I'll give you two excerpts and compare them:

First, the Tang Dynasty really took fat as beauty.

According to historical research, the aesthetic orientation of the Tang Dynasty is indeed rich and beautiful. If you go to see the female images in paintings, sculptures, pottery figurines and various works of art in the Tang Dynasty, the most prominent impression you get is definitely "rich and beautiful, gentle and pleasant".

Being rich and beautiful means being plump, fat, rich and bright; A warm posture is a naked, confident and unassuming expression posture. From the description of Wu Zetian in history books, we can draw the conclusion that she won the status of "the mother of flattery" with her broad forehead, plump cheeks, round and overlapping neck and rich image, thus laying the foundation for her to be closer to the power center. Yang Yuhuan, one of the four beauties in ancient China, is a well-known and eternal model of fat beauty.

Obviously, the implicit and restrained aesthetic appreciation of My Fair Lady in Tang Dynasty is different from that in Han Dynasty and most ancient people. This "alternative" aesthetic vision is an inevitable feature of that heyday.

Further reading: Qin Shihuang: How did grandpa China take bribes three thousand years ago? Dentures unearthed in Britain 200 years ago [Figure]

First of all, in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, there was plenty of food and clothing, just as Du Fu said in his poem, "Rice is fat and millet is white, and public and private granaries are rich." People have the conditions to eat and wear warm clothes and keep healthy and plump physique. Secondly, the Tang Dynasty was open and tolerant. Strong national strength and developed civilization have made the Tang people confident and become a highly open country. According to incomplete statistics, there were more than 130 countries related to the Tang Dynasty at that time. Influenced and blended by different cultures, Tang people are not limited to tradition, but have a broad vision and enthusiasm. Third, the lineage of the rulers also determines that the Tang people are closer to their strong bodies. The grandfather of Li Yuan, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, was big noble Dugu. He hoped to be born in Xianbei. In other words, at least half of Li Tang's royal blood is Xianbei people, and the nomadic life of Xianbei people creates and needs a wild and strong body. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that several generations of emperors in the Tang Dynasty loved fat women.

At that time, the "rich beauty and warm posture" advocated was by no means a simple woman with a fat body and clothes to cover her body. It can be said that this aesthetic orientation is an all-round aesthetic concept, which embodies a strong, open and compatible cultural vision. People in the Tang Dynasty loved peonies, and their flowers were noble and plump. The image of a horse created by the Tang people is plump and round. Yan calligraphy, which had the greatest influence in the Tang Dynasty, was fat, solemn and vigorous.

If we look farther, we will find that Chang 'an, Tang Dou was the largest capital city in the world at that time, with the widest roads and the most magnificent palaces. At that time, China was the center of the world's yearning. All these reflect the vitality and high self-confidence of a nation when it enters a stage of high maturity and vigorous development. This kind of boldness of vision, strength and open beauty, which are admired and indulged by the Tang people, has conveyed to us a flavor of the times-enthusiasm, pioneering and enterprising. (Author: Wang Bin, Deputy Director of Shaanxi History Museum)

Second, the Tang Dynasty did not take obesity as beauty.

Ding Qizhen

Women's "obesity is beauty" has a long history and was widely circulated in the Tang Dynasty. After some textual research, some experts asserted that obesity was indeed the aesthetic beauty of the Tang Dynasty, and pointed out several reasons why people in the Tang Dynasty regarded obesity as beautiful: the economy of the Tang Dynasty was prosperous, and people had the conditions to eat enough and wear warm clothes to maintain a healthy and plump body; The culture of the Tang Dynasty is open, inclusive and broad-minded. The royal family in the Tang Dynasty was born in Xianbei bloodline, which made them naturally like strong women ... they were eloquent.

In fact, this statement is wrong, or at least inaccurate.

The reason why people think that obesity is beautiful for women in the Tang Dynasty is mainly based on Yang Guifei's posture and the female images in court paintings and ladies' paintings in the Tang Dynasty.

