Danmei Prevalent CH Lit PDF

"Addicted to Beauty": Consuming and Producing Web-based Chinese "Danmei" Fiction at
Jinjiang
Author(s): Jin Feng
Source: Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, Vol. 21, No. 2 (FALL, 2009), pp. 1-41
Published by: Foreign Language Publications
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41491008
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"Addicted to Beauty": Consuming
and Producing Web-based Chinese
Danmei Fiction at Jinjiang
Jin Feng
The Internet is changing the Chinese social and cultural landscape in

profound ways. Not only did China become the world's largest Internet
market in 2008 (Barboza 2008), but since 2000 Web literature, consisting
mainly of unedited items, has also surpassed the volume of published 1 This statistic is from the state-run China
Internet Network Information Center
print matter (Under 2005: 647). Currently 162 million people write blogs (CNNKI). Its newest report, issued online
on the Chinese Web.1 Yet existing scholarship rarely explores the kind in January 2009, also states that by the
end of 2008 mainland China had more
of user behavior involved in the production and consumption of Web than 298 million people who access the
literature, even as the Internet is shaping writing and reading practices Internet, with a gain of more than 88
million and 41.9% from 2007. Currently
in contemporary China. As Michel Hockx (2005: 148) points out, English- 22.6 percent of the Chinese population
language scholarship on the Chinese Internet focuses on issues of state accesses the Internet, higher than
the global average. Rural users have
censorship and civil liberties and ignores "cultural production." For increased by 60.8 percent from 2007,
their part, Chinese scholars usually engage in theoretical discussions of faster than urban growth (35.6%), while
growth in China' western region (52%) is
the ontology, aesthetics, and sociology of Web literature rather than in higher than that of the eastern (39.3%)
an investigation of user experiences.2 Furthermore, while researchers and central (40.6%) regions.
occasionally refer to the role the Internet plays in promoting women's 2 A search by the keyword wangluo
rights in China, such as happened when the United Nation's Fourth wenxue (Web literature) in CNKI, a
database of full-text Chinese sources,
World Conference on Women was held in Beijing in 1995 (Harcourt 2000: yields more than a thousand entries,
153), few have done any in-depth study of how Chinese women actually most of them theoretical constructions.
Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 1
participate in the production and consumption of popular cultural on the
Web.
As a contribution toward filling this scholarly gap, I focus in this essay

on the modes and mores of online danmei fiction at a particular Chinese
literature website called Jinjiang. Originally a cultural import from Japan,
danmei, or BL ("Boy's Love"), denotes a genre of popular romance that
portrays idealized homoerotic relationships between physically attractive
male figures and is, interestingly, mostly written by women for women's
consumption. Although my approach is primarily literary analysis, I also
engage in what could be called "virtual ethnographic research" by
looking at online readers' comments published at the Jinjiang site and
interviewing Jinjiang users. I show that Web-based danmei fiction can
function as a prism that refracts a host of complex gender negotiations
and cultural appropriations in China during the age of the Internet.
Specifically, it gives Chinese women a new forum and space to find
female-centered entertainment, parody and undermine mainstream
cultural products, explore their gender and sexuality, and cross social and
cultural boundaries that might otherwise have been impassable.
Although not the largest Chinese literature website, Jinjiang
Literature City (www.jjwxc.net) is known as one of the earliest and most
influential women's literature websites; it has established an almost
exclusively female readership that is famous for its enthusiasm, loyalty,
and powers of articulation (Yin 2005: 31). Launched in Jinjiang, Fujian
3 URL: http://bbs.jjwxc.com/showmsg. province, in 1998,3 it has since developed into an elaborate organization
php?board=3&id=56296 (accessed
3/5/08).
consisting of an e-bookstore, a discussion forum, a users' feedback forum,
as well as a website for publishing creative works, called "Yuanchuang
wang" (Creative writing net, hereafter the Net). Judging by their self-
introductions, the majority of authors and readers are fairly well educated
4 URL: http://bbs.jjwxc.net/showmsg. women whose ages range from the late teens to the early forties.4 Only a
3/5/08); also see Linder 2005: 647. few are full-time writers. Most are students or have occupations such as
teachers and accountants. The majority of participants reside in mainland
2 • Addicted to Beauty
China, but a significant number appear to be living abroad (Xu 2002: 71-
74). The agef education, and occupation of Jinjiang users fit the national
profile of users of Chinese literature websites. With their ages mostly in
the range of eighteen to thirty, they are described by some as possessing
the "three highs" ( sangao ): high salary, high level of education, and high
social status (Yang 2009).
In contrast to other Chinese literature websites, Jinjiang answers,
almost exclusively, to contemporary Chinese women's interests and
concerns. It also boasts interactive features conducive to candid,
sophisticated, and in-depth discussions among its users by frequently

changing and enhancing its Web features to make itself more user
friendly. It thus emerges as an invaluable source of accounts on how
Chinese women experience the Internet both for its user profiles and for
its responsiveness to user needs.
However, Jinjiang by no means exists in an idyllic cocoon protected
against the vicissitudes of Chinese society. Initially run with volunteer
labor, Jinjiang experienced financial hardships, legal crises, and ownership
changes before finally finding an investor in Shanghai Shengda Internet
Development Cooperation in November 2007. Shortly afterward, it
followed the examples of other Chinese literature websites to charge a
fee for access to certain "VIP" works. This practice, albeit controversial,
reflects the increasing importance placed on profit by the publishing
industry in general in China.5 Jinjiang works have so far been published
5 URL: http://bbs.jjwxc.net/showmsg.
in print mostly by newly emerged houses known for their lists of popular
3/5/08).
literature rather than by large state-run ones specializing in serious
literature.6 But more and more mainstream Chinese publishers have
6 URL: http://bbs.jjwxc.com/showmsg.
php?board=18 (accessed 3/5/08).
begun to cash in on the rise of popular fiction, and they have especially
targeted female romance readers as a profit-generating consumer base
(Qin 2007 b). Romance, and especially time-travel romance, dominates in
popularity and volume among the various literary genres represented
on the Jinjiang site. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, danmei fiction has
increasingly gained in popularity among all romance novels at Jinjiang
and also frequently competes well among highly ranked works of fan
7 Rank lists at Jinjiang accessed on July fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction.7
27, 2008, show that of the top fifty
all-time reader favorites, sixteen are
danmei, including the top- and second- What Is Danmei ?
highest ranked works. This trend can
also been seen in the half-year and Before I discuss in detail the attraction that danmei holds, a brief history
quarter rank lists: thirteen out of the of the importation of this genre to China is necessary. Originally an
top fifty in the former and seventeen
out of the top fifty in the latter, http:// antinaturalist literary movement in early-twentieth-century Japan that
www.jjwxc.net/topten.php?orderstr=7; promoted "aesthetic" representations of sensory impressions (Pi 2002:
http://www.jjwxc.net/topten.
php?orderstr=6; http://jjwxc.net/topten. 64-67), danmei, or tanbi, as it is called in Japanese, has evolved since the
php?orderstr=4 (accessed 7/27/08). 1970s to mean manga (comic strips) and literature that satisfy Japanese
women's desires. For instance, the bimonthly magazine June, inaugurated
in 1978 by the Sun publishing group in Japan and targeting "girls and
young women devoted to this [tanbi] theme," has spawned so many
imitators that the word "june" itself has become a synonym for the genre
of tanbi (Schodt 1996: 120-122).
In 1991 and 1992, Japanese danmei manga series began to spread to
mainland China through the conduit of Taiwan. These imported cultural
products generated various websites and fan circles consisting mainly
of female students between the ages of nineteen and twenty-six (Wu
2005: 57-59). From its start in China, danmei relied on the Internet for
dissemination and on relatively well-educated young women as its fan
base. The age and gender composition of danmei fans at Jinjiang follow
that of danmei fans throughout the nation. As relatively young women,
they appear receptive to unconventional sexual relationships and graphic
sex in danmei novels, as compared to more strictly censored heterosexual
8 URL: http://bbs.jjwxc.net/showmsg.
php?board=18&id=5382 (accessed romance fiction.8 Because homosexuality is still stigmatized in Chinese
3/5/08).
society (Yang 2008), and because danmei works often contain explicit
9 Also see, URL: http://hi.baidu. sexual content, danmei fans sometimes incur severe public criticism and
com/inland/blog/item/
59216b3ecff3b23d71cf6c55.html
accusations of selling pornography, promoting incest, and "poisoning"
(accessed 3/7/08). young minds.9 As a result, fans often find it necessary to hide this "guilty"
pleasure from family and friends.10 10 E.g., URL: http://bbs.readnovel.
com/htm_data/1 39/0801 /28921 3.html
Despite these hostile reactions, danmei fiction holds strong and (accessed 3/15/07).
lasting attraction for its fans, and its Chinese fan base has shown little
sign of waning. Indeed, the narrative conventions of danmei fiction offer
an alternative to male-dominated heterosexual popular romances, and
fans can explore homosexual identities without having to make any
public and unreserved commitment to homosexuality. The term danmei -
which literally means "indulge in beauty"- suggests an emphasis on
"aestheticism" and hence "romanticization" in representation. To fans,
the romantic portrayal of homoerotic relationships in danmei can generate
a "dream-like beauty" (Yang 2006: 65). As Mark McLelland points out, in
Japan tanbi draws on the long tradition of portraying "beautiful young
men" ( bishonen ) in comics directed at young women: "By describing
the romantic love affairs that take place between beautiful young men,
who are pictured as sensitive and refined in both looks and demeanor,
female authors are able to sidestep the difficulties inherent in portraying
heterosexual encounters in which the female partner is necessarily
subordinated to the male" (1999: 84).
Furthermore, the reception of danmei works differs from "queer"
literature in that its (mostly female) participants claim that they produce
and consume it for reasons other than the representation of their true
sexual identity or orientation. Chinese danmei fans, those at Jinjiang
included, mostly claim to be heterosexual women who have little or no
experience with real-life homosexuality.11 Some become danmei fans 11 URL: http://bbs.jjwxc.com/showmsg.
php?board=9&id=276 (accessed 3/6/08).
because they are bored by clichés in heterosexual popular romances and
appreciate the novelty of homoerotic tales.12 Others are attracted to the 12 URL: http://bbs.jjwxc.net/showmsg.
php?board=98tid=174 (accessed 3/5/08).
powerful bonding, despite overwhelming social pressures and obstacles,
between male characters in danmei. As the hero in Minami Ozaki's
Zetsu'ai 1989 (Absolute love 1989), a classic Japanese tanbi manga that
also initiated many Chinese danmei fans, famously asserts: it does not
matter whether the object of his affection is a man, woman, dog, cat,
13 URL: http://baike.baidu.com/ plant, or machine; if he falls in love with the other, then so be it.13 A
view/57274.htm (accessed 7/29/08).
danmei hero thus loves a man not because he is gay; he simply disregards
heterosexist norms in his pursuit of true love.
This statement might suggest that danmei celebrates an "absolute
love" to the exclusion of all practical considerations. However, both reader
comments posted at Jinjiang and my interviews of fans show that danmei
attracts readers because it provides them with the license to sample BL
artifacts without having to confess their perhaps unconventional gender
identification or sexual orientation. For instance, my interviews reveal that
danmei readers include both men and women, and that some of them
identify themselves as gays or lesbians, though this piece of demographic

