What is the aesthetic standard of ancient beauty?
As one of the four ancient civilizations, China has been a beautiful country since ancient times. The long history includes the unique views and research of China ancients on female beauty. With the change of 5,000 years' history, the aesthetic standards of China people are constantly changing. Shi, The Story Of Diu Sim, Wang Zhaojun and Yang Guifei put these four ancient beauties in today's world. Maybe we won't agree with them. After all, different times have different aesthetic standards, and each historical period has different emphasis on judging beautiful women. In matriarchal society, in ancient matriarchal society, the standard of reproduction and production is the standard of beauty. A stout woman was the most beautiful in the aesthetic concept of human beings at that time. The modeling feature of the Neolithic Statue of Goddess that we see is strong and sturdy. Limited by material conditions, women's clothing or decorations at that time were very simple and practical. However, from archaeological excavations, it was found that some simple bone or wooden ornaments still reflected women's pursuit and admiration for beauty at that time. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, some historians called it one of the four turning points of China's ancient aesthetic changes. In this era, China society gradually changed from slavery to feudalism. People in the period of social transformation will have great changes in aesthetic standards. The aesthetic concept of "softness and obedience" advocated by men prevails, while the aesthetic consciousness of "exquisiteness and delicacy" prevails among literati. People pay attention to women's facial images, and "delicate and delicate" women are regarded as beautiful women. At that time, due to the hegemony of the seven chivalrous men, the contention of a hundred schools of thought and academic contention, the ideologies of different factions infiltrated into aesthetic thoughts and produced different aesthetic opinions. During the Han Dynasty, women who showed their talents were recognized by people. Because women's beauty at that time had not achieved independent value, although people appreciated women's beauty, they emphasized morality more and showed a tendency to suppress beauty with virtue. In the post-Han Three Kingdoms period, people's appreciation of beauty was metaphysical, and aesthetics reached a philosophical height that is still unattainable, among which Cao Zhi's Ode to Luoshen is the representative. Some social habits in this period continued the style of the Warring States and Qin Dynasties. Women's headdresses are relatively small, and their hairstyles are basically downward, which is natural and simple and has no aesthetic feeling. Clothing design is also based on functionality, and luxurious clothing can only be seen in the court. The most interesting thing is the makeup on women's faces in the Han Dynasty: women painted their faces white and their lips red, with a small outline. This shows that "face as thick as fat" and "cherry mouth" have gradually become the basic style of ancient female beauty. The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was also one of the four turning points of China's ancient aesthetic changes, and it was a famous period of great ethnic integration in China history. Wei and Jin Dynasties were the most chaotic economic and political times in China's history, but they were extremely free and liberated spiritually, most enthusiastic and full of individual aesthetic consciousness. With the collapse of Confucian classics in Han Dynasty, people's personality was liberated, Buddhism began to prevail, and the beauty of natural elegance prevailed for a while. The beauty of women began to gain independent value and be appreciated and cherished. Xun can once said that "women's virtue is insufficient, and sex is the main thing." The criteria for judging female beauty also tend to be external personality and exquisiteness. In such a social environment, women began to consciously pursue beauty. Most women in this period wore long-sleeved and short-sleeved dresses. The waist is tied tightly with a "waist hug" and decorated with a belt. At that time, it was also popular to wear flower pins and "walk" on the head, which made the clothes flutter and the rings jingle, further emphasizing the gentleness and charm of women. Therefore, advocating personality beauty and natural beauty became the aesthetic standard at that time. During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, the Tang Dynasty added new aesthetic factors and colors than any previous dynasty. The aesthetic taste in the Tang Dynasty changed from the reproducibility and objectivity in the early stage to the subjectivity, artistry and feminine beauty in the later stage, which reflected the precipitation of aesthetic consciousness in the Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties, and the aesthetic angle gradually became gorgeous and beautiful. Because the Sui and Tang Dynasties were the heyday of China's feudal society and its national strength was strong, the beauty of women also showed a graceful scene. That is to say, we usually say that women in the Tang Dynasty took fat as beauty. The broad forehead, round face, plump sensuality, towering bun, fluttering silks and satins are gorgeous and generous, which fully embodies the "prosperous weather of Tang Dynasty". Their clothes are the boldest and sexiest among women in China. Clothing not only continues the elegant feeling of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, but also adds gorgeous beauty. The exposure of women's clothing was unprecedented in ancient China. In the Tang Dynasty, women were very particular about makeup. At that time, it was popular to draw thick moth-winged eyebrows and tall eyebrows, which added more charm to women. In the early Tang Dynasty, it was most popular to insert a red or yellow "flower" on the forehead as a decoration. "Flowers" have different shapes, mainly leaves or flowers. In the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, women painted flowers and birds on their faces or on papers and scrolls to show their beauty. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, due to the influence of politics, economy, culture and many other aspects, Song people began to advocate the beauty of simplicity and elegance. Feminine beauty has changed from gorgeous and open to elegant and introverted. Feminine beauty is generally based on the original appearance of Guanyin Bodhisattva, and people's requirements for beautiful women gradually tend to be tender and delicate: cutting shoulders, flat chest, bending over and slim feet. In the Song Dynasty, the wind of foot-binding spread all over the people, and "three-inch golden lotus" became the basic requirement for female beauty. The jewelry named "Corolla" worn by women in Song Dynasty was very popular and beautifully made, which added charming temperament to women in this era. The cosmetic powder used by women in the Song Dynasty has been made into powder blocks, each with a diameter of about 3 cm, which are round, square, quadrilateral, hexagonal, sunflower petal-shaped and so on. The surface of each powder block is also printed with concave and convex plum, orchid and lotus patterns. In the Yuan Dynasty, although the society in China was not ruled by the Han people, foreigners did not have much influence on the aesthetics and beauty of the Han people. With the germination of capitalism in Ming and Qing Dynasties, people's aesthetic taste began to drift with the tide. However, the standard of female beauty is still not much different from that of the previous dynasty. However, there are more and more social constraints on women, which are manifested in women's hair accessories, clothing and so on. In the Ming Dynasty, women's hairstyles were rigid, their clothes were tightly wrapped, and they had no personality at all. It can be said that women's beauty was wrapped tightly. It was not until the end of the Ming Dynasty that some characteristics were gradually acquired. In the Qing Dynasty, the beauty of reservation and restraint was still the basis of female beauty. Juck Zhang, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, also mentioned in A Dream Shadow that the so-called beauty takes flowers as the pose, birds as the sound, the moon as the god, vitamins as the bone, ice and snow as the skin, autumn water as the pose and poetry as the heart. Through vivid metaphors, we can see that a scholar needs both internal and external aesthetic standards. This aesthetic consciousness has been maintained until the Republic of China.