JIAQING FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN IRON RED AND OF THE PERIOD (1796-1820)

Dong Xian was a Han dynasty official who ascended quickly to a powerful position, many attribute his success to his personal relationship with Emperor Ai (Aidi, BC 21-1), who was considered bisexual. The inscriptions refer to an anecdote where Aidi woke up one day with the young man Dong Xian cradled on his arm sound asleep. So as not to disturb Dong, Aidi cut off his sleeve and slipped out his arm to attend to his court duties. The term 'passion of the torn sleeve' came to be synonymous with male homosexual love. Upon Aidi's premature death, Dong was dismissed, which resulted in his suicide and that of his wife. The Emperor Jiaqing was known to be a frugal and conscientious monarch, and hence this cautionary tale would have appealed to him.