Geji

Geji was a courtesan entertainer in ancient China，they served as singers and dancers in society, providing performances and social functions for the educated emperor, nobles and literati class.^[1][2][3]Geji were also allowed to have Sexual and romantic relationships with their wealthy patrons.^[4][5]Concubinage was legal in ancient China, and upper-class men could choose a geji to be his concubine. Many geji would also use art and poetry to attract potential husbands.^[6]Gejis need to undergo rigorous training in performing arts and cultural courses, after which they are hired to perform at banquets, official ceremonies, court gatherings and even religious events.Gejis have made certain contributions to the development of ancient Chinese music, dance, poetry, painting and zaju.

Early singing and dancing in ancient China also originated from sacrifices. The earliest dance used by the Han Chinese to worship gods, drive away plague and avoid epidemics, express peace was called "Nuo dance".^[7]Wizards and witches would sing and dance during sacrificial activities. These witches who participated in singing and dancing may be the predecessors of later gejis.^[8] Gejis in the usual sense originated from the court culture of the Xia Dynasty, and then developed from the court of the Xia Dynasty monarch Jie to the folk.^[9]In Chinese history, in addition to the title of gejis, the main titles include wuji(舞妓), yueji(樂妓) and female musician(女樂) etc.^[10]In ancient Chinese society, gejis like other performers, had a low social status as an entertainer class, but because of the love of music and dance in Chinese culture, music, dance, poetry and other arts were widely sponsored by educated upper-class people, even the emperor was a patron of art. Music and dance are indispensable in Chinese social activities, which have strict etiquette requirements.^{[11][12][13][14]}Geji is one of the performers and inheritors of these arts. These gejis receive training in art and etiquette in order to please patrons with artistic and cultural accomplishments in performances and social activities.^[15][16]Han E was a geji in hanguo during the pre-Qin period. She won applause and generous rewards with her superb singing skills. People shed tears and danced to her singing. The people near Yongmen in Qi State were good at singing crying because of the influence of Han E, which left behind a well-known historical story.^[17]

Mo Chou, a geji of the Chu State in the late Warring States Period, made friends with famous poets Qu Yuan and Song Yu, received guidance and help from them. Mo Chou sang ancient and elegant repertoires, blending Chu Ci with songs, she completed the singing of the elegant repertoire "Yangchun Baixue(陽春白雪)".^[18]There were a large number of gejis active in the court of Qin Shihuang Ying Zheng. These gejis were once from the original six kingdoms. They played musical instruments such as bells and drums in the Qin court.^[19]During the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che was fascinated by Wei Zifu and Lady Li, who were both gejis. He liked their superb singing and dancing skills very much,they both became empresses one after another.^[20]

Gejis receive strict training at a very young age. They need to receive training in cultural courses such as singing, playing musical instruments, dancing, poetry etc. They also need to learn etiquette and tea culture.^[21][22]Gejis also participated in the singing of ancient Chinese Yuefu music. During the Southern Dynasties, literatis who had close contact with gejis learned new forms and transformed the songs sung by gejis into literary carriers.^[23]Palace poems often depict gejis singing and dancing, they played musical instruments to entertain guests at banquets. The emperor also praised the gejis for their excellent pipa playing skills.^[24]During the Northern Wei Dynasty, dance culture flourished, professional dancing girls or female dancers widely participated in dance performances.^[25]

During the Tang and Song dynasties, the culture of gejis was considered to have reached its peak.^[26] Literatis and gejis created poetry together and exchanged poems with each other. Many poems were written by male literatis and then adapted into songs by gejis.Tang Dynasty literatis looked to gejis for inspiration for their writing.^[27]Some gejis composed their own songs, even popularized a new form of lyrical verse that incorporated quotations of famous historical figures.^[28]Some gejis were poets themselves, Tang poetry and Song Ci were also sung by gejis. Gejis sang poems in the form of songs, playing a key role in the spread of ancient Chinese poetry.^[29][30]During the Tang and Song dynasties, it became fashionable for literatis and aristocrats to invite gejis to go on outings, such outings were inseparable from singing, dancing, drinking and tea tasting.^[31][32]During the Tang Dynasty, emperors highly patronized the arts. The gejis in the Tang Dynasty's Jiaofang had high artistic attainments and also enjoyed high treatment and status.^[33]Xue Tao, Gongsun Daniang and some gejis were praised by the people and the upper class. Xue Tao was called "female Jiaoshu(女校書)" because of her outstanding literary talent.^[34]Gongsun Daniang can perform various sword dances.^[35]The gejis in the Song Dynasty were good at singing "xiaochang(小唱)" and "piaochang(嘌唱)". The gejis sang and danced, beat the rhythm with their hands,the male musicians next to them provided accompaniment with musical instruments. Many gejis were also outstanding and famous singers.^[36]Song Huizong Zhao Ji was also an artist himself. He was fascinated by the geji Li Shishi and began a romantic relationship with her.^[37]Liu E and Empress Yang of the Song Dynasty were both empresses who were born as gejis, they also achieved certain achievements in art.

