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." In essence, the beauty of appearance and the beauty of morality and the beauty of personality are unified. Liu Shao's "Character History", which is believed to have set a universal standard for judging characters in the Wei and Jin dynasties, fundamentally inherits the yin and yang theory since the Han Dynasty, believing that people "have yin and yang to stand up". Gao Huaping also pointed out that behind the detailed elaboration of the connection between human appearance and talent in the "Character History", it is also to cultivate an ideal personality or a "beautiful personality". Judging from the narrative of "The New Language of the World", the pursuit of beauty by the Wei and Jin celebrities shown by it is not limited to the appearance itself, but hopes to be known through the appearance, and then realize the ambition of life. In the words of Li Zehou, the "core of the celebrities' concern is still how to become a 'saint' who rules all directions."
[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". Chapter 2 of the Rongzhi chapter contains:
Uncle He Ping was beautiful and white, and 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". First, even Emperor Wei Ming suspected that his white was smeared with powder, which showed that his white had alarmed the emperor; second, Emperor Wei Ming suspected that he had smeared powder, indicating that it was not uncommon to smear powder at that time, and that many people's whites may be the effect of smearing powder, which further highlighted the preciousness of He Yan's true whiteness, and Wei Mingdi's suspicions showed that he did not "know" He Yan; third, the combination of the two extreme conditions of summer and hot noodles promoted the Great Khan, fully proving that He Yan's white could not be adulterated, thus making Emperor Wei Ming "know" He Yan; fourth, He Yan wiped his sweat with his vermilion clothes, and the red and white contrasts were a vivid picture, highlighting He Yan's skin whiteness with the contrast of colors.
[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. Everything that Emperor Wei Mingdi did objectively and perfectly cooperated with He Yan to complete a performance that showed his own appearance. It is worth noting that in the narrative of this story, except for "Emperor Wei Ming's doubts about his Fu Fan" is an internal psychological description, all other descriptions are descriptions of external facts, that is to say, only "Wei Ming Emperor doubts his Fu Fan" is not a fact that everyone can see, which forms a strong contrast, and this contrast means that Wei Mingdi's doubts are likely to come from the audience's speculation (as for whether this audience was the audience at the time, or Liu Yiqing, we will discuss it later). And if Emperor Wei Ming's suspicion is just a speculation, then we can guess that Emperor Wei Mingdi is actually subjectively cooperating with He Yan, or that the two are actually cooperating with each other: such a performance can prove He Yan's whiteness, but also show Wei Mingdi's emphasis on "true" white and strike at "false" white. We can imagine how much the people in the audience who applied the powder were afraid that Emperor Wei Ming would eat them hot noodles and tear off their masks. At the same time, Emperor Wei Mingdi and He Yan also worked together to refute those remarks that attacked He Yan as the originator of the love of beauty and thus brought about a bad atmosphere in the world, in fact, the beauty of He Yan did not need to be embellished.
The reason why this story is interpreted in this way is because the story immediately after the Rongzhi chapter is also related to Emperor Wei Mingdi. 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"
Some people think that Emperor Wei Ming's move was to abuse his own power and let his relatively low-born wife and brother Gao Pan Xiahou Xuan, such an interpretation is quite unreasonable. With Xiahou Xuan's prestige at that time, Emperor Wei Ming could not have been unaware that his handsomeness was incomparable to Mao Zeng's, and if in order to improve Mao Zeng's reputation, mao zeng was ridiculed, wouldn't it be boring to ask himself? At the same time, Liu Yiqing has a clear classification of stories in "The New Language of the World", and the stories with political ridicule 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.".
If we connect these three stories together and interpret the third rule of the Rongzhi chapter, then there are two points that the narrator tries to tell us: first, Xiahou Xuan's "white" and handsome are famous; second, Emperor Wei Mingdi is very sensitive and attached importance to the "whiteness" of others. Therefore, Emperor Wei Ming's letting his brother-in-law Mao Zeng sit next to Xiahou Xuan is likely to make the audience notice the great contrast between the two, thus highlighting his emphasis on male "whiteness". Although the Biography of Xiahou Xuan of wei says that Xiahou Xuan was very angry about this arrangement and "displeased with the form", and that Emperor Wei Ming "hated it" because of it, Liu Yiqing's narrative did not have such a plot, which indicates that he believed that the core of this performance lay in the relationship between Wei Mingdi's motivation and "beauty". Albert Dien also pointed out that works such as "Luoyang Jialan" in the same period will depict events such as feuds and incest by political figures, while "The New Language of the World" almost does not mention anything about this, and the pen and ink touch the elegance of life. If the two stories of 2 and 3 are linked together according to this line of thought, we can also speculate that in the second article of the "Rongzhi" chapter, it is the people who think that Emperor Wei Mingdi has doubts, not Liu Yiqing, because in Liu Yiqing's view, Emperor Wei Ming frankly admired the male "whiteness" and held such a positive attitude towards Xiahou Xuan's whiteness, there should be no need to calculate he Yan who was also white-skinned, and the story of him and He Yan was likely to be a performance of mutual cooperation.
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.
[Han] Bai Yuren, collection of the 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.
