The "lipstick effect" is a very interesting economic phenomenon, in the United States, due to the economic depression, people can not afford to buy more expensive luxury goods, and women in order to alleviate the desire to buy luxury goods, will turn their attention to the cheaper and improve the quality of life of lipstick, which has played a comforting effect for consumers. In addition, in the 1930s, the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression, which was at the peak of the development of the Hollywood film industry.
From here, we can see that some small things or daily phenomena can reflect the development of the big situation, and micro things determine the macro.
In fact, there are also such examples in ancient China, which occurred during the Tang Dynasty. The makeup and hair evolution of Women in the Tang Dynasty reflects the national fortunes of the Tang Dynasty all the time.
First, the early Tang: women's makeup invented beautiful and neat
In the early Tang Dynasty (618 years of the first year of Tang Gaozu Wude - 712 years of the first year of Tang Xuanzong's first year), women's hairstyles mainly had the following classifications: half-turned buns, shock buns, early Tang dynasty high buns, anti-buns, double rings and so on. The common features of these buns are all upwardly combed, the bottom of the hair is solid, the upper part is high, and it is matched with simple ornaments, showing a positive and healthy natural beauty, corresponding to the waste of the early Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty experienced various upheavals such as the Five Hu Chaos and the confrontation between the north and the south, and finally established a unified dynasty, and people finally had their own homeland. This sense of belonging to the dynasty and the yearning for future life have given women great self-confidence, and it is precisely this confidence that they comb their hair higher and higher.
From a visual point of view, most of these buns are very tight, the appearance is very neat and bright, not procrastinating, and the heroic posture of Women in the Tang Dynasty is vividly reflected.
In the early Tang Dynasty, women's makeup was also compatible with the decorative means of other ethnic groups. Because the rulers of the early Tang Dynasty implemented a policy of ethnic pluralism, women's dress was diverse in the streets of the early Tang Dynasty.
This is especially evident in the eyebrows of women, the rulers of Li Tang have a certain humble bloodline, and most of them have a heroic personality. And women's eyebrows are mostly "broad eyebrows", very long, very thick, not curved willow eyebrows. From the "Step Diagram" painted by Yan Liben during the Zhenguan period, it can be seen that women often paint this eyebrow makeup.
In addition, the women's makeup in the early Tang Dynasty was very rich and gorgeous, showing the vitality of the country in the early Tang Dynasty.
Second, Sheng Tang: Women's makeup and hair are strong and colorful
Whether it is the rule of Zhenguan or the prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty has become a dynasty with prosperous national fortunes. During the Tang Dynasty, it had a very high status in Chinese history, and even the Tang Dynasty was called the most prosperous dynasty in Chinese history. The Tang Dynasty at this time was at the center of the stage, receiving praise from all directions.
In the Prosperous Tang Dynasty, women's hairstyles mainly had the following classifications: Sheng Tang style high bun, Bo tang bun, ball bun, flat bun and so on. Women in the Tang Dynasty liked to comb their hair flat and insert combs into their hair, or decorate them with exquisite jewelry and jade ornaments. The space occupied by the woman's hair is very large, and the decoration is very graceful and gorgeous.
Under visual conditions, the hairstyle of women in the Tang Dynasty looks very dignified and plain, which profoundly reflects the prosperity of the country during the Tang Dynasty, and the luxurious ornaments on the woman's head also reflect the wealth and strength of the country.
The Tang Dynasty implemented ethnic pluralism, all-encompassing, under the integration of nationalities, Tang Dynasty women's hairstyles also gradually showed multi-ethnicity, such as Uighur buns, black buns, throwing buns, is a typical hu makeup hair ornament.
So what was the makeup of women in the Tang Dynasty?
In the Tang Dynasty, women's makeup was very heavy, the base makeup must be white, and it must be particularly white, it must also be matched with red blush, the mouth must also be red, and the forehead must be painted with bright colors. The popular eyebrow types are long, thin and light, such as moth eyebrows, distant mountain eyebrows, green eyebrows and so on. Bai Juyi's "Shangyang Ren" in "Qingdai dot eyebrows slender, Tianbao's last years of makeup", there is this description.
