Clara Wing-chung Ho FUSHI: THE SECOND SEX AND THE THIRD SEX IN TRADITIONAL CHINA* A Double Meaning of Fushi If we borrow the Western concept to describe women as the second sex in Chinese history,1 then eunuchs could certainly be understood as the third sex.2 The third sex was an artificial one. It was the first sex, male, aiming to ensure the chastity of the second sex, who created a third sex. In imperial families, castration of male attendants made it possible to prevent palace * The author gratefully acknowledges Professor Kwai-cheung Lo, who read the first draft of this article and offered many valuable comments. An earlier version of this article was presented at the workshop “The Future of Chinese Gender Studies in Europe, Asia and the United States” held in Luxembourg, June 24-26, 2005. The author also acknowledges all the constructive comments and suggestions given by the workshop participants, Professors Harriet Zurndorfer and Angela Ki Che Leung in particular. The author is also grateful to Professor Paolo Santan- gelo and Dr. Donatella Guida for their editorial assistance. The shortcomings of the final ver- sion are, of course, the author’s own. 1 Simone de Beauvior’s (1908-1986) Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex) was first published in French in 1949. Employing biological, psychological and historical analysis, it explains how the men-women relation was compared to the master-slave relation. The book was soon trans- lated into many languages and became a major and well-known reference on gender studies in the second half of the 20th century. For the full text in English translation and a quick reference on related information, visit the website “Simone de Beauvoir Archive” at http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/fr/zn. 2 The third sex here simply refers to eunuchs in ancient China. It has nothing to do with gays and lesbians, as the contemporary definition of the third sex (and/or fourth sex) may suggest. Taisuke Mitamura (三田村泰助) has termed eunuchs as the “artificial third sex” (Taisuke Mi- tamura 1963 & 2003). For an English translation of Mitamura’s book see Pomeroy 1970. For Chinese translations see Shi Kekuan 施克寬 1985 & 1988. A subtitle Renzao de disan xing 人 造的第三性 (The artificial third sex) was added to the second translation by Shi. Two similar works by another author highlighting eunuchs as the third sex were Wang Yude 王玉德 1994 & 1995. The above cited Japanese and Chinese works on eunuchs employed either the term huan- guan or taijian. But it should be pointed out that the two terms were not equivalent until the Qing Dynasty. For quick references see He Guanbiao 何冠彪 1989 & 1990. Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 04:18:01PM via free access Clara Wing-chung Ho women from having sex with men except the emperor.3 The existence of the eunuch system had, at least in principle, protected the chastity of every single palace woman. It supported the belief that all women in the palace were “properties” owned by the emperor, though a significant number of them might never have any sexual contact with the emperor. The term fushi 婦寺 was frequently used in Chinese historical narratives. The first character fu refers to women and the second character shi refers to eunuchs. Putting the two characters together, a new term was coined. It has a double meaning. Firstly, it refers either to women or eunuchs. Secondly, it means women and eunuchs. The word shi 寺 in the term fushi is equivalent to another Chinese charac- ter shi 侍 (servant).4 Shi 寺 has a different meaning when pronounced as si 寺.5 Shi means attendants serving in the inner palace (jinshi zhi ren 近侍之 3 G. Carter Stent had provided with a detailed account on the castration process of late Qing eunuchs. See G. Carter Stent 1877. More valuable first-hand narratives were given by eunuchs of the Qing court surviving until the 60s in the 20th century. Their oral histories were preserved in chapters of a book published in the 80s. See Li Guang 李光 and Zhou Chunhui 周春暉 1982. See also Jean Jacques Matignon 1899; Richard Millart 1908, and Chen Cunren 陳存仁 1977. 4 When Zheng Xuan 鄭玄 (127-200) defined shiren 寺人, he argued that shi 寺 means shi 侍, the character shi 寺 shared the pronunciation and meaning of the character shi 侍. See Zhouli zhushu 周禮注疏, juan 1, “tianguan 天官”, “Zhongzai 冢宰”1, p. 18. See also Maoshi zhengyi 毛詩正義, juan 613, “guofeng 國風,” “Qin 秦,” “Julin 車鄰,” p.233. On the other hand, a term fushi 婦侍 instead of fushi 婦寺 was already used in a pre-Han publication, Yanzi chunqiu 晏子 春秋. The book records Yan Ying’s 晏嬰 (?