, “The Dragon which coils”, “The fluttering butterflies”, “The mandarin ducks ”,“ The flight of the seagulls ”,“ The galloping courier ”…
We think of the animal-becoming of Qi Gong movements!
Lots of techniques in the context of an essentially Taoist sexuality which is therefore anything but romantic or spontaneous! Because the goal is always the control of ejaculation for the purpose of accumulating cosmic energies. Van Gulik notices a lot of attention for the sexuality of women, certainly for causes that transcend her, but all the same much more than during all our very Christian European Middle Ages!
The manuals establish a real discipline: “A man can ejaculate only 2 or 3 times out of 10”, let’s read about 10 female orgasms. The man must observe the expressions of his wife to know her pleasure at the same time as him! What mind-blowing modernity! We will see that the question of “consent” will take on an even more contemporary dimension.
Of course, like any “treatment” in Chinese medicine, the timing (dates, times) of intercourse is essential. Within the strict framework of reproduction, Lao Zi reportedly said, “A child conceived at midnight will live to old age; before midnight, he will reach a normal age; conceived after midnight, it will not live long ”!
Also, do not mate between people of too different ages!
It is obviously also a question of positions favorable to the body: “In spring, lie down with your head to the east; summer around noon; autumn, to the west; in winter, lie down with your head north ”.
Odd-numbered days are a good time to have sex … Correspondences are essential with the 5 elements, the seasons, etc. The climate and the signs of “Heaven’s taboos” even more!
Apart from reproduction, sex is all about immortality and cosmic harmony:
“The Yellow Emperor traded with twelve hundred women and thereby became immortal”
ENERGIZING POTIONS!
Appear natural stimulants like the potion “The bald chicken”, “the Horn of Buckskin”, remedies from the Chinese pharmacopoeia even to enlarge the organs of reproduction. How to heal yourself after having sex with a succubus requires a somewhat magical resonance manual.
Taoist sexual magic explains how to extract the essences of the partner during the sexual act. A woman if she can extract a lot of YANG from a man can become male!
Importance also of “banter”: the beginnings of a harmonization of feelings and energies of bodies and souls.
After this preparation, the man had to prolong the sexual act throughout the night. Without spilling his seed he had to respond to the 5 desires (or 9 Spirits) of the woman he could detect from a set of signs well described in the textbooks.
There are still some very beautiful, but at the same time very technical, dialogue between the Yellow Emperor and the Girl with the Jet Black Hair. For example, next to the analyzes of the signs of desire, is described the precise number s of movements that the man will have, more or less quickly, to make to create more Yin energy inside the woman.
TREATING ILLNESSES THROUGH SEXUAL HARMONY
“If the man’s member doesn’t want to stand up; if a woman’s vagina cannot moisturize, these are outward signs of internal illness, ”says a textbook.
Traditional Chinese medicine of the Taoist type claimed to cure certain diseases through real medical prescriptions prescribing adequate postures, the movements to be followed, their frequency and their distribution in time, according to the days of the week. Of course all these numbers are heavy with meaning for Chinese symbolism. In Taoist magic, Yang is represented by odd numbers. The 9 is the highest odd number for Yang energy. 9X9, so 81 is called the “Perfect Yang”. These are the important numbers for a man to remember during the act.
We have already talked about it: conversely, too much sex creates diseases or reveals them.
It is essential to understand that ejaculation is a waste of energy for men. The older he is, the less he has to ejaculate per month. In winter, it will have to store the Yang, but in the spring, it will be able to pour it out.
INTRA-UTERINE AND EUGENIC EDUCATION
When it is only a question of giving birth, during the pregnancy, the woman must dedicate herself to good works; never turn your gaze towards “ugly shows”; nor hear bad words; suppress all sexual desire and refrain from insults and quarrels … “Fear and overwork are not worth anything to him! “. No raw, cold, sour or peppery foods; never horseback riding or car rides, etc … No moxibustion or acupuncture!
A child will be born who will be intelligent, wise, loyal and kind!
THE QUESTION OF CONSENT…
It is absolutely necessary to re-contextualize these manuals which were not, as we have already said, “pleasure” manuals! There was no question of having sex without reason with just any woman.
The family in ancient China is based on the concept of polygamy. A moderately wealthy man had 3.4 wives and concubines. A big bourgeois had 6 to 12! Members of the nobility or great generals had 30 or more!
The manuals then advised a kind of very organized sexuality to manage the precise relations with these women and to avoid any jealousy or frustration. It was not just a question of health or eugenics but also of social harmony within the large family comprising all these women. Favoritism created quarrels, for example.
In our monogamous European society, having intercourse with several women in one night would have been debauchery!
In short, these extraordinary “sexual” manuals were essentially books on health, reproduction, cosmic harmonization, but also psychology and sociology.
They are extremely topical in 2021, because the basic question was that of the consent of the woman and the precise conditions in which the sexual act should take place: a total emotional and … cosmic harmony between the two partners!
The consent but also the orgasm (one thinks of W. Reich in the 20th century) of the woman were personal questions but especially related to the family, the company and all the cosmos (balance of Yin and Yang).
