The Ruler’s “Favor”: Gender, Sexuality, and Politics at the Han Court

Sources from the Han dynasty speak of men who were “favored” (chong/xing) by the rulers. Previous scholarship has mostly interpreted this “favor” either as homoeroticism or as a ruler-minister relationship based on trust. However, in early Chinese sources, chong and xing applied to not only male favorites but also female favorites, whose actual relationships with the rulers were diverse. Challenging modern classifications, this paper examines sources on both the male and female favorites in the Han, showing that different types of favorites influenced politics in different ways. While some male favorites maintained physical intimacy with emperors, other male favorites’ relationships with emperors were emotional but not necessarily physical. Some male favorites took advantage of the emperor’s favor to recommend officials and participate in policy-making, while others did not show political aspirations. Female favorites all relied on physical and emotional intimacy with the emperor. They participated in politics mainly by promoting their male relatives and influencing the choice of the heir apparent. It was difficult for a male favorite to keep the imperial favor beyond the reign of one emperor, but a female favorite often counted more on the future emperor than the current one.

Early Chinese historians held male and female favorites to different standards. They expected male favorites to recommend capable and virtuous officials to the emperor, criticizing those who had no political ambition. In the case of female favorites, they praised those who restrained the power of their own relatives. But a common logic lay behind their narratives: Male and female favorites’ political activities should all serve the needs of the imperial lineage and the advancement of scholar-officials. Thus a study of the favorites must deal with the filtering of historical records as well as modern assumptions about gender and sexuality.