-500) advices to rulers of his age and he once men- tioned that negative influence of women and eunuchs should be avoided. See Wu Zeyu (1962), juan 1, “neibian jianshang diyi 內篇諫上第一,” “Jinggong tan chang youguo zhi le Yanzi jian di shiliu 景公貪長有國之樂晏子諫第十六”, p. 60. A few famous scholars in the Tang Dynasty had pointed out respectively that shi 寺 can be an ancient alternative of shi 侍 which carries the some meaning. See Lu Deming 陸德明 (556-627), Jingdian shiwen 經典釋文, juan 7, 38a; Kong Yingda 孔穎達 (574-648), Maoshi zhengyi 毛詩正義, juan 18, “daya 大雅,” “dang zhi shi 蕩之什,” “zhanang 瞻卬,” p. 578; Li Shan 李善 (?-689, annot.), Wenxuan 文選 (compiled by Xiao Tong 蕭統 [501-531]), juan 50, “shilun 史論,” “Huanzhe zhuan lun 宦者傳論” (by Fan Weizong 范蔚宗 [ Fan Ye 范曄], 398-445), p. 1093. Moreover, a Ming scholar Yang Shen 楊慎 (1498-1559) has made it clear that shiren 寺人 means shiren 侍人, see his Dangqian yulu 丹鉛 餘錄, “zonglu 總錄,” juan 14, “shiren ji shiren 寺人即侍人,” 9a. A Qing famous philologist Zhu Junsheng 朱駿聲 (1788-1858) also stated that shi 寺 is a loan character (jiajie 假借) of shi 侍. See Zhu Junsheng 1984, “yibu 頤部” 5, 2a (p. 162). 5 Gu Yanwu 顧炎武 (1613-1682) has given three definitions to the word shi/si 寺, including eunuch, court, and temple. See his Rizhi lu 日知錄 (Huang Rucheng 黃汝成 [1799-1837, an- 36 Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 04:18:01PM via free access The Second Sex and the Third Sex in Traditional China 人). Shi also means shiren 寺人 or nei xiaochen 內小臣 (palace attendant).6 However, it must be pointed out that in early China, not all shiren or nei xiaochen were eunuchs. As Yan Shigu 顏師古 (581-645) has remarked, only those nei xiaochen who served at the inner palace were eunuchs.7 According to a famous collection of last names published in the Tang Dynasty, shiren in ancient times had descendants, because there was a last name called Shiren 寺人 in Chinese history.8 However, shi in the term of fushi refers to eunuchs only. A famous historian of the Song Dynasty, Hu Hong 胡宏 (1105-1155), stated that the term fushi began when Zhou Youwang 周幽王 (Ji Gongnie 姬 宮涅, ?-771 B.C., r. 782 B.C. – 771 B.C.) was in favour of the concubine Bao Si 褒姒 and the concubine led to the fall of the Western Zhou Dynasty.9 Here Hu Hong was clearly referring to a famous poem in the Shijing 詩經 (The book of songs), “Zhanang 瞻卬.” It was this poem that began using the term fushi and since then it became very fashionable to quote this poem to blame women and eunuchs in later dynasties. The following verses are from the poem: A wise man builds up the wall [of a city] (Zhefu chengcheng 哲夫成城), But a wise woman overthrows it (Zhefu qingcheng 哲婦傾城). Admirable may be the wise woman (Yique zhefu 懿厥哲婦). But she is [no better than] an owl (Weixiao weichi 為梟為鴟). not.], Rizhi lu jishi 日知錄集釋), juan 28, “shi/si,” 9b-10a. However, Gu’s definition is not complete. When the word 寺 is pronounced as si, there are some more meanings. For a quick reference see Zhongwen da cidian 中文大辭典 v.10, p. 207 and Hanyu da cidian 漢語大辭典, v.2, p. 1249. See also Chen Baoqin 陳寶勤 2005. 6 See Zheng Xuan’s annotation incorporated in Maoshi zhengyi, juan 613, “guofeng,” “Qin,” “Julin,” p. 233. For the differences between shiren and nei xiaochen, see Kong Yingda’s anno- tation on p. 234. For an explanation of nei xiaochen see Charles O. Hucker 1985, p. 345. How- ever, Hucker assumed that all nei xiaochen were eunuchs. As we shall see, this observation may not be true. 7 Yan Shigu 1985, juan 4, “shiren,” pp. 34-35. 8 Lin Bao 林寶, Yuanhe xingzuan 元和姓纂 listed Shiren 寺人 as a surname. According to Cen Zhongmian’s 岑仲勉 (1885-1961) annotation, another listed surname Xiren 徙人 should be the error of Shiren. See Lin Bao 1994, juan 8, p. 1190 and juan 3, pp. 309-310. 9 Hu Hong, Huangwang daji 皇王大紀, juan 40, 6b-7a. See also Hu Hong ji 胡宏集, juan 4, “Huangwang daji lun 皇王大紀論,” “Qi yong Shu Diao 齊用豎貂, “ pp. 271-272. 37 Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 04:18:01PM via free access Clara Wing-chung Ho A woman with a long tongue (Fuyou changshe 婦有長舌). Is [like] a stepping-stone to disorder (Weili zhi jie 維厲之階). [Disorder] does not come down from heaven (Luan fei jiangzi tian 亂匪降自天); It is produced by the woman (Shengzi furen 生自婦人). Those from whom come no lessons, no instruction (Feijiao feihui 匪教匪誨), Are women and eunuchs (Shiwei fushi 時維婦寺). They beat men down, hurtful, deceitful (Juren zhite 鞫人忮忒).