“Song of a Man Named Li” – a same-sex love affair that inspired the creations of multiple 18th c. literati

Part 5 of “Li Guiguan and Bi Yuan: a celebrated Qing Dynasty gay romance”

Yuan Mei’s Ballad of a Man Named Li spans Li Guiguan’s childhood, his training as a drag performer, his romance with Bi in the late 1750s-early 1760s, and his situation when he visited Yuan Mei in 1768. [1] The latter part of the poem described the problems faced by Guiguan, who was then was close to 30, considered to be past his prime as a performer of young female roles. His present financial challenges arose in part due to his past generosity to Bi Qiufan and others. Yuan Mei wrote: