'''Hong Ru''' (閎孺) (also '''Hong Yu''', '''Hong Jiru''') (fl. c. 190 BCE) was the favorite companion of the Chinese Emperor Hui of Han.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Milburn |first=Olivia |date=2022-06-09 |title=Spring Colors in the Han Palace: A Late Qing Reappraisal of the Life of Empress Zhang (202-163 BCE) |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/nanu/24/1/article-p70_2.xml |journal=NAN NÜ |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=70–94 |doi=10.1163/15685268-02410037 |issn=1387-6805|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shi |first=Liang |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ph4vBQAAQBAJ&dq=%22+%E9%96%8E%E5%AD%BA%22&pg=PR5 |title=Chinese Lesbian Cinema: Mirror Rubbing, Lala, and Les |date=2014-10-23 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-8848-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=小明雄 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oFhxAAAAIAAJ&q=%E6%BC%A2%E6%83%A0%E5%B8%9D+%E9%96%8E%E5%AD%BA |title=中國同性愛史錄 |date=1997 |publisher=粉紅三角出版社 |isbn=978-962-85160-1-8 |language=zh}}</ref> He and the emperor were also reputed to possibly be lovers.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hinsch |first=Bret |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LmEC1b1bncC&dq=%22Emperor+hui%22+Hong&pg=PA36 |title=Passions of the Cut Sleeve: The Male Homosexual Tradition in China |date=1990-08-10 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-91265-6 |language=en}}</ref> Hong Ru had much influence with the emperor, and his dress and cosmetics were imitated by other courtiers in an attempt to impress the emperor. These noblemen began wearing feathers in their hats, powdering their faces, and dangling sea shells from their clothes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crompton |first=Louis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyrnEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Emperor+hui%22+lover&pg=PA219 |title=Homosexuality and Civilization |date=2006-10-31 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-25355-1 |language=en}}</ref> Hong Yu was documented by China's Grand Historian Sima Qian.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Stevenson |first1=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aCElrXLgJukC&dq=%22Emperor+hui%22+Hong&pg=PA19 |title=Homoeroticism in Imperial China: A Sourcebook |last2=Wu |first2=Cuncun |date=2013-02-11 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-13175-3 |language=en}}</ref>
==Sources== *''Homosexuality and Civilization'' by Louis Crompton
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hong, Ru}} Category:LGBTQ people from Imperial China Category:Male lovers of royalty Category:2nd-century BC Chinese people
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