The Love Psychology of the Chinese People

Author: Kong Weimin / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: Luther once said: "If someone resists the natural needs and therefore does not do what he wants to do and should do, it is like someone who hopes that nature is no longer nature; that fire will not burn, water will not wet things; that people can live without food, water, or sleep." Clearly, violating nature is on the one hand inhuman and on the other hand impossible. And once one truly suppresses himself, more problems arise. Diderot convincingly depicts in The Nun the mental perversion caused by the attempt to maintain pudicity. He points out that these nuns, who have become victims of Catholicism, are psychologically deranged, "the result of the monastery's isolation from the world. Humans are born to have companions. If you take away their companions and isolate them, their thoughts will lose their normalcy, their personalities will be twisted, and a thousand ridiculous passions will rise in their hearts." Therefore, the advocacy of most people today for a pure spiritual love without physical union is merely an extremely absurd fantasy.
The "theory of sexuality" contrasts with the "theory of the spirit." They usually regard love as a pure sexual instinct, believing that the only source of human love is sexual desire and that the only purpose of love is to satisfy sexual desire. In ancient times, people universally practiced phallic worship, viewing it as an eternal god-given gift. After humans entered the patriarchal society, the deification of the sexual organs became more pronounced. At this time, humans began to worship male ancestors. For example, the Chinese pictograph "qi" evolved from the shape of the penis and later transformed into the character "zu." In the West, there are also many ancient ruins that display male organs, such as early Greek statues of male gods where the phallus was deliberately emphasized to show their prowess. Later architectural styles, such as columns, towers, and steles, as well as Gothic church styles, were directly influenced by ancient phallic worship. Other examples include the stupas of India, the stone pillars in front of Chinese palaces, the totem poles of Native Americans, and the spires of European churches—all symbols of the male reproductive organ. In some ancient small sculptures in India, traces of phallic worship can also be found. Some carvings depict horned figures with three faces in yoga poses, completely nude with an erect penis, with heads resembling plants and other parts resembling animals. It can be inferred that they are a fertility god, likely the Shiva of later Hindu mythology. In other ancient Indian sculptures, various "phallic animals" such as bulls, rhinoceroses, and elephants are frequently seen. These male reproductive organs are called lingams in India.
Before the Han and Tang dynasties, people in China had a very open attitude toward sex. In daily life, people even enjoyed openly comparing and discussing the characteristics of reproductive organs, and men often felt great pride in the virility of their penises. The Records of the Grand Historian, Volume 6, Biographies of the First Emperor, describes the story of the Empress Dowager. Her lover, Lü Buwei, sought to escape her by finding a man named Lao Ai. "Ai" means rogue. Lü Buwei had Lao Ai perform a game in the square where he lifted a wooden wheel with his penis. Although this "cowherd show" drew laughter from the crowd, the Empress Dowager was very interested and thus Lü Buwei had Lao Ai disguised as an eunuch brought into the palace to be presented to her. Lao Ai was even enfeoffed as the Marquis of Changxin. Later, he grew increasingly arrogant, claiming to be the "fake father" of Qin Shi Huang, and was eventually executed by the "chariot impalement" punishment. Even during the Song and Ming dynasties, people's attitudes toward sex remained quite open.
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