Transgender is an overarching term to describe persons whose gender identity/expression differs from what is typically associated with the gender they were assigned at birth.[1] Since "transgender studies" was institutionalized as an academic discipline in the 1990s, it is difficult to apply it to Chinese culture in a historical context. There were no transgender groups or communities inHong Kong until after the turn of the century. Today they are still known as a "sexual minority" in China.[2]
Because Chinese transgender studies are so unfocused, a wide variety of terms are used in relation to transgender in thevarieties of Chinese.
In Hong Kong, there are specific derogatory terms used towards transgender people. The most common isjan-jiu (人妖) which translates to "human monster".[citation needed]
Terms forcrossdressing are many and varied. 異裝癖 (py yìzhūangpǐ), literally "obsession with the opposite [sex's] attire", is commonly used. 扮裝 (py bànzhūang), literally "to put on attire", is commonly used to mean crossdressing. Related to this is an auxiliary term fordrag queens: 扮裝皇后 (py bànzhūang húanghòu), or "crossdressing queen". There are several terms competing as translations of the Englishdrag king, but none has reached currency yet.[9] While research shows that China's younger population is much more accepting of transgender people, offensive terminology like "jan-jim" or "bin-sing-jan" is very common.[2]
In the mid-1930s, after the father of Yao Jinping (姚錦屏) went missing during the war withJapan, the 19-year-old reported having lost all feminine traits and become a man, was said to have an Adam's apple and flattened breasts, and left to find him.[10][11] Du He, who wrote an account of the event, insisted Yao had become a man,[10][12] while doctors asserted Yao was female.[12] The story was widely reported in the press,[12] and Yao has been compared toLili Elbe, who underwent sex reassignment in the same decade.[10][12]
Sinologists often look to theatrical arts when imaging China in a transgender frame because of the prominent presence of cross-gender behavior.[13]
Peking Opera, also known asBeijing Opera, had male actors playing femaledan characters. Men traditionally played women's roles due to women being excluded from performing in front of the public as a means of preventing carnal relations.[2] Although, before 1978, male to female cross dressing was mostly for theatrical performances, used for comedic effect or to disguise a character in order to commit a crime or defeat enemies.[citation needed] Female to male characters were considered heroic in theatrical performances.[14]
During the Ming andQing Dynasties ofChina, cross dressing occurred both onstage and in everyday life. Withintheater, some who were intrigued by it would roleplay, organize their own troupes, write, and perform theatrical pieces.[15]
Many of early modern China's stories reflected cross-dressing and living the life of a different gender for a short period of time, mainly featuring the cross-dressers as virtuous, likeMulan.[15]
Li Yu, a writer and entrepreneur, featured the gendering of bodies to be dependent upon men's desires and operated by a system of gender dimorphism, assumed by social boundaries of the time. When Li Yu created an acting troupe, as many elite males did, he had a concubine that played a male role as he believed she was "suited to male" or considered her more of the masculine gender.[15]
In modern-day Peking Opera and film, there are male to female cross dressers and vice versa for characters, especially with certain time periods.[16]
Buddhism views all bodily concerns as entrapment in theSamsara, including those concerning LGBTQ+ identities.[17]
According to some scholars, female infants were dressed up as males ("cross-dressing"). They claim that this, in turn, affected those children into living transgender lives.[15]
After theWorld Health Organization dropped "gender identity disorder" from itsInternational Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in 2018, China promoted the new guidelines in medical institutions across the country.[18]
In March 2019, China accepted recommendations by theUnited Nations Human Rights Council on banning discrimination againstLGBTQ people.[19]
In fact, as of now (2024 Q2), it is still recognized as a disease in medical practice.[20]
On October 31, 2024, a Chinese transgender woman was approved by Changli county people's court inQinhuangdao to receive 60,000 yuan (£6,552) in compensation from a hospital that gave herelectroshock conversion treatment against her will. This was the first time any transgender person in China won a legal challenge against the use of electroshock conversion treatment.[21]
Gender reassignment on official identification documents (Resident Identity Card andHukou) is allowed in China only after thesex reassignment surgery. The following documents are required in order to apply for gender reassignment:[22][23]
However, changing the ID card information will lead to an abnormal match with the academic qualifications, which often seriously impacts one's employment. (You cannot change your student status information after graduating from university.)[24]
In China, trans women are required to notify family, prove they have no criminal record, and receive psychological treatment in order to be allowed a prescription forhormone replacement therapy (HRT).[25] Familial disapproval had led many to seek alternative sources of their medication, including online sources.[26][27]
As of 2024, transgender people first go to a transgender-friendly psychology outpatient clinic to obtain a medical record of Transsexuality/Gender identity disorder (depends on different doctors and hospitals), and then go to a transgender-friendly endocrinology outpatient clinic to prescribe medication based on the case.[28][better source needed]
Based on theManagement Specification on Gender Reassignment Technology published byNational Health Commission in 2022, the surgical patient has to be at least over 18 years old, have the desire of intending gender reassignment persistently for more than 5 years, and be unmarried in order to undergosex reassignment surgery;[29] in addition, proof of familial consent is required prior to any surgical practice regardless of surgical types.[22] Proof of diagnosis of gender identity disorder is also required for surgery.[29][30]The vast majority of psychiatric clinics will require the parents not to object,[31][better source needed] sometimes even if that patient is already 25 years old.[citation needed] In some cases, a one-year observation period is required after the request is made.[31][better source needed]
In 2009 the Chinese government made it illegal for minors to change their officially-listed gender, stating that sexual reassignment surgery, available to only those over the age of twenty, was required in order to apply for a revision of their identification card and residence registration.[32]