information is rarely disclosed in online postings or addressed in existing
scholarship of Chinese BL fandom. While these self-identified homosexual
readers sometimes criticize danmei works published at Jinjiang as "too
unrealistic," some acknowledge that danmei has opened their eyes to
their own sexual orientation, whereas others consider it compensation
for the lack of "real queer literature," which, according to them, "does
14 From my interviews of Jinjiang not exist" in China.14 While I focus in this essay on an examination of
danmei fans in Beijing, China, June
Chinese women's experiences rather than the role that danmei plays in the
16-20, 2009. For reasons of privacy, I do
not reveal their names. formation of homosexual identity in contemporary China, my interviews
suggest that the narrative features of danmei are flexible enough to
accommodate the complexity of its Chinese fandom.
Before I investigate both the "lack" and the "surplus" of meaning
invested in danmei narratives by its enthusiastic followers, it is necessary
to introduce Jinjiang's Web features in some detail. This is not just because
Jinjiang provides a home and a safe haven for danmei works: they are
forbidden to be published in print form in mainland China, though
pirated copies of Japanese manga or Chinese danmei fiction printed
"illegally" (without ISBN numbers) do appear on the market. More
important, Jinjiang's interactive features generate vibrant exchanges
around danmei texts. They thus not only profoundly shape the reading
and writing behavior of its users but also allow users to detach from both
their bodies "as material bounded space" (Foster 2000: 440) and from
fixed gender identities. In what follows, then, I first discuss Jinjiang's
interactive features, after which I examine the narrative conventions and
features demonstrated in particular danmei works. Finally, I analyze the
motivations and interests of danmei fans at Jinjiang.
Three Players and the Text
Users of Jinjiang identify it as a place to find entertainment, satisfy

creative impulses, and derive emotional nurturance.15 Since Jinjiang 15 URL: http://bbs.jjwxc.com/showmsg.
publishes danmei fiction along with other popular genres, it has been 3/8/08).
far less frequently subjected to state censorship than exclusively danmei
literature sites. Moreover, as a "general" women's literature website,
Jinjiang also shows more hospitality to users than membership-only pure
danmei sites. Male-centered literature sites such as Qidian (Starting point),
which attracts a large male membership through the publication of "stud
fiction" (more about this later), do not acknowledge the genre of danmei
at all. Yet, Lucifer-club.com, which houses "the largest BL online fandom in
Chinese language," requires a series of tests, for which at least two years'
previous experience of consuming danmei manga or fiction is needed to
pass, before an interested user can register and access its content (Wei
2008: 1 3-1 6). Jinjiang's easy access serves to effectively disseminate danmei
to a broader fan base and helps to mainstream this previously marginal
subculture. Furthermore, it also facilitates the cross-fertilization and free
floating of narrative features between different subgenres of popular
romance, which in turn modifies the more "hardcore" danmei fiction to
suit a different generation and group of danmei readers. As I show below,
danmei readers at Jinjiang display different tastes than earlier fans of the
online Lucifer Club, who, according to Wei Wei, founded the website in
1 999 because they had no other space to post and consume danmei fiction
in which sex scenes "are portrayed in detail, often with exaggerated SM
plot" (Wei 2008: 12).
Just as important Jinjiang grants its users the opportunity and
anonymity not only to produce and consume darimei literature, but
also to exchange ideas and comments at little cost. Web versions of
Jinjiang works can contain more explicit sex and danmei content, while
in officially approved print versions, authors have to cut out supposedly
16 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook. offensive content before passing censorship and getting published.16
php?novelid=50785&chapterid=55
Moreover, Jinjiang does not require users to register before they post
(accessed 3/5/08).
comments. Although technically Internet addresses can be traced, users
can assume as many Web identities as they wish. As a result, users not only
sport numerous outlandish Web names, but they also feel free to express
their interest in taboo topics more frankly than they might otherwise
feel comfortable doing. With relatively relaxed rules on censorship and
intellectual property at Jinjiang, users find it an ideal space not only to
escape the daily humdrum of life and make time for themselves, but also
to air their feelings and thoughts freely. Jinjiang's interactive features
thus make it possible for users to find entertainment and nurturance
regardless of geographical distance and class stratification, to let loose
their creative impulses by experimenting with and reinventing existing
cultural products, and, ultimately, to constitute an alternative social
community.
After undergoing a series of improvements and upgrading, the Net
settled on the current layout. Each Web page is vertically divided into two
large "blocks," and each block further divided into two columns, with
one wider than the other. In the upper block, the text occupies the left-
hand and wider column and is prominently displayed in black characters.
Also occupying this column is a row entitled "Author's Words," which
is set off from the text by a black line and displays authors' comments
and responses to readers' remarks in a distinctive smaller green typeface.
Side by side and to the right of this text column lies a narrower column,
also divided into two parts vertically. The upper row in this narrower
column displays chapter headings of the whole work, while the bottom
row, entitled "Author's Recommendation," allows authors to recommend
other works at Jinjiang in a small gray typeface (fig. 1).
The upper block, mostly featuring author's activities, is then divided
by advertisements from the bottom block of the page, which showcases
readers' activities. Readers can grade each installment and leave comments
in a commentary space placed in a wide column that is positioned at the
left-hand side of the bottom block and also right underneath the text
column above it (fig. 2). To the right of this column of reader comments
Figure 1: Text, Author's Words, and
comes a narrower column of "Comments of Author's Choice," for authors Author's Recommendations: http://www.
to highlight reader comments that they have found most appealing and jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=165485&
chapterid=66
profound. Thus, we can see that three major players shape the text:
authors, readers, and, least obvious but equally essential, Webmasters.
The " Omnipotent " Webmaster
Webmasters work as both the original architects and maintenance crew

