In the exhibition hall, there is a section called "Fat Trend of Women's Wear in Tang Dynasty". Looking at the changes of their figure, I thought of some paintings reflecting the life in the Tang Dynasty, which made me interested in the image changes of beautiful women in the Tang Dynasty.
In the murals of Cave 375 of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Gansu, the beauty in the early Tang Dynasty was too thin to go out even in the third-grade wind. In the famous painting "Walking Map" in the Tang Dynasty, the ladies carrying webbed horses and holding umbrellas are also so slender; Even some female figurines are not plump.
Didn't the Tang Dynasty say that the standard of beauty was "taking fat as beauty"? Why do these handed down works provide evidence to the contrary?
In fact, this may really be a beautiful misunderstanding. Take Yang Yuhuan, the symbol of fat beauty in Tang Dynasty. People often say "fat and thin" is to compare her to Zhao Yanfei of the Han Dynasty.
The source of this word is a poem by Su Dongpo in the Song Dynasty, Sun Xin's Poem of Searching for a Wonderful Pavilion: "Ling Du's storytelling is expensive and thin, which is unfair. Short, long, fat and thin have their own states. Who dares to hate Yuhuan Yan Fei? " It can be seen that Su Shi's original intention is not to say that Yang Guifei is fat, but to show his understanding of calligraphy by talking with Zhao.
Yang Guifei's dancing must have fascinated the great poet Li Bai. She wrote a poem "Qingpingdiao" out of emotion: "A red flower is fragrant, and it is heartbreaking that sex is coming. Excuse me, who looks like Han Palace? Poor swallow leans on new makeup. " It can be seen that Yang Guifei dances lightly and has a beautiful image.
According to a sentence in Bai Juyi's Song of Eternal Sorrow: "Slow down singing and dancing, the emperor's eyes will never be enough to stare at her." At that time, Yang Guifei didn't say that eating and sleeping every day was dancing, and the time for exercise every day should be indispensable. It is not necessarily accurate to say that she is fat.
I prefer the record in Old Tang Book: "Too true, rich in qualifications, good at singing and dancing, smooth in melody and brilliant." Why is Yang Guifei called "too true"? It was a trick played by Emperor Xuanzong and Tang Lishi to let the princess become a monk first. This name is too real. Xuanzong later received Taoist Taizhen from Huaqing Palace, and later awarded the title of Imperial concubine. The word "Yan Feng" in Old Tang Book is really wonderful, with a plump figure and a delicate face. In addition, she can sing and dance well, and her melody is smooth, which touched the literary youth Tang Xuanzong.
Is there anything wrong with "taking fat as beauty" in the Tang Dynasty?
Of course not.
This should also start with the history of China. As we all know, there have been two long-term upheavals in the history of China. One is the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which is the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. It took more than 500 years to move from Pingdong in 770 BC to the death of Zhou Nanwang, the last monarch of the Zhou Dynasty in 256 BC. The second is a 400-year history from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, through the Three Kingdoms, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.
At that time, there was constant war and the people were miserable. People's bodies are not thin, and there are not many people who have a sense of flesh. After the unification of China in the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty had a bearing on people's livelihood, social stability, economic development and people's lives. Although it experienced Yang Guang's tyranny and peasant uprisings everywhere, with the efforts of Li Yuan and Li Shimin, the society quickly recovered peace until the prosperity of Kaiyuan.
The artistic expression in the early Tang Dynasty was realistic. At that time, people were slender, whether painting or sculpture. With the development of society, people live and work in peace and contentment, the population grows rapidly, and people's attitudes have also changed. There are more and more plump people, and the technology of singing and dancing is becoming more and more developed. From the famous paintings of the Tang Dynasty, such as Lady Dai Hua, Lady You Chun of the State of Guo, the murals of Cave 205 in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and some sculptures, it can be clearly seen that beautiful women are getting fuller and fuller.
Unfortunately, the "An Shi Rebellion" broke out, and the people were once again involved in the war, displaced and miserable, which led to Du Fu's "Three Officials and Three Farewells" and Yan Zhenqing's "Sacrifice to the Nephew". However, for painters and sculptors, they are unwilling to show this and hope to have a better life. Reflected in the works, beauty is still "beautiful and fat".
This is my understanding of the beauty of "fat is beauty" in the Tang Dynasty. Welcome everyone to discuss together.