Li Yinhe talks about sex

Chapter 2 Comparison of Eastern and Western Ideas of Sexuality (1)
The status of sex in China is different from ancient Greece and Rome, from the Victorian era, and even more from modern Western society. It is something formed in a unique cultural time and space.

In my opinion, Foucault is the most important thinker in the history of sexual thought.Foucault put forward an important thought, that is, the distinction between the art of sex and the science of sex.He attributed the art of sex to societies other than the modern West; he attributed the science of sex to Western societies.Foucault said: On the one hand, every society—there are countless societies, Chinese society, Japanese society, Indian society, Roman society, Arab-Muslim society—all have their own erotic art.On the other hand, our civilization, at least on the surface, has no erotic art at all, on the contrary, it is undoubtedly the only civilization that has practiced sexual science, or it can be said that it is the only one that has been practiced in the past few centuries. A civilization in which procedures for telling the truth about sex developed.

In the course of my research on Chinese women's feelings and sexuality, a basic estimation has always puzzled me: On the one hand, I feel that the situation in China is like the ancient Greco-Roman society that Foucault said, in that society, sexual love What art is most concerned with is not the division of right and wrong sexual behaviors, but viewing sexual activities as a whole, focusing more on the enjoyment and restraint of pleasure; on the other hand, I feel that the current situation in China is like Freud’s In the Victorian era, asceticism was the price everyone paid for civilization.However, one thing is certain: the sexual situation in modern China is very different from that in the modern West.In other words, the society I observed was very different from the society Foucault observed.

This difference is very obvious just from the surface: in the West, everyone is talking about sex, but people in China are still a bit "talking about sex"; ) are overwhelming, while in China, sex is still basically confined to private bedrooms; Western women will go to the doctor because they cannot achieve pleasure, but Chinese women are calm about the same problem; From being regarded as a criminal offense (the most serious period in history to the death penalty) to the "coming out of the closet" liberation movement, in China, homosexuality has never been made illegal but silently endures the discrimination and ridicule of "normal people"; in the West , sex has become one of the most concerned topics in political science, sociology, history, and philosophy, but in China, it still hides in a dark corner and is considered an unrefined topic.

After repeated thinking and comparison, I came to the conclusion that the status of sex in China is different from that of ancient Greece and Rome (but there are similar places), it is also different from the Victorian era (also has similar places), and it is even more different from modern Western society (least less image), but an East and West formed in the time and space of a unique culture.As an object of analysis, it is an object that neither Freud nor Marcuse nor Foucault confronted.At least in terms of geography, the three of them were dealing with Western society, while I was dealing with Chinese society in an Eastern cultural region.In a high level, the biggest difference between these two objects is that in the West, debates about sex often revolve around right and wrong, normal and abnormal, good and evil; in China, the status of sex is about Questions of big and small, sublime and shameful, high and low.In Western society, sex is in confrontation—repression and resistance, normality and pathology, crime and innocence; Among the ghosts and evil spirits belong to the latter.Many scholars have discussed the view that the West is a society of guilt and China is a society of shame, which is very reasonable.On the issue of sex, Western religions or ideologies will warn people not to engage in any kind of sexual behavior that is sinful.However, Chinese traditional ethics or ideology will declare that sex is shameful and should be kept to a minimum; it should be done quietly behind people's backs, and it should not be talked about; although everyone has this animal desire, But the nobler man is more able to restrain it, the noblest man is the most able to restrain it.

The differences between the West and China on sexuality have created at least two kinds of consequences for each side: in the West, the negative consequence is that people are "stared" by norms that determine what is right and wrong in behavior, and there is a lot to worry about. Orgasm, worry about not being in the right shape, worry about sexual orientation, etc., I always have to turn to a psychiatrist.The positive effect is that, on the one hand, there is suppression, on the other hand, there is resistance, and the truth becomes clearer and clearer, so women win the right to be a "female superior"; homosexuals win the right to marry; The right to special services; sexologists publicly declaring findings that are very different from what the governments that hired them to do their research had originally intended. Pornographic material not only does not lead to an increase in sex crimes, it also reduces them.

In China, the positive consequence is that because sex is neglected, people's "self" takes the opportunity to be in a free and undisciplined state. Oral and anal sex can be done as you like. ;no orgasm without orgasm, no need to go to the doctor.The negative consequences are twofold. On the one hand, because sex is regarded as a low-level and indecent thing, many people succumb to the remaining animal nature, and then they are willing to degenerate and do many dirty things. Shame, hating one's "self"; on the other hand, there are a few noble people who have overcome their despicable lust and reached a lofty state, filling their hearts with righteousness and righteousness, thinking about the national economy and people's livelihood, but they are regarded as " "Fake Taoism" and "hypocrites" have also added a lot of trouble.

