Emperor Ai and Dong Xian
Letting your lover sleep after the two of you have shared a bed is a tender expression of affection. Gently, quietly, you slip out of bed, careful not to disturb your beloved’s slumber. Maybe you smile, maybe you sigh when you look upon the face and form of the peacefully sleeping loved one. Maybe you…reach for the scissors?
This is exactly what Emperor Ai of China did around the year 10 BCE after an afternoon nap with his male lover, Dong Xian. It is not known whether Ai reached for the scissors at bedside or, more likely, had a servant fetch them (who keeps scissors by the bed??), but the scissors were needed in order for Ai to let Dong sleep.
The problem, you see, was that a voluminous sleeve of Ai’s imperial gown was caught under Dong’s body. Ai was afraid that if he pulled the sleeve free, no matter how gently, the action would disturb his lover’s nap. Thus, he required scissors to cut the sleeve in order to leave Dong undisturbed. The ancient illustration accompanying this article shows a servant cutting the Emperor’s sleeve while Dong remains peacefully asleep. Ahhhh, love.
The love story of Emperor Ai and Dong Xian and the episode known as The Passion of the Cut Sleeve, was not, however, all sweetness and light. According to current scholarship drawing on records of the time, the love between the two men, both of them in their twenties, was quite real; each man was devoted to the other. But the palace life which enveloped them was rife with intrigue, with various royals, aristocrats, and other court officials scheming for power and influence—in other words, how to get Dong out of the way so that they could secure the emperor’s attention for themselves and their families.
Liu Xin was 20 years old when he ascended the throne and became Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty. About three years later, the 18-year-old Dong Xian, a minor member of the court, caught the emperor’s eye, and his heart. Though the emperor was married, as was Dong—which was required of royals and officials of the time in order to provide male heirs, or daughters who would marry into political alliances—it was not unusual for an emperor and other members of the Chinese male elite to have male lovers.
What was unusual in the relationship of Emperor Ai and Dong Xian, however, was Ai’s complete disinterest in his wife. He therefore had no children, reserving his romantic sexual affections exclusively for Dong Xian. Though Dong fulfilled his obligation to father children, he nevertheless remained devoted to Ai and had no other lovers. Thus, unlike the accepted practice of having a variety of lovers, the relationship of Emperor Ai and Dong Xian appears to have been monogamous.
In addition to the domestic side of their relationship, the emperor showed his affection by showering Dong with honors and titles, continuously elevating his status in the court. He even moved Dong’s wife and children into sumptuous rooms in the palace. This naturally provoked a backlash among the ever-scheming members of the court who resented this junior member leap-frogging over them for the emperor’s political favor and the riches and privileges which that favor brought.
All of this came to an abrupt and unexpected end when Emperor Ai took seriously ill and died at the age of 24. Having no heirs, he declared on his deathbed that his beloved Dong Xian should succeed him to the throne and reign as the next emperor.
The imperial counselors and court officials would have none of that. On the day of Ai’s death, Ai’s grandmother, the Grand Empress Dowager, led a successful effort to discredit Dong Xian, accusing him of various forms of corruption. By the end of the day, with the royal wolves circling, Dong Xian was not only dishonored, he and his family were thrown out of the palace.
Dong and his wife committed suicide the very next day.
The tender years of The Passion of the Cut Sleeve came to an end. The story of the romance between Emperor Ai and Dong Xian lingered in Chinese culture for many years, and the term The Passion of the Cut Sleeve came to mean romantic and sexual love between men. Though the term has currently fallen out of favor, the tragic love story of Emperor Ai and Dong Xian is still told.▼
Ann Aptaker is the author of short stories and the Lambda & Goldie award winning Cantor Gold series. Her latest book, A Crime of Secrets, was released July 4, 2023.