During the Yuan Dynasty, gejis as the main actors of Yuan Zaju, directly participated in the stage performances of Zaju and also participated in the creation of poetry and Sanqu. The geji's exquisite singing, dancing and shuochang skills had a great influence on the dance and singing of Zaju.^[38]In the late Ming Dynasty, gejis who were well-acquainted with male literati were trained in high cultural arts and produced their own paintings, poetry and calligraphy.^[39]Gejis did not just perform poetry at gatherings, many gejis were also professional writers and artists, just like the male literati.In the last few decades of the late Ming Dynasty, writing poetry had even replaced singing and dancing as the most basic criterion for defining an elite geji.^[40]Some gejis from the late Ming dynasty continued to perform singing and dancing as geji in the Qing dynasty. During the Qing dynasty, geji Lang Yuan(郎圓) performed the famous Tang dynasty dance "Zhe Zhi(柘枝)" at noble family banquet and was praised.^[41]The playwright Li Yu (李漁) formed his own family theater troupe. The main actresses in Li Yu's theater troupe, Qiao Ji (喬姬) and Wang Ji (王姬) were both former geji. ^[42]

Similar to the Japanese geisha tradition, the main function of the ancient Chinese gejis was to provide performance and social services to guests, sex was often incidental, gejis were known for their literary and artistic skills.^{[43][44][45][46]}Traditionally, gejis as female entertainers who performed in public, they were usually not allowed to marry during their careers^[47][48], but they were allowed to establish cohabitation relationships with their patrons, like a mistress.^[49][50]The women in the "Yang Gang(揚幫)" and "Pearl River Cruise(珠江遊船)", they are sometimes considered gejis and sometimes directly considered as prostitutes. These women may have the dual identities of gejis and prostitutes.^[51][52]Although in some cases, some gejis may provide prostitution, this was not a part of her profession as a geji and regarded as separated from it.^[53][54]Gejis also led fashion trends to some extent. Gejis were proficient in dressing and makeup, their dressing would even lead other women to follow suit. ^[55]Gejis had special art teachers, male musicians taught them music skills, some famous calligraphers and painters would also take gejis as students. ^[56][57]Some gejis had high artistic skills themselves and also participated in teaching young gejis.^[58]Prostitute in ancient China were usually called "changji (娼妓)". Some prostitutes who served the upper class also received artistic and cultural training, but many prostitutes did not even have the opportunity to receive artistic and cultural training. Gejis were high-class courtesans serving the educated upper class,some gejis were also artists.^[59]Gejis also provided performances for female guests at family gatherings.^[60]In Dunhuang culture, gejis used music and dance to worship gods.^[61]Among the “Four Great Female Poets of the Tang Dynasty”, Xue Tao and Liu Caichun were both born as gejis. Xue Tao was also the first female innovator in the history of Chinese calligraphy and the first female innovator in the history of Chinese papermaking. ^[62][63]Ma Shouzhen was born as a geji, was the first female drama writer in Chinese history and the first woman in Chinese history to form a family-run Kunqu troupe.^[64] The geji Xue Susu was the only female Go with historical records in the Ming Dynasty.^[65] The geji Han Yuesu was the first female seal engraver in China to be recorded in the “Yinren Zhuan(印人傳)” as a seal engraver.^[66]

Zhu Sulan(朱素蘭), a geji and female tanci entertainer during the Xianfeng period founded "shuyu(書寓)",she was the first woman to establish a female storytelling venue.The storyteller gejis of the time were the highest class of courtesans, similar to Japanese geishas who distinguished themselves from prostitutes, but were also allowed to establish intimate relationships with their patrons.These storyteller gejis receive training as musicians in childhood and need to pass an exam to enter the industry. They also participate in cultural events organized by male and female storytellers, they are hired to perform in theaters, teahouses, restaurants and other places.Starting in 1860, "changsan(長三)" prostitutes gradually replaced gejis. Some storytelling gejis gradually withdrew from their profession. At the beginning of the 20th century, the storytelling gejis who had not left their profession became prostitutes of the changsan class.^[67][68][69]Other singing gejis were no longer educated as before, they made a living by singing in teahouses. Later, the Nationalist government banned gejis in teahouses, some of them went to sing on boats called "qibanzi(七板子)" to make a living, they had a hard time and listening to gejis singing was no longer considered an art.^[70]

On January 19, 2018, the top three winners of the 52nd Global Ecotourism Ambassador World Finals (MISS ALL NATIONS) and 12 other individual awards wore the costumes of the gejis "Eight Beauties of Qinhuai" in ancient China and worked with the famous artist Wang Liping to create the Chinese painting "Phoenix Dancing in the Sun" at the Jiangsu Baifengtang Art Museum. A total of ladies from 30 countries and regions including Canada, Germany, Russia, Thailand, Cote d'Ivoire and Myanmar participated in this competition.^[71]

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Look up 歌妓 or Gējì in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Geisha and Maiko in Japan
• Kisaeng in Korea
• Tawaif in India
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• Nagarvadhu in India
• Qiyan in the pre-modern Islamic world
• Almah in the Middle East