Monday, September 8, 2025

The Messenger of the Eastern Warehouse: a resource redistribution tale from the 18th century

 "The Messenger of the Eastern Warehouse” appears in “What the Ears have Consumed”, an anthology of fantastical tales collected in 1794:

There was a beggar crone surnamed Zhou in the Su neighborhood of Jinxi[i]. Xe was a childless widow of more than 50 years of age, living alone in a dilapidated house. One day, a disembodied voice spoke next to xir ear, “Your situation is indeed pitiful. I will help you...

Read the rest of this folktale on Patreon!

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Persian and Urdu homoromantic poetry from 13th-19th century South Asia

The intense spiritual bonds between Sufi masters in South Asia and their same-sex disciples have been expressed in homoromantic and homoerotic poetry

Iranian man and indian man facing each other

While it may not be appropriate to label these relationships using modern Western concepts of sexual orientation and romantic orientation, they can provide perspectives on the intersection between divine love and same-sex human love. The experience of holiness is not tied to heteronormativity.

Thursday, May 8, 2025

Men who love men in the orbit of the 18th c. queer writer Yuan Mei

Born in 1716, poet and gastronome Yuan Mei was one of Qing Dynasty China’s most famous cultural influencers, known for his writings on gastronomy and his promotion of women poets. 
Middle aged man in Qing Dynasty civilian clothing holding bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums.

Numerous gay/bi/pan men, both obscure and famous, passed through the artistic circles of Yuan Mei. Learn more about the pansexual, polyamorous Yuan Mei and his non-heterosexual friends on our Patreon.