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Because the ancient famous beauty Yang Guifei has been passed down through the ages in the name of "thin and fat", and the female images in paintings, pottery figurines and other works of art in the Tang Dynasty are mostly full moon, people have long formed a * * * understanding: women in the Tang Dynasty regard fat as beauty. In the author's view, this statement is specious, which can't be said to be completely unreasonable, but it's not entirely true (see Shang Minjie's "Women's Artistic Images and Cultural Relics in the Tang Dynasty", No.6, l992).

In ancient China, before and after the Tang Dynasty, there was a consistent aesthetic view of female characters, that is, "long white" was beauty. Therefore, some people sum up female beauty as three points: slender and slim; Fair skin; Beauty, look good. This kind of induction is generally true. Appreciation of women's "Changbai" is common in ancient Chinese characters. For example, in Historical Records and Biography of Su Qin, Su Qin said that Zhao Suhou said that "there is a building in front of Xuanyuan, and there is a beauty behind Xuanyuan." In the Han Dynasty, women's palaces were adopted, and the standard was "strong, bright and law-abiding" (lost in Custom Yi Tong). Later generations concluded: "When choosing August girls in China and France, the length must be appropriate, and the long white is the virtue." (In Gui Si Cun Manuscript (volume 14), the description of the beauty of Emperor Deng Sui in the later Han Dynasty: "It is seven feet and two inches long, and it is as beautiful as a fairy, which is absolutely different from others, and both sides are surprised." Meng Guang, who is famous for his ugliness, is "fat and black" (Biography of Empresses in the Later Han Dynasty). When Emperor Wu of Jin chose a concubine for the prince, he made some comments on Wei and Jia: "Wei Gongnv has five things and Jia Gongnv has five things." Wei Jia xian hui has many children, beautiful and long white; The Jia family is jealous and childless, ugly, short and black. (Biography of Empresses in the Book of Jin) In the Southern History, Liu Jingyan, the queen of Abatti Giresse Concorde, was "beautiful as a flower, seven feet and two inches long, with her hands hanging down her knees". In Gui Si Cun Manuscript written by Yu in Qing Dynasty, there is a topic devoted to "Changbai Beauty", which is clearly summarized as "It is more important to cover a woman's face with a long face." "Long" means height. Although being tall doesn't necessarily mean being thin, it generally means being slender, at least not being fat. Cao Zhi's Ode to Luoshen is different from the rest of the world, praising the goddess for "getting the right result, pruning short and fitting". "If the shoulders are cut, the waist is as good as the elements." That is, in addition to being fat and thin, the waist should be cut off, that is, it should be longer than "long". This statement is also very representative and belongs to the mainstream aesthetics of ancient women's bodies. In short, it can be said that ancient women were tall and slender. Regarding "white" and "beauty", the aesthetics of the Tang people are no different from those of the previous generation and future generations. White skin, the so-called "ice muscle and snow skin", has always been repeatedly recited by Tang people; As for the beauty of eyebrows and face, there is no obvious difference from the standards of other times. Only "long", if the Tang people regard fat as beauty, is obviously contrary to the traditional aesthetic view. Did the Tang Dynasty completely subvert this aesthetic view?