In modern times, such makeup seems unbearable, but in the Tang Dynasty, this is the most beautiful appearance of women.
There was a poet in the Tang Dynasty named Wang Jian, who once described the process of removing women's makeup in the prosperous Tang Dynasty: "Dancing sweats and wets the clothes, and the people upstairs help them down the jade ladder." Return to the courtyard to wash the face, and the red mud in the golden basin of water." Imagine how thick red makeup it is to wash out the "red mud" in the washbasin.
Some historical books have recorded that Yang Guifei spent millions of taels on rouge every year, which is enough to reflect the thickness of women's makeup and their love for makeup during the Tang Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, women's hair was mature and dignified, and the makeup was gorgeous and thick, which was enough to reflect the prosperity and stability and prosperity of the society at that time.
Third, the middle and late Tang Dynasty: women's makeup and hair are loose and exaggerated
Readers familiar with history know that the turning point of the Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline was the Anshi Rebellion. In his later years, Tang Xuanzong indulged in eroticism, the contradictions of the ruling class deepened day by day, and the decadent rule aggravated the burden of the people, and the social contradictions continued to intensify, and the Anshi Rebellion broke out. This civil unrest caused the tang dynasty to lose its population rapidly, and its national strength also decreased sharply, and the Tang dynasty declined as a result.
In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, there were mainly the following types of women's hair buns: from buns, fallen horse buns, mid-to-late Tang style high buns, and troubled makeup buns. Bai Xingjian once commented on the makeup bun, he wrote in the "Three Dreams": "The bun in the palace at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the number of the trouble sweeping makeup, shaped like Yan Feng scattered mane, cover plate crow, fallen horse and so on. ”
In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, women's hair buns mostly overlapped and complex, and even took several hours to manage, and they needed to be embellished with various gorgeous jewels on the hair, which showed the degree of luxury. The hairstyles of women in this period were even more luxurious and luxurious than the women's buns of the Tang Dynasty. But this does not mean that the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty can continue, but it shows that the Golden Jade of the Tang Dynasty is outside and defeated.
Women in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, most of the hair buns, even walking need to be supported by others, they exude a feeling of laziness and fatigue. So at the same time, how did the makeup of women in the middle and late Tang Dynasty change?
Let's first look at a poem by Bai Juyi, "Shi Shi Makeup": "Shi Shi Makeup, Shi Shi Makeup, comes from the four directions of the city." The fashion of the times is far and near, and the cheeks are not applied to the vermilion without powder. The lips are like mud, and the eyebrows are painted as low as eight characters. Yan Yan lost her true state in black and white, and her makeup seemed to contain a sad cry. Round beard without sideburns, oblique red does not faint ochre-like. In the past, Itami was sent to Yi Chuanzhong, and Xin had seen and knew that there was Rong. Yuan and makeup comb Jun remember, bun pile noodles ochre style. ”
The poem depicts a kind of makeup "crying makeup" for women in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, when the woman's face is no longer white and blushed, but the lips are blackened. The figure eight eyebrows rose again, and together with the black lips and the vertebrae, they formed the "yuan and shishi makeup" with the characteristics of "three in one". Li Shangyin has a poem about this: "Princess Shouyang is married to make up, and the eyebrows of the Eight-Character Palace are yellow."
It goes without saying that this makeup reflects the current situation of society at that time, but women use makeup to express what they think.
Whether ancient or modern, beauty has always been the pursuit of human beings. Especially for women, women are pleasing to themselves, and this sentence is particularly appropriate. In feudal ancient times, due to political and other factors, women needed to be constrained by the ideological hierarchy and could not completely let go of their hands and feet to pursue. In modern times, women, whether they are old or young, have the right to pursue beauty, which is a kind of happiness of the times, but also a kind of progress of the times.
With the development of society, Tang Dynasty women's makeup and hair are gradually evolving, sometimes graceful and luxurious, sometimes intense and unrestrained, but all this also benefits from the economic and cultural development of the Tang Dynasty.
The beauty of Tang makeup is a kind of self-confidence that emanates from the bones, it is a testimony of that high-spirited era, and it is also an interpretation of beauty!