I summarize the differences between the West and China on sexual issues in the following aspects:

First, there is a difference between right and wrong definition and no right or wrong definition.In the West, a certain way of sexual behavior is defined as right or wrong, e.g., right for heterosexuality, wrong for homosexuality (crime against nature); right for vaginal intercourse, wrong for oral; mistakes (like masturbation) etc.What the Chinese pay attention to is not the definition of right and wrong, but the focus of attention on restraining sexual desires, paying attention to the doctrine of the mean, prudence and independence, overdoing what is too late, and preserving the principles of nature and destroying human desires.In Western history, someone was sentenced to death for homosexual activities; but in the late Qing Dynasty, the Chinese enjoyed "playing with each other" as a common enjoyment.In the West, many people feel guilty about certain types of sexual behavior or about sexual desire and sexual pleasure itself; while in China, they should have a sense of shame, not a sense of guilt, about excessive prostitution.

Second, there is a difference between anxiety and non-anxiety.What Foucault talked about most was the historical fact that religious confession requires people to confess all sexual thoughts, behaviors, and sins.This creates serious anxiety about sexual issues.The situation in China is markedly different: there is no universally professed religion, almost a non-religious nation.The sexual anxiety created by Christianity for Westerners is very unfamiliar to Chinese people. Therefore, it can be said that Chinese people are quite simple and chaotic on sexual issues, without much anxiety caused by guilt.

Third, there is a difference between violent resistance and no violent resistance.Because Westerners are too anxious about sexual issues, they have fierce resistance, just as Foucault said: "Where there is power, there is resistance." Since Chinese people have no anxiety, they have no resistance.The resistance of Westerners is manifested as going to extremes—the more anxious they are, the more they have to talk about, study, and express, so there are so many researches and treatments on sex in the West; there are so many literature, art, and film and television media in the West. express this theme.In China, the theme of sex is relatively less represented.

Fourth, the difference between having a sense of entitlement and not having a sense of entitlement.Westerners think that their sexual rights have been suppressed and deprived for a long time (this kind of thinking is not necessarily correct, as Foucault analyzed, so there is a sense of fanaticism, justice and rights of rebels and rebels on sexual issues Sensation, engage in pornography, prostitution, homosexuality and all kinds of perverted sexual activities to appear arrogant, as if they are engaged in a revolution (indeed, some people call this a sexual revolution), as if they are regaining the rights that have been snatched away by others. Chinese There is no sense of deprivation in sex, so there will be no enthusiasm for resistance, sense of justice, and no sense of rights. In the eyes of Chinese people, sexual desire is a small secret, which is not elegant. The West People are arguing about the opening of the obscene and pornographic market, the legalization of prostitution, and the legalization of homosexuality. The Chinese people seem to be listening to the scriptures, secretly wondering: there is no room for discussion on such issues, even if you think about it I'm sorry.

The famous anthropologist Malinowski once said: "Since Adam and Eve, sexual impulse has been the root of most troubles." Pleasure; the Chinese have a saying that "eating men and women, people's great desires exist".It appears that this generalization is cross-cultural.Chinese people have not really cultivated to the state of indifference to sex.Comparing Western prohibition with Chinese neglect, we don't know which to choose, just like a baby facing death does not know whether it is better to be drowned or discarded.In short, the situation of sex in China is like an abandoned baby, where it fends for itself, wondering inwardly: why am I so unloved?
From the perspective of humanism, human sex and love are not only not vulgar characters and behaviors, but also very noble; not only are they not trivial things worth mentioning, but they are also very important.The reason is that sex and love have a very important relationship with the ego of others.If a society or a culture values ​​people's self, it will value sex and love; if a society or a culture despises people's self, it will despise sex and love.People often think that things like political events and economic developments are what matter, and that personal desires, pleasures, and ways of behaving are not at all important.This kind of thinking is especially prevalent in China because the individual has always been a neglected value in our culture.In the division of Braudel's three time periods, the Chinese naturally think that short-term phenomena (political events) are the most worthy of attention; medium-term phenomena (a certain development trend) take second place; long-term phenomena (lifestyles) are the most important. Least worthy of attention.In my opinion, Braudel's attention to long-term facts not only has the meaning of historical research methodology, but also has the meaning of paying attention to people.In the final analysis, political struggle and economic development are just tools, and people's happiness and joy are the goals.Why are we so pretentious, why do we often regard the means as the end and leave the end in the cold?
(End of this chapter)