Jiru () was a trusted personal servant of Emperor Gaozu, the founder of China's

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

. Louis Crompton claims that Jiru was Gaozu's pillow companion, or homosexual lover, and that Jiru had more access to the emperor than did ministers.

Louis Crompton Louis Crompton (April 5, 1925 – July 11, 2009) was a Canadian scholar, professor, author, and pioneer in the instruction of queer studies. Born to Master Mariner Clarence and Mabel Crompton, Crompton received an M.A. in mathematics from the Un ...

, ''Homosexuality and Civilization'' (Cambridge, MA and London,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

, 2003) Citing . Jiru was documented by

Sima Qian Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years b ...

in the ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese hist ...

'': Gaozu's example of effectively elevating a male lover to the top of the administration would be followed by nine more rulers of the Han Dynasty. This relationship was especially noted because Gaozu was a former brigand with coarse manners, while Jiru was considered elegant.

References

2nd-century BC Chinese people Ancient Chinese LGBT people Chinese gay men Male lovers of royalty {{China-bio-stub