of the website. They offer a variety of services and tutelage to its users,
such as instructing prospective authors on how to create tightly knit plots,
to display text in a more attractive format, and to approach publishers.17 Figure 2: Commentary Space and
More important, they not only establish the interactive devices and rules Webmasters' Rules: http://www.jjwxc.
net/onebook.php?novelid=299690&cha
of the Net, they also continually moderate the roles of author, reader, pterid=1
and text. In this regard, the commentary space, set up by the webmasters,
warrants particular attention. 17 URL: http://bbs.jjwxc.net/board.
ph p?boa rd= 1 8&page= 1 (accessed 3/5/08).
The commentary space allows readers to input both a score and
comments for each chapter of a work. In recording numerical scores
given by readers, the space serves as a barometer of the popularity of the
work and the author. However, the webmasters emphasize the quality of
readers' comments. Prominently displayed at the side of each commentary
space are the following regulations: (1) open communications with the
author are highly encouraged; (2) commentators may grade one chapter
only once but can post comments as often as they like, provided that a "0"
score is given with additional postings; (3) commentators may not copy
and paste large amounts of the original text as part of their comments;
(4) commentators may not cite other commentators' words excessively
in their own remarks; and (5) commentators may not pile up nontextual
symbols in their comments or paste an all-purpose commentary. Needless
to sayf the webmasters also discipline reader behavior: they waste no
time cracking down on what they see as irregularities in grading and
commentary, issuing warnings to violators and adjusting cumulative
points accordingly.
The commentary space forms the basis of Jinjiang's well-regulated
ranking system. Using a mathematical formula to calculate the points
18 Points = number of hits/number of accrued by each work,18 webmasters produce four lists that rank for
chapters *Ln (total number of characters
overall, half-year, quarterly, and monthly accumulative points of works, as
in the text) * average points + Ln (total
number of characters in commentaries well as four other lists that showcase and encourage the following: newly
of over one-thousand-character) *
joined authors, authors who update their texts most frequently, and
grades on commentaries) + additional
points given to quality commentaries. works recommended by Jinjiang webmasters and readers, respectively.
These lists do not just reflect the tastes of Jinjiang readers, but they also
help to attract readers to particular themes, genres, and authors and add
to the followings of certain authors and works. In this light, the ranking
system works to both represent and form communities of readers and
authors.
The commentary space generates authoritative rankings and plays

a crucial role in shaping reader and author behavior by facilitating the
free exchange of information, opinions, and (positive) feelings. Like users
of other Chinese websites, Jinjiang readers and authors share among
themselves a unique "Web language" (Zhou 2000). They often use initials of
pinyin spellings, Arabic numbers, emoticons, words from other languages,
or Chinese characters of similar pronunciation to replace the actual
characters. The circulation of this sort of written patois unintelligible to
the uninitiated demarcates the boundary between insiders and outsiders.
This is especially useful for danmei fans, among whom certain "jargon"
phrases, many of them lifted from their original Japanese,19 are widely 19 See, for example, http://www.lerqu.
net/bbs/50001 84/html/tree_5002091 8.
circulated not just to produce a sense of community but also to protect html (accessed 7/28/08).
them from unwanted attention and censure from society. However,
danmei fans also take time to educate novices and alert each other to
new works worth pursuing. The content of their communications induces

feelings of recognition and identification more effectively still.
Because of the serialized nature of the novels, readers' comments
and authors' responses often involve negotiations over plot and
characterization. But as far as its complex and multifaceted functions are
concerned, the commentary space combines the functions of a writer's
workshop, an opinion column, and a social space. Here the authors and
readers discuss novel writing in general and rhetorical devices in particular.
They also express their opinions on a variety of controversial topics such as
homosexuality, rape, and polygamy, occasionally branching into political
satire with wordplay on current political slogans. Perhaps because it is
more important than acquiring new knowledge and ideas, readers and
authors navigate to this space because of the social energy and emotional
support that it offers. The authors and readers often exchange season's
greetings and tell each other about changes and problems in their lives,
such as unemployment, marriage, and pregnancy. In return, they receive
not only consolation and congratulations but also practical help.20 For 20 See, for example, URL: http://www.
jjwxc.net/onebook. php?novelid=141437&
instance, when one author told readers about her loss of job, fellow chapterid=86 (accessed 3/18/08).
readers responded with numerous comforting comments.21 They even post
21 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.
calls for Japan to apologize for forcing Asian women into sexual slavery
php?novelid=245091 &chapterid=64
during World War II,22 obviously assuming some degree of homogeneity (accessed 3/3/07).
in ideology from their peers. That Jinjiang provides users with a haven
22 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/comment.
from daily toil and tribulations, such as a tedious job or draining family php?novelid=923638tchapterid=278tpage
=2 (accessed 3/9/07).
situation, is a resonant theme in these extratextual exchanges.
The Courting Author
While the commentary space allows readers to make their voices heard
and heeded, other interactive tools help authors to seek out and also
shape readers' responses to their works. Authors often respond directly
to reader comments in the commentary space and post in the "Author's
Words" column. Moreover, they mark certain long commentaries as
"high quality" and list the links to them beside the commentary space
to encourage substantive discussion of their work. The authors' wen'an,
the summary passage at the top of the page of the table of contents,
demonstrates this gesture of reaching out to readers especially well (fig.
3). In addition to providing some clues to the plot, authors often use
this space for a variety of other purposes: to describe the inspiration for
their text; to state their opinion on sexual matters; to introduce other
websites that concurrently publish their novels as a backup in case Jinjiang
experiences technical problems; to inform their readers of their frequency
Figure 3: Author's wen'an: http://www. of updating; and to paste images and links to particular movie clips or
jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=299690
music that they regard as appropriate accompaniment to the text.
This wen'an space helps authors to forge authorial personae and to
manipulate reader responses; it also enables authors to make their work
user friendly by providing information on content and ideological bent
and to seek readers who share similar values, or who are at least attracted
to their work for its setting, plot, and protagonist; and authors can pointto
other texts, films, images, and music that their work invokes. Furthermore,
authors also use this space to solicit feedback, and thus extend to readers
a virtual invitation to participate in the creation of the work. For example,
the author of Didi dou shi lang (Younger brothers are wolves), perhaps
an unintended ironic twist on the idea of "brotherhood" that supports
the narrative economy of male-centered premodern vernacular novels
and contemporary fiction, settled on this title after sending out a call
23 URL http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook. and receiving numerous suggestions from readers.23 Oftentimes authors
php?novelids1 56436&chapterid=34
(accessed 3/16/07).
also play the role of webmasters by reiterating the rules of commenting
and grading so that they can receive more points from readers. As with
the commentary space, wen'an can be seen to allow authors to form
supportive cohorts and communities by making the text more "reader-
oriented" and more responsive to the plethora of readers' comments.
The Productive Reader
Despite authors' attentive courtship, however, Jinjiang readers show

remarkable independence as a group. Although willingly collaborating
with authors in the creation of texts, they sometimes also defy authorial
intentions and authority. Some point out mistakes or inconsistencies in
plot. Others ask the author to move the plot in certain new directions. Still
others even bring in external sources to argue for their own interpretation
of the work and make demands on the author. At times readers also
recommend other Web-based works to their fellow readers, which would

seem to shift readers' attention and commitment to other works but
further strengthens the bond among readers because it acknowledges

