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GUEST BIO

Shreya Sharma, pronouns she and her, is a podcast marketer by day who finds herself immersed in questions about intersectional identity by night. Thankfully for her, she is a writer too. She occasionally publishes her love affairs with sounds and audio on the Shreya's Audio Affairs newsletter on Substack..

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Host: Lazou

See the FULL SHOW NOTES for references, links & more.

Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community.

• Introduction & content warnings
• Third Gender as spiritual leaders/ people with special powers
• • Asog Babaylans (Philippines)
  • Manangbali (Malaysian Borneo)
  • Hijras (South Asia)
  • Bissu (South Sulawesi, Indonesia)
  • Bayasa (Central Sulawesi, Indonesia)
  • RatoNale/Seaworm Priest (West Sumba, Indonesia)
  • Balian and Basir (Kalimantan, Indonesia)
• Sexuality as fluid
• • Chigo (Japan)
• Beyond the Western model
• • Gay & Lesbian non-equivalence
  • Baklâ (Philippines)
  • Heterosexuals and Lesbians in Thailand vs. the West
  • Kathoey (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia)
  • Gender ambiguity in premodern Muslim societies
  • 5 genders of the Bugis culture (Indonesia)
  • Intersex
• Outro
• Discussion with TONIE

Featured Song: More Than My Body by TONIE

Guest scholars:

• Sachi Schmidt-Hori, professor of Japanese literature & culture at Dartmouth College.
• Wu CunCun, ⁠⁠professor of Chinese literature at the University of Hong Kong⁠⁠.

Guest co-host

TONIE is doing their very best to make you cry, in all the best ways. The LA-native writes and produces each synth-pop track from the comfort of their skylit home studio in Brooklyn, NY — a perfect backdrop for the emotional vulnerability that colors their lyrics. Proudly Vietnamese American, nonbinary, and themselves!

TONIE can be reached on Instagram & TikTok and their website Itstonie.com

Connect with Nuances: Our Asian Stories on Instagram, TikTok, Threads or YouTube

Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community.

• Introduction & content warnings
• China – Literacy as a barrier (Prof. Wu)
• China – Li Yu's "The Fragrant Companion" (read by Karen)
• China – Lesbian consort in the Ming dynasty (Prof. Wu)
• China – Wu Zao
• China – Golden Orchid Societies
• Korea – Deposed Crown Princess Sun Bin
• Japan – Lesbian sex toys
• Iran – The cross-dressed woman (Niloofar Rasooli)
• Discussion with Karen

References - in the shownotes on nuancespod.com

Episode transcript: COMING SOON

Guest scholar:

• Niloofar Rasooli, doctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
• Wu CunCun, ⁠professor of Chinese literature at the University of Hong Kong⁠.

Guest co-host bio:

Karen Zheng is a first-generation, queer, Chinese-American poet. Her poetry has been featured in Sine Theta Magazine, Honey Literary, Benningham Review, Harbor Review and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference, Roots. Wounds. Words, Chicago Storystudio, and The Poetry Lab. She has been a finalist for Harbor Review’s Washburn Chapbook Prize. In her free time, she hosts the Mx. Asian American podcast and Tucked in Bed podcast. Find out more about her on her website and listen to Mx. Asian American here and here.

You can also follow us on all social media: @nuancespod

Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community.

Ep. 1: In search of Prince Charming and his King

• Introduction & content warnings
• Official records (Prof. Wu)
• China - The Half-eaten peach (read by Edmond)
• China - Lord Longyang (read by Edmond)
• China - Passion of the cut sleeve
• China - Duke Jing (read by Prof. Wu)
• Korea - King Mokjong & King Gongmin
• Vietnam - King Khai Dinh
• Pakistan - Shah Hussain & Madhu Laal
• Discussion with Edmond - thoughts on the stories
• Discussion with Edmond - cultural significance
• Discussion with Edmond - queerness & our Asian parents
• Beyond the gentry class (prof. Wu)

Episode transcript: COMING SOON

Guest scholar: Wu CunCun, professor of Chinese literature at the University of Hong Kong. She specializes in gender & sexuality in late Imperial Chinese literature and culture. She is widely published in both English and Chinese.

Guest co-host bio:

Corpus Christi, Texas native Edmond Chan (Historical violin family instruments) has performed with many early music ensembles and orchestras in the United States, Europe, and Hong Kong, some of which include Tempesta di Mare: Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra, Brandywine Baroque, the Dryden Ensemble, the Washington National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra, Holland Baroque, l’arte del mondo Köln, and the Early Music Society of Hong Kong. He is first prize winner in the 2022 International Clara Schumann Competition, and second prize winner in the 2022 France Music Competition. Edmond holds a master's degree in Baroque violin from the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht: Utrechts Conservatorium in the Netherlands where he studied with Antoinette Lohmann. His master’s thesis entitled “The Fashionable Violinist: Fashion and How to Hold the Violin in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries” explores the relationship between 17th and 18th century clothing and period violin performance, and how this relationship can better inform historical violinists (and historical musicians in general) on performance practice techniques. Edmond also holds an Artist’s Certificate in Baroque violin from the Koninklijk Conservatorium den Haag where he studied with Kati Debretzeni and Walter Reiter. Edmond has taught and lectured at conservatories and universities in Europe and the United States along with workshops in Ecuador and Hong Kong. When Edmond is not teaching, performing, or continuing his research into historical clothing, he enjoys cooking, swimming, running, going on bike rides, and playing board/card/computer games with friends and family.

@brqvlnfoodie on Instagram | TikTok

My gender identity and who I’m attracted to is nature, right? Well, actually it’s complicated.

Everything I thought I knew about love, gender and sexuality has been turned upside down. Hi, my name is LAZOU and I'm the host of Nuances: Our Asian Stories. Typically it’s an interview show but I’m switching things up for season 5 with a limited series called Queering Premodern Asia.

Why? Because before the modern era, there was a LOT of sexual diversity in Asia. But I bet your Asian parents didn’t know that. How do I know? ¼ of my interviews were with queer Asians and one theme that often came up is feeling a disconnect with their Asian culture because queerness is taboo in their family. But being queer wasn’t always taboo in Asia and there’s a lot of research to back this up. It’s all out there but unless you’re in that field, you probably don’t know about it. This is where this series comes in.

Prof. Wu CunCun: “We have 24 official Chinese history and 23 have special catalog about the emperor’s male favorite”

There’s the prince charmings and the Kings who adored them in China, Vietnam, and Korea, dating back to 500 BC. There’s the premodern Japanese version of BTS that had monks wrapped around their *cough* finger. The sufi poet and his lover who became one and are still celebrated every year with a festival in pakistan. A lesbian play written in China in 1651. Cross-dressing women in premodern Iran. Korean princesses who slept with their maids. Gender fluid deities in the Philippines and India. There’s even a god of same sex love in China. There’s so many stories and I can’t wait for you to hear them.

Join me and my queer guest host to uncover the hidden roots of our queer Asian history. Whether you’re straight like me or queer, I promise you it will be fascinating.

Queering Premodern Asia drops on June 2nd, 2024.

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or go to nuancespod.com to learn more. You can also follow us on all social media: @nuancespod