When women fell in love with each other in the Qing dynasty, what did they do?
If the 17th-century play Lianxiang Ban is anything to go by, they had quite a bit of sex and then schemed to become wives of the same man.
Surprised?
Perhaps even more astounding than that is the fact this overtly homosexual play (adapted into opera form) was staged at a top mainstream theatre in Beijing last month. The promotional material proudly proclaimed it as the mainland's first lesbian opera and used a close-up image of two women cheek to cheek in tender repose. The show's posters were displayed across the city's subway system. It was a big show with aggressive publicity and the local media loved it. Activists are hailing it as a major step forward for public awareness and acceptance of homosexuality on the mainland.
'It's wonderful,' says Xian, founder of Common Language, a lesbian self-help group based in Beijing. 'It's so important, especially because it's happening in the mainstream and with the mainstream media covering it. For the first time they are using the word 'lesbian' and using it in a positive way.
'China is not old China any more and the younger generation has so much access to information [through the internet], and information changes knowledge and knowledge changes people,' says Xian. 'They now have a much more open mind on the issue of homosexuality.'
Gay Hong Kong filmmaker Stanley Kwan Kam-pang was hired to direct the production while sexologist Li Yinhe - famous for urging the central government to consider allowing same-sex marriages - was the opera's 'cultural consultant'. Her role, says Kwan, was to field questions on 'China and homosexuality' from the media.