The Chinese Tantric texts give all the positions that we have so far looked at but really only divide positions into four kinds; man on top, woman on top, couple side by side (and face to face), and man from behind. They called these ‘Yang Superior’, ‘Yin Superior’, ‘Intimate Attachment’ and ‘Fish Sunning Itself’.

They suggested that lovemaking should be fluid and versatile; there being no set positions – the lovers just move smoothly from one position to the next without there being any moment when they could be said to be in any one position.

The Taoists also recognized the fact that all people, all couples, are physically different and that what one couple can do another may not physically be able to manage, and that there might be false expectations or disappointment if someone couldn’t manage something; they might feel that they had somehow ‘failed’.

The Taoist Positions

The Tao of Loving does describe twenty-six basic positions all of which we have covered; but the Taoists had such interesting names for their positions it’s worth looking at a few.

A Phoenix Plays In A Red Cave

The woman, Lady Yin, lies on her back and holds her legs upright with her hands and Lord Yang enters her.

Bamboo Near The Alter

The couple faces each other standing up – Intimate Attachment – and the man enters the woman. They can grip on to wherever they feel comfortable.

The Springing White Tiger

The woman kneels forwards and the man kneels behind her. He enters her and she should drop forwards so that her head is touching the ground.

Flying Birds On A Dark Sea

The woman lies on a raised platform or bed with her legs over the side. The man stands and enters her and holds her legs up.
A variation on this is the Flying Seagull where the couch or bed is much lower and the man kneels.

Dragon Faces The Mountain

The man sits in a chair, the woman, in his lap with her back to him.

The Taoist Names

Some of the Taoist terminology is wonderful – we have the ‘Jade Hammer’, the ‘Heavenly Dragon Stem’, the ‘Red Phoenix’, and the ‘Coral Stalk’ for penis. The ‘Jade Pavilion’ and ‘Palace’, the ‘Open Lotus Flower’, and the ‘Red Valley’ are for the vulva. The clitoris is the ‘Jade Pearl’ and the ‘Golden Jewel of the Jade Palace’. Sex is ‘Mist on the Mountains of Wu’, and the ‘Meeting of the Dragon and the Unicorn’ or even just the ‘Clouds and the Rain’. And an orgasm is the ‘Bursting of the Clouds’.