In fact, as long as we take a closer look at the famous painter Yan's "Walking Horse Map" and "Ladies Map" in the Tang Dynasty, it is not difficult to find that the ladies in the paintings are not obese at all. Surrounded by Li Shimin, the nine maids in Walking Map walked slowly, some carrying webbed children, some holding umbrellas and some holding fans. They all look powerful, not fragile and morbid beauty. However, look at their bodies, they are all quite slim. The women in The Flower Maiden are slightly plump because of their higher status and older age, but they stand graceful and light as the spring breeze blows the willows. There is no doubt that their figure can be described as "slim".

As for Yang Guifei, it is recorded in the literature that she is fat and afraid of heat. For example, Kaiyuan Tianbao Heritage said that she "had a body, and Zhixia was bitter and spicy". But Yang Guifei's "natural body" is by no means the degree of obesity that people say today. At best, it's just a little muscle, as Yang Taizhen said in his biography. A person who is good at dancing ("Dancing in a Dress and Feather" is her masterpiece) must have physical exercise, and it is normal to have a little muscle. Yang Guifei is afraid of heat, not because she is fat, but because she is so healthy. "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao" records that Yang Guifei often goes to the back garden alone early in the morning to suck the flower dew and moisten her throat. In order to moisten the lungs, Yang Guifei puts a cool jade fish in her mouth every day in summer.

There is no historical document showing that Yang Guifei was favored by the Tang emperors because of her obesity or fullness. According to the biographical records of Yang Guifei in the new and old Tang books, the main reason why Yang Guifei was favored was that she was "qualified". Specifically, it includes: "Being good at singing and dancing, knowing the rhythm, being smart and alert, and being considerate" (The Original Biography of the New Tang Dynasty), that is, having literary expertise and being smart and understanding. In addition, the poet sage Du Fu described in his poem "Two Ways" that he is "receptive, aloof, sweet and sincere, with soft and delicate skin and well-proportioned bones", which means gorgeous, dignified, temperamental and delicate skin. The fact is that Tang doesn't appreciate Yang Guifei's muscles. "Biography of Yang Taizhen" said that once Tang Huangming read "Biography of Emperor Han Cheng" in the toilet of Baihua Garden. After seeing it, Yang Guifei asked him what books to read. Tang smiled and said, "Don't ask. Knowing that you will feel uncomfortable. " Yang Guifei grabbed the book, only to find that it read: "Emperor Hancheng is better than the flying swallow, but he is lighter than the wind. The emperor was afraid that it would float away, so he sang and danced to make a crystal plate and let the imperial secretary hold it ... ". At this time, Tang teased her and said, "You can stand the wind better than her." Yang Guifei refused to accept it and confidently said that her "dress and dance" surpassed Zhao.

During Li Bai's dedication to the Hanlin Academy, he wrote three poems "Qing Ping Diao Ci", praising the beauty of Yang Guifei and the court life at that time. The second song is dedicated to the beauty of Yang Guifei, and the poem reads:

A red dew is fragrant, and the rain is heartbroken.

Excuse me, who looks like Han Palace? The poor swallow leans against her new makeup.

In the poem, Yang Guifei is compared to Peony and Zhao. If Yang Guifei is really obese and Zhao can form a sharp contrast between fat and thin, then this metaphor is ridicule and disobedience. Probably, Yang Guifei appreciates Zhao herself and would like to be compared to Zhao. It is said that Yang Guifei has a nickname of "Fat Maid", which may be the curse of those who are jealous and hate her (such as Mei Fei). It can be seen that at that time, people never took obesity as beauty.

The saying that "the ring is fat and the swallow is thin" began with Su Dongpo, a writer in the Song Dynasty. There are two sentences in Su Dongpo's poem "Sun Xin Lao Qi Mo Miao Pavilion": "Short, long, fat and thin have their own characteristics. Who dares to hate Yuhuan Yan Fei!" Su Dongpo regards Yang Guifei and Zhao as typical examples of fat beauty for three reasons: First, Mr. Dongpo himself is obese, appreciates all obese things, including calligraphy and figure, and pulls Yang Guifei out as a friendly army to strengthen his appearance; Second, Mr. Dongpo imitated Tao Yuanming, studied hard and didn't ask for answers, mistaking Yang Guifei for a fat girl; Third, Mr. Dongpo deliberately joked and tampered with allusions. If you dare to make up the words of ancient sages and sages after entering the examination, you will naturally be wronged by Yang Guifei. Because Su Dongpo's literary name is prominent and far-reaching, "fat and thin" has become a well-known "historical common sense".

