Drag diva meets broke bureaucrat: a love story in 18th c. Beijing’s gay scene

Part 1 of “Li Guiguan and Bi Yuan: a celebrated Qing Dynasty gay romance”

Bi Yuan 毕沅, courtesy name Qiufan, was born in Jiangsu province, China, to Bi Yong and the famous poetess Zhang Zao 张藻 in 1730.[1] Bi Yuan’s mother Zhang Zao took charge of his education, teaching him Confucius’ Book of Odes at age 6.[2]  A child prodigy with photographic memory, Bi Yuan would eventually go on to pass the very competitive provincial civil service exam and then the even more competitive national civil service exam, whose top candidates have a place in history books.[3]