Bernard Boursicot
Encyclopedia
Bernard Boursicot is a French
diplomat who was caught in a honeypot trap (seducing him to participate in Chinese espionage), by Shi Pei Pu
, a male Peking opera singer who performed female roles, whom Boursicot believed to be female. This espionage case became something of a cause célèbre
in France in 1986, as Boursicot and Shi were brought to trial, due to the nature of the unusual sexual subterfuge alleged The case was again back under a public spotlight when a play, M. Butterfly
by David Henry Hwang
based on this affair premiered in 1988 and yet again as the Film
adaptation of the play of the same name directed by David Cronenberg
was released in 1993. Periodic re-stagings of the play and television airings of the film based upon it continue to spark interest in the espionage case at the heart of the fictional works of art.
in China
while posted to the French Embassy in Peking as an accountant in 1964. He was 20 years old and Shi was 26. They met at an embassy reception and shortly began a relationship.
province of China. Over the next decade, they continued their on-again off-again affair as Boursicot moved from posting to posting within Southeast Asia. Boursicot has stated that he began passing documents to Shi when the Chinese Cultural Revolution
made it difficult for him to see her. He was approached by Kang Sheng
, a member of the Chinese secret service
who offered him access to Shi in exchange for his passing documents. He believed Shi's safety was at risk if he failed to participate.
where they lived as a family. Boursicot was questioned by authorities and confessed to having passed at least 150 classified documents to Shi. In 1983, Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu were both arrested for spying for China. The prosecution then dramatically revealed Shi's real sex to Boursicot. He refused to believe it until he was permitted to see proof in the form of Shi's body. Not long after, he attempted suicide while in prison but was unsuccessful. In 1986, after a two day trial, Boursicot and Shi were convicted of spying against the French government. Each received a sentence of six years in prison.
Shi was pardoned in 1987. After his release Shi remained in Paris, where he enjoyed his notoriety and performed as an opera singer. Boursicot, also released early, was last reported to be living contentedly with a longtime male partner, and has apparently made peace with the nature of his relationship with Shi. Shi and Shi Dudu had no contact with Boursicot until Shi's death in 2009. In Shi's Obituary, it was reported that their "son" Shi Dudu was living in Paris and believed by Boursicot to have a family with three sons .
, seeking information for her book on the espionage case and affair, Liaison, granting her lengthy interviews about deeply personal subjects as well as access to all records and his closest family members. He is frequently quoted in the book.
In a separate but lengthy article, published in the New York Times Sunday Magazine section in 1993, entitled The True Story of M. Butterfly; The Spy Who Fell in Love With a Shadow, Joyce Wadler reveals in intimate detail how Boursicot came to believe the fiction that Shi Pei Pu was a woman despite having first come to know him socially, and in a close friendship, as a man. Boursicot relates, through Wadler, that Shi first told him the story of an opera about a Chinese girl who swaps clothing with her brother so she may be educated. She falls in love with another student but is called home to participate in an arranged marriage. The male student is driven to suicide and eventually, the young girl does the same at the grave of her true love. The Opera is called the story of the Butterfly. Boursicot reports that it is only when he has the opportunity to leave his dull job that Shi Pei Pu tells him the story of the butterfly again with an added twist that He, Shi Pei Pu, has been a woman masquerading as a man all his life to prevent his father from taking a second wife and shaming his mother who had 2 older daughters and so upon Shi's birth, this fiction was created. Boursicot accepts the lie, their affair begins and all that came after.
About the affair, Boursicot is quoted as saying, "When I believed it, it was a beautiful story."
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
diplomat who was caught in a honeypot trap (seducing him to participate in Chinese espionage), by Shi Pei Pu
Shi Pei Pu
Shi Pei Pu was a Chinese opera singer from Beijing. He became a spy who obtained secrets during a 20-year long sexual affair in which he convinced an employee in the French Embassy that he was a woman, later producing a child that he insisted had been born through their relations. The story made...
, a male Peking opera singer who performed female roles, whom Boursicot believed to be female. This espionage case became something of a cause célèbre
Cause célèbre
A is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning and heated public debate. The term is particularly used in connection with celebrated legal cases. It is a French phrase in common English use...
in France in 1986, as Boursicot and Shi were brought to trial, due to the nature of the unusual sexual subterfuge alleged The case was again back under a public spotlight when a play, M. Butterfly
M. Butterfly
M. Butterfly is a 1988 play by David Henry Hwang loosely based on the relationship between French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu, a male Peking opera singer....
by David Henry Hwang
David Henry Hwang
David Henry Hwang is an American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S.He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University...
based on this affair premiered in 1988 and yet again as the Film
M. Butterfly (film)
M. Butterfly is a 1993 romantic drama film directed by David Cronenberg. The screenplay was written by David Henry Hwang based on his play of the same name...
adaptation of the play of the same name directed by David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
was released in 1993. Periodic re-stagings of the play and television airings of the film based upon it continue to spark interest in the espionage case at the heart of the fictional works of art.
