Geji (Chinese: 歌妓、歌伎、歌姬) were female Chinese performing artists and courtesans who trained in singing and dancing in ancient China.[1][2]: 119
Like other entertainers in ancient China, geji had low social standing. Some geji contributed to the development of dance, poetry, painting and other arts and literature throughout China's history. During the Song and Tang Dynasty, geji would perform poems as songs, which helped the spread of ancient Chinese poems.[3][4]
Geji were primarily pursued for their artistic talents in singing, dancing, and literary arts; they also sometimes provided sexual services to their clients.[5][6][7][8] In ancient China, music and sexual performance were intertwined; consequently, the poetry, rather than music, of courtesans such as geji were often held up as an example of their high-culture.[9][10] During the Ming Dynasty, the talents of courtesans such as geji were widely cultivated to distinguish them more heavily from common prostitutes. This development coincided with a general increase in wealth during the Ming Dynasty which allowed even men of low social standing to engage with common prostitutes, prompting men of high-status to cultivate and seek out courtesans for cultural capital.[7] The relationships between literati and the geji often became heavily romanticized during the late Ming Dynasty, and even married women associated openly with geji, inviting them to parties. Famously, the poet Xu Yuan was known to keep the company of famous geji, such as Xue Susu. Following the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty banned courtesans such as geji from performing at official functions.[11]
In order to understand the social role of the courtesan, it is important to define the position. This requires a comprehension of the etymology of the term, and how the English language may fail to reflect this idea in a translation. Classical Chinese is known to have a variety of words to define women in specific roles and duties within a given social ladder, the most common of these would refer to a courtesan as ji. While sexual favors may be one of the services provided by ji, she is first and foremost an entertainer. Chinese courtesan culture was defined by several integral points: a skill in the literary arts, such as writing and poetry; a comprehension in song and singing; a setting of trends in fashion and art; as well as the ability to combine these talents to promote a literary exchange amongst the elite.
musical performance and sexual performance were, in fact, usually the forte of an individual known as a "singing girl" (geji 歌妓, literally "song courtesan").