The Sexual Body Techniques of Early and Medieval China-Underlying Emic Theories and Basic Methods of a Non-Reproductive Sexual Scenario for Non- Same-Sex Partners (Author's version)

(Introduction)

The sexual body techniques of early and medieval China are treated heuristically to form a sexual scenario for non-same-sex partners that is discussed in (1) textual sources dating from approximately 200 BCE to 1000 CE. These sources were transmitted and reformulated throughout this period as part of the wider sexual knowledge culture of imperial China (Wells and Yao Ping 2015; Yao Ping 2018). Minimal referential series of short extracts from such sources will be presented in historical order to illustrate some fairly consis¬tent basic ideas, concepts, theories and practical advice documented therein. This concise review will discuss (2) general aspects of the sexual scenario in which gender-specific roles during the sexual encounter must be emphasised. As ‘essence’ is considered to be the most precious generative fluid in the human body, men are advised to (3) deal with male essence as a scarce good, and thus learn to avoid emission and ejaculation during a sexual encounter. In stark contrast to this male preoccupation with containment, women are thought to be a superior source of nourishment. Repeated (4) female ejaculation provides the ‘female essence’ that can be absorbed by the man. (5) Performing a sexual encounter means mutual stimulation to this end during foreplay and onset phase, followed by a series of penetrative ‘advances’ with ‘intermissions’, and culminating in a ‘grand finale’.