The sense that the villagers must keep the reason for the temple secret in the story may relate to pressure from the central Chinese authorities to abandon the practice. Images of Hu Tianbao show him in an embrace with another man. The deity can be seen as an alternative to Yue Lao, the matchmaker god, for heterosexual relations.Ī slang term for homosexuals in late imperial China was "rabbits" which is why Hu Tianbao is referred to as the rabbit deity, though in fact he has nothing to do with rabbits and should not be confused with Tu'er Ye, the rabbit on the moon. Īfter his dream the man erected a shrine to Hu Tianbao, which became very popular in Fujian, so much so that in late Qing times, the cult of Hu Tianbao was targeted for extermination by the Qing government. One month after Hu Tianbao's death, he appeared to a man from his hometown in a dream, claiming that since his crime was one of love, the underworld officials decided to right the injustice by appointing him the god and safeguarder of homosexual affections. The imperial inspector had Hu Tianbao sentenced to death by beating.
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One day he was caught peeping on the inspector through a bathroom wall, at which point he confessed his reluctant affections for the other man. Īccording to What the Master Would Not Discuss, written by Yuan Mei during the Qing dynasty, Tu'er Shen was a man named Hu Tianbao ( 胡天保) who fell in love with a very handsome imperial inspector of Fujian Province. Others begged to know their reason for building the temple, but they did not find out. They kept silent about this secret vow, which they quickly and eagerly fulfilled. Hearing the villager relate the dream, the other villagers strove to contribute money to erect the temple. The story ends:Īccording to the customs of Fujian province, it is acceptable for a man and boy to form a bond and to speak to each other as if to brothers.
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The leveret demands that local men build a temple to him where they can burn incense in the interest of "affairs of men". The official has the soldier tortured and killed, but he returns from the dead in the form of a leveret (a rabbit in its first year) in the dream of a village elder. In a folk tale from 17th century Fujian, a soldier is in love with a provincial official, and spies on him to see him naked. His adherents refer to him as Ta Yeh ( traditional Chinese: 大爺 simplified Chinese: 大爷 pinyin: dàyé, The Master). His name literally means " rabbit deity". Tu'er Shen ( traditional Chinese: 兔兒神 simplified Chinese: 兔儿神 pinyin: Tùrshén, The Leveret Spirit) or Tu Shen ( Chinese: 兔神 pinyin: Tùshén, The Rabbit God), is a Chinese deity who manages love and sex between homosexual people.