丁嘉怡
Since 1995,
Taipei City Government has put tremendous efforts into sweeping off
prostitution. The mayor announced that he would enforce this action
strictly in order to maintain the quality of life for the citizens. He
encouraged all the police to keep working hard for the goal and promised
to keep at the lowest level any possible disturbance that prostitution
might create for the citizens. The Taipei City Government may regard
prostitution as the root of degradation and chaos, and the Taipei
citizens may view those working women as corrupted beings that will
corrupt our society; however, such feelings are by no means universal.
In fact, prostitution has helped enrich China』s glorious history as
well as smoothing over possible social unrest .
In ancient China,
most men of letters seemed to have strong affections towards
prostitutes; and prostitutes had been one of the main sources of
inspiration for these men. For instance, most of the prose work in Sung
Dynasty could be regarded as dedicated to the prostitutes.
《雨霖鈴》,
written by柳永in
Sung Dynasty, describes the heartbreaking departure between the author
and his lover-prostitute vividly;
《蘭陵王》and《少年游》,
written by 周邦彥also
in Sung Dynasty, describe well the tangled relationship among
周邦彥、陳師師—the
famous prostitute at that time and
宋徽宗.
《圓圓曲》,
written by 吳梅村in
Ming Dynasty, is another literary work written about the strong
affection of 吳三桂
toward a prostitute—陳圓圓,
which eventually caused Ming Dynasty』s downfall. All in all, when those
men of letters were happy, they relaxed with their favorite prostitutes
and interpreted their works through the prostitutes』 singing. When they
were frustrated, they depended on prostitutes for comfort and
understanding, and throughout these ways, those men of letters would
never lack inspiration. Beside prose work, there are also many
biographies written about famous prostitutes, such as
《賽金花》、《桃花扇》、《李師師》、and《小鳳仙》.
Those
prostitutes in the biographies are described as 「unique women」;
賽金花
has been regarded as the most splendidly legendary (even wise) woman in
the biography; 小鳳仙
is described as a very rare woman who does not blindly follow the
stereotypes; and 李香君
is as an undefiled and courageous prostitute. Even our modern society
seems to be haunted by the prostitute attraction. The
winner of Nobel Prize in Literature,
V. S. Naipaul,
once confessed that he is grateful for the comfort
and pleasure those prostitutes provide because he is too busy to get a
fine mistress. As a failed man in marriage, Naipaul couldn』t just
confess his frustration and keep blithering with his pals; at that time,
nothing worked better than the caresses and tenderness from these
working women for venting the emotion and feeling inspired again.
Prostitutes have
provided men not only with inspiration for literary creations, but also
confidence, respect, and
compliments. Sexual transactions are not just dealings in money and
sex; it involves men』s most secret and unrealizable dreams—they
sometimes yearn to be immersed in carnal desire, gaining sweet pride and
temporary excitement. Michel
de Montaigne, who was a great essayist and philosopher in
France in the sixteenth century, had once written that the Persian kings
often invited their queens to the banquets. However, when the kings
were at high glee with alcohol, they would send the queens back to their
sleeping chambers while they themselves indulged in carnal pleasure. It
suggests that men not only get relief from sexual enjoyment, the sex
also testifies to their ability and dignity as men.
Throughout
history, prostitutes have played multiple roles in men』s creative lives
as well as political lives, and mostly for the benefit of men. If you
happen to find your boyfriend/husband having a love affair or loving to
go to nightclubs, do not just roar at them and call them nasty. If you
want to completely own/control your man, you may want to figure out
their inexplicable addiction, and if you really care for your man,
sometimes it pays to learn to be a prostitute for him!