The sexual attitudes in the Chinese have been described by scholars as suppressive or nonsuppressive, based on observations made on various aspects of the Chinese culture. Many characteristics of the Chinese history and society are responsible for this controversy and confusion. The overall picture may be better understood using the developmental model propounded by some modern sociologists in the study of social units and collective behaviors. It is time to proceed from static to dynamic to try to apply this model in comprehending the sexual attitude of the Chinese and those of other cultures.
Reviewing a book from the Pink Triangle Press of Hong Kong, and drawing upon other professional and personal resources, the authors of this review essay, both psychiatrists and graduates of the University of Hong Kong, present a digest and synopsis of material relating to homosexuality in Chinese culture. With illustrations from the royal palaces, upper class households, entertainment companies, scholars' conclaves, novels and fiction, seaboard populations, travellers, emigrants, socially marginal groups, closed institutions, and folk literature and dialects, a wide variety of homophilic relations is described. A section on the modern scene reviews clinical studies, legal and sociological data, seminar and commission reports, and news items. Although many Chinese names have been applied to the condition, homosexuality is not a culture-bound phenomenon. A basic question which emerges from this review is the extent to which human behavior is genderbound.
In China it was not until the 1980s that significant momentum developed in public sex education. The early pioneers and writers were medical professionals, and priority was given to the teaching of sexual anatomy, physiology and hygiene, especially to adolescents and the newly wed. With increases in the standard of living, the need for family planning, and increased attention to sexual and marital problems, the political leadership awoke to the importance of the issues involved and allowed open discussion and study of sexual topics.The focus then shifted to psychosocial and behavioral aspects of sexuality. Groups and organizations sprang up, starting in Shanghai, Beijing and Heilongjiang. Surveys, research and conferences flourished. Training courses were held for educators in various parts of the nation. Articles, manuals and magazines were published and widely disseminated. Sex education was introduced into school curricula and texts and methods of instruction were devised. Administrative infrastructures with official mandates were set up. This is the report of a survey of sexual behaviour in the People's Republic of China, conducted from 1989 to 1990. Unprecedented in scope and scale, the survey involved 28 sites (cities, towns and villages) in 15 of the 27 provinces or autonomous regions. A total of 21,500 questionnaires, with 239 items covering a wide range of variables were distributed, and 19,559 of the returned replies were found suitable for study. About 500 investigators were involved, including about 200 field workers, most of whom were female volunteers. There was a caucus of about 40 core leaders, with coordinating head-
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.