<p><strong>Sex</strong>.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%95%A6%E5%80%AB#Chinese" rel="nofollow noreferrer">敦伦</a> = sex (for married couples)</p>
<p>敦 is just a shortening of 敦伦 here.</p>
<hr />
<p>If you want to get into the nitty gritty of it, 敦 is short for 敦睦 which equates to something like: to promote friendly relations. So, 敦 is really something more like &quot;do&quot; or &quot;have&quot; if we're connecting it to something like sex.</p>
<hr />
<p>The <a href="https://www.99csw.com/book/2748/83448.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">original</a> provided:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>老兄，咋们敦敦伟大友谊如何？人家夫妇敦伦，我们无伦可敦，只好敦友谊。她说好，怎么敦？正着敦反着敦？</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Here is <a href="https://astrapublishinghouse.com/product/golden-age-9781662601217/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Yan Yan's translation</a> of the the above excerpt:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>That was why when I proposed it, I had said: sister, how about we commit some epic friendship? Confucian scholars talk about “committed matrimony,” but we have no matrimony to speak of. So why don’t we commit epic friendship instead. She said, okay, how do we commit? Commitment from the front or commitment from the rear?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Here Yan Yan renders 敦 as commit/commitment, a euphemism for sex.</p>
<hr />
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/books/review/wang-xiaobo-golden-age.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The New York Times</a> also happens to specifically mention this part in their book review:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Their increasingly elaborate and lurid admissions, demanded again and again by their superiors, fall somewhere in tone between Harlequin romance and modernist poem: “Chen Qingyang and I committed innumerable crimes in the clearing behind Old Man Liu’s because his fallow, fertile land was almost effortless to clear.” Sex itself is “epic friendship,” as in: “We committed epic friendship in the mountain, breathing wet steamy breaths.” (The narrator is asked to clarify “what is commitment from the front and what is commitment from the rear.”) The confessions amount to an absurdist critique of unchecked state power, making a mockery of its instruments.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://www.99csw.com/book/2748/83448.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">original</a> excerpt mentioned above being:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>在山上敦伟大友谊时，嘴里喷出白气。</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-16T01:35:37.700Z
I got it. He wants to say that how about doing something to improve our relationship? For husband and wife, they do this for a better marriage, but we do not have this relation, so we can do the same for our friendship. What position do you prefer for our action? The regular way or the irregular way?
NanningYouth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-16T11:25:32.653Z
@NanningYouth Yeah, basically. The biggest language issue here is that this section takes place during Mao era China. There are many taboos surrounding sex. This leads to the usage of many euphemisms, to make it sound more tactful, for the day. In the last sentence he's literally asking, "Missionary or doggy?" (from the front or from the back?)
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-18T03:13:21.753Z
Missionary or doggie, very instructive! But what about cowgirl or reversed cowgirl?
NanningYouth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-18T05:49:57.583Z
@NanningYouth I would propose: 骑着敦反骑着敦？But, as far as I can tell, this is limited to the scope of this book only.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-14T12:42:49.350Z
2023-04-14T12:54:18.260Z
2023-04-14T12:54:18.260Z
Mou某
<p><strong>It means to make something/someone 亲厚和睦.</strong></p>
<p>敦伦 is to make people's relationships under feudalism more 亲厚和睦 &gt; to make married couple's relationships more 亲厚和睦 &gt; <strong>a euphemism for married couples having sex.</strong></p>
<p><strong>敦友谊 is created, probably by the author, to be a euphemism for friends having sex.</strong> 正、反 is discussing the position.</p>
<hr />
<p>Let's first look the word up in 《漢語大詞典》.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/DquFd.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/DquFd.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Originally, 敦倫 is 敦睦人伦.</p>
<p>敦睦 is composed of 敦 (adj.敦厚) and 睦 (adj.和睦). 敦睦 is then in essence an adjective meaning 亲厚和睦, ex. 敦睦之行. In Literary Chinese, adjectives have a causative usage, and here too 敦睦 can be used as to make something/someone 亲厚和睦. For example, 敦睦九族 (to make 九族 敦睦)，平章百姓 (《新唐書》). 敦睦兩國邦交（使兩國邦交敦睦）(《三家巷》).</p>
<p>人倫 means 封建礼教所规定的人与人之间的关系, basely the expected relationships between people under feudalism.</p>
<p>Putting them together, 敦倫/敦睦人倫 can be either 敦睦的人倫 or 使人倫敦睦. The former one: 務各期以敦倫善行，敬業樂羣，以修舉古樂正，成均之師道。(《明史》) The latter one: 况皇上至聖至仁，以堯舜之道治天下，敦倫厚俗，遠邁前朝。(清钮琇《觚賸》)</p>
<p>敦倫 is naturally used as a euphemism when the relationship between people is restricted to the sexual relationship between married couples. This is the meaning in the novel. 敦友谊 is then to make 友谊 more 亲厚和睦, as a euphemism for friends having sex.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-15T11:13:47.903Z
In your view, does the question -- 怎么敦？正着敦反着敦？gives any clue as to the true intended meaning?
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-15T11:31:02.580Z
@WayneCheah Well, I don't think it's necessary. I thought from 敦伦 the implied meaning of 敦友谊 is natural. Should've make it explicit. I've edited my answer and make it clear that 敦友谊 is a euphemism for friends having sex, but this does not at all change the meaning of 敦 (to make something/someone 亲厚和睦) in the phrase.
lilysirius
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-15T10:41:54.607Z
2023-04-15T11:49:27.347Z
2023-04-15T11:49:27.347Z
lilysirius
<p>In the short story 黄金时代 by 王小波, there are words that 人家夫妇敦伦，我们无伦可敦，只好敦友谊。她说好，怎么敦？正着敦反着敦？</p>
<p>What does the word 敦 mean? What does the author imply?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-14T14:17:59.870Z
敦(to strengthen) 伦(moral ties), but here 敦伦 means to have sex.
Archeosudoerus
<word>
What does 敦 mean in 敦伦?
# What does 敦 mean in 敦伦?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-04-14)

In the short story 黄金时代 by 王小波, there are words that 人家夫妇敦伦，我们无伦可敦，只好敦友谊。她说好，怎么敦？正着敦反着敦？

What does the word 敦 mean? What does the author imply?

