Shi, (pronounced Shuh), was a Chinese national who taught the French diplomats wives Chinese in Beijing. Shi may or may not have been a singer with the Chinese Opera. Shi also had an affair with a very minor French diplomat named Bernard Boursicot.Boursicot believed Shi was a singer with the Chinese Opera and female.
They met in Beijing and the affair continued on and off for almost twenty years. Shi convinced Boursicot that their union had produced a male child, Shi Du Lu, (Bertrand). Believing that Shi’s safety was in jeopardy Boursicot agreed to pass documents to the Chinese secret service.
Boursicot was instrumental in getting Shi and the child out of China to Paris in 1982, where they lived as a family until their arrest in 1983.
The affair, when it was discovered ruined Boursicot and he became a laughing stock in France. He and Shi were tried for treason in 1986, both receiving six year sentences and both being pardoned a year later.
Boursicot never knew that Shi was male until they were arrested in 1982. He explained that their sex had always been rather hurried, frantic and always in the dark. When he found out the truth he tried to commit suicide by slicing his throat with a razor blade.
The affair between Shi and Boursicot spawned the Broadway show and movie M. Butterfly.
Boursicot now lives happily with his longtime partner, (male).
Shi is survived by his son Bertrand who also lives in Paris, but has no contact with Boursicot.
I've never believed for a minute that Bouriscot didn't know That Shi was a male.
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