The Transformation of the Rabbit God（兔儿神）under the Dynamics of Power and Discourse in Chinese Society
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The Rabbit God is a deity associated with same-sex love. Although not widely known, it is significant for understanding the relationship between belief, power, and discourse on sexuality in Chinese society. This research aims to (1) study the transformation of discourses surrounding the Rabbit God in historical and contemporary social contexts, and (2) analyze the relationship between power, discourse, and the revival of subjugated knowledge, using the Rabbit God as a case study. The study is grounded in Michel Foucault’s theoretical framework on discourse, power, and subjugated knowledge. It employs documentary research and qualitative content analysis, drawing on folklore, historical documents, literature, contemporary media, and relevant academic studies.
The findings reveal that discourses surrounding the Rabbit God have been embedded within shifting power structures over time, including suppression through Confucian moral codes, the Qing Dynasty’s legal codes that regulated sexual behavior in the imperial era, medical and psychological paradigms that once pathologized same-sex love as a form of deviance, and state policies. These mechanisms rendered the Rabbit God a form of “subjugated knowledge” marginalized from mainstream norms. However, in the modern context—particularly in Taiwan—discourses about the Rabbit God have been revived and reinterpreted as a symbol of sexual diversity, through temple practices, artistic media, and contemporary culture. This reflects avenues of resistance and the construction of alternative identities in a more inclusive society.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Every article published in the Romphruek Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences is the opinion and point of view of the authors. Thery're not the viewpoint of Krirk University or the editored department. Any part or all of the articles for pablication must be clearly cited.
References
ไทยโพสต์. (2566, 16 พฤษภาคม). กลุ่มทางสังคมที่สนับสนุน LGBT ในจีน ยุติการดำเนินการแล้ว. https://www.thaipost.net/abroad-news/379568/.
ธีรยุทธ บุญมี. (2557). มิเชล ฟูโกต์ (Michel Foucault) (พิมพ์ครั้งที่ 2). สำนักพิมพ์วิภาษา.
อดิศร จันทรสุข, Ojanen, C. F., Tee, T., นรุตม์ ศุภวรรธนะกุล รณภูมิ สามัคคีคารมย์ สกล โสภิตอาชาศักดิ์ และ สุภมาส โตกทอง. (2563). รายงานการศึกษารูปแบบการสนับสนุน LGBTI+ และ 4P (โครงการพัฒนาข้อเสนอแนะต่อการพัฒนารูปแบบและระบบการสนับสนุนสมาชิกครอบครัว เพื่อน คู่ชีวิต และผู้ให้บริการสุขภาพเพื่อส่งเสริมสุขภาวะของประชากรกลุ่มความหลากหลายทางเพศ). มหาวิทยาลัยธรรมศาสตร์.
Bao, H. (2025, February 14). Fabulating the Rabbit God Story: Reclaiming Queer Asian Heritage. Sage Publishing. https://www.sagepub.com/explore-our-content/blogs/posts/sage-perspectives/2025/02/14/fabulating-the-rabbit-god-story-reclaiming-queer-asian-heritage#:~:text=match%20at%20L172%20the%20Rabbit,society%2C%20culture%20and%20queer%20people%E2%80%99s.
BBC News Chinese. (2024, December 12). Behind China’s first lawsuit in which a transgender person won compensation: Controversy over electroshock conversion therapy, forced hospitalization, and excessive medication.https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/articles/c745e3vqj05o/simp.
Chen, A.(2014). Homosexuality contents in Chinese university textbooks: Errors, stigmatisation and impact. Gay and Lesbian Campus Association of China.
Chiang, H. (2010). Epistemic modernity and the emergence of homosexuality in China. Gender & History, 22(3), 629–657.
Choi, Y. (2015). Homosexual Stories of Fujian Area and Literati’s Awareness in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Literature and Culture Studies, 2015(4), 69-77.
Cynthia Hung Torie Gervais Clare Lear and Jim Hwang. (2024). 2023–2024 ไต้หวันในหนึ่งนาที. กระทรวงการต่างประเทศสาธารณรัฐจีน.