**Tags:** word

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 敦(to strengthen) 伦(moral ties), but here 敦伦 means to have sex.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-04-14. Score: 3

**Sex**.

[敦伦](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%95%A6%E5%80%AB#Chinese) = sex (for married couples)

敦 is just a shortening of 敦伦 here.

---

If you want to get into the nitty gritty of it, 敦 is short for 敦睦 which equates to something like: to promote friendly relations. So, 敦 is really something more like "do" or "have" if we're connecting it to something like sex.

---

The [original](https://www.99csw.com/book/2748/83448.htm) provided:

> 老兄，咋们敦敦伟大友谊如何？人家夫妇敦伦，我们无伦可敦，只好敦友谊。她说好，怎么敦？正着敦反着敦？

Here is [Yan Yan's translation](https://astrapublishinghouse.com/product/golden-age-9781662601217/) of the the above excerpt:

> That was why when I proposed it, I had said: sister, how about we commit some epic friendship? Confucian scholars talk about “committed matrimony,” but we have no matrimony to speak of. So why don’t we commit epic friendship instead. She said, okay, how do we commit? Commitment from the front or commitment from the rear?

Here Yan Yan renders 敦 as commit/commitment, a euphemism for sex.

---

[The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/books/review/wang-xiaobo-golden-age.html) also happens to specifically mention this part in their book review:

> Their increasingly elaborate and lurid admissions, demanded again and again by their superiors, fall somewhere in tone between Harlequin romance and modernist poem: “Chen Qingyang and I committed innumerable crimes in the clearing behind Old Man Liu’s because his fallow, fertile land was almost effortless to clear.” Sex itself is “epic friendship,” as in: “We committed epic friendship in the mountain, breathing wet steamy breaths.” (The narrator is asked to clarify “what is commitment from the front and what is commitment from the rear.”) The confessions amount to an absurdist critique of unchecked state power, making a mockery of its instruments.

The [original](https://www.99csw.com/book/2748/83448.htm) excerpt mentioned above being:

> 在山上敦伟大友谊时，嘴里喷出白气。

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I got it. He wants to say that how about doing something to improve our relationship? For husband and wife, they do this for a better marriage, but we do not have this relation, so we can do the same for our friendship. What position do you prefer for our action? The regular way or the irregular way?  
> **username_2**: @username_0 Yeah, basically. The biggest language issue here is that this section takes place during Mao era China. There are many taboos surrounding sex. This leads to the usage of many euphemisms, to make it sound more tactful, for the day. In the last sentence he's literally asking, "Missionary or doggy?" (from the front or from the back?)  
> **username_0**: Missionary or doggie, very instructive! But what about cowgirl or reversed cowgirl?  
> **username_2**: @username_0 I would propose: 骑着敦反骑着敦？But, as far as I can tell, this is limited to the scope of this book only.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2023-04-15. Score: 1

**It means to make something/someone 亲厚和睦.**

敦伦 is to make people's relationships under feudalism more 亲厚和睦 > to make married couple's relationships more 亲厚和睦 > **a euphemism for married couples having sex.**

**敦友谊 is created, probably by the author, to be a euphemism for friends having sex.** 正、反 is discussing the position.

---

Let's first look the word up in 《漢語大詞典》.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/DquFd.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/DquFd.png)

Originally, 敦倫 is 敦睦人伦.

敦睦 is composed of 敦 (adj.敦厚) and 睦 (adj.和睦). 敦睦 is then in essence an adjective meaning 亲厚和睦, ex. 敦睦之行. In Literary Chinese, adjectives have a causative usage, and here too 敦睦 can be used as to make something/someone 亲厚和睦. For example, 敦睦九族 (to make 九族 敦睦)，平章百姓 (《新唐書》). 敦睦兩國邦交（使兩國邦交敦睦）(《三家巷》).

人倫 means 封建礼教所规定的人与人之间的关系, basely the expected relationships between people under feudalism.

Putting them together, 敦倫/敦睦人倫 can be either 敦睦的人倫 or 使人倫敦睦. The former one: 務各期以敦倫善行，敬業樂羣，以修舉古樂正，成均之師道。(《明史》) The latter one: 况皇上至聖至仁，以堯舜之道治天下，敦倫厚俗，遠邁前朝。(清钮琇《觚賸》)

敦倫 is naturally used as a euphemism when the relationship between people is restricted to the sexual relationship between married couples. This is the meaning in the novel. 敦友谊 is then to make 友谊 more 亲厚和睦, as a euphemism for friends having sex.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: In your view, does the question -- 怎么敦？正着敦反着敦？gives any clue as to the true intended meaning?  
> **username_3**: @WayneCheah Well, I don't think it's necessary. I thought from 敦伦 the implied meaning of 敦友谊 is natural. Should've make it explicit. I've edited my answer and make it clear that 敦友谊 is a euphemism for friends having sex, but this does not at all change the meaning of 敦 (to make something/someone 亲厚和睦) in the phrase.  

---

