Tang Dynasty people like pork belly, fat but not greasy, don't take a large piece of pig fat fat to say that Tang Dynasty people like this.
For a long time, there has been a big misunderstanding of the aesthetics of the Tang Dynasty, that is, the so-called "fat is beautiful", but in fact, from various records and physical objects, the Tang Dynasty people liked abundance, not obesity.
For the Tang Dynasty's "fat is beautiful" argument, most of them come from the paintings and pottery figurines of the time, and in many pictures and other works of art in the Tang Dynasty, the shape of women is indeed mainly strong.
But in fact, this was not the case, such as the famous "Step Map", which was drawn by Yan Liben, the general at that time, tubo Lu Dongzan came to Chang'an to ask for relatives, and was summoned by Emperor Taizong of Tang to li shimin.
In the painting, the palace girls around Li Shimin are all in the form of a thin and graceful woman, which has nothing to do with fat.
The "Step Map" also reflects the mainstream aesthetics of the early Tang Dynasty, when it was still beautiful to be thin, and to the economic prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, but the women at that time did not say that they were fat for beauty.
During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, whether it was the "Tang Palace Lady Figure", "The Trick Diagram" or the "Lady You Chun Tu of the State of Yu", these transformations became a basis for later people to take the beauty of tang dynasty women as a benchmark.
However, a closer look at the paintings reveals that the woman in the painting is not so fat at all.
The reason why people look relatively fat is mainly because of the relationship between dress and hairstyle, the noble women at that time had extremely exaggerated buns, wearing full-breasted skirts, and the overall body showed a barrel state.
If you look closely at the women in the painting, their figures are still very graceful and slender, and the rich women have nothing to do with even if they have a little meat, but they have nothing to do with obesity.
Not only the various paintings of the time, but also many murals and sculptures of the same era in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes.
For example, the flying chart in Cave 321 of Dunhuang is not fat at all, but statues such as bodhisattvas and kaye of the same era are only slightly plump and healthy.
In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, works such as "Du Du Lady Li Fo Tu" were still in such a style.
In fact, before the Song Dynasty in China, the art of painting was mainly based on freehand painting, and it would not be completely realistic, so many characters were often exaggerated from painting to highlight the status and personality of the characters.
In the Tang Dynasty, most of the more "plump" painting women were basically aristocratic female dependents, and because of their rich status and excellent lives, they should be relatively exaggerated, which is just an artistic technique.
In addition to the art of painting, look at the poetry of people at that time, whether it is fat for beauty or thin for beauty.
The famous poet Bai Juyi had two beautiful people to serve, one of whom was called Fan Su and the other who was called Xiao Man, and the poetry description at that time was "Cherry Fan Sukou, Willow Little Wild Waist", both of whom were thin beauties.
Guan Xiu wrote in the poem that "there is no nobility for people, mo learn chicken and dog fat", reflecting that people at that time felt that obesity was very bad.
And the "Old News of the Ciliu Clan" records that during the period when Li Linfu was in power, Emperor Xuanzong's son Li Heng lived a hard life, and When Emperor Xuanzong once saw it, he asked people to choose five beauties to send, and the requirement was "slender and white", and Xuanzong did not like fat at all.
In Tang Dynasty poetry, the words used to describe beauty are almost all used to describe thin or plump, and people at that time felt that the skin was fair and thin, thin and slim, which was a beautiful woman.
Speaking of the beauties of the Tang Dynasty, there must be some people who want to mention Yang Guifei and say that Yang Guifei is a fat beauty, but no Tang Dynasty classics have said that Yang Guifei was a fat person, and that Yang Guifei was fat was the beginning of the Song Dynasty.
Whether it is the "Relics of Kaiyuan Tianbao" or the "Book of Later Tang", or the "Biography of Yang Taizhen", etc., the sentences describing Yang Guifei are generally "known as flesh", "micro muscle", "abundance" and so on.
To put it bluntly, Yang Guifei is at most relatively plump, and there is meat where there should be meat, which is very symmetrical.
Yang Guifei's "fat" is actually like the kind of slight fat that boys like today, but today's people mistakenly think that Yang Guifei's fat is the kind of slight fat that girls think now, which is the gap.
So, why do many people think that the Tang Dynasty people thought fat was beautiful?
First, the illusion of artistic expression, paintings, sculptures, etc. in the Tang Dynasty period are still based on freehand, and the appearance they show is much more exaggerated than the actual one, so as to show the personality and status of the characters, etc., which are basically aristocrats.
Second, the legend of Yang Guifei deviated, during the Song Dynasty, Yang Guifei's image was gradually polluted because of the name of the water disaster, and many people passed it around, saying that the noble concubine who had never seen it at all was getting fatter and fatter.
Third, the living conditions in the prosperous Tang Dynasty were very good, and there was indeed a slight "fat for beauty" in this period, and people felt that the flesh and flesh were the embodiment of wealth, but it was also slightly fat, and it was not considered to be fat as a beautiful level.