Lovemaking, Chinese Style

The art of love has a history in China.  In fact, the subject is as old as the human race.  Today, Chinese couples appear to be much like couples most anywhere in the West.  In ancient China, marriage itself was more of a corporate endeavor than simply the union of one man and one woman.  For the common people, there were communal gatherings of young men and young women.  These sometimes happened in the spring but also in the autumn.  After an exchange of songs and love tokens along with dancing, some serious events would occur.  However, for the elite of Chinese society marriage was more of a union of two families.

Durng the Zhou period (1045-256 BCE), the bride was accompanied by her own sisters or female cousins who served as "secondary wives."  In all of China's time periods, a man was free to have as many concubines as his family could afford.  The primary wife enjoyed all of the highest privileges of the marriage though.

There is a touching Han dynasty stone sculpture of a young couple in a passionate embrace which was found placed above the tomb at Pengshan, Sichuan.  The art of love was of great interest in the ancient world of China. Among the manuscripts discovered from another tomb at Mawangdai in Changsha, Hunan were several dealing with the lovemaking techniques of the marriage bedchamber.  Some of them even included collections of medicinal prescriptions designed to increase the sex drive of both men and women.  Some facts of life do not change with time.  The art of making love has fascinated people for a very long time indeed!

Best regards from the East,

Harlan Urwiler

For more information, feel free to visit my website at:  http://www.myorientalgallery.com/.