We’ve Always Been Here, Part 3: Even More Queer History Through the Ages

June 3- The Leveret Spirit

The tale of the Leveret Spirit, or Rabbit God, as recounted in Yuan Mei’s Zibuyu, offers a compelling window into the complexities of gender, sexualtiy, and religious expression in Qing Dynasty China. First published in 1788, Zibuyu (“What the Master Does Not Speak Of”) is a collection of 747 short supernatural stories that explore various dimensions of life, including ghosts, sex, betrayal, revenge, and corruption. The work was later censored by the Qing government in 1836 due to its controversial and unorthodox content (Szonyi, 1998). The Qing Dynasty, which spanned 1644 to 1912, was the last imperial dynasty of China and upheld strict Confucian moral codes, particularly regarding gender roles and sexuality. One of the most provocative stories in Zibuyu is that of Hu Tianbao, a provincial official who falls in love with another man and is punished with death after spying on him. Hu returns from the grave in the form of a leveret, a young hare, in the dream of a village elder. In the dream, he demands that a temple be erected in his honor for the purpose of aiding men in “affairs of men” (Szonyi, 1998). 

The story inspired the rise of a popular cult in Fujian province, particularly in the city of Fuzhou, where Hu Tianbai was worshipped as a divine intermediary for men who desired romantic or sexual relationships with other men. The Qing authorities, wary of any deviation from the prescribed norms, attempted to suppress the cult, which they viewed as immoral and subversive. The primary evidence for the cult’s existence comes not from its worshippers, but from state officials such as Zhu Gui, who described the cult’s iconography as featuring “two men embracing one another; the face of one is somewhat hoary with age, the other tender and pale” (Szonyi, 1998). Worshippers were said to pray for assistance in pursuing young men and offered thanks by smearing pork intestine and sugar on the idol’s mouth (Szonyi, 1998). 

Although Hu Tianbao came to be known as the Rabbit God, this moniker is likely a result of later slang in which homosexual men were called “rabbits” in Chinese culture (Jie, 2008). Szonyi (1998) argues that the image of the rabbit deity was a poetic invention by Yuan Mei, as there are no other sources from the region that predate his account. It is also important to not confuse Hu with Tu’er Ye, the moon rabbit of traditional Chinese mythology. Despite this fictionalized origin, the cult of Hu Tianbao was historically real and widely documented, proving that religious movements can thrive even when built on new mythologies, especially when they serve the needs of marginalized communities. 

Sources:

  • Hu, N. (Trans.). (n.d.). Tu Er Shen (Rabbit God) by Yuan Mei: A translation of Tu Er Shen story from Zibuyu. Scribd. https://www.scribd.com/document/232222865/6679-the-Rabbit-God
  • Szonyi, M. (1998). The cult of Hu Tianbao and the eighteenth-century discourse of homosexuality. Late Imperial China, 19(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1353/late.1998.0004
  • Zhang, J. (2008). Investigation into depictions of homosexuality in pre-modern China (p. 228). Yunan Renmin Chubanshe.

~Aisha bint Allan (they/ them)

June 2- Pepi II Neferkare

During the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, sometime in the 2200s BC, a six year old boy was crowned as the next Pharaoh. His name was Pepi II Neferkare, a name meaning “Beautiful is the Ka of Re” (or, beautiful is the life essence/soul of the sun god Re). Guided by his mother Ankhesenpepi II and her brother Djau, a vizier under the previous Pharaoh, Pepi II Neferkare is considered the last significant ruler of the Old Kingdom. He ruled an estimated 60 years, though some speculation puts his reign as long as 90 years.

With multiple wives and consorts, it would be easy to conclude his heteronormativity, but Pepi II Neferkare holds a rather special place in ancient Egyptian literature which might contradict such a notion. The story “King Neferkare and General Sasenet” is one with heavy suggestions of homoeroticism. While the story is incomplete, portions of it are found to be repeated in several places of archeological discovery. The story tells the of a voyeur named Tjeti son of Hentu, watching the Pharaoh as he ventures to the house of one of his generals, a man stated to have no wife or woman in his house, in the darkest hours of night, to do “what he desired with him.” A portion of the story is relayed here: 

“[…] Then [he (i.e.,Tjeti the son of Hentu) saw] the Majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Neferkare going out at night all alone, with nobody with him.

