it is so jarring and weird when a fantasy book is like “ok let’s go around the circle and have each character talk about which lgbt umbrella category they identify with” like ok your fantasy world doesn’t have to be feudal europe but can it not be 2023 twitter please
If you are, in fact, in ancient China, the words you are looking for are:
Mojing 磨镜 if you are a commoner. It literally translates to “mirror polisher”, because the act of rubbing a cloth over a copper mirror was a metaphor for lesbian sex. Note that this term is used to describe a relationship between two women, rather than the sexual orientation of an individual.
Duishi 对食 if you are a royal woman or maid living in the royal palace. Originating in the Han dynasty, this term literally translates to “eating together”, which is another metaphor for lesbian sex (of a different variety from the one described above 👀). This term is, again, used to describe a type of relationship, not an individual’s orientation. In the royal palace, this kind of relationship was often between a high ranking woman and a low ranking woman, and was frowned upon due to the difference in rank.
For example, during the Han dynasty, Emperor Wu’s empress consort Chen had an affair with a woman named Chu Fu, who dressed like a man and slept with the empress “like husband and wife.” When the affair was discovered, Chu Fu was accused of witchcraft and executed, and the empress was stripped of her title and banished.
So yeah, if you are in ancient China, you can totally say “I prefer to polish mirrors and share my meals with women, if you catch my drift…” 👀👀👀
