Were people in Ancient China really bad at telling apart genders or something

To expand on this, in Ancient China, if you didn't have tanned skin, you were likely a rich fellow who didn't have to work on the fields. Thus, the farmers, merchants, and other commoners wouldn't directly look at or observe you. And as mentioned in the quote, it's often the rich who crossdressed. Also, not working on the fields means you didn't exercise much and would probably be slim if the person doesn't overeat. Therefore, you have the jade-white skinned description from many novels.

As for some wuxia stories where women crossdressed as men in the pugilistic world, the women are often those super ruthless types or lone wolves who killed everyone who offended them. You should know how Ancient China viewed women, and thus why they cannot imagine such characters to be of the supposed fairer sex.

As for the Lan Ling Wang bit, it's probably for historical accuracy. I didn't watch the drama, so I don't know how he looked like in it, but the Prince of Lanling was indeed said to have a feminine appearance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gao_Changgong

 

Yeah, I just felt that FengShaoFeng was miscast. While he is good-looking, he’s neither feminine or strikingly gorgeous... It’s very obvious that he’s a man, which was why that scene was unintentionally hilarious to me.

I’d imagine someone who looked more like Xu Kai for the role.

Anyhow, the drama was just a horrible mess of dumpster fire. Pretty much everyone who watched it preferred the second male lead because LLW was such an idiot. And the story was just tedious to watch.

 

older girls/young women had their feet 'bound' to try and look fashionably dainty. How could the genders be confused?

 

I though foot binding was a Japanese thing?

 

https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-foot-binding-in-china-195228

 

Foot-binding didn't really become popular until some time in the Ming Dynasty, and it didn't become super widespread until the Qing Dynasty. Most Chinese stories take place before this period and generally very few writers have female characters who have their feet bound.

 

That's cool to know, thanks. I'm no expert, just remember reading about it thinking.....some people do some really fucked up shit, ya dig? And that statement is historically true no matter where you are in the world either. I just hope we learn to stop hurting ourselves as a race sometime soon.....

Oh and you might be interesting then to quote on the veracity of the link I posted to back up that it happened in China as well as Japan?

 

From what I can tell, Chinese writers absolutely despise the practice so it's pretty rare to see in books. I read a lot of historical novels and I find that they are perfectly willing to show off all of ancient China's warts.

 

You read a lot of real historical novels you mean? Not what we read here?

I just like learning stuff. It's why I'd be interested in your interpretation of the link? It has timelines and whatnot like you mentioned. I thought it was pretty good, but if you can provide a better one I'd love to pursue it....or historical novels for that matter.

 

Well, I read historical web novels so they could theoretically be on NU. Few of them get translated though so I read them in Chinese.

I did read your link and it seems about right. What it doesn't really touch on is the prevalence of foot-binding in the various periods. The progression would be along the lines of unpopular during the Song Dynasty, gaining popularity in the Ming Dynasty, and finally being nearly universal among the upper classes by the end of the Qing Dynasty. We mostly read about this practice from Western sources and they had the most exposure to China during the later Qing period so it gives the impression that foot-binding had always been that popular. Chinese writers don't have this handicap because they have access to a lot more sources. I got a lot of this information from reading 回到明朝当王爷 so it may not be fully accurate, but I imagine it's pretty close.

 

Thank you for the info, I really appreciate it.

I know what you mean about how writers with different backgrounds don't necessarily understand nuances... I get that from my own culture. >_> But then, this conversation wouldn't be half as interesting if we were from similar backgrounds. XD

 

Hmm, when I was in Taiwan; I saw some girls with a short haircuts. Some of them dressed in a suit, so it was a little difficult for me to tell them apart. I thought some of them look like a pretty boy, but they were actually women. So yeah, it could be hard to tell sometimes. Because some men have very soft features, like cute and feminine.

 

It's pretty cool how all the different cultures have their own specialties so they are able to tell very different kinds of stories. One of the Chinese strengths is that the the readers and writers love history and so their historical books are a lot better than you'll see in most languages.

For example, I'm watching a web documentary series about the Battle of Stalingrad right now, and I'm pretty certain that there has been no English-language historical novel that's done this story any justice. It makes sense since this period of history is a bit unexplored in even English-language historical writing, but I've read a Chinese web novel that not tackles it, but does a great job with the subject.

 

HIspanics are good at adapting to situations and accepting friends into our families. There is also a kind of zest for life and family that only rivals Italian and Mediterranean cultures. and the food!!!!!!! Noms Noms. We are all foodies. >_>