When the Wei and Jin dynasties and societies
Become a stage for celebrities to fly their acting skills
Debauchery, Madness,
Beauty, virtue...
In the end, it is true temperament,
Or is it a well-built "human design"?
Look like Pan An, look at the killing of Wei Jie... How beautiful is the rumored "Wei Jinmei Man"? Recently, Zhonghua Bookstore launched a new book, "Acting and Youzeshi - The World Speaks New Language", which shows us a group portrait of Wei and Jin celebrities in another dimension.
The admiration of beauty by celebrities in the Wei and Jin dynasties is actually a continuation of the tradition of the Han Dynasty, and there is no epoch-making change compared with the previous generation. From the standard of male beauty at that time, it was also closely related to the concept of yin and yang. Dong Zhongshu clearly pointed out in "Spring and Autumn Prosperity and The Journey of Heaven and Earth": "The journey of heaven and earth is also beautiful. "Man is the descendant of heaven, and since heaven is beautiful, then of course man must also pursue beauty, which is not only the beauty of appearance, but also the beauty of personality and the beauty of morality."
[Jin] Gu Kaizhi's "Axe Qin Tu" (Song facsimile part), collection of the Palace Museum
The standard of the beauty of Wei Jin's appearance
Judging from the "New Language of the World", the understanding of the beauty of appearance by the Wei and Jin celebrities is also in line with the views from "Spring and Autumn Prosperity" to "Character History". Liu Yiqing's narrative tells us that there are several criteria for judging the beauty of a man's appearance. The first criterion is "skin whiteness". The second chapter of the Rongzhi chapter contains: He Pingshu Mei Ziyi, the face to the white; Emperor Wei Ming suspected fu fan. It's the summer month, with hot soup cakes. Both, sweating, wiping himself with his clothes, the color turned bright.
This famous story illustrates He Yan's skin whiteness from several angles, in order to show the importance of skin whiteness, and also to illustrate the relationship between beauty and "knowledge".
[Southern Dynasty] Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest and Rong Qi period brick painting, Nanjing Museum collection
The importance of zhu yi does not stop there. According to the annotations of Zhang Wanqi and Liu Shangci, zhu yi is a red official uniform. This shows that Emperor Wei Ming gave He Yan noodles not in private, but in public scenes. Chapter 3 of the Rongzhi says: "Emperor Wei Ming made his brother Mao sit with Xiahou Xuan, and it was then called 'Qingye Leaning on the Jade Tree'. "The story is short, but there are many interesting things.
As a viewer, the "Shiren" believes that Mao and Xiahou Xuan were together, Mao was a grass, and Xiahou Xuan was a jade tree - this shows that Xiahou Xuan is also "white". Obviously, in this extremely unequal performance, Xiahou Xuan received widespread recognition. However, Liu Yiqing's narrative subtly tells us that the director of this performance is Emperor Wei Mingdi, who "made" the two people sit together. So, what was the purpose of Emperor Wei Ming's letting Mao sit next to Xiahou Xuan?
[Ming] Qiu Ying's "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest"
Liu Yiqing has a clear classification of stories in "The New Language of the World", and the stories with political satire are listed in other chapters, while the stories in the "Rongzhi" section are clearly related to Rongzhi. In fact, Liu Yiqing's narrative is very rhythmic, the second story has characters wei Mingdi and He Yan, the third is Wei Mingdi and Xiahou Xuan, and the fourth has Xiahou Xuan. At that time, people felt that "Xiahou Taichu was as bright as the sun and the moon.".
[Han] Bai Yuren, collection of the Palace Museum
The admiration of skin whiteness is directly related to the theory of yin and yang, yang itself is white and bright, and in the third chapter of the Rongzhi chapter, white and "jade" are subtly linked. In the Chinese tradition, jade and gentlemen have a close relationship. The Book of Rites and Jade Algae says, "The ancient gentleman will wear jade." "Jade is a symbol of a gentleman. We also already know the relationship between the story of Heshibi and "knowing". Therefore, the white skin indirectly means a gentleman, but also means to be able to be appreciated and recognized by others. In the "New Language of the World", in addition to "Yushu", there are words such as jade people and jade mountains to describe famous people. For example, the 12th chapter of the "Rongzhi" says: "Pei Linggong has a handsome appearance, takes off the crown, and is good at rough clothes and messy heads." When people think of it as 'jade man'. And the people of the time also used the phrase "the jade mountain will collapse" to describe Li Feng, Ji Kang and others.
[Ming] Wen Zhengming,"Huishan Tea Party Map" (partial), Palace Museum
The second criterion of male beauty is "beauty". This is already mentioned in the 12th article of the Rongzhi chapter - "Pei Linggong has a handsome Rongyi". Pei Kai's beauty has reached a point where it does not need a crown to embellish. Also famous for his beauty is Pan An. Chapter 9 of the Rongzhi says that Pan An was "wonderful and graceful", and when he was young, he came out of Luoyang with a slingshot, and the women along the way held hands and surrounded him. Such performances are entirely in the public space, and Pan An has also gained "knowledge" because of her beauty.
[Tang] Sun Wei's "Gao Yitu" (partial), Shanghai Museum collection
The third criterion of male beauty is "eye light". Many of the stories in "Rongzhi" talk about the eyes. The 10th chapter of the Rongzhi chapter says that the beautiful Pei Kai was once ill and very depressed, and Emperor Hui of Jin sent Wang Yan to visit. Pei Kai was originally lying against the wall, but when he heard that Wang Yan was coming, he reluctantly turned over. Even in such a seriously ill state, Pei Kai's eyes were still very sharp, and Wang Yan came out and said to people: "(Pei Kai)'s eyes are shining like a rock. You can imagine how bright Pei Kai's eyes would be if he was healthy.
Pei Kai, whose "eyes are bright", also pays great attention to the eyes of others, for example, he said that Wang Rong's eyes are rotten like a rock down electricity. This is an interesting evaluation and also reflects Liu Yiqing's judgment scale of appearance. Wang Rong is not tall, not a beautiful man in the traditional sense, but Liu Yiqing told us in Pei Kai's mouth that Wang Rong's appearance is outstanding in his eyes, and only by virtue of his superior eyes, Wang Rong can rank among the beautiful men.
Text/Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City Reporter: Wu Bo
Photo/ Guangzhou Daily, Xinhuacheng reporter: Wu Bo
Video/Guangzhou Daily Xinhuacheng Reporter: Wu Bo
Correspondent: Zhang Ling
Guangzhou Daily Xinhuacheng Editor: Bu Songzhu