Prostitution in China - Houses of the Singing Girls

Green so green is the river grass,

thick so thick are the garden willow's leaves.

Beautiful so beautiful is the lady upstairs,

shining as she stands by the window, shining.

pretty in her powdered rouge, so pretty

with her slender, slender white hands.

Once she was a singing girl,

but now is the wife of a womanizer.

He travels and rarely comes home.

So hard to sleep in an empty bed.

Anonymous, Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.)

As we saw before, a Chinese man could have several wives and concubines. However his relationships with them was bound by many regulations and rules. Prostitutes offered a form of entertainment that was not bound by those Confucianist rules. These prostitutes were not viewed with contempt, they had their own role and place in Chinese society. Their profession was legitimate and had a recognized place in the Chinese social system.

First Brothels
As we saw before, the emperor, princes and high officials kept troups of singing girls in the Ch’in and former Han dynasty (221 BC-24 AD) . After that however, the economic situation changed. A rich merchant class came up that could not afford their own troups of singing girls. Still, these rich merchants looked for a way to amuse themselves.

Social shifts had broken up many pheasant and middle class families. This caused a lot of abandoned women to seek employment, leeding to the development of the first ‘Houses of the Singing Girls.’ Here men could drink, eat and watch the girls sing and dance. Afterwards they could stay the night. And many middle class men who could afford it chose their concubines from these singing girls.

Later in time, because the woodwork of these houses was lacquered green in the style of luxurious mansions, they were called ‘Green Bowers'. A name that would be taken over in Japan in later times.

The Singing and Dancing Girls

In the later Chou-dynasty (720-222 BC) a new kind of woman developed. The unsettled political situation in those times resulted in sudden changes in the fortunes of leading families and slackening of morals. In these times princes and high officials started to keep their own troops of dancing girls and female musicians next to their harem. In contrast to the wives and concubines, these girls did not belong to the group of women 'inside' that were bound by 'inside' rules. Instead, they formed a class of their own.

The singing and dancing girls performed at official banquets and private drinking bouts. However, next to their artistic skills they were also available for sexual services with their master, his retinue and his guests. However they developed in a culture where the emphasis was not just on sexuality but on their arts as well.

These girls were the forerunners of the courtesans and prostitutes that played such an important role in later Chinese life.

Polygamy in China

By Confucian standars, the family was the most important unit of society. Continuation of the family was vital and therefore the production of male children was a necessity. The birth of a son or grandson was the most desired event in any Chinese household and the prime purpose of marriage.

Marriages were arranged by families as soon as their male children were considered of age. Love nor courtship were important. It was a man's first duty to marry when his parents decided it was time for him to carry out his duties to the family and its ancestors. It was also his sacred duty to his ancestors and also to himself to produce male children who would continue the sacrifices in the ancestral hall. If no sons were born, the results would be desatrous for the family. This consideration constituted the most powerful motive for the polygamic family system that prevailed in China till recent years. If one wife failed to bear male children, others had to be at hand who would give birth to one or more sons.

A normal man would have one wife and several concubines. A midclass householder for instance could have three to four, upper middle class six to twelve and nobility, generals and princes could have 30 or more wives and concubines. Each woman had her appointed place in the household hierarchy. The maids obeyed the concubines, the concubines the wives, the wives the principal wives, and all the First Lady, the principal wife of the father, or if she died, the principal wife of the eldest son. In this inside world hidden from the outside, a man was expected to divide his time between the different women.

Though it might seem like a dream, a harem was not just fun. Wives and concubines in China had a definite status and vested individual rights. A man had to respect these rights and fulfill his many duties to his womenfolk to keep them satisfied; supporting them economically, mentally, giving sexual satisfaction and personal affection. If a householder did not succeed in any of these, his household could become unstable. And failure to maintain a harmonious household could ruin a man’s reputation and break his career.

With all these regulations, Chinese men craved for less regulated relationships. One option open was homosexuality. Homosexuality was a form of love and sexuality not bound by rules and regulations. For both men and women homosexuality was an accepted form of love, given it would not interfere with heterosexual relations. Another option not bound by family rules were the courtesans. Both of them not belonging to the inner realms of the Confucianist family unit, they were outside the reach of Confucianist ideas, rules and regulations.

Taoism & Confucianism in China

To understand the development of courtesans, we need to first look at basic developments in China and their underlying philosophies.

Taoism
The idea of Taoism came up in the second part of the Chou dynasty (720-222 B.C.). Taoism centered on the idea of Yin and Yang. Men and women were seen as matching counterparts of a similar status and in the idea of Yin and Yang, the female Yin goes before the male Yang. Nature was the most important power in Taoism. Since women created and fostered new life in their womb, they were seen as closer to the natural forces and were therefore venerated.

Confucianism
Confucianism was developed by the Chinese officer Confucius (551-479 BC). He protested against the then unruly times and promoted an ordered family structure as a basis for the state.The keystone hereby was the relationship between a husband and his wife. According to Confucianism, a woman’s duties lay in the home, where she had absolute power. A man’s duties lay outside the home, and there women had no part at all.

Not much is known about Confucius' own ideas about women. However one remark has been handed over;

'Women and people of lowly status are difficult to deal with. If one is too friendly with them, they become obstreperous, and if one keeps them at a distance they become resentful.'

From this statement, Confucius' successors decided women were lower then men. Her most important duty was to serve and obey her husband and his parents. She had to look well after the household, and bear male children. Since chastity was important for an orderly family life and undisturbed continuation of the family lineage, great stress was laid on women leading a blameless life. To ensure this chastity, Confucianists promoted the complete separation of the sexes.

Taoism & Confucianism
Taoism was mostly an unworldly philosophy with a matriarchal orientation, and Confucianism was a practical philosophy based on a patriarchal state. Both philosophies formed a part of Chinese life and culture. They influenced each other and both principles could be followed at the same time. Together they formed the basis of Chinese society, defining the inside and the outside.

In later years as Confucianism slowly gained more importance, Chinese women became more defined to the inside; to their own world and role in the family.

It was in those years that only the women who did not fit into the Confuciust idea of the family life - the courtesans- could maintain their own important role.

Introduction

I always remember the sunset over the pavalion by the river. So tipsy, we could not find our way home. Our interest exhausted, the evening late, we tried to turn the boat homeward. By mistake, we entered deep within the lotus bed. Row! Row the boat! A flock of herons, frightened, suddenly flew skyward.Li Qingzhao

Four years ago I was a curator Asian art in a Dutch museum and organized an exhibition called 'Princesses and Mistresses. The Female Image in Asia.' It was during my research that I stumbled upon the poems and tales of Chinese and Korean courtesans. Proud and educated women, their voices spoke to me through time. Sadly, though Geisha are famous all over the world the skilled and glorious courtesans pre-dating the geisha remain forgotten.

In fact, the origin of the now so famous Japanese Geisha came from a country across the sea; the mainland of China. It was here that a culture of courtesans developed in which arts were praised above beauty. Here a unique class of educated women evolved, often they were the only females allowed to have an education. This culture reached Korea, resulting in the development of the skilled Kisaeng, and later it reached Japan, resulting in the Tayu- the stars of the Japanese floating world one can still admire on the famous ukiyo-e prints.

In this blog I aim to lift the dusty veil covering the histories of the Chinese, Korean and Japanese courtesans from which the geisha developed.