Biography
Boursicot was born in 1944 and first met Shi Pei PuShi Pei Pu
Shi Pei Pu was a Chinese opera singer from Beijing. He became a spy who obtained secrets during a 20-year long sexual affair in which he convinced an employee in the French Embassy that he was a woman, later producing a child that he insisted had been born through their relations. The story made...
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
while posted to the French Embassy in Peking as an accountant in 1964. He was 20 years old and Shi was 26. They met at an embassy reception and shortly began a relationship.
Spy
In 1965, Shi claimed to be pregnant and was able to use a baby, called Shi Du Du (later called Bernard by Boursicot and his family), who had been bought from a doctor in the XinjiangXinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
province of China. Over the next decade, they continued their on-again off-again affair as Boursicot moved from posting to posting within Southeast Asia. Boursicot has stated that he began passing documents to Shi when the Chinese Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
made it difficult for him to see her. He was approached by Kang Sheng
Kang Sheng
Kang Sheng , Communist Party of China official, oversaw the work of the People's Republic of China's security and intelligence apparatus at the height of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1960s. He was a close associate of Mao Zedong and remained at or near the pinnacle of power for decades...
, a member of the Chinese secret service
Secret service
A secret service describes a government agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For instance, a country may establish a secret service which has some...
who offered him access to Shi in exchange for his passing documents. He believed Shi's safety was at risk if he failed to participate.
Return to France, Trial & Aftermath
Boursicot returned to France in 1979 and lost contact with Shi. In 1982, Boursicot was able to get Shi and the now sixteen year old out of China and to ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where they lived as a family. Boursicot was questioned by authorities and confessed to having passed at least 150 classified documents to Shi. In 1983, Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu were both arrested for spying for China. The prosecution then dramatically revealed Shi's real sex to Boursicot. He refused to believe it until he was permitted to see proof in the form of Shi's body. Not long after, he attempted suicide while in prison but was unsuccessful. In 1986, after a two day trial, Boursicot and Shi were convicted of spying against the French government. Each received a sentence of six years in prison.
Shi was pardoned in 1987. After his release Shi remained in Paris, where he enjoyed his notoriety and performed as an opera singer. Boursicot, also released early, was last reported to be living contentedly with a longtime male partner, and has apparently made peace with the nature of his relationship with Shi. Shi and Shi Dudu had no contact with Boursicot until Shi's death in 2009. In Shi's Obituary, it was reported that their "son" Shi Dudu was living in Paris and believed by Boursicot to have a family with three sons .
Cooperation with Joyce Wadler, author of Liaison
Boursicot cooperated fully with reporter Joyce WadlerJoyce Wadler
Joyce Judith Wadler is a journalist and reporter for The New York Times, as well as a writer and humorist. Prior to working at the New York Times, she was the New York Correspondent for The Washington Post and a contributing editor for New York Magazine and Rolling Stone. Wadler authored Liaison:...
, seeking information for her book on the espionage case and affair, Liaison, granting her lengthy interviews about deeply personal subjects as well as access to all records and his closest family members. He is frequently quoted in the book.
In a separate but lengthy article, published in the New York Times Sunday Magazine section in 1993, entitled The True Story of M. Butterfly; The Spy Who Fell in Love With a Shadow, Joyce Wadler reveals in intimate detail how Boursicot came to believe the fiction that Shi Pei Pu was a woman despite having first come to know him socially, and in a close friendship, as a man. Boursicot relates, through Wadler, that Shi first told him the story of an opera about a Chinese girl who swaps clothing with her brother so she may be educated. She falls in love with another student but is called home to participate in an arranged marriage. The male student is driven to suicide and eventually, the young girl does the same at the grave of her true love. The Opera is called the story of the Butterfly. Boursicot reports that it is only when he has the opportunity to leave his dull job that Shi Pei Pu tells him the story of the butterfly again with an added twist that He, Shi Pei Pu, has been a woman masquerading as a man all his life to prevent his father from taking a second wife and shaming his mother who had 2 older daughters and so upon Shi's birth, this fiction was created. Boursicot accepts the lie, their affair begins and all that came after.
Boursicot & Shi Pei Pu's public comments regarding their affair
In his obituary, Shi Pei Pu was reported to have disliked answering questions about the sexual specifics of the affair but in 1988 was quoted in an interview as having said "I used to fascinate both men and women. What I was and what they were didn’t matter."About the affair, Boursicot is quoted as saying, "When I believed it, it was a beautiful story."
Legacy of the affair & espionage case
- The play M. ButterflyM. ButterflyM. Butterfly is a 1988 play by David Henry Hwang loosely based on the relationship between French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu, a male Peking opera singer....
by David Henry HwangDavid Henry HwangDavid Henry Hwang is an American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S.He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University...
is based on this affair as is the 1993 movieM. Butterfly (film)M. Butterfly is a 1993 romantic drama film directed by David Cronenberg. The screenplay was written by David Henry Hwang based on his play of the same name...
of the same name directed by David CronenbergDavid CronenbergDavid Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
. - Kang Sheng, Shi Pei Pu's control agent in the Tewu, the Chinese Secret service, has had his career covered in a book The Chinese Secret Service.