shared tastes, enforces homogeneity, and demonstrates collective
reader independence from a particular author or text. Discussions in the
commentary space sometimes also lead to the creation of other texts as
spin-offs or parodies of a work published at Jinjiang, creating a type of
fan fiction usually self-styled as sequels to the original.24 Thus, readers
24 For example, the popular time-travel
romance Bubu jingxin (Suspense at every
have come to take up both the traditional task of the author to produce
step) (http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.
texts, and that of the webmasters to regulate user conduct and enforce
php?novelid=38029 [accessed 3/15/08])
generates numerous comments and
communal behavior on the Web.
reviews, as well as several "sequels" at
As a result of the lively conversations between webmasters, authors,
Jinjiang, including this one: http://www.
jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=181060
and readers, texts published at Jinjiang display extraordinary fluidity. This
(accessed 3/15/08).
can be seen, first, in the different kinds of border crossing that Jinjiang
makes possible. Specifically in the case of danmei but also in other Web-
based popular romances in general, Jinjiang works often describe and
even celebrate moral and sexual transgressions otherwise not condoned
by society. Moreover, behavior generated by these works challenges both
the traditional demarcation of media and the boundary between author
and reader. Since most works published at Jinjiang incorporate elements
of music, cartoon, and cinema, the boundaries between the literary
text and other genres and media also become increasingly blurred.
Furthermore, each work published at Jinjiang is in a perpetual state of
flux, as it undergoes endless editing, modification, and even deletion.
Because authors aspire to high ranking and positive reception, they
take pains to respond to comments left by webmasters and readers. The
reading community of any work is thus able to produce almost concurrent,
"interlinear" (Rolston 1997) commentary that can change the shape of
the text precisely because of the speed of response and the instantaneity
of results. Given that high-ranked novels at Jinjiang often catch the eyes
of publishers, this malleability on the author's part is not just a goodwill
gesture to attract a greater following, but also an effective way to make
their manuscripts publishable and perhaps profitable (Yin 2005: 30-31).
Perhaps most interesting for researchers of fiction writing, Jinjiang
authors and readers also experiment with innovative devices that
considerably change the standard form of popular romance. A perfect case
in point is their use of fanwai ( bangai in Japanese) to insert a chapter that
tells the story from the perspective of a character other than the female
protagonist (also often the first-person narrator) of popular romance.
Fanwai, "special features" in cinematic terms, denotes scenes that have
been shot but edited out of the final version of the film. By using this
device, the author creates an interstice in the first-person narrative and
generates unique reading effects. Although the flow of the plot seems
to be interrupted, fanwai allows readers to see another side of the story.
This device can be used to provide a glimpse into male psychology and
to correct a fatal flaw in print romances in which the transformation of
the hero from a sadistic antagonist to a gentle and caring lover remains
unexplained at the time the transformation occurs (Radway 1984: 147).
But more important, in using fanwai the author can induce affective
identification by making the reader see the gentler side of the male figure
and thus understand, if not endorse, the protagonist's relationship with
him. Oftentimes, fanwai becomes not only a teaser to attract readers but
also a bargaining chip for authors to appease readers' insatiable appetites
to get to the main story as quickly as possible - for in fanwai, authors can
repeat previous scenes and hint at future developments without actually
delivering new chapters. At the same time, fanwai also attracts readers to
participate in the writing of the novel. Some readers post fanwai chapters
in their commentaries, while others individually or collaboratively turn
their fanwai into fan fiction in a different space25 and thereby transform 25 See, for example, http://www.jjwxc.
net/onebook.php?novelid=1 54277
from readers into authors. Jinjiang thus inculcates an interactive and (accessed 1/28/07).
reader-oriented style of writing and a community of writers and readers,
and makes the boundaries between webmasters, authors, and readers
increasingly fluid and their identities mutually constitutive.
Textual Poaching
Michel de Certeau has used the term "textual poaching" to describe a kind
of guerrilla-warfare tactics employed by members of a subordinate group
that entails appropriating from mainstream culture in order to challenge,
negotiate, or alter the system and products of the relatively powerful
from their position of relative powerlessness (De Certeau 1984: 184).
Of course, it is never wise to exaggerate Jinjiang women's "resistance"
to the status quo, for they are, as Matt Hills puts it for fans generally,
"simultaneously inside and outside processes of commodification" (2002:
44). After all, the increasing commercialization of Web publishing,
which can also be seen in Jinjiang's history, has caused scandals of "click
fraud" (faking high numbers of user clicks in order to get Web novels
published and sold in print form) that even implicated bestsellers
such as Mingchao naxie shi'er (Stories from the Ming dynasty) (Qin
2007 a). Yet, it is nevertheless true that thanks to the various Web
features mentioned earlier, consumers of danmei fiction at Jinjiang
often metamorphose into its producers, who can effectively engage in
acts of "textual poaching". That is to say, while Jinjiang users defend
their rights to female-centered entertainment and to consumption of
popular culture, they also add new twists to existing tropes, texts, and
other cultural elements, and thereby produce meanings outside officially
sanctioned interpretive practice and generally accepted social norms. As a
result, danmei fiction reflects, on one hand, one crucial feature of popular
culture: its appropriation and parody of existing mainstream cultural
products. On the other hand, it also reveals the gender-inflected fantasies
and anxieties of Jinjiang women in the ways they simultaneously comply
with and recast danmei conventions.
Like other types of Jinjiang romances, danmei fiction frequently