It is worth noting, however, that the audience in this story is clearly divided into two levels: the first level is the women, in their eyes Pan Ann is the performer, and the second level audience sees both the woman and Pan An as the performer. As far as the audience of the first floor is concerned, Pan An is a successful performer, and his performance has been completely affirmed by them; for the audience of the second floor, whether Pan An, surrounded by women, has performed successfully needs to be questioned. First of all, Pan An's props are questionable, and Wang Fu of the Eastern Han Dynasty said in the "Theory of Hidden Husbands and Floating Luxury": "The people of this day have luxurious clothes, extravagant food... Or to conspire with each other as a profession, or to play a game of you Ao; or Ding Fushi does not pass on the plough hoe, and carries a pill to carry a bullet and travel hand in hand..." Obviously, the slingshot outing is an image of living a luxurious life and doing nothing, and compared with Pei Kai, who is beautiful without a crown, Pan An, who needs such props to travel, is obviously slightly inferior. Secondly, on other occasions, it was men who praised Xiahou Xuan, Pei Kai, and other handsome celebrities, and in the entire Rongzhi chapter, only This story of Pan An was appreciated by women. Therefore, Liu Yiqing may imply here that although Pan An is beautiful, his performance is not successful, and he cannot be appreciated and affirmed by the scholars. The second and first parts of the story are in stark contrast: Zuo Si is ugly and travels like Pan An, with the result that the women spit on him together. Here, Liu Yiqing does not only want to tell us the simple fact that Pan Anmei and Zuo Si are ugly, but more importantly, he wants to show that it is not enough to get the praise or scorn of women, and the beauty of men does not need other ornaments to show.
[Ming] Wen Zhengming,"Huishan Tea Party Map" (partial), Palace Museum
Chapter 9 of the Rongzhi says:
Pan Anren and Xiahou Zhan also have beauty, like to walk together, and people call it Lian Bi.
This description seems to be concise, but in fact it has a lot of meaning: at this time, Pan An has matured and understood the charm of beauty itself, so he and Xiahou Zhan have won the praise of the people of the time. From having a slingshot to not having a slingshot, from woman praise to praise, it reflects the importance of beauty itself, and also shows that the subject of "knowing" or appreciating is also defined, and being praised by people without taste may be a humiliation. In the "Spring and Autumn Prosperity, Five Elements and Five Things", it is pointed out that the first of the five things that the king needs to pay attention to is "appearance", and the key to appearance is "Gong", because Gong can be respected. The Rongzhi section of the "New Language of the World" itself does not emphasize "Gong", but according to its layout with the "Virtue" section at the top, coupled with the narration of these two stories, the beauty that can simply attract frivolous onlookers is more or less with a little irony. In the "Rongzhi" section, when people praise the appearance of celebrities, most of them are with admiration. For example, the 5th chapter of the Rongzhi chapter says: "Ji Kang is seven feet eight inches long and has a special style. The seer sighed: "Xiao Xiao is solemn, refreshing and clear. Verse 12 of the Rongzhi says, "The one who sees it knows: 'When you see Uncle Pei, you are like a jade mountain, and the light reflects people.'" These admirations were in stark contrast to the women who surrounded Pan An.
Of course, this is not to say that the equipment is necessarily superfluous or negative for a beautiful celebrity. The equally beautiful Wang Yan is because of the props and increases the charm. The 8th chapter of the Rongzhi says: "Wang Yifu has a beautiful appearance, is better than Talking About Xuan, and constantly catches the white jade handle and tail, and there is no difference between him and his hand." "Here Wang Yan's prop is The Tail. Unlike the slingshot, which symbolizes the clumsy youth, the tail is the symbol of the talk, and the talk is the way the celebrity shows his talent. Therefore, beauty coupled with outstanding clarity and talent meant that Wang Yan was admired by people at that time for his multiple charms. At the same time, the tail of the white jade handle also set off Wang Yan's skin white, because when he held the tail in his hand, the white jade handle and the hand could not be separated. While emphasizing the importance of skin whiteness and beauty, this story also shows that a connotative prop will play a key role in the performance of public spaces.
[Tang] Sun Wei's "Gao Yitu" (partial), Shanghai Museum collection
The third criterion of masculine 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.
Also known for his eyes is Du Hongzhi. The arrogant Wang Xizhidu praised him and said, "The face is like gelatin, and the eyes are like dots of paint, this god and immortal are among the people." (Rongzhi, Chapter 26) Here, Du Hongzhi's eyes are black and bright and his skin is white. Regarding the importance of the eyes, the "Character Chronicle" has a clear exposition: "The beauty of the sages of the husband is not beautiful and intelligent; where the wisdom is precious, it is precious to know people." ...... Fu se sees in the appearance, the so-called conquest of god. When you see the gods, you will be emotional. In short, the eyes can "know" people, and only those who have the ability to know people can be called sages. And the "Spring and Autumn Prosperity, Five Elements and Five Things" also pointed out: "The three visions ... See clearly, know the wise and the unworthy, and distinguish between black and white. In other words, the beauty of the eyes is actually "wisdom as beauty."
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