No sex please, we're skittish
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Historical perspective

By working through the six parts of the exhibition, including sex worship in ancient China, sexual physiology and psychology, ethics and morality, and reproductive health, one can begin to gain a deeper understand of sexual urges from a variety of viewpoints and with a historical perspective, said Ma.

"Through the exhibition I just wanted the general public to perceive sexuality properly and become more open about it as a part of human nature, rather than treating it as a social taboo," he said.

Also, exhibitions of this kind can help to correct widespread public misunderstandings about the nature of sexuality, such as the stigmatization of masturbation and oral sex, and the reasons that cause people to abstain from pursuing quality sex lives, he said.

"Some men with sexual dysfunction simply refuse to consult a doctor," he added.

Chinese society was much more tolerant of sexual practices in the days before the Song Dynasty (AD 420-479), so depictions of sex from that period are much more explicit, according to Ma.

For example one piece, a Stone Age sculpture, depicts a couple engaging in reciprocal oral sex, a practice that "is the same today", he said.

Compared with contemporary attitudes, the ancient Chinese were actually quite open about sex, he said.

Confucius considered sex as simply an intrinsic part of human nature: "Food and sex are the essential desires of human beings," explained Ma, quoting the great philosopher.

The change in attitudes occurred during the Song Dynasty, he added. Human desires, including sex, have been suppressed since then and have gradually become taboo in mainstream Chinese culture.

"That's actually the governing class's method of exercising greater control over its subjects, through the suppression of their natural desires," he noted.

Wang Runguo, a Beijing based journalist, said he was originally appalled by the explicit, if not downright pornographic, exhibits, but was eventually won over.

"That (the museum) was 100 percent worth visiting. I was not sure if I'd learn anything, but I did get to see and understand some things I hadn't before," he added.

 

Author： 　　　Source：People's Daily　　　 Editor：Wu Qiong