Let's look at the record of Fat Yang Yuhuan. The new and old Tang books revised in the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty contain "graceful posture" and "rich posture"; Zi Tongzhi in Song Dynasty called it "muscular". The Five Dynasties "Kaiyuan Tianbao Legacy" contains: "The imperial concubine has a body, and Zhixia is bitter and hot, and her lungs are often thirsty. She has a jade fish in her mouth every day to let her cool down and moisten her lungs "; "Every time I go to Xia Yue, I often wear light clothes so that I can make a fan for my son, but I still don't understand its heat. Every time I sweat, I feel red and greasy. It shows that it is plump and muscular. According to the biography of Yang Taizhen in Song Dynasty, Xuanzong once teased that Zhao was "light and unable to beat the wind" because of his "slight muscles" and said, "You can blow as you like." The imperial concubine replied, "a song of clothes and a feather can cover up the past." "It can be seen from Xuanzong's answer to the imperial concubine that they obviously don't regard fat as beauty. Although this book is legendary, according to textual research, it is all polished by notes from the Tang Dynasty, and there are also brief preparations here about the imperial concubine. These are roughly the source of Yang Guifei's fat beauty spread to later generations. Chen Hong's Song of Eternal Sorrow in Tang Dynasty called it "greasy in the hair and moderate in the fiber". Fiber, fine; Mount, which means gorgeous and plump. Actually, it means moderately fat and thin. Of course, the author has never seen Yang Guifei, and no one in the Tang Dynasty called her "plump", saying that she was actually plump in the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty. However, these records are close to that era, and there are few literary creation factors, which are relatively credible. To sum up, on the whole, it can be concluded that Yang is really plump and chubby. But it must be noted that she has never been favored by Xuanzong because she is fat. History shows that Yang Fei is smart, beautiful, good at singing and dancing, fluent in melody and considerate. It is precisely because she has such extraordinary qualities and fits in with Xuanzong's temperament and hobbies that she won the favor of Tang Xuanzong, the "three thousand harem beauties". In a word, it can be said that the popular Yang Fei happens to be fat, not because she is.

There is an interesting fact to prove: Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, who was fond of Yang Guifei, put forward a clear female standard of "slender and white" when choosing a princess for the prince (Li Deyu's Second Old News of Liu Family). And his brother Wang Ning Li Xian, because he took a fancy to the neighbor's cake seller's wife "white and beautiful" ("technical poetry and emotion first"). Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was a romantic son of heaven and an artist. His aesthetics and Wang Ning's aesthetics should be representative, representing the mainstream aesthetics in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. In fact, their aesthetic standards are not unique, but follow the traditional female aesthetic standards mentioned above. In addition, Wu Shi, the owner of Jingle County in the Wu Zetian family, was "short and ugly" in history. Wu Zetian's "longest" number is "big". When they merged, the appearance of the former was ridiculed, and they were very ashamed (Zhang Xiao's In One Man's Hand and In Another Man's Hand, Volume 4). It also shows that long is beautiful, and short is not worth taking. It can be seen that the body aesthetics of women in the Tang Dynasty is no different from that of the previous generation.

In the Tang Dynasty, there were few words dedicated to praising and chanting women's fat beauty. For example, in Yuan Zhen's poem Biography of Yingying, Yingying is called "rich in skin and jade"; The Biography of Huo Xiaoyu said that Xiaoyu's gorgeous appearance can be explained in two ways, either gorgeous or plump. It is clearly recorded in the Biography of Yang Taizhen in the Song Dynasty that the three sisters of the imperial concubine are "beautifully decorated". On the other hand, figures in the Tang Dynasty chanted the slender beauty of women, especially the slender waist, which can be seen everywhere. In Tang poetry, the waist is thin (the second feeling of skill poetry), the waist is thin when the northwest wind blows (Liu Xiyi's Yi Dao), the waist is thin when the skirt is thin (Hui Yuan's Love in July), the waist is as thin as a willow face like a lotus (Gu Fu's Lotus Cup) and the waist is as light as a bundle. Legends in the Tang Dynasty described the beauty of women as "slim waist and beautiful eyes" (a trip to Wei, Jin, Zhou and Qin Dynasties); Rong Zhi is exquisite, if you can't beat it, you can't continue "(Huangfumei's Sanshui Dai Xiao); My wife is white and beautiful (anonymous biography of the white ape in Bujiang) and so on. It can be seen that, like their predecessors, slim figure and waist are still important standards of beauty in the eyes of the Tang people. The figure of other beautiful women, such as small mouth, slender hands and slender feet, is also loved and appreciated by people. Tang poems include The Mouth of Cherry (followed by the sense of things), Little Cherry in the Mouth (Li He's Angry Gong), Little Hand Floating in the Southeast Moon (Liu Xiyi's Mowing Clothes) and A Pair. It can be said that there are not many words that deliberately describe and appreciate the beauty of plump muscles in the Tang Dynasty. Perhaps it is because poetry and other literary works describe more singers and dancers, while more people appreciate the slender and graceful beauty of women.

