Negotiating Danmei Existence Under Censorship - An Online Fandom Interaction Study of The TGCF Community

Oct 28, 2026

This thesis examines the power struggle between state censorship and grassroots fan resistance in China’s danmei digital landscape. Applying Henry Jenkins’ Convergence Theory, it analyzes fan interactions around Heaven Official’s Blessing (TGCF) on Bilibili. The study investigates how fans navigate the genre’s reluctant and conditional existence, shaped by economic incentives and state-mandated de-queering strategies. Findings show that coordinated self-governance and shielding tactics preserve and negotiate fan space.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages84

Reading Time3 h 32 min

AccessFree to download

ABSTRACT

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose and question

1.2 Roadmap

2. BACKGROUND

2.1 Emergence of danmei

2.2 State regulations and attitudes towards danmei

2.3 Earlier stages of censorship

2.4 Danmei as a profitable but censored industry

3. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORY INTEGRATION

3.1 Media convergence

3.2 Participatory culture

3.3 Collective intelligence

4. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

5. METHOD

5.1 Introducing TGCF

5.2 Data and analysis approach

5.3 Limitations

5.4 Ethical consideration

6. RESULTS

6.1 Collective intelligence and knowledge bridging

6.2 Coded resistance and community governance

6.3 Participatory culture through internal jokes

6.4 Aesthetics and identity discourse

6.5 Phrases as self expressions

7. ANALYSIS

7.1 Transmedia migration facilitating collective intelligence

7.2 Participatory culture

7.3 Identity resistance

8. CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

Lund University Centre for Language and Literature Bachelor Thesis Chinese Language, KINK1 1 Spring semester, 2026 Negotiating Danmei Existence Under Censorship An Online Fandom Interaction Study of The TGCF Community Author: Sara Tram Supervisor: Tabita Rosendal Discussant: Severina Blomqvist ABSTRACT This thesis examines the power struggle between state censorship and grassroots fan resistance within the Chinese danmei digital landscape. Using Henry Jenkins’ Convergence Theory, the study analyzes fan interactions on the series Heaven Official’s Blessing (TGCF) on the platform Bilibili. It explores how fans navigate the reluctant and conditional existence of a genre where economic profitability as soft power conflicts with state-mandated de-queering strategies. Findings reveal that through coordinated self-governance and shielding strategies, fans effectively preserve and negotiate their space leveraging their collective labor to counteract censorship restrictions. Ultimately, the thesis argues that fan engagement is a vital factor for survivability and resistance. The fandom’s enduring commitment demonstrates that devotion is capable of challenging institutionalized marginalization and the enforcement of heteropatriarchal norms in digital media. 摘要本文探讨了中国耽美数字领域中国家审查与草根粉丝抵抗之间的权力博弈。运用Henry Jenkins的Convergence theory，本研究分析了哔哩哔哩平台上围绕电视剧《天官赐福》的粉丝互动。研究考察了在经济利益作为软实力与国家强制推行的去同性恋化策略之间的冲突下，粉丝如何应对耽美题材接納且受限的存在。研究结果表明，粉丝通过协调一致的自治和保护策略，有效地维护和争取自身空间，并利用集体力量对抗审查限制。最终，该论文认为粉丝参与是生存和抵抗的关键因素。粉丝群体的持久投入表明，忠诚能够挑战制度化的边缘化以及数字媒体中异性恋父权制规范的强化。 Key words: Danmei, censorship, TGCF, fandom culture, netnography TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 1 1. INTRODUCTION 4 1.1 Purpose and question 5 1.2 Roadmap 5 2. BACKGROUND 6 2.1 Emergence of danmei 6 2.2 State regulations and attitudes towards danmei 7 2.3 Earlier stages of censorship 8 2.4 Danmei as a profitable but censored industry 10 3. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORY INTEGRATION 12 3.1 Media convergence 12 3.1.1 Top-down convergence 13 3.1.2 Bottom-up convergence 14 3.2 Participatory culture 14 3.2.1 Textual poaching 15 3.2.2 Danmei as transgressive media 16 3.2.3 Danmei and identity 17 3.3 Collective intelligence 18 3.3.1 Community building process 19 3.3.2 Fandom and emotional investment 20 4. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 22 5. METHOD 23 5.1 Introducing TGCF 23 5.2 Data and analysis approach 24 5.3 Limitations 25 5.4 Ethical consideration 26 6. RESULTS 28 6.1 Collective intelligence and knowledge bridging 28 6.2 Coded resistance and community governance 29 6.3 Participatory culture through internal jokes 32 6.4 Aesthetics and identity discourse 33 6.5 Phrases as self expressions 34 7. ANALYSIS 36 7.1 Transmedia migration facilitating collective intelligence 36 7.1.1 The hidden censorship 37 7.2 Participatory culture 38 7.2.1 Implications of economic sacrifices 39 7.3 Identity resistance 40 7.3.1 Solidarity beyond gender expressions 40 8. CONCLUSION 42 REFERENCES 44 APPENDICES 50 Appendix A: Donghua comments 50 Appendix B: Manhua comments 65 1. INTRODUCTION Danmei [耽美], or boy’s love (BL) are idealized portrayals of romantic relationships between men (Feng, 2009), derived from the japanese loan word tanbi [たんび, aestheticism] . Translating to “indulgence in beauty”(Wang, 2020; Guo & Wang, 2025), or, the idea of being “addicted to beauty”(Hu et al, 2024). During the 1970s, tanbi emerged with an antinaturalist literary movement, emphasising nuanced aesthetic representations focused on refined and pure portrayals removed from reality (Feng, 2009). These were later illegally introduced to mainland China in the early 90’s, using the term danmei as a protective veil to shield its contents from scrutiny (Nim, 2022; Yang & Xu, 2024, p.226-227) . In the last decade, danmei has achieved worldwide commercial success, garnering a considerable fanbase. The internet has notably provided a space for Chinese li

FAQs

What is the thesis primarily investigating?

The thesis investigates the power struggle between Chinese state censorship and grassroots fan resistance within the danmei digital landscape.

Which theoretical approach guides the analysis?

Henry Jenkins’ Convergence Theory guides the analysis of fan interactions connected to TGCF on Bilibili.

How do fans respond to censorship and de-queering strategies?

Fans use coordinated self-governance and shielding strategies, leveraging collective labor to preserve and negotiate their space under censorship restrictions.

Oct 28, 2026

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