The Ancients KISS have long recorded that kissing is not a product of the “Western Wind spreading from the East”Ancients KISSThe Ancients KISS have long recorded that kissing is not a product of the “Western Wind spreading from the East”

Kissing is considered one of the most direct expressions of love, but anthropologists generally believe that this behavior is actually learned.

Canadian anthropologist Marcel Danesi pointed out in his book “The History of the Kiss” that it was not until the sexual revolution in the Western world in the 19th century that the kiss, as a symbol of free love, took advantage of the popularity of popular culture.

The east wind spreads to all parts of the world, shaping modern people’s understanding of romantic love. In China, there is a long-standing and popular view that kissing is a “Western import”. Even in 1990, the Workers’ Daily warned readers that the kissing custom introduced to China from the West was “rude behavior.”

So, did ancient Chinese kiss? Independent scholar Hu Wenhui discusses this in his book “The Chinese History of Kissing”. He looked for examples in stone carvings, paintings, poems, novels, etc., and came to the conclusion that the ancient Chinese and Japanese did not have no concept of kissing, but kissing had long been considered a part of sexual intercourse, and it was difficult to be refined.

While the West has experienced changes from the religious era to the secular era, kisses were eventually shaped into love kisses and were included in daily life, becoming an open, healthy and even flamboyant behavior. As the west wind spreads eastward, this concept of Westerners has affected East Asia, and kissing has become more and more common in daily life.

From the Xian Gua in the Book of Changes to Ming and Qing Novels: Kissing in Ancient China

Hu Wenhui believes that there is only one pre-Qin document that may be related to kissing, and that is the line of the Xian hexagram in the “Book of Changes”. Hu Wenhui put forward a new interpretation of “Xian”. He believed that the interpretation of “Xian, Ganye” should be understood from the perspective of Tongjie.

Regarding the meaning of “Gan”, there is an example of its use in “The Book of Songs·Zhaonan·Yeyousidequ” : Soothing and taking off my clothes, I don’t feel like I’m crying, I don’t feel like I’m crying, I don’t feel like I’m barking. This poem means: Take off my dress slowly, don’t touch my belt, don’t let the dog bark.

The word “gan” here is the same as “shake”, which means to move, touch or manipulate. Hu Wenhui believes that the “sense” in the “Book of Songs” can be used to explain the “Xian” in the “Book of Changes”, so that the literal meaning of the lines of the Xian hexagram becomes a series of actions in sexual intercourse, and “Xian Qi Fu Che” “Tongue” refers to kissing.

This is just a speculation. To confirm whether ancient Chinese kissed, we need to rely on archaeological data. Hu Wenhui found a lot of evidence from the portrait stones of the Han Dynasty.

One particularly interesting example is cited from Wu Lihua’s findings in “Research on the “Secret Play Pictures” of Han Dynasty Illustrated Stones”. The discovery was a Han Dynasty tomb portrait stone unearthed in Xuzhou and now stored in the Xuzhou Han Dynasty Portrait Stone Museum.

It depicts a scene: two people leaning side by side, with their faces facing outward. However, in order to show the two kissing, their lips or The tongue is drawn on the side of the face. This creative technique completely violates the rules of perspective and is reminiscent of Picasso’s Cubist paintings.

This type of portrait stone has long been classified by scholars as a “secret play picture” representing sexual love, and is connected with Fangzhongshu. There are indeed descriptions of kissing in the records of Fangzhongshu in the past dynasties.

In books such as “Su Nv Jing”, “Xuan Nv Jing”, “Jade House Secrets”, “Yu Fang Zhi Yao”, “Dong Xuan Zi” and other books, words describing kissing such as “wow mouth and tongue” appear.

Based on the descriptions of kissing in Fangzhongshu writings and portrait stones, Hu Wenhui came to two conclusions: first, in ancient China, kissing did exist, but it was a part of sexual behavior and was limited to private situations; second, , the reason why ancient Chinese people attached great importance to kissing was often to collect yin and replenish qi to achieve the effect of health preservation.