Then he moved away from him so as not to be seen by him. Tjeti son of Hentu stood still, being concerned and saying: “Obviously it is true what people say, that he goes out at night!” Tjeti son of Hentu followed this god closely, without letting his heart restrain him, in order to see everything that he was going to do. He (the King) arrived at the house of the general Sasenet. Then he threw a brick and stamped with his foot, so that a [ladder (?)] was lowered to him. He climbed up, while Tjeti son of Hentu stood waiting till His Majesty would return. After His Majesty had done what he desired with him, he returned to his palace and Tjeti followed him. When His Majesty had returned to the palace (I.p.h.), Tjeti went home. Now His Majesty went to the house of the general Sasenet in the course of the fourth hour of the night, he spent the next four hours in the house of the general Sasenet, and he entered the Palace when four hours remained till dawn. And Tjeti son of Hentu followed His [Majesty] every night without letting his heart restrain him, and (each time) after [His] Majesty had entered [the house of the general Sasenet (?)/the Palace (?), Tjeti…].”

It is normal to find symbolism and allegory in Egyptian art and literature, and some speculation has been given to the time table mentioned within the tale. The fourth hour of the night he went calling, followed by four hours “spent” with his general, after which there are still 4 hours before dawn. The time when Pepi II Neferkare spends with his general is a period of the night which the Egyptians refer to as “profound darkness” and it is mentioned that the visitations repeat nightly. This journey reflects the journey of the sun god Re during the most crucial part of his resurrection journey in the underworld: during the fourth hour of his journey, Re finds Osiris laying motionless and seemingly dead, and the two gods unite, becoming one god. “Re has come to rest in Osiris and Osiris has come to rest in Re.” Following this union Re is reborn after the period of “profound darkness” and continues his journey to bring the dawn. This unification is the main object of worship in the Litany of Re, known as “Book of Adoring Re in the West and of Adoring the United One.” While it is never explicitly described in sexual terms, the texts do mention that the gods “embrace each other” and Re becomes one with Osiris. 

The story of King Neferkare and General Sasenet closely mimics the story of Re and Osiris, both alluding to homosexual acts. Like so much ancient Egyptian literature, the story remains incomplete, its ending lost to time and erosion. However, it is clear that men loving one another was not an unknown concept to the ancient Egyptians, their monarchs, or their gods.  

Sources:

~ Lord Ragnall Cennétig (he/him)

June 1- Here we are again

On May 6, 1933, a Nazi youth group attacked the Institut fur Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for Sexual Science) in Berlin. The institute was created by Magnus Hirschfeld, the founder of Wissebschaftlich-humanitares Komitee (Scientific Humanitarian Committee,) a group believed to be the first homosexual organization of the modern age, one that campaigned for queer rights and tolerance during the Weimar interwar era in Germany. The institute opened in 1919 and housed a library devoted to research on gender, same-sex love, and eroticism. During the attack on the building, much of the contents of the collection were destroyed. Four days later, the items that had somehow avoided destruction during the first attack by the students were dragged into the street and publicly burnt by members of the SA in coordination with the youth group.

The loss of the institute’s library represented a significant setback to research on sexuality of all kinds, but especially research around intersexuality and same sex love. There are anecdotes about bits and pieces from the collection surviving, but few materials have actually been accounted for. Despite stipulations in the institute’s charter and Hirschfeld’s will about the distribution of assets to the Humboldt University of Berlin and several of his students, these requests were never carried out: the West German legal system found that the Nazi seizures were legal, and the students, being gay men, were not able to claim recompense for the destroyed property.

The destruction of the Institut fur Sexualwissenschaft is one of many entries in the list of attempts to erase queer stories from history. No matter how many books or buildings are burnt, though, the queer community resurfaces, reestablishes, and reminds the world of its existence as a part of the human experience. Setbacks happen in every generation, but we continue to move forward and hold tighter to that which we have learned.

This year, as we honor Pride month in the East Kingdom, as we honor all people in the queer community past and present, we will again be posting the stories of queer figures from the SCA period and beyond every day this month. Easterners will be sharing their research on people from the queer community across a wide range of times, places, and circumstances, providing us with a daily reminder: They were here, they lived, and they deserve to be remembered, and this office will continue to preserve their stories for posterity.

~Maistresse Mariette de Bretagne (she/her)
Deputy Minister of Arts & Sciences for Education
Chief of Staff to Their Majesties Ryouko’jin and Indrakshi

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