Davidson, H. & Lin, C.H. (2023, March 7). How a Rabbit God Became an Icon for Taiwan’s Gay Community. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/07/how-a-rabbit-god-became-an-icon-for-taiwans-gay-community.
Dikötter, F. (1995). Sex, Culture and Modernity in China. Hong Kong University Press.
Guo, J. (2013). Visual Culture and Representations of Male Same-Sex Relationships in Late Imperial and Early Republican China. Chung Cheng Chinese Studies, 2013(2), 213-238.
Guo, X. (2007). Did China Ever Decriminalize Homosexual. Law and Social Development, 2007(4), 51-61.
Hinsch, B. (1990). Passions of the cut sleeve: The male homosexual tradition in China. University of California Press.
Human Rights Watch. (2017). Have You Considered Your Parents' Happiness? : Conversion Therapy Against LGBT Youth in China. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/china1117_web_0.pdf.
Jiang, S. (2020, August 14). ‘End of the Rainbow’: Shanghai Pride shuts down amid shrinking space for China’s LGBTQ community. CNN World. https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/14/asia/shanghai-pride-shutdown-intl-hnk/index.html.
Kang, W. (2009). Obsession: Male same-sex relations in China, 1900-1950. Hong Kong University Press.
Lai, X. (Ed.). (1985). Min Xiao Ji · Min Za Ji (Ba Min Wenxian Congkan).Fujian People's Publishing House.
Lin, X. (2009). The Male Homosexuality Culture Phenomenon under the Legal Vision in Qing Dynasty (Master’s thesis, Chongqing University). CNKI. http://www.cnki.com.cn/KCMS/detail/detail.aspx?dbcode=CMFD&dbname=CMFD2009&filename=2009149770.nh&uniplatform=OVERSEA&v=_FXKKpDc5OEyaokY99ssSaKOloxcT85OkGvsH9A2cWC-QVo-7cBYqqLNw163BA-b.
Pak, Y. (2021, July 8). WeChat deletes Chinese university LGBT accounts in fresh crackdown. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-wechat-deletes-university-lgbt-accounts-2021-07-07/.
Shen, D. (1959). Wanli Yehuo Bian xia ce. Zhonghua Book Company.
Sun, E., Chen, S., Cheng, Z., & Wei, J. (Eds.). (2011a). Daoguang chongzuan Fujian tongzhi er (China Local Gazetteers Series: Provincial Gazetteers – Fujian, Vol. 4). Phoenix Press.
Sun, E., Chen, S., Cheng, Z., & Wei, J. (Eds.). (2011b). Daoguang chongzuan Fujian tongzhi si (China Local Gazetteers Series: Provincial Gazetteers – Fujian, Vol. 6). Phoenix Press.
Szonyi, M. (2003). Hu Tianbao and the discourse of homosexuality in mid-Qing dynasty. Journal of History and Anthropology, 1(1), 67-82.
Textbook Compilation Group of Ideological and Moral Cultivation and Legal Basis. (2023). Ideological and moral cultivation and legal basis (2023 ed.). Higher Education Press.
United Nations Development Programme & China Women’s University. (2018). Legal gender recognition in China: A legal and policy review. UNDP.
Wang, Y. (Ed.). (1993). Yuan Mei quanji (Vol. 4). Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House.
Wei Ming Shrine. (n.d.). Intro [Facebook page]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/WeiMingShrine/?locale=zh_CN.
Weiming Tang. (2011, March 6). Lu Weiming fashi says: Why I established the Temple of the Rabbit God [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l08InDIoxOw.
Xu, X. (1999). The phenomenon of homosexuality in ancient Southeast China as seen in Mindu bieji. Root Exploration, 1999(01), 36-41.
Zhu, J. (2017). Handbook of advocacy for the legal rights of Tongzhi (Revised edition).Tongyu common language. https://www.tycommonlanguage.com/post/中国同志法律权益倡导手册.