appropriates things from existing cultural artifacts and then reframes
and resignifies them. Jinjiang authors often express deep dissatisfaction
with their predecessors, even as they acknowledge many culture products
26 See, for example, http://blog.sina. in print, on the Web, and on TV as sources of their inspiration.26 They
com .cn/u/4a6d 1 f d001 0009jg (accessed
3/6/08).
show no patience with "insipid" heroines in popular Chinese romances
such as authored by Qiong Yao, a female author whose works spread
from Taiwan to the mainland starting in the 1980s, and frequently
parody her melodramatic narration. They also disparage blatant male
fantasies in male-authored time-travel novels, unflatteringly calling
them "stud ( zhongma ) fiction" because they depict male protagonists
who, endowed with superhuman prowess, invariably change history
27 See, for example, http://www.jjwxc. and acquire numerous beautiful women in the process.27 Consequently,
net/onebook.php?novelid=173864&cha
pterid=63 (accessed 7/30/07); and http://
romance novels at Jinjiang often display self-conscious differences in
www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=2 setting, characterization, and ethos from existing works even as they pay
28479&chapterid=25 (accessed 3/6/08).
tribute to them through the very act of parodying them.
Top-ranked heterosexual romances at Jinjiang share the following
characteristics. First of all, certain elements of fantasy prove essential to
attract readers. While relatively realistic contemporary urban settings
do appear in Jinjiang fiction, the trope of time travel, futuristic imagery,
and elements of the paranormal and fairytales are all prevalent themes
in these works. Furthermore, the heroine in high-ranked titles differs
widely from those in Qiong Yao's works. Jinjiang authors generally do
not appear enthusiastic about disseminating the myth that women's
ultimate fulfillment is only possible through marriage and domesticity,
once a favorite theme of both Chinese and Western popular romance.
Moreover, they do not promote the guixiu model prevalent in premodern
Chinese romance: women who not only possess poetic talent but also
hold "higher standards of behavior when it comes to piety, chastity,
or other forms of self-sacrifice" (Widmer 2006: 229), a type that has
often been replicated in Qiong Yao's heroines. Rather, the heroine in a
Jinjiang work often possesses character traits traditionally associated with
masculinity. Jinjiang authors often celebrate the heroine's achievements
in traditionally masculine occupations such as commerce, politics, and the
military, as well as her sexual peccadilloes, including simultaneous (and
at times incestuous) relationships with multiple partners. Moreover, the
heroine's single-minded pursuit of control over her own life, if not money
and status alone, at times trumps any considerations of the ethical code or
the collective good and defies any forces and attempts at subjugation.
For example, high-ranked Jinjiang romance Wan qingsi (Coiling up
black hair), which was later published in multiple volumes in print form
(Huashan wenyi, 2007-8), portrays a modern woman who travels back
in time to inhabit the body of another woman, survives abduction and
rape, and achieves amazing feats in her checkered career: she becomes
a much sought after courtesan, a successful business owner, a mistress
and manager of a prominent family and clan, and a political player in
court conspiracy and a coup. At one point in the story she even enters the
28 See http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.
underworld in pursuit of her lover.28 Readers also share authors' penchant
php?novelid=1 30145 (accessed
for heroines with strong personalities and control over their lives. In their 12/28/08); and http://www.du8.com/
books/oututxt33086/66.shtml (accessed
comments, they tend to criticize female characters who have forsaken 12/28/08).
notions of gender equality, and demand from them a modern or feminist
consciousness, even while acknowledging that such behavior would be php?board=258tid=5785 (accessed
anachronistic and improbable in the plot.29 3/5/08).
Following this general trend of "female supremacy" seen in Jinjiang
romances that depict heterosexual relationships in a patriarchal society,
matriarchal and danmei narratives seem to further challenge patriarchy
and heterosexism. Although I focus here on danmei fiction, a few words
about matriarchal narratives can further illuminate the new developments
in Web-based popular romance. Nüzun, or matriarchal narratives, have
an original model in the Chinese novel Jing hua yuan (Flowers in the
mirror). Written by Li Ruzhen (1763-1830 CE), it describes a group of men
who encounter various kingdoms in their travels overseas, including a
matriarchy where women serve in public roles while men have bound
feet, wear makeup, are confined to domestic spaces, and generally have
to comply with traditional gender expectations normally associated with
women. The nüzun novels at Jinjiang take this model a step farther.
As Keith McMahon (1995: 288) argues, Flowers in the Mirror in effect
paints women in a matriarchal society as only the "grotesque . . . mirror
image of the male tyrant," for they turn the table on men once they gain
power. In comparison, matriarchal tales at Jinjiang depict women as wise,
strong, and successful while doling out to male characters physiological
and psychological traits traditionally seen as feminine and negative. They
often describe men as vain and jealous and even have them experience
30 For example, Sishi huakai by menses, childbirth, and breastfeeding.30 Although the more sophisticated
Gongteng Shenxiu, http://www.jjwxc.
net/onebook.php?novelid=91 786
Jinjiang readers point out that such narratives only reverse patriarchal
(accessed 3/5/08). gender hierarchy without eliminating gender inequality,31 matriarchal
narratives attract faithful followers at Jinjiang who find such works
php?board=25&id=5706 (accessed entertaining and empowering.32
3/6/08).
Danmei fiction, therefore, seems to be the natural next step on this
32 URL: http://bbs.jjwxc.com/showmsg. spectrum of gender bending because its female authors focus on the erotic
3/6/08).
relationships of male figures for female readers' delectation. Like other
types of popular romance at Jinjiang, danmei fiction makes use of discrete
cultural elements by liberally incorporating characters, settings, devices,
and narrative gestures lifted from both canonical and popular Chinese
literature. Furthermore, while Jinjiang danmei works, especially danmei
fan fiction, pay tribute to popular culture, their unique reconfiguration
of danmei conventions by deploying the trope of time travel reveals the
complexity and even contradictions inherent in their relation to Chinese
culture and society.
Danmei Fan Fiction
Danmei tongren, or fan fiction with danmei content, often lifts characters
and settings from existing works and adds portrayals of homoerotic
relationships that do not exist in the original. Works that have generated
most danmei fan fictions at Jinjiang include: canonized premodern
vernacular Chinese novels known collectively as the Five Masterpieces (wu
da mingzhu), such asSanguoyanyi (Three kingdoms), Shuihuzhuan (Water
margin), and Xiyou ji (Journey to the west); xin wuxia, or new martial
arts, novels set in premodern periods though written by contemporary
authors such as Jin Yong; popular TV dramas in mainland China, such as
the recent hit Shibing tuji (Soldiers attack); Western bestsellers such as the
Harry Potter series; and Japanese manga classics.
In rewriting canonical works into homoerotic romances, authors
of danmei fan fiction undoubtedly employ egao (spoofing), a form of
parody that is rife in Chinese popular culture, especially on the Internet, in
order to undermine mainstream cultural products, phenomena, or icons.
A Web-induced subculture that first appeared in Japan, egao spread to
Web writings in Taiwan and popular movies produced in Hong Kong, such
as the classic egao film Dahua xiyou (Exaggerated tale of Journey to the
West) featuring Zhou Xingchi (Stephen Chow), before it finally landed in
mainland China (Wang 2008: 6-7). For example, a campaign to "rewrite"
titles of the premodern vernacular masterpieces caught nationwide media
attention in 2007 (Anon. 2007). Mimicking what they have called the "style
of Zhiyin" (Kindred soul), a Chinese magazine known for the sensational
titles of family dramas that it adopts in order to attract readers, users came
up with several gems of egao. "Baoban hunyin, yichang jiapo renwang de
renjian canju" (Arranged marriage: a human tragedy that broke a family
and killed people), reads one rewritten title for Dream of the Red Chamber.
"Cong beijian dao ziqiang, san xiongdi de kuangshi jilian" (From humble
to self-made: unprecedented perverted love between three brothers) is
the title for Three Kingdoms produced by another creative soul.
Danmei fan fiction at Jinjiang often utilize similar types of comic
spoofing and sly subversion. As San Liu's Chuanyue cheng Yin Zhiping,
or, Time-Traveled to Become Yin Zhiping, a danmei fan fiction of Shediao
yingxiong zhuan (Tale of the eagle-shooting hero), a "new martial arts"
novel authored by Jin Yong, illustrates, use of egao can generate a kind of
"participatory culture" (Jenkins 1992) by invoking widely known devices
and characters. This novel starts with the journey of a man who dies in a
car crash and then wakes up in the body of Yin Zhiping, a young Daoist
priest and a minor character in Jin Yong's work. After summarizing and
dismissing in a sarcastic tone various genres that he might have entered,
such as the social or ethical drama, detective story, martial arts novel/
fantasy, and horror/ghost story, he concludes that he has made his way
into the "lowly" ( bu ruliu) time-travel genre. He then anxiously waits to
find out whether his time-travel tale was produced by authors at Jinjiang
or Qidian, a Chinese literature website known for its male-centered "stud
fiction" novels, while listing hackneyed clichés in popular "BG" ("boy's
33 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook. and girl's") or BL fiction, and so he goes on and on.33
(accessed 7/27/08).
This interior monologue, more than four thousand characters in total,
constitutes the entire first chapter of this high-ranked danmei fan fiction.
Rather than advancing the narrative, the author pays a tongue-in-cheek
tribute to various existing popular genres, while sending a complicit
wink to readers, her fellow danmei fans wise in the ways of narrative
conventions of popular fiction. Her audience fully reciprocates her playful
spirit. Amid exclamations of "excellent" and "encore," they also demand,
in comments left below this chapter, that she "persevere with egao to the
very end." In employing egao, danmei authors reinforce the bond between
themselves and their readers through the invocation of both a shared
knowledge of and a playful irreverence toward the canonic universe of
the original work. Needless to sayf Web features of Jinjiang, such as its
indispensable commentary space, ensure the flourishing of author-reader
exchanges and help generate a culture of reader participation.
Time Travel in Danmei Fiction
Appropriations from existing cultural artifacts do not merely generate

comic relief, of course. The frequent deployment of time travel - a stock
trope in popular Web fiction - in danmei, for instance, shows that it also
enables fans to reimagine and reposition gender relations. The rise of time-
travel popular fiction can be attributed to Xun Qin ji (Tale of seeking Qin;
ca. 1991), a fantasy written by Hong Kong writer Huang Yi and adapted
to a popular TV series in 2001 . This novel tells the story of a special forces
soldier who travels back to the Warring States period (475-221 ВСЕ) and
helps the Duke of Qin to reunify China and establish the first Chinese
dynasty. The hero's sexual conquests as well as his miraculous deployment
of modern knowledge have spurred widespread imitations on the Chinese
Web. Women have also utilized the trope of time travel to write romance.
Xi Juan, a female author from Taiwan, describes the romantic adventure
of a young woman traveling back to the Song dynasty (961-1279 CE) in
her novel Jiaocuo shiguang de ailian (Love that crosses time, 1993), which
has met with wide commercial success and reader acclaim.
Do danmei time-travel novels only use homoeroticism as a gimmick

34 URL: http://cache.tianya.cn/
to pique those palates long jaded by the numerous tales of heterosexual publicforum/content/f uninfo/1 /1 8061 7.
time travelers (Yang 2006: 66)? Or, as some have accused, do women like shtml (accessed 7/27/08).
danmei only because they "selfishly" think that in the danmei world there 35 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.
is no female competition for male attention,34 and that they could thus php?novelid=270152&chapterid=36;
http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?
"permanently possess the man [they] love"?35 Works and comments left by novelid=2701 52&chapterid=38 (both
both authors and readers at Jinjiang challenge such simplistic assertions. accessed 3/6/08).
Quite different from the picture of immoral, delusional, and
perverted women that detractors have painted, users at Jinjiang prove
to be highly self-reflective and frequently criticize the downside they see
in danmei works. Echoing Chinese danmei fans elsewhere, who promote
"purest human love" and espouse self-restraint so that they would not
bother real-life gays (Ji 2008: 14-15), Jinjiang fans condemn voyeuristic
curiosity about homosexuals and express concerns about the potential
36 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook. negative effects of explicit sex scenes on underage readers.36 Danmei
php?novelid=1 73901 &chapterid=1
authors at Jinjiang, furthermore, generate openness and sympathy
(accessed 3/14/07).
toward homosexuality in contemporary China. Through their works they
not only have changed readers' preconceived idea, inculcated by society
37 For instance, one reader comments at large, that homosexuality is pathological and immoral,37 but also, in
that influenced by mainstream TV
shows and movies, she had considered
some cases, are starting a dialogue with gay people in China by using
homosexuality "the equivalent of their real-life experience as model. For example, the author of Zuihou
perversion" until two years ago, when
de lianren (Last lover) reveals that her work is based on the true story of
she started to access certain gay-
oriented Web sites and danmei works. her younger brother and his gay lover, whose experience she witnessed
Ibid.
and who wrote the story collaboratively with her.38 In response, one male
38 See, for example, http://www.jjwxc. reader recalls his own secret love for a male classmate, and concludes
net/onebook.php?novelid=279517
with these remarks: "This kind of love (between men) is much purer than
(accessed 8/1/08).
the so-called 'normal' love that is actually tainted by greed in this world.
They (the characters) are much more moral than those men who marry
today and abandon their wives and children tomorrow. Please be happy!
Only if you are happy, can those of us who are reading [your story] be
39 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook. happy!"39
php?novelid=27951 7&chapterid=66
Although disparaged by detractors as "pseudo-c/anme/," time travel
(accessed 12/26/08).
that enables a woman to change into a man finds favor with a significant
number, if not the majority, of Jinjiang fans. For example, of the five
danmei works that rank among the top ten on Jinjiang's list of all-time
favorites, three feature a modern woman traveling back to the past to
40 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/topten. inhabit the body of a man.40 A survey at Jinjiang's discussion forum also
php?orderstr=7 (accessed 12/26/08).
yields a considerable number of respondents who wish to travel to the
past and become powerful men in history.41 This desire to transform into 41 URL: http://bbs.jjwxc.com/showmsg.
men can be partially explained by their belief that primitive hygienic 3/6/08).
conditions of ancient times posed great danger to women's reproductive
health.42 Another reason behind their interest in a male body lies in their 42 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.p
hp?novelid=97910&chapterid=1 (accessed
disappointment with heterosexual relationships. As an author remarks 3/6/08).
through the mouth of a time traveler, heterosexual love is too often spoiled
by "money, reputation, house, family, children, and parents" and only love
between men can "transcend worldly concerns."43 But most compelling 43 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.
to Jinjiang women is their shared conviction that only by becoming a (accessed 3/6/08).
strong man can a woman survive and thrive in a male-dominated world.
As claims the author of Xieyang ruoying (Slanting sun like shadows), a
high-ranked work that tells the story of a woman changing into a man
through time travel, a woman "needs to become strong and independent
to survive in a ruthless patriarchal society."44 Thus, sex change matters 44 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.
php?novelid=1414378cchapterid=26
because it enables women to shed the burdens of their female bodies
and disadvantageous gender identity to seize power; in that sense, its
function is not so dissimilar to cross-dressing, another popular trope in
Jinjiang works.
Therefore, time travel in danmei works reveals not only Jinjiang
women's yearnings for a romantic love that transcends mundane
considerations, but also their wish for independence and power in a
patriarchal society. Furthermore, combined with the unique narrative
conventions of danmei fiction, the employment of time travel
demonstrates female users' productive reworking of the cultural import
that is danmei and helps them to explore gender and sexuality under the
guise of producing and consuming fantasy.
The Androgynous Reader

