Longyang (龙阳)

From the Strategies of the Warring States: Lord Longyang, the male favorite of the King of Wei, suddenly wept while the two were fishing together. Pressed for a reason, he explained — having caught a bigger fish, I wanted to throw back my first catch; the world is full of beauties, and one day I will be the fish thrown back. To reassure him, the king forbade anyone in the realm from recommending other beauties. “The love of Longyang” (longyang zhi hao) became one of classical Chinese’s standard phrases for male-male love, alongside duanxiu and fentao (see the history timeline).

Like the peach story, its undertone is insecurity: Longyang’s tears are the fear of being replaceable inside a relationship defined by power. What the ancients recorded was not a romantic template but a real predicament.

Register note: classical. In modern usage the phrase appears mostly in period dramas and internet banter, often with a smirk; friendly or formal discussion uses modern terms.

Common misuse: taking “Longyang” for the name of an act or an identity. It is a person — the title of a historical royal favorite.