Geji

Geji (Chinese: 歌妓、歌伎、歌姬; lit. 'singer-performer') were female Chinese performing artists and courtesans who trained in singing and dancing in ancient China.^{[1][2]: 119}

Court Gējìs of the Former Shu by Tang Yin (1470-1524)

During the Warring States Period, a legendary figure named Han'e is believed to be the first example of a geji. Recorded in the Taoist manuscript the Liezi, Han'e is said to have traveled and made her living by singing. A popular idiom used to praise one's singing in Chinese was derived from the legend of Han'e.^[3][4][5] Like other entertainers in ancient China, geji had low social standing. Some geji contributed to the development of dance, poetry, painting and other arts and literature throughout China's history. During the Song and Tang Dynasty, geji would perform poems as songs, which helped the spread of ancient Chinese poems.^[6][7]

Geji were primarily pursued for their artistic talents in singing, dancing, and literary arts; they also sometimes provided sexual services to their clients.^{[8][9][10][11]} In ancient China, music and sexual performance were intertwined; consequently, the poetry, rather than music, of courtesans such as geji were often held up as an example of their high-culture.^[12][13] During the Ming Dynasty, the talents of courtesans such as geji were widely cultivated to distinguish them more heavily from common prostitutes. This development coincided with a general increase in wealth during the Ming Dynasty which allowed even men of low social standing to engage with common prostitutes, prompting men of high-status to cultivate and seek out courtesans for cultural capital.^[10] The relationships between literati (scholar-official of imperial China) and the geji often became heavily romanticized during the late Ming Dynasty, and even married women associated openly with geji, inviting them to parties. Famously, the poet Xu Yuan was known to keep the company of famous geji, such as Xue Susu. Following the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty banned courtesans such as geji from performing at official functions.^[14]

See also

• Geisha and Oiran in Japan
• Sing-song girls
• Tawaif, similar profession during colonial India

References

1. "古代女音乐人的身份与命运" [The identities and fates of ancient female musicians]. m.thepaper.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-08-10.
2. Blanchard, Lara C. W. (2018-06-05). Song Dynasty Figures of Longing and Desire: Gender and Interiority in Chinese Painting and Poetry. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-36939-9.
3. Lee, Lily Xiao Hong; Stefanowska, A. D.; Wiles, Sue; Ho, Clara Wing-chung, eds. (1998). Biographical dictionary of Chinese women. University of Hong Kong Libraries publications. Armonk, N.Y: M. E. Sharpe. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-7656-0043-1.
4. Xu, Guobin; Chen, Yanhui; Xu, Lianhua (2018-05-28). Introduction to Chinese Culture: Cultural History, Arts, Festivals and Rituals. Palgrave Macmillan US. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-137-59983-4.
5. "古代女音乐人的身份与命运". 2024-09-16. Archived from the original on 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2024-09-27. 这些故事的真实性我们姑且不论，但是它们至少透露出，早在先秦时代中国就出现了职业音乐人，而且具有较高的音乐造诣，当然，故事中的描述多少有些夸张的成分。 [The authenticity of these tales cannot be determined, but they reveal that there were professional singers in China as early as the pre-Qin era, with a high level of musical achievement, even though the stories are more or less exaggerated.]
6. "On the Characteristics of the Communication of Song Ci Geji". Archived from the original on August 15, 2024.
7. "'The beauty lies in women'—On the role of Gejis in poetry of the Tang and Song Dynasties". Archived from the original on August 15, 2024.
8. Wu, JunRu (2021-12-31). "The Curious Case of Chinese Courtesan Culture". The Mirror - Undergraduate History Journal. 41 (1): 29–30. ISSN 2562-9158. In order to understand the social role of the courtesan, it is important to define the position. This requires a comprehension of the etymology of the term, and how the English language may fail to reflect this idea in a translation. Classical Chinese is known to have a variety of words to define women in specific roles and duties within a given social ladder, the most common of these would refer to a courtesan as ji. While sexual favors may be one of the services provided by ji, she is first and foremost an entertainer. Chinese courtesan culture was defined by several integral points: a skill in the literary arts, such as writing and poetry; a comprehension in song and singing; a setting of trends in fashion and art; as well as the ability to combine these talents to promote a literary exchange amongst the elite.
9. Blanchard, Lara Caroline Williams (2001). Visualizing Love and Longing in Song Dynasty Paintings of Women. University of Michigan. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-493-41557-4. musical performance and sexual performance were, in fact, usually the forte of an individual known as a "singing girl" (geji 歌妓, literally "song courtesan").
10. Brook, Timothy (2011). The confusions of pleasure: commerce and culture in Ming China (First paperback printing, [Nachdruck] ed.). Berkeley, CA Los Angeles, CA London: University of California Press. pp. 229–230. ISBN 978-0-520-22154-3.
11. "East Asia: China, Japan, Korea, and Inner Asia", The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Routledge, 2017-09-25, pp. 405–411, doi:10.4324/9781315086446-30, ISBN 978-1-315-08644-6
12. Harris, Rachel; Pease, Rowan; Tan, Shzr Ee, eds. (2013). Gender in Chinese music. Eastman/Rochester studies in ethnomusicology. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press ; Woodbridge, Suffolk : Boydell & Brewer Limited. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-58046-443-7.
13. Feldman, Martha, ed. (2006). The courtesan's arts: cross-cultural perspectives. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. pp. 78–80. ISBN 978-0-19-517028-3.
14. Zurndorfer, Harriet T. (26 August 2011). "Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Confucian Moral Universe of Late Ming China (1550–1644)". International Review of Social History. 56 (S19): 197–216. doi:10.1017/S0020859011000411. ISSN 0020-8590.