Same-sex love can sometimes be difficult to differentiate in Classical Chinese because the pronouns he and she were not distinguished. And like many East and Southeast Asian languages, Chinese does not have grammatical gender. Thus, poems such as Tang dynasty poems and other Chinese poetry may be read as either heterosexual or homosexual, or neutral in that regard, depending on the reader's desire. In addition, a good deal of ancient Chinese poetry was written by men in the female voice, or persona.Samei, Maija Bell. (2004). Gendered Persona and Poetic Voice: The Abandoned Woman in Early Chinese Song Lyrics. Lexington Books. pp. 1. Some may have portrayed semi-sexual relationships between teen-aged girls, before they were pulled apart by marriage. Male poets would use the female narrative voice, as a persona, to lament being abandoned by a male comrade or king.