To be sure, there are slim ones in the beauty standards of the Tang Dynasty. According to documents such as Er Liu's Old News and Tang Yulin, Su Zong, the son of Tang Dynasty, was framed by Li when he was a prince. He is dying, worried that his hair and beard are all white, and he is away from all kinds of social activities, and his life is very difficult. When Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty learned of this incident, he asked Gao Lishi to send Beijing (the mayor of Chang 'an, the capital) to "select five slender and fair-skinned women in the world and give them to the Prince". It can be seen that the standard of beauty in Xuanzong era is the same as today: slim, tall and fair-skinned.

Two poems by monk Guan Xiu can best prove that the Tang people did not regard obesity as beauty:

If you are not noble, don't learn from chickens and dogs (Bai Xuege)

This means that people, regardless of their status, should not be obese. In other words, in the concept of honor and disgrace of the people in the Tang Dynasty, there is a kind of "being proud of being thin, ashamed of being fat, and ashamed of being huge". It can be seen that people in the Tang Dynasty not only did not regard obesity as beauty, but also were extremely disgusted with obesity.

It is said that people in the Tang Dynasty did not regard obesity as beauty, which can also be strongly confirmed by the use of words such as "thin waist" and "gentle and graceful" in Tang poetry. In Tang poetry, "slim waist" and "gentle and graceful" are all used to describe beautiful women. Please see:

Playing dragon flute, playing catfish drum, bright eyes and white teeth, dancing waist.

The situation is that youth will be dusk and peach blossoms will fall in red rain.

(Li He's "Into the Wine")

I would like to be light-waisted, and I would like to share my face for the mirror (Liu Xiyi's "Gongzi Xing")

Waist swaying, swaying with the wind (Bai Juyi's Twenty Poems in Late Spring)

There are many harems, and new voices in daily learning (Lu Guimeng's "Xieyu Hate")

A gentle and graceful woman, like jade (Bai Juyi's Continued Ten Ancient Poems)

Of course, people in the Tang Dynasty also had places where "fat is beautiful", such as horses on the road, chickens, ducks and fish needed for eating, fields for growing crops, and peach and plum buds for viewing, all of which paid attention to the word "fat", as evidenced by poems:

Advocating the Taoli family is self-indulgence, and Beijing Rangers are all frivolous (Luo's "Imperial Capital")

Students and teenagers are not cheap, and the five tombs are light and fat (Du Fu's Eight Poems of Autumn Prosperity)

Fat horses and light fur are also acceptable, and rough songs and thin wine are also accompanied (Bai Juyi's Leisure)

Egrets fly by the side of Mount Cisse, peach blossoms flow, and mandarin fish are fat (Zhang's Fisherman)

Add * * * love perch fat, still pity sugar cane when sober up (Li Jie's "Send Yinshan Yaocheng to Su Shaofu as a prostitute")

The newly cooked liquor will return to the mountains, and the yellow chicken will peck at the millet in autumn (Li Bai's "Nanling children don't go to Beijing")

Even the streams are blue, and the family envies the fat of bamboo fields (Liu Changqing's "After being an official, I will return to my former residence and leave a message")

The green wind folds bamboo shoots, and the red plums burst into the rain (Du Fu's Ten Generals He Shanlin Sui)

The most interesting is Bai Juyi's two poems, "A horse can walk fast and a prostitute can sing and dance well" ("Think twice"). Horses are beautiful because they are fat (all six horses in Zhaoling are fat), but Caballe is better because he is thin and tall. Prostitutes are fat, which is simply unforgivable. The famous poet Du Mu met a fat prostitute in Shaanxi, that is, a bar girl. He immediately wrote a poem, which was extremely ironic and ugly. Please see:

Pangu had a distant grandson at that time, and it is still necessary for him to show off his family today.

A truck full of mud and ten red flags.

There are traces in the crock temple, and palm prints in front of Huayue Mountain.

Don't worry about getting married, just ask about Le Kunshu.

(Du Mu's "Simulated Prostitute")

It can be seen that people in the Tang Dynasty measured the beauty and ugliness of people and horses completely differently.