Fentao (分桃)

From the Legalist classic Han Feizi: Mizi Xia, a beautiful young courtier beloved by Duke Ling of Wei, bit into an exceptionally sweet peach in the orchard and handed the rest to the duke. The duke was moved — “he loves me so much he forgot his own appetite.” Years later, when Mizi Xia’s looks had faded and the favor cooled, the duke reached back for the very same episode: “He once fed me a half-eaten peach!” One act: devotion while loved, insolence once unloved.

“Sharing the peach” (fentao, also yutao, “the leftover peach”) thus joined duanxiu and longyang as classical shorthand for male love (see the history timeline for the longer arc). Worth knowing: Han Fei’s own point was a warning to advisers that a ruler’s favor is fickle — the original is about the precarity of favor, not a celebration of romance.

Register note: classical and literary; not used as a modern self-label.

Common misuse: telling only the warm first half. The full story cuts deeper — affection that depends on power is only as safe as the power’s mood.