Are Chinese people so keen on sex?

New Roman">Are Chinese people so keen on sex?

    From Monica’s articles I feel she is quite curious about the fact that so many Chinese are so interested in sex. Here I want to explain a little here to dispel some of her doubts.

    China is a country with so long a history of about more than 5000 years. Feudalism has been the dominant part during the period. During the feudal ages, all ladies were looked down upon as the second citizens. They even became “dolls” of the emperors, or government officials. Even within a common peasants’ family, women were discriminated. They were assigned heavy domestic work to do---do chores, breed the children, and tend to the elderly. Boys were regarded as blessings from the god to prolong the family history, while girls were only wedded out as members of other family. It was very common to see that all the family was exhilarated at the birth of a boy, however rather sad at a girl. Women’s secondary position in the society made sex a natural belonging of men’s. No one would brag about his sex in public, since it is too natural, normal and common thing to all men, not a privilege in others’ eyes. Sex was not a mutual enjoyment, but only a service on the part of the women. So, in the past, it was sheer atrocious shamelessness for a woman to be bodacious enough to claim that she liked sex. They were under the yoke of feudalism oppression. There were very few women who did this. Pan Jinlian was one of them. However she was regarded as the most licentious woman in Chinese history.

So in the feudalism period, it is regarded as immoral to talk about sex.

After the last dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, was overthrown, fresh liberal thoughts and ideas came from the western period. However, people were still reluctant to talk about it.

Even after the People’s Republic of China was founded, any topics have relation to sex were looked on as obscene and immoral. During the Cultural Revolution, such a state became worse. Once I read a story from a magazine, which was about a love letter from a girlfriend to a boyfriend who was a soldier. She wrote in her letter that she just couldn’t forget her experience of pleasure when they were rolling under the quilt. The letter was opened and the contents disclosed. The result was the dismissal from the army of her boyfriend. He had had a promising career in the army. Another story was about a girl who went to the army to see her boyfriend. She had sex with her boyfriend. After returning home she wrote to her boyfriend that she was pregnant. Her boyfriend was also dismissed. Ironically when he went back home, he found his girlfriend was not pregnant, only something wrong with her tummy. He lost a very good opportunity to be promoted in the army in his life. Young people before marriage couldn’t see or even know each other. All affairs were arranged by the parents. Ridiculously the fathers were even abashed at seeing their own children. They wouldn’t even go out with their wives openly.

It was only after the effective implementation of the open-door policy by Deng Xiaoping in 1980s that people felt a little free to look face to sex. Under the influence of western culture, youngsters became more and more liberal. ‘

However now, people are still unable to openly claim that they like sex. They are still sheepish or afraid of being condemned. They may refrain from touching upon sex while in his blog or in a chatroom he may be anonymously brave enough to make advances to ladies. That is why people from abroad find something erotic just boring while we Chinese are just amused.

I wish what I said may explain a little to foreign friends the reason why we Chinese are interested in sex talks.