In fact, people appreciate being moderately fat and thin. It is mentioned in the above "Luo Shen Fu" that "the fiber is medium and the fit is shortened." In addition to the above-mentioned Song of Eternal Sorrow, which praised Yang Fei as "slim and moderate", Du Fu's Two Ways described Yang Guifei's sisters, and also said that she was "open-minded, aloof and sweet, sincere and sincere, with soft skin and upright bones". "flesh and blood" means being in good shape, not fat or thin. In addition, it is recorded in the Tang Dynasty that there was a prostitute Cui Yunniang in Lizhou, who was "thin and unattractive in appearance". The person who wrote the poem sneered and said, "I am afraid that my shoulders will invade my temples, but I am worried about my bones." Don't be a household, you have Zhong Kui on your head. "Describe it as a ghost. At the same time, there is also a "fat-headed" prostitute, who was also ridiculed as: "A car full of mud can repair the mud neck and ten red flags. "Although it is a joke, it is not beautiful to be too thin and too fat.

This is generally the case in the literature, but if we look at the paintings, murals, pottery figurines and other works of art preserved in the Tang Dynasty, especially in the later period, we have to admit that the images of ladies and gentlemen are indeed rich and plump, and even the ladies-in-waiting and other figures are multifaceted and rich in shape. Although they can't represent the real image of women in real life, the author's creation and description clearly show that this is beautiful. Song people speculated and explained this from the perspective of the representatives of famous female painters and the people in the late Tang Dynasty, and thought it was related to what the painter saw and the region. "(Zhou) prevents children from traveling, and sees more beautiful people, so it is rich. However, there are few delicate women in Guanzhong, and their meaning is far-reaching, which is also appreciated by those who are suitable for viewing "(Volume 6 of Xuanhe Huapu). Tang Li, a connoisseur of the Yuan Dynasty, also pointed out that Zhou Fang was "good at painting nobles and taking pictures; Do miss is rich and rich. " There is something in what you say. On the one hand, artistic works such as ladies' paintings and pottery figurines are realistic, and most of them are court, aristocratic women and maids in Guanzhong area. Although their images can't represent the majority of women in Guanzhong, they should reflect the social reality to some extent. The long-term stability of society, the abundance of material life and the physical characteristics of women in Guanzhong have indeed created a group of fat people among the rich. On the other hand, it also shows that the aesthetic standards of the Tang Dynasty have a preference for women's plump figure, at least they don't think it is ugly, so women who care about color won't starve for the sake of "the king of Chu has a thin waist", and naturally there are more fat people in artists' realistic works. Because of these works of art, later generations came to the conclusion that fat was beautiful in the Tang Dynasty: "This is a solid thing in the Tang Dynasty, which is said to be as real as a person and rich in bones and muscles. Today, in painting, muscles are better than bones. " "If the eyebrows are curved and the cheeks are full, you will know that the Tang people are still good and fat is beautiful." In fact, there is one more thing to note about the plump artistic image of women in the Tang Dynasty: the dress of women in the Tang Dynasty is characterized by long skirts and even reaching the armpits, similar to the national costume of North Korea. Rich women's skirts are often wide, fat and pleated, and there are many pieces, usually six pieces, about three meters wide, while there are more than a dozen pieces wide, reaching four or five meters. Although this kind of skirt looks longer, it also hides a woman's thin waist and curves. This may also be one of the reasons why people feel that the female image is overweight from the works of art in the Tang Dynasty.

In addition, it should be noted that the so-called "muscle gain" does not mean obesity, but should be based on the above-mentioned "muscle is better than bone" or "muscle gain shows bone", as summarized by the Han people (RoyceWong's Seven Solutions), that is, muscles are plump and bones are slender. At the same time, "muscle fullness" does not mean being strong, but also taking weakness as the first priority. Therefore, Bai Juyi's "Song of Eternal Sorrow" especially describes "because of its burnout, a maid lifted it" after the imperial concubine bathed; Chen Hong's Song of Eternal Sorrow describes him as "weak, and if he is not allowed to be Luo Qi". In short, even if the skin is full, it is still beautiful and delicate. This is actually a popular aesthetic in ancient times.

