"Shen Yue's slender waist" is a famous romantic anecdote in ancient China. People who don't know the source often think that Shen Yue, the hero, is romantic and natural, just as later generations mistakenly think that Tang Yin's "romantic" wit is due to the operas in Dianchouxiang. In fact, the origin of thin waist in Shen Yue has nothing to do with the word "romance". Instead, it is slimming.

Shen Yue

The allusion of "Shen Yue's waist is thin" comes from The Biography of Shen Yue, the Southern History of Liang Shu. The general idea is as follows: Shen Yue wants to be the prime minister, and everyone thinks it is appropriate, but Liang Wudi never allows it. Therefore, Shen Yue asked for a transfer, but Liang Wudi refused. So Shen Yue was disheartened and wanted to retire from his hometown, but he was worried about the emperor's dissatisfaction, so he wrote a letter to Xu Mian, and Xu Mian became good friends with him. The letter said that he was old and sick, his waist should be cut off for a month, and his belt should be tightened frequently, hoping to retire and go home.

Shen Yue

After Shen Yue,

In the world, besides the well-known allusion of Shen Yue's thin waist, there are many other records of being thin due to illness, especially in Nanliang. As Shen Yue Zhaoming Biography said, "A strong body, ten belts, even reduced by more than half". Liang Jianwen's poem "Give it a gift" says: "If you want to hate his heart, you need to change his clothes." . It can be seen that "thin waist" was very popular at that time to describe patients getting thinner and thinner.