By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, some popular novels also described kissing. In fact, the word “kissing” appeared in the novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, rather than being translated from English or introduced into the country through Japanese as some scholars believe.

Examples are as follows: “Liao Zhai Zhiyi·Gui Jin” “Bian and Lip Kissing”, “Yuewei Thatched Cottage·Huaixi Magazine” “Checking Lips”, “Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes·Luanyang Continued” “Checking Lips and Kissing” , “Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio·Jiao Na” “kissed her again”, “Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio·Xiao Qi” “kissed her closely” and “kissed her already”.

In addition, there is an interesting saying in the vernacular novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties – “make a Lu” – used as a euphemism for kissing. Qian Zhongshu mentioned in his essay “A Historical Anecdote, a Religious Fable, and a Novel”: “…it is precisely the so-called “doing” in “Qingpingshantang Huaben·Cuojie Yuanyanghui” and the vernacular novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The so-called “make a LV” takes the shape of “LV”, implying a mouth-to-mouth kiss. Through electronic searches, Hu Wenhui found no fewer than ten examples of the expression “be a Lu” in Ming and Qing novels.

West wind blows east: How kissing became a symbol of romantic love

In Hu Wenhui’s view, although it cannot be said that Chinese people knew nothing about kissing before coming into contact with Western culture, the popular concept of kissing today does have its special background in Western Christianity. “Old Testament Song of Songs” says: “Let him kiss me with his mouth, for your love is sweeter than wine.”

Given the important position of the Bible in Western culture, there are related descriptions of kissing in the Bible. Therefore, kissing has a coat of faith and a divine “legitimacy”. In the Christian belief system, kissing has become a sacred and ceremonial public behavior, such as the custom of kissing the bride at a wedding.

With the collapse of the feudal era and the church era, and Western society entering modern times, the ceremonial meaning of kissing gradually faded, and the meaning of love gradually increased. The ceremonial kiss completely transitioned into a love kiss.

At the same time, the custom of public kissing caused by religious background has continued. Therefore, in Western society, kissing has always been an act that can be shown publicly, with simplicity and publicity.

Since the late Qing Dynasty, Chinese people have begun to open their eyes to the world and come into contact with Western culture amid “changes not seen in thousands of years.”

Some late Qing people who went abroad noticed the “weird thing” that Westerners would kiss in public. Zhang Deyi (1847-1918) observed when traveling in France in 1871 (the tenth year of Tongzhi):

“I saw a car passing downstairs, with a man and a woman sitting in it. As they were galloping, the woman held the man’s legs, and the man held the woman’s cheeks, laughing and kissing her. They looked very elegant, which is also the custom.”

(“Western Learning”) Diary of the Journey to the East·Diary of Traveling to America·Diary of the French Envoy·Scotland Study Tour Guide”)

By the 1930s, it was not difficult for Chinese people who had not gone abroad to understand Western kissing customs through indirect introduction. “Beiyang Pictorial” published the signed work “Ode to Current Affairs: Kissing Festival” in 1936.

In the preface of the poem, the author introduced the folk customs of Kissing Festival in Romania and the United States, and expressed his feelings in three poems. The last line of the last poem is “I am not an old layman from Liaozhai, who has been obsessed with Europeanization for a long time.”

It is clear that a certain subtle cultural psychology emerged in the period of social and cultural transformation.

After 1949, kissing was denounced as Western “cultural invasion” and a “bourgeois life sentiment”. It was almost extinct in public life, and its return was considered one of the important symbols of reform and opening up.

“Romance in Lushan Mountain” (1980) directed by Huang Zumo is considered to be the first contemporary kiss scene in China and caused a nationwide sensation after its release.

According to Hu Wenhui’s research, “The Trill of Life” (1979), co-directed by Teng Wenji and Wu Tianming, was actually the first work in which a kiss scene appeared, but its influence was far less than that of “Romance in Lushan Mountain”.

But in these two movies, kissing is just a superficial, “make a Lu” type of kiss. There are rumors that the male and female protagonists of “The Trill of Life” both put transparent films on their lips when filming the kiss scene.

Source: bastillepost