From Al-Andalus and Qing China - 2 tales of lovesick men pining for male beloveds

 Parallels in homoromantic stories recorded in 11th century Muslim Spain and 18th century China.

Transgender and nonbinary heroes serving our larger society

More than 10 stories, spanning hundreds of years and 3 continents, about remarkable people who made significant contributions to larger society.  

These heroes happen to be transgender and/or nonbinary. Depending on where you live, you may have benefited from the courage, hard work and kindness of these individuals. Btw, November 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance.
 

A FtM gender transition miracle in the 17th c. classic “Strange Tales of Liaozhai”

Is a modern scientific explanation available for the 1647 miracle tale "Changing into a man"? 

Btw, October 26 is Intersex Awareness Day.

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!

Happy International Cat Day to our feline friends and their humans!

A curated collection of art from museums around the world, depicting people from 5 continents in the company of cats. 

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. 

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.  

Queer tales in the 17th century story collection “Strange Tales from Liaozhai”

17th c. Chinese folklorist Pu Songling collected close to 500 stories in “Strange Tales from Liaozhai", including at least a dozen tales with LGBTQIA+ characters 

Roaring Iron - fancy coat names from the 19th century Cat Garden

 

Mao Yuan (The Cat Garden) is a 19th century compendium of contemporary cat lore and cat literature from antiquity. It was compiled around 1852-1853 by Huang Han, a native of Wenzhou. Enjoy selections from the Cat Garden and other works of late Imperial Chinese cat lore here.

Queer romance movies centering couples of non-European heritage

A list of queer romance movies with couples of color and optimistic endings

Dragging a Spear in Snow - fancy cat coat names from the 19th c. Cat Garden

 Learn about the meaning and tradition behind this coat pattern. 

Queer characters in the literary classics of China's Qing era

The best-known works of literature from the 17th-18th centuries attest to the presence of gay, bisexual, asexual and trans characters in Qing China.

If a ghost asks you to help xem stop a pandemic, what would your response be?

 In the folktale “Ten Thousand Words to Quell a Pestilence”, a ghost guards an imprisoned disease demon who breaks forth to ravage the human world every 60 years. 60 years ago, humans were saved from a pandemic when a Taoist priest locked the demon in a box.  But as the years went by, the seal on the box grew weaker. The ghost guardian cannot reinforce the seal that keeps the disease demon imprisoned – this must be done by a living human...

Pansexual and bisexual emperors of the Han Dynasty, according to 1st c. BCE court historian Sima Qian

Pansexual and bisexual emperors of the Western Han era, up to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han

Btw,  Bisexuality Awareness Week starts on Sep 16.

Enjoy more queer history and folklore on our Patreon: Queer Lore | Collection from Wolfberry Studio

Tiger Art: a curated collection

More than 50 pieces from museums around the world, via Google Arts and Culture. Centering artists from Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. Btw, July 29 is International Tiger Day

From 16th c. China and 21st c. India, two accounts of virtuous transgender mothers who protected children

Meet You Ruiniang from 16th c. China and Gauri Sawant  from 21st c. India, 2 transgender women who devoted themselves to their adoptive children, protecting them from cisgender predators.

The ducks in the picture are Lesser Whistling Ducks, a species present in the India subcontinent, southern China and Southeast Asia. Female and male ducks are similar in plumage.

Read more LGBTQ history on our Substack

Happy Mother's Day to the trans moms!

Zhang Yujing, trans masculine folk hero, honored by the Emperor of China in 1405

Zhang Yujing (a gender-neutral name) was born to Old Man Zhang of  Tongwei County in 1387. When their father wondered at the child’s pugilistic talent and disinterest in women’s work, Yujing told their father that they wanted to serve their country with martial arts and did not want to live as a girl. Old Man Zhang let Yujing live as a boy.  They became a local martial arts coach at age 15, and was selected for the National Academy at age 18.

Read more about their life at Zhang Yujing, trans masculine folk hero, honored by the Yongle Emperor in 1405

Share on Instagram.  Btw, March 31 is Transgender Day of Visibility.

Zheng Banqiao, openly bisexual 18th century magistrate, honored with a shrine for disaster relief work

In 1750，Zheng Banqiao, magistrate of Wei County in Shandong, declared his bisexuality in an autobiographical essay after 4 years of winning peoples' hearts through his famine relief work.

Read more about the storied life of this eccentric, multi-talented character here. Zheng's legacy remains influential to this day; he inspired no less than 3 (straight-washed) TV series and feature films. 

Legend of the Steadfast Cat

 Illustration for a supernatural cat tale dating back to the 19th century or earlier.

The Righteous Ghosts

 Illustration for Epidemic Ghost Story: The Righteous Ghosts

We translated this during the COVID pandemic, as part of a series of epidemic-related folktales that we hope would inspire the reader to reflect on how working together to care for other people, including those who are not regarded as members of one's immediate community, was what helped communities survive past epidemics. 

Btw, just because it's 2023 and the pandemic is supposedly over and the media has moved on, it doesn't mean anti-Asian hate in North America has gone out of style:

17th century Chinese folktale with a bisexual protagonist

The story False Gods Wreak Havoc at Huaguang Shrine is recorded in Chapter 27 of Jingshi Tongyan (Stories to Caution the World), a collection of legends and folktales edited by 17th century writer Feng Menglong.

The protagonist is a bisexual youth named Wei who lived in Hangzhou during the Song Dynasty.

Btw, Bisexuality Awareness Week starts on September 16.