Some scholars have argued that slash fiction - recasting popular culture
products such as the Star Trek series by inserting homoerotic content - is a
means to "retool masculinity" for contemporary American women (Penley
1991: 135-161). In other words, they can imagine what ideal masculinity
would be like by writing about romantic love between male figures who
combine masculine power with feminine nurturance. Yetf examples from
Jinjiang show that although illuminating in its characterization of the
ideal hero, this theory fails to account fully for the complex process of
character identification that occurs in reader reception of danmei fiction.
As will be demonstrated below, Jinjiang users produce and consume
danmei not only to fantasize about ideal masculinity, but also to imagine
themselves as empowered or at least as agents who are freer than allowed
by their current situation. To put it simplistically, danmei enables them
to "impersonate" a version of idealized masculinity, if only temporarily
and imaginatively. We can see this especially clearly in danmei works that
feature time travel.
For one thing, the trope of time travel, where the soul of a modern
man or woman is refitted into the body of another man, helps to rationalize
all kinds of transgressions in danmei. For example, this trope allows for
the characterization of a homosexual relationship as a heterosexual
relationship in disguise, but it also absolves incest by suggesting that
transmigration of the soul changes the essence of an individual. As a
result, time travel often makes possible the circumvention of social and
cultural taboos ruling sexual relationships. For instance, readers of Xibei
(Northwest), a past champion of Jinjiang's half-year rank list, root for a
match between the male time traveler with either his father or his half-
brother in the other world, even while acknowledging that society would
45 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook. never permit this kind of incestuous relationship in real life.45
(accessed 3/30/08). In their anxiety to "normalize" danmei relationships through
the invocation of time travel, Jinjiang users clearly do not possess the
same degree of insouciance as either their Japanese peers or the more
hardcore Chinese danmei fans associated with other websites, and feel
more the pressure to profess their adherence to Chinese social and ethical
norms. However, they also unequivocally defend their right to fantasy
and entertainment precisely by characterizing danmei as fantasy, or
YY, short for yiyin, a term meaning "lust of the mind" that is found in
Dream of the Red Chamber. They not only cite male precedents in various
cultural products, such as the infamous "stud fiction," but also charge
that the patriarchal society lashes out against them only because men
feel profoundly threatened by women's need for sexual exploration and
expression.46 More important, danmei attracts readers perhaps precisely 46 Ibid.
because its narrative conventions, including exotic setting, androgynous

protagonists, and stylized erotica, can successfully produce fantasies.
Danmei as Beautiful Fantasy
The central generic requirement of danmei- to depict ideal love between

beautiful men - can produce a unique reading effect of distancing
readers from the fictional world. Like other types of Jinjiang romance, the
most popular danmei works often adopt historical, futuristic, or foreign
settings, or appropriate from the canon of "classics" in the case of fan
fiction, in order to add an exotic flavor to their narratives. Even works with
contemporary settings are usually not portrayed in a realistic fashion. For

example, the homoerotic relationship between male characters is usually
described as being serenely accepted, if not fully embraced, by their
family and friends. This kind of "idealized" and idyllic milieu generates
a sense of distance even while attracting readers with the novelty of the
fictional world. Moreover, in danmei works, male protagonists invariably
possess great physical beauty, to the point of appearing androgynous at
times (fig. 4), perhaps also echoing conventions in premodern caizi jiaren
(Scholar and beauty) fiction. This kind of setting and characterization
not only assign danmei works to the realm of fantasy, rather than that
of the realistic representation of contemporary Chinese society, but also
provide readers with the freedom to make-believe and play-act (more on
Figure 4: A danmei hero: http://www.
this later).
jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelids2916B8
Furthermore, it should be noted that consistently top-ranked danmei &chapterid=115
novels at Jinjiang mostly avoid gratuitous sex or violence, characteristics
typical of an earlier, more hardcore type of danmei fiction when Chinese
authors first experimented with this genre by borrowing from Japanese
models. Although many (but not all) danmei works contain explicit and
copious depictions of sexual encounters, physical acts are often glossed
over, while metaphors, euphemisms, and aesthetically rendered details of
the setting, costume, and male body carry the narration. Indeed, sharply
diverging from conventional pornography that aims at a predominantly
male audience and focuses on specific physical acts, sex scenes in Jinjiang
danmei works are often deployed to facilitate characterization and create
a mood of intimacy. The description of the first sexual encounter between
two star-crossed lovers in Yisheng guzhu zhi wenrou (Throwing away a
life recklessly just for tender love) can serve as a good case in point.
Changsheng and Zishi (a modern man who has traveled back to the
ancient past) are progenies of two distinguished families in two warring
states. The two of them meet under perilous circumstances. Changsheng,
warrior prince of the invading state, has sustained a serious injury in the
war of conquest that his father launched, while Zishi, after losing his own
father, the former prime minister of the fallen state who decided to take
his own life, flees the capital with his younger brother and sister. Zishi
rescues Changsheng without knowing his true identity, and they move
into a "peach blossom springlike paradise" ( taoyuan xianjing) deep in
the mountains. Far from the war and carnage of the outside world, the
47 URL: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook. "ineffable" beauty of this utopia "cannot even be captured in words."47
The two young men soon fall in love with each other. One day they meet
by a hot spring, set against blue skies, craggy mountain cliffs, and a green
bamboo grove:
Changsheng moved closer to Zishi little by little, until finally there

was no room between the two of them. Ten fingers clasping tightly
onto Zishi's back, he did not move for the longest time.
Zishi felt surprised that although Changsheng's breath on his face
was hot enough to melt his flesh, his body was like an ice-sealed
rock. After waiting a little while in silence, Zishi opened his eyes
and read in Changsheng's face patience and tenderness, as if these
feelings were etched onto his heart. His heart suddenly twisted,
Zishi raised his hand to touch Changsheng's handsome eyebrows
and eyes: "Changsheng . . ."
This sigh-like call at once ignited the person on top, making

every inch of his skin burning-hot. Changsheng hugged Zishi and
trembled slightly: "I am afraid that you would be hurt."
Sigh, what a loveable dummy! Hooking his arm around

