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Tanbi is a form of Japanese literature depicting love between men that its
hardcore following of young, heterosexual women can't get enough of.
In the literary world of tanbi, a Japanese term meaning "the pursuit of
beauty" and often used to refer to two good-looking men in a romantic
relationship, there are answers to what a heterosexual woman wants in love and
life.
At least, this is the case for Cici Zhou, a 25-year-old real estate agent
who has devoured 1,200 tanbi books over the past 10 years, drawn to them by the
strong characters and their fighting spirit.
Zhou's favorite, Tianxiadiyi (translated to English means "No 1 in the
world"), is the story of two opposing majestic kings who are mutually attracted
but have to fight against each other and their desire.
"You can't find these characters in normal chick-lit," she says. "They're
both strong, outstanding men. There are dramatic ups and downs and greater
obstacles to overcome."
There is no official tally, but there are an estimated one million readers
of tanbi stories in China, according to Yang Ling, associate professor with
Xiamen University who studies tanbi sub-culture.
The scene is dominated by work from Japan and China's Taiwan, but tanbi
lovers are also putting out original stories in forums, podcasts, custom-made
books and other items that target hardcore fans.
Jinjiang Literature, one of the more popular websites that features
original tanbi stories, clocks two million log-ins a day. Ninety percent of its
users are female, and 80 percent are in the 18 to 35 age group, according to a
report the company provided to China Daily.
Tanbi borders on gay fiction, but the readership is predominantly
heterosexual women.
"I never thought it strange when two men become a couple," Zhou says. "We
are reading about two guys together exactly because we like boys."
"They're reading for the variety tanbi offers," Yang says.
The genre is broken down into a gamut of sub genres, that touch on a wide
variety of themes from apocalyptic tales, star wars, martial arts, and fan
fiction. The stories can be "clear-water" (platonic) or x-rated. Tanbi is
written in so many styles that there are stories told in dialects from
northeastern China to Cantonese.
"Whatever subject you like, you can find it there," Yang says. "It's like a
small literary kingdom."
And then there is the love story at the core.
"In tanbi, love and relationships have no set patterns like in Cinderella,
where a hero rescues a beauty in danger," Yang says. "Both sides can be strong.
Or they can take different roles in different circumstances. There are many more
possibilities to explore."
That is perhaps one of the reasons why these readers are more open-minded
when setting their own terms, and more understanding to others, Yang says, who
has interviewed many tanbi fans in recent years.
"These are definitely positive influences. When they are open to different
types of relationships, they are also open to other discussions, such as staying
single for longer, or raising a child on their own," Yang says.
According to Ducky, another seasoned reader of 10 years, who will only
reveal the name she uses online, "I'm an independent woman, I get to make my own
decisions in work as well as in life." She says she prefers stories where both
members of the couple are standing on their own two feet and fighting for what
they want in love.
"However, we still like alpha males better," she says. "When there are two
of them, there is the tension we want. Especially now that boys are becoming
feminine and girls have somehow turned aggressive."
In the strong male characters, the female readers find their most desired
kind of romance.
"I believe tanbi describes the purest kind of love," says Jodie Cheng, who
first discovered tanbi when looking for news of her idols, the Korean pop group
Super Junior, in 2010. In a fictional account, written by tanbi fans, band
members become lovers.
"But as long as a story has a modicum of realism, two men together means
trouble, and giving up everything for love," Cheng says. "That's rare in our
real life, therefore, we look for it."
With the rise of Weibo and Wechat, two major instant messaging platforms in
China, tanbi is no longer the cult genre it was a decade ago. There has been a
growing number of girls, or fojoshi (a Japanese term for girls who endorse male
homosexual love), who have started to write fan fiction that moves tanbi into
the world of mainstream literature.
A recent work pairs two X-men, Magneto and Professor X, powerful opponents
who care about each other, at least in the Hollywood megahit X-Men: Days of
Future Past.
"There are so many fojoshi that it's almost a selling point now," Yang, the
researcher says.
"But whatever the girls are attracted to, they are after the true, good,
beautiful human feelings that have always been at the center of literature."
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发表于 2016-7-10 18:06:41