Mythological stories, whether heterosexual or homosexual, embody these concepts of p'o and hun, as well as ancient beliefs in animal worship, the reincarnation and karmic retribution of Buddhism, and the Taoist thoughts on sexual power (qi, or energy flow of the human body). Those stories not only serve as Confucian moral teachings for the general public, especially the uneducated, but also, interestingly enough, as "scientific reasons" to explain why someone would be involved in homosexual relationships.

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Mythological Stories

In the mythological stories, the soul, after death, is transformed into a free-flowing form of animus, like smoke in the air. Then, according to the deeds of the individual's past life, he or she could reincarnate into either a human form, male or female, or into an animal, demon, or plant.

In these stories a ghost, a fox fairy in a male body form, or simply a man may perform homosexual intercourse with another living male, just because the former was his female lover in the past life. In order to "complete" the heterosexual relationship of the past life, they could then conduct acts that are homosexual (because of his male form in this life). A female may be reincarnated as a male because of some good deeds--especially deeds related to chastity--that she performed in her past life. That is, she may be "rewarded" by being reincarnated into a male form. These stories reflect Confucianism ideas about female chastity and the Buddhist concept of baoyin.

Such homosexual plots might be condemned in the West as pagan and immoral, but the Chinese believe that they reflect the fate of humankind. Believing that all events are predestined or predetermined according to one's deeds in past lives, the Chinese tend to accept the facts of this life, including homosexuality, as a result of past lives. Such ancient religious beliefs may explain why the Chinese, in general, are even today less homophobic than Western Christians.

Also, in Chinese mythological stories, homosexual ghosts are not necessarily demons. They often have more virtue than ordinary people. In some mythological stories and in some novels, Buddhist monks or Taoist priests (including homosexual ones) could be more corrupt and evil than the ghosts or fairies. Authors such as Pu Songling and Ji Yun tried to criticize the social inequality of genders and classes. By writing these gay mythological stories the authors stated that even ghosts or fairies are more "humane" than corrupt and arrogant officers or self-proclaimed "moral" Confucian scholars.

"Old Farmer and a Dragon"

Among the mythological stories is one called "Old Farmer and a Dragon." In this story, a 60-year-old farmer named Ma strolled along a field, when suddenly there was thunder and a rainstorm and the sky turned gray. He felt a crow scratch his back and he thought it signified wrath from Heaven. So he crawled down and lay still.

Rather than wrath from Heaven, however, the curious events were caused by a dragon descending from the sky. Finding Ma lying still, the dragon sodomized him, while biting his head. After the dragon finished sodomizing the farmer, it ascended to the sky and bellowed with the thundering noise; the farmer was left alone on the ground with stinking liquid all over his body. At first, the farmer dared not mention what had happened to him to his family, until his rear hurt so much that he asked a doctor for a cure; then the event was revealed.

While most of the animal fairies in Chinese mythology enjoy homosexual relationships with younger men or boys, only the dragon consistently enjoys sexual relationships with older men. As the dragon was the symbol for the rainbow in ancient China, they frequently appeared during thunderstorms and then they captured old men for gay sex.