So, what are the "facts" of the gay themes ban in china?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Resinling, Oct 8, 2021.

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Do you believe chinese LGBT authors live in fear of censorships

  1. Yes

    18 vote(s)
    39.1%
  2. Yes, but not as much as people think

    13 vote(s)
    28.3%
  3. Don't know

    11 vote(s)
    23.9%
  4. No, but they might be worried about that changing

    2 vote(s)
    4.3%
  5. No

    2 vote(s)
    4.3%
  1. Resinling

    Resinling Member

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    On most forums/discussion boards there is a common knowledge of chinese goverment (from now on CN) banning/restricting what authors can put in their stories. Though I also ocasionaly see people saying this is great exageration, it happened maybe once or twice, in general people can write about whatever they want. As I don't speak chinese, I was hoping someone could point me to primary sources about the facts of the matter.
    1. Is portrayal of man-on-man and/or woman-on-woman relationships banned/restricted
    2. Has anyone gotten in trouble, and how many cases we can show about that
    3. Has anyone been forced to change their story?

    The most famous example I've heard about was Tamen de gushi, but I would be glad if someone pointed out more details.
     
  2. Xiongace101

    Xiongace101 Monkey

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    in b4 possible lock
     
  3. Lissi

    Lissi 『Queen of Lissidom』『Holy Chibi』『Western Birdy』『⚓』

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    Probably? You know how in JJWXC, they sometimes lock chapters (or entire works) and won't let them be published unless the author "edits" out the offending parts...

    While that's usually for smut/cuss words, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility for that to be done for other things?
     
  4. Rumby

    Rumby Rumbly Tumbly

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    Well if I remember three lives three worlds ten miles of peach blossoms ( eternal love cdrama) is a plagiarized work of a bl novel peach blossom debt

    But don’t think bl author can sue because govt def won’t support the bl author so plagiarist just gonna get all the money and fame.



    Also ppl can just post their stories onto Taiwan site ? So don’t think writers be affected if they post on Taiwan sites?
     
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  5. qyura

    qyura Well-Known Member

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    I had no idea about the plagiarism, yikes! Thank you for enlightening me, I had that drama in my plan-to-watch list, now it's gone.
     
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  6. baka8roukanako

    baka8roukanako Well-Known Member

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  7. asdkanjdaks

    asdkanjdaks Member

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    From what I know BL and those "gay themes" don't get banned in China but instead are supported.
    Like if you look at Manhua trends, BL get a crap ton of views and popularity and those don't get censored. (look at ac.qq)
    But yes, those are Manhua and it might be a different case in novels but I doubt "gay theme" novels get censored unless it becomes explicit.
     
  8. Westeller

    Westeller Smokin' Sexy Style!! Staff Member

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    It's a bit hard to say, since I don't live in China. I mean, take the recent announcement of their crackdown on minor gaming times - their official stance is that no one under the age of 18 should be playing video games, essentially. That it's mostly illegal, excepting a few hours a week allowance. In reality? Of course the kids are playing video games. They just use a parent's ID when making the game account, or use a random ID they got off the internet. And the gov't, presumably, isn't really trying too hard to enforce that law. Sometimes there really is a gap between when their announcements say and what they actually do. If you just go by the news and official announcements, you'd think pretty much everything was banned in China.

    That said, yeah, BL novels are at risk of random, spontaneous government censorship and I'd imagine the authors - whose livelihood depends on their ability to continue selling those novels - live with a certain amount of fear that one day they'll wake up and find their work simply removed and them barred from writing any more. There have, in the past, been waves of crackdowns on webnovels - not just BL, mind you - and that's pretty much how it goes. The gov't decides one morning to crack down on novel "standards", platforms remove huge swathes of novels and tell authors this-or-that needs to be changed or removed if they want their work listed again. Often, it's the platform itself that does the censoring, to keep the gov't off their back.

    Just from the news I hear regularly, though, I feel like the gov't cares more about TV and film than novels, in general. And it's hard to say how BL authors feel about the risks of publishing in China without, y'know, asking them.


    The thread is okay as long as it remains a straightforward, novel-related query. It stops being okay the moment it devolves into wider politics unrelated to novels and/or just becomes too inflammatory.
     
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  9. Rumby

    Rumby Rumbly Tumbly

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    Oh to add, Since I only remember this now https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/in...in-china-for-writing-boys-love-novels/.139808 The author & typesetter & proofreader got sent to prison, but it seems this case isn’t only one since there 20 authors arrested in 2014 over similar case.

    But I think there was time where bl chinese translators were asking ppl not to repost or share so author wouldn’t get in trouble ; some even stop tl , and some Chinese authors resorted to posting chapters of their novels in private chat groups too.
     
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  10. Alexcia

    Alexcia Belle of Banter

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    Damn, that suck....I wonder why they would do something like that tho...it's sad..super sad...my juicy parts...
     
  11. Fluffums

    Fluffums 【R-18 Researcher】【Seeker of Moe】

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    I feel like as long as a novel is tagged BL/GL there's no issue with the theme in most countries, including China. People who like it will read it, people who don't like it will know better than to try reading it. It's just that, any author can find his/her work censored at any given point in China. This is probably just me being cynical, but I think the main factor that results in an author having problems is nothing other than not being pro-government enough. Whether it's in novel or outside of novel.
     
  12. Little Pretty

    Little Pretty Well-Known Member

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    Honestly, as someone who lives in Asia but not China, I see it as something like the ffnet discourse back in the ole days. In which, the novel could get written and posted, but the moment there's any problem—be it copyright issues, unreasonable mass reports—the novel could get taken down at any time. They can't depend on the site or government to defend their rights because the culture and public pre-conception will not side with them.

    Point is that everything is good as long as they keep it on the down low and nobody decided to point the spotlight at them.
     
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  13. shunheng

    shunheng Member

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    Let me tell you the truth. Too much chinese parents care and spoil their children too much. They don't expect their chldren to read something like that. So these parents send emails and call to the government everyday. That's what happening.
     
  14. omniscient reader

    omniscient reader Well-Known Member

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  15. baka8roukanako

    baka8roukanako Well-Known Member

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    Some update?

     
  16. asriu

    asriu fu~ fu~ fu~

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    you need to put another translation just to make passerby cat understand da heck that post about!
    down with electric toothbrush!
     
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  17. baka8roukanako

    baka8roukanako Well-Known Member

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    Just read the whole post in the link then. I didn't want to post screenshots.