As can be seen from the above, as the mainstream aesthetics, the Tang people have not completely subverted the tradition, and the slender femininity is still advocated by the society; However, compared with other times, the Tang people do have a tendency to favor girls' plump figure, at least they won't feel ugly about their plump figure.

According to the author's opinion, the expression and preference of the works of art in the Tang Dynasty for women's plump skin are influenced by the abundance of plump ladies and gentlemen in Guanzhong area and the fact that they are extremely rich. There may be several factors contributing to this aesthetic view. One is the influence of Buddhism. As we all know, buddhas and bodhisattvas blessed by Buddhism are all round and full. The Tang Dynasty is the heyday of Buddhism, with many believers, and the aesthetic orientation of society will certainly be affected. The Lushena Buddha in Fengxian Temple of Longmen Grottoes is the most representative, with a feminine face and extremely round and beautiful face. It is said that it was shaped in the image of Wu Zetian. This statement may not be reliable, but at least we can get a glimpse of the aesthetics of the Tang Dynasty. Secondly, it may also be related to the appreciation of women's sexual beauty in the Tang Dynasty. In Tang poetry, there are many poems praising women's "pink milk", such as "pink milk Shimada Hanzo hates sunny snow", "pink blue milk is covered with snow to suppress plums", "chest is like snow and face is like lotus" and so on. The popular women's dresses with half-naked breasts and cleavage in the Tang Dynasty also reflected people's appreciation of women's bodies and breasts. Obviously, skinny women are not suitable for this aesthetic taste and clothing style. In addition, it may also be related to the attention paid to women's fertility in the Tang Dynasty and the unprecedented development of Taoist house art. From ancient times to the present, it is generally believed that plump women are more suitable for childbearing, while the women selected in house art are fatter and whiter, which has been discussed by scholars (see Fan Jiawei's "Talking about Women's Body View in Early Tang Dynasty" and "Tang Research", Volume 8, 2002). The above is just speculation.

Tang people's preference for fat beauty and the inheritance of exquisite traditional aesthetics did not prevent Tang society from producing another aesthetic orientation that was completely contrary to it. From the female images depicted in the literary and artistic works of the Tang Dynasty, we can see heroic and vigorous female images from time to time, as well as many female images dressed in military uniforms and Hu clothes, riding horses or bowing and archery. They are never fat, let alone weak willows, but slim, handsome, strong and handsome, with a strong and heroic spirit. The image in Tang poetry depicts such a female image: "A long time ago, people took bows and arrows and snow horses and bit gold. An archer, with his chest facing the sky, went through the clouds and hit a pair of birds with one arrow. " (Du Fu's "Ai Jiang Tou") "Shoot a maid-in-waiting with red makeup and get a new bow. Get on the horse and give me wine. The man bowed down and thanked the king. " (Wang Jian, "Poems of Hundred Palace") "A new sculpture is still fat at the beginning, but a king in the daytime is rare. At dusk, thousands of doors are about to be locked, and red skirts fly over the walls. " (Zhang Ji's Gong Ci) It can be seen that the Tang people also advocated women's health and the beauty of valor. This aesthetic taste obviously originated from the open and martial atmosphere of the society in the Tang Dynasty, and it was also the artistic epitome of women's style and the reflection of women's aesthetics in the Tang Dynasty.

To sum up, it can be considered that women's aesthetic views in the Tang Dynasty are actually diverse, which is consistent with the diversity and openness of social ideas, cultural concepts and values in the Tang Dynasty. Although the Tang people may have a slight preference for fullness, they still follow the traditional aesthetic view and appreciate the femininity and delicacy. At the same time, they do not reject female beauty. From another perspective, in fact, the so-called "beauty" may be different in different periods, different regions, different identities and even everyone's preferences. This is the most different thing, and there will be no absolutely consistent standard. As Baishi said: "There is no positive color in the world, which is pleasing to the eye." (Bai Juyi's "Qin Zhongyin Proposes Marriage") Therefore, to say the least, the Tang people's view that fat is the beauty is not comprehensive.