Changsheng's neck and bringing his face down, Zishi murmured
in his ear: "Do not hold back. . . . Come on ... I will teach you."
Changsheng felt as if he were placed in the celestial alchemist's

furnace, being smelted by the celestial fire together with Zishi,
until they were finally transformed into the elixir of life and lived
forever with heaven and earth, the sun and the moon. He also
felt as if he were turning into smoke and ashes, scattered into the
vast universe, his soul splintering into tiny pieces, and his body
and spirit both completely gone in one instant. . . .
At last, he opened his eyes once again to green grass and his
ears to tinkling blue water.
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(accessed 8/1/08).
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example, "ten fingers claspin
at the physical act of sex b
their loving words, and emp
were put inside a furnace a
forever scattered into the un
emphasizes their intimacy no
behavior, but also by revea
depicting them as reciprocat
also uses images and hyper
"earth," "sun," and "moon" to
love. Revealingly, after a spe
returns to the same beautifu
love: "green grasses and blue
their love because it posses
human greed and cruelty as
death, and family tragedies i
and draws readers into a w
pleasure about the consumma
love. This depiction of homo
readers, because it eschews g
49 Ibid., readers' comments. through an aesthetically pre
Jinjiang danmei readers devi
women" who joined Lucifer
The Danmei Hero as Combination of Ideal Masculinity and Ideal
Femininity
Danmei fans at Jinjiang identify with the male perspective in the narrative,
rather than merely getting thrills from the novelty of depictions of
homoerotic love or from seeing what ideal men can do to each other,
which is how Penley has described slash fans in the United States (1991:
135-161). Indeed, danmei fans reveal what the American romance writer
Laura Kinsale (1992: 31-43) calls "the androgynous reader" in female
audiences. American female readers of popular print romance often claim
that rather than identifying intellectually and emotionally with a vapid
heroine, they often use her as a "placeholder" and imagine themselves
taking her place to experience the fictional world. Furthermore, they
come to identify with the hero's point of view since he is the one who
possesses the power to bring everything under control (Kinsale 1992: 32).
Seen in this light, it is hardly surprising that danmei readers relate to a
male figure because he is the orienting force of the narrative.
Above all, we should note that danmei fans at Jinjiang vary in how
they identify with characters and harbor complex and nuanced motives
for producing and consuming danmei. In identifying with more powerful,
aggressive figures {gong) in danmei relationships, some female fans show
that their sexual desires do not "naturally" fall within the boundaries of
their gender identities. For instance, in response to a male critic's taunt
that women read danmei fiction only because they wish to replace the
passive party in the homosexual couple and be overpowered and ravished
by the other, a female respondent retorts: "I actually wish to overpower
and ravish men."50 A fan I interviewed also admits that she identifies with 50 URL: http://bbs.jjwxc.com/showmsg.
php?board=9&id=239 (accessed 3/5/08).
the more aggressive party because identifying with the more passive
party (shou) would make her "feel violated and injured" when reading
sex scenes.51 51 Interview, Shanghai (June 27-28,
2009). Again, I omit the name of the
Wei Wei (2008: 11) finds that in works published at Lucifer "the time- interviewee to protect her privacy.
traveler in the new world becomes, no matter how hard 'he' tries, shou
[the passive party] in the relationship eventually." In contrast, a significant
number of danmei authors and readers at Jinjiang insist that a modern
time traveler, whether originally male or female, always end up the more
aggressive, "masculine" party in the couple after entering the other
52 See, for example, the author's world.52 For instance, the author of Feng ba tianxia (The phoenix that reigns
wen'an, at http://jjwxc.net/onebook.
the world),53 one of the consistently top-ranked novels on Jinjiang's list of
php?novelid=1 65485 (accessed 7/28/08).
all-time favorites, reverses the model of male supremacy and promiscuity
prevalent both in popular "stud fiction" such as Tale of Seeking Qin - the
php?novelid=59052 (accessed 7/29/08).
prototypical contemporary time-travel fantasy mentioned earlier - and
premodern vernacular novels such as Yesou puyan (A country codger's
words of exposure) byXia Jingqu (1705-1787) (McMahon 1995: 152), even
as she freely borrows from them to delineate the time traveler's amazing
feats and sexual prowess. Although sometimes mocked as "conquering
the whole world in bed," this woman-turned-into-man time-traveler
displays precisely the kind of masculine aggressiveness characteristic of

heroes in male-authored works: he sets out to acquire various beautiful
and powerful men and through them, rule the kingdoms that they each
have brought as "dowry."
However, there are also fans at Jinjiang who favor the more passive,
androgynous party of the couple. Some find this type of male beauty
more attractive than "rugged masculinity," while others claim that
they could easily imagine "bullying" ( qifu ) androgynous characters and
54 Interview, Shanghai (June 30, 2009). asserting their power over them.54 Still others use danmei to escape into
a vague reminiscence of their prepubescent years of freedom, before
they become disillusioned by the social reality of gender discrimination
and sexual violence against women and fettered by female sexuality
and responsibility. Some fans claim that they were first drawn to danmei
because they felt "uncomfortable" exploring their sexuality by reading
romances of heterosexual relationships during their adolescent years.
Danmei fiction, by contrast, provides a venue for them to gain sexual
knowledge without the potential psychological burden of identifying
with a heroine who faces life issues too similar to their own (Yang 2006:
66).
Whatever particular motives and preferences fans reveal, it can be
seen that the generic conventions of danmei fiction facilitate the process
through which Jinjiang fans can "suture" with a danmei protagonist
(Silverman 1983: 195). Danmei in effect provides a "masculine fictional
construct" through a male impersonator, just like the Japanese Takarazuka
theater, in which women play male roles (Nakamura/Matsuo 2003: 59-76).
In other words, it creates an imagined "beautiful young man" who can
combine the best of masculinity (externally) with the best of femininity
(internally). Even though male protagonists in danmei are not universally
"androgynous" in appearance, a danmei hero represents, to borrow
Mark McLelland's (1992: 92) words for the Japanese cultural context, a
kind of "androgynous intermediary between the sexes, uniting the best
of male and female." That is to say, the hero can enact ideal femininity
stipulated by patriarchal gender codes, in that he is beautiful, gentle,
and nurturing, but without the jealousy and other negative qualities that
women sometimes associate with their female peers. On the other hand,
since he is gendered male, he can enjoy more opportunities and encounter
fewer constraints than women, and thereby fulfill ideal masculinity by
thriving in his career and gaining power in the public realm. Additionally,
his sexual orientation guarantees that he would never direct sexual
aggression toward women; his beauty, whether androgynous or not, can
offer a non-threatening version of masculinity for female savoring and
identification.
Danmei thus creates heroes who are a combination of ideal
masculinity and ideal femininity, and thereby makes it possible for

fans to take on different gender positions through its production and
consumption. This overarching generic feature can also explain the
apparently cavalier fashion in which it treats rape. Bizarre and improbable
as it may sound, danmei stories abound with instances in which a man
dismisses his experience of being raped by another man as only "being
bitten by a rabid dog" (since he will not get pregnant) and blithely goes
55 This is a frequently expressed along with his life as usual.55 Some may argue that the plot of men being
sentiment when the male protagonist
raped in danmei fiction constitutes a gesture of "acting out" - that is to
has been subjected to sexual violence.
See, for example, http://www.jjwxc. say, women put male characters through the ordeal of rape out of an
net/onebook.php?novelid=148809&chap
unacknowledged, subconscious desire to retaliate against a patriarchal
terid=11 (accessed 7/28/08).
culture that often "blames the [female] victim" of sexual violence.56 This
56 As recent as last year, heated
can be corroborated by frequent outbursts of reader outrage and demands
debates arose over two criminal rape
cases: one woman was praised for to "punish" (nüe) certain male figures that they see have wronged the
resisting rape even though it resulted
(male or female) protagonist in Jinjiang romances. It can also be detected
in life-threatening physical injuries,
while another woman was criticized in some fans who, as mentioned earlier, claim that they enjoy imagining
for providing the perpetrator with a
"bullying" danmei protagonists. However, since it is often the gentle,
condom to avoid STDs and pregnancy.
androgynous protagonist rather than the aggressive one who falls victim
to sexual violence, danmei authors include such incidents perhaps also for
the sake of highlighting his survival from and triumph over rape. Seen in
this light, some female fans favor androgynous beauty in male figures
perhaps because they could thus not only neutralize the potential threat
of aggressive masculinity, but also more easily identify with, and, indeed,
imagine themselves as a beautiful and strong protagonist who will not
be derailed by sexual violence but will continue with his normal course
of life. The ubiquitous trope of time travel and its universal popularity,
needless to say, further testify to the way that danmei facilitates Jinjiang
fans' gender swapping through fantasy.
Conclusion
The kind of transference made possible by danmei fiction raises an

attendant set of issues. As hinted by Jinjiang users' preference for a
male body when time traveling, and also reflected in some matriarchal
narratives and danmei works in which men are saddled with menses and
child-birth, these women may have a problematic relationship with their

