The
history of Hu Tianbao has been largely forgotten by the Chinese.
Tu
Er Shen is a Chinese deity who manages the love and sex between gay
men. His name literally means "Rabbit Deity".
According
to Zi Bu Yu, a book written by Yuan Mei (a Qing dynasty writer), Tu
Er Shen was a man named Hu Tianbao.
Hu
Tianbao fell in love with a handsome imperial inspector of Fujian
Province. One day Hu Tianbao was caught peeping on the inspector
through a bathroom wall, at which point he confessed his attraction
for the other man. The imperial inspector had Hu Tianbao sentenced to
death by beating.
One
month after Hu Tianbao's death, he appeared in a dream to a man from
his hometown. He told the man that because his death had been cause
by love, the underworld officials decided to right the injustice by
appointing him the god and safe-guarder of gay men and the
relationships and affections.
After
his dream the man erected a shrine to Hu Tianbao, which became very
popular in Fujian province, so much so that in late Qing times, the
cult of Hu Tianbao was targeted for extermination by the Qing
government.
A
slang term for gays in late imperial China was Tuzi (Rabbits) which
is why Hu Tianbao is referred to as the Rabbit God, though in fact he
has nothing to do with rabbits and should not be confused with
Tu-Er-Ye
the
rabbit on the moon.
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