In early 2014 theShanxi province started allowing minors to apply for the change with the additional information of their guardian's identification card. This shift in policy allows post-surgery marriages to be recognized as heterosexual and therefore legal.[33]
In 2020, a transgender employee who was terminated by thee-commerce platformDangdang for undergoing her reassignment surgery sued the company and won.[18]
In 2022, the National Health Commission lowered the minimum age for surgery from 20 to 18 and removed a previous requirement of one-year psychological or psychiatric therapy before surgery.[18]
In November 2022, Chinese government began preparations to restrict internet purchases ofestradiol andcyproterone, and a draft had been reviewed.[26][27] The ban was put in place in December so that even those with prescriptions cannot buy these drugs online.[34] As of 2024 it can be purchased onTaobao but the review is very strict, much stricter than other prescription drugs.[citation needed]
Prior to its closure in 2023, TheBeijing LGBT Center (Chinese:北京同志中心) was primarily composed of four organizations:Aizhixing AIDS Organization, Tongyu Lala Organization, Aibai Cultural and Education Center, and Les+.[35] Tongyu Lala was an organization based inBeijing that combatted discrimination against and was an advocate for social inclusion of lesbians, bisexual women, and transgender people. The group also helped organize LGBTQ groups in China.[36]
Events promoting LGBTQ rights and equality in China include or included theInternational Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, theBeijing Queer Film Festival, and parades held in Beijing, Guangzhou,Hong Kong, andShanghai).[35]
Transgender youth inChina face many challenges. One study found that Chinese parents report 0.5% (1:200) of their 6 to 12-year childrenAMAB and 0.6% (1:167) of childrenAFAB often or always 'state the wish to be the other gender'. 0.8% (1:125) of 18- to 24-year-old university students who were AMAB (whose sex/gender as indicated on their ID card is male) report that the 'sex/gender I feel in my heart' is female, while another 0.4% indicating that their perceived gender was 'other'. Among students AFAB, 2.9% (1:34) indicated they perceived their gender as male, while another 1.3% indicated 'other'.[37]
One transgender man recounts his childhood as one filled with confusion and peer bullying. In school he was mocked for being a tomboy and was regularly disciplined by teachers for displaying rowdy boy-like behavior. Some recommended to his parents that he be institutionalized.[32]
These attitudes may be slowly changing and many Chinese youth are able to live happy and well-adjusted lives as members of the LGBTQ+ community in modern China.[5] In July 2012 the BBC reported that the new open economy has led to more freedom of sexual expression in China.[38]
In 2021, China's first clinic fortransgender children and adolescents was set up at theChildren's Hospital of Fudan University inShanghai to safely and healthily manage transgender minors' transition.[39][40][41]
According to a survey conducted by Peking University, Chinesetrans female students face strong discrimination in many areas of education.[42]Sex segregation is found everywhere in Chinese schools and universities: student enrollment (for some special schools, universities and majors), appearance standards (hairstyles anduniforms included), private spaces (bathrooms, toilets and dormitories included), physical examinations,military trainings,conscription,PE classes,PE exams and physical health tests. Chinese students are required to attend all the activities according to their legal gender marker. Otherwise they will be punished. It is also difficult to change the gender information of educational attainments and academic degrees in China, even aftersex reassignment surgery, which results in discrimination against well-educated trans women.[43][44]
A 2021 survey in Beijing showed that half of the transgender respondents do not express their gender identity at work and 34% said they had experienced workplace discrimination. The unemployment rate in the transgender community was much higher than China's urban unemployment rate.[18]
In 2019,Amnesty International reported that transgender people in China resorted to unregulated used of medication andself-surgery due to inadequate access to information, legal and administrative barriers to gender-affirming surgeries. Many were afraid to come out to their parents. Some purchased hormone drugs through unregulated channels online, overseas, or on theblack market. Specialized gender-affirming health care facilities are not common in China, although a multi-disciplinary medical team for gender-affirming treatments, the first of its kind, opened in 2018 atPeking University Third Hospital.[19]
In 2021, China's first clinic fortransgender children and adolescents was set up at theChildren's Hospital of Fudan University inShanghai to safely and healthily manage transgender minors' transition.[45][46][47]
Literature and plays in the 17th century featured cross-dressing, like Ming dramatistXu Wei who wroteFemale Mulan Takes Her Father's Place in the Army andThe Female Top Candidate Rejects a Wife and Receives a Husband. Despite the female to male cross dressing, the woman would eventually return to her socially gendered roles of wearing women's clothes and would marry a man.[15]
Technological advancements help to promote greater awareness among youth of LGBTQ issues. Access to Western media such as trans-themed web sites and featuring of transgender characters in Western movies are broadening the knowledge and sense of community that many trans youth seek.[5][48]
Entertainers:
Models:
Citizens:
The following Chinese films portray transgender characters:[2]
In addition, in the 2019 documentary film,The Two Lives of Li Ermao, a transmigrant worker "transitions from male to female, then back to male," which some promoted as part of "Love Queer Cinema Week".[51]
"The personal information registered on the graduation certificate and the school credit card website is consistent with the information in its hukou and ID card at the time of graduation, so it is not eligible for revision of academic registration information.----毕业证书及学信网的注册的个人信息与其毕业时的户口本、身份证信息一致，因此不符合学历注册信息修改的条件"
"Certificate": means a formal "certificate of diagnosis" that can be used for surgery---「大证」：指正式的「诊断证明」，可用于手术
2023/07/03 update Cao Qiuyun said that the issuance of a diagnosis certificate requires parental consent at the same time Reach the age of 20 After the observation period (the specific time is not specified, guessed to be 1 year)---2023/07/03更新 曹秋云表示开具诊断证明需要同时满足家长同意 年龄达到20周岁 经过观察期（具体时间并未说明，猜测为1年）