own body. Moreover, at least for those fans who confess to having used
danmei as a way to evade or replace the exploration of their own female
sexuality, it appears that they have internalized traditional Chinese sexual
and gender norms, especially male stigmas against female sexuality, since
they only feel "comfortable" talking about "male" sexuality. Indeed, in
light of the way rape and other types of sexual violence are treated in
danmei fiction, we can even say that a great deal of repression of female
sexuality still exists among many danmei fans, even as they apparently
subvert patriarchal rule by imagining a world in which men take on all
the trials and tribulations that currently burden them.
Yet, although fans of danmei fiction at Jinjiang display a cultural
sensibility similar to what Sharon Kinsella (2000: 124) finds in Japanese
manga fans, such as uncertainties about their gender identities and
frustrations with heterosexual relationships as they are constituted in
contemporary society, they are far from being what Japanese mainstream
discourse has accused manga fans of being: "stubbornly self-absorbed,
decadent and anti-social" (in Wei 2008: 4). Rather, consuming and
producing danmei romance provides a venue for these women to explore
and represent what Carl Jung called their animus, a masculine part inside
female subjectivity often repressed by conventional gender codes, if only
by adopting the strategy of writing and reading about "the other" in
order to know oneself.
Furthermore, Web-based danmei fiction not only changes the shape

of popular romance by introducing innovative literary devices (such as
fanwai ) and a different type of gender positioning, but it also enables
reading and writing practices that are significantly different from the norm
established by modern print media. More specifically, in facilitating a kind
of "textual poaching" or "guerilla tactics," it opens up new possibilities of
border crossing for Chinese women. Only time will tell whether these new
developments in Chinese Web literature will permanently change fiction
writing in general and Chinese society at large. Yet, as Ian Watt claimed
in his classic study The Rise of the Novel, the growth of profit concerns
impelled publishers to reach out to a wider "reading public" (1962:
52-53)f while increasing mechanization provided more leisure time for
women in the eighteenth century, thereby making it possible for women
to contribute to the psychological and realistic turn of the novel in their
capacity as legitimate authors and readers who needed to see their tastes
and preferences represented in this genre. Ellen Widmer (2006: 238-240)
shows in her analysis of sequels to Dream of the Red Chamber written in
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century China that in targeting an emerging
female audience, authors emphasized more the "psychological" (qing)
rather than "physical" (se) manifestations of eroticism and saw to it
that good was rewarded and bad punished and that there was always
a happy ending. Moreover, as mentioned, the female users at Jinjiang
take a leaf from the marginalia and commentary common in premodern
fiction texts and actively participate in the (re)shaping of fictional works
through their copious online commentaries. It is thus not inconceivable
that shifts in contemporary Chinese society, such as the proliferation of
Internet access and increasing participation of female users, would bring
about transformations not only to the form of Chinese fiction but also to
the mores and sensibilities of society.
Stuart Hall (1981: 228) rightly points out that popular culture is
neither "wholly corrupt [n]or wholly authentic," but rather "deeply
contradictory," characterized by "the double movement of containment
and resistance, which is always inevitably inside it." Readers and authors of
с/алте/ fiction at Jinjiang are not wholly or always resistant to or complicit
with mainstream culture, but rather continuously reevaluating their
relationships to the text and reconstructing its meanings according to more
immediate interests. After all, Jinjiang women inhabit a contemporary
reality where gender discrimination in education and employment is still
rampant, and family burdens fall on women's shoulders whether or not
they have a career outside home. Web-based danmei fiction establishes a
new platform for them to explore their subjectivity, challenge dominant
cultural norms, and cross gender and generic boundaries.
websites such as Jinjiang constitute an important cultural force in
contemporary China, given the sheer volume of participation and response
that they generate. The example of Jinjiang shows that they allow users
to temporarily overcome geographical distance and class difference to
share their conscious or unconscious aspirations, fantasies, and desires
with relatively little danger of exposure and penalty. Furthermore, they
provide texts that satisfy users' consumption of popular culture and,
through interactive features, effectively create social interactions about
and around those texts. Jinjiang provides an alternative community where
women can have easy access to a creative outlet as well as emotional
nurturance. Perhaps the beauty of producing and consuming Web-based
danmei fiction boils down essentially to this: it offers Web users an
opportunity to recast themselves, to transcend geographical, ideological,
gender, and class boundaries, and to imagine themselves roaming the
Internet initiating nurturing encounters with fellow users at will.
Glossary
Baidu
"Baoban hunyin, yichang jiapo ЙШ&Я,
renwang de renjian canju" AtllRlAISIfMH
bishonen
bu rul iu
caizi jiaren
Changsheng
Chuanyue cheng Yin Zhiping
"Cong beijian dao ziqiang, '{кЩ-ШШШШ,
san xiongdi de kuangshi jilian" НЯЙЁЭДВШЙШ
Dahua Xiyou ЛпЁВШ
danmei 3fcü
Did i doushi lang
egao
fanwai
Feng ba tianxia
gong a
Honglou meng
Huang Yi ЩЩ,
Jiaocuo shiguang de ailian filili
Jin Yong £JU
Jing hua yuan Ш#Ж
Jinjiang Щ) I
Minami Ozaki
Mingchao naxie shi'er
nüe jM
nüzun
pinyin Ш=Ш
Qidian íBIfi
Qin Ш
qing tf
Qing if
Qiong Yao ШЩ
sangao НШ
San Liu E./Š
Sanguo yanyi НВЯШ
se fe
Shediao yi
Shengda
Shibing tuji ±ЙШ1
shou
Shuihu zhuan тКлгИ®
taoyuan xianjing ЭДШШШ
wen'an
Xibei Щ Jk
X¡ Juan ÜÍI
Xia Jingqu ЖШ1
Xieyang ruoying
Xiyouji шйне
XunQinji ШШпИ
Yesou puyan iÍÜBi Ш
Yisheng guzhu zhi wenrou - ^M/ÍJS/fifE
yiyin ШШ
yuanchuang wang JSffflŽH
Zetsu'ai
Zhiyin
zhongma ЯЩ
Zhou Xingchi ДШЙ
Zishi =¥Щ
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"Addicted to Beauty": Consuming and Producing Web-based Chinese "Danmei" Fiction at

The Internet is changing the Chinese social and cultural landscape in

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 1

As a contribution toward filling this scholarly gap, I focus in this essay

sophisticated, and in-depth discussions among its users by frequently

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 3

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 5

identify themselves as gays or lesbians, though this piece of demographic

Three Players and the Text

Users of Jinjiang identify it as a place to find entertainment, satisfy

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 7

The " Omnipotent " Webmaster

Webmasters work as both the original architects and maintenance crew

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 9

The commentary space generates authoritative rankings and plays

new works worth pursuing. The content of their communications induces

The Courting Author

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 11

The Productive Reader

Despite authors' attentive courtship, however, Jinjiang readers show

recommend other Web-based works to their fellow readers, which would

further strengthens the bond among readers because it acknowledges

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 13

increasingly fluid and their identities mutually constitutive.

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 15

Like other types of Jinjiang romances, danmei fiction frequently

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 17

Danmei Fan Fiction

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 19

Time Travel in Danmei Fiction

Appropriations from existing cultural artifacts do not merely generate

Do danmei time-travel novels only use homoeroticism as a gimmick

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 21

The Androgynous Reader

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 23

because its narrative conventions, including exotic setting, androgynous

Danmei as Beautiful Fantasy

The central generic requirement of danmei- to depict ideal love between

contemporary settings are usually not portrayed in a realistic fashion. For

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 25

Changsheng moved closer to Zishi little by little, until finally there

This sigh-like call at once ignited the person on top, making

Sigh, what a loveable dummy! Hooking his arm around

Changsheng felt as if he were placed in the celestial alchemist's

тштт . шшхш т-шя, тттт, шм±л ж

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 27

шшшяе.ШЖХ шштшп, ííé

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 29

displays precisely the kind of masculine aggressiveness characteristic of

Danmei thus creates heroes who are a combination of ideal

masculinity and ideal femininity, and thereby makes it possible for

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 31

The kind of transference made possible by danmei fiction raises an

child-birth, these women may have a problematic relationship with their

Furthermore, Web-based danmei fiction not only changes the shape

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 33

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 35

Anon. 2007. "'Zhiyin ti biaoti' egao mingzhu" (Using

Barboza, David. 2008. "China Surpasses U.S. in Number of Internet Users."

Во Во 2007-2008. Wan qingsi ШШШ (Coiling up black hair). 5 vols.

CNNIC. 2009. "Di ershisan ci Zhongguo hulianwang fazhan zhuangkuang

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture • 37

Foster, Thomas. 2000. "Trapped by the Body?': Telepresence Technologies