How beautiful are the women of Datang?
Some say it was the sexiest dynasty in Chinese history.
Short skirts, crisp breasts and half exposed breasts, such an open atmosphere has been renewed for thousands of years.
Even Du Fu's thick eyebrows and big eyes couldn't help himself:
On March 3, the weather was new, and the waterside of Chang'an was full of people.
The state is far from beautiful and true, and the texture is delicate and even.
Some people say that this was the era in Chinese history when women were the most capable of making decisions.
Figure | Originated from the Dunhuang Research Institute, Cave 130 of Mogao Caves, "Female Provider of Sheng Tang - Duan Wenjie Copy"
In thousands of years of history, only such a recognized female emperor can be known.
At that time, the Tang Dynasty women did not have to wrap their feet into a "three-inch golden lotus", did not have to hide in the deep boudoir for a lifetime, and did not have to grievance themselves for a chastity archway.
Whether it is the old China, where small feet have been tied for hundreds of years, or the West, where women are burned at the stake, it is difficult to see the grand scene of the Tang Dynasty.
This is the unique Datang.
In the "Awakening to the Everlasting Word", it is said that beauty is not in the bone.
The so-called bone, in my opinion, does not refer to the beauty of the flesh, but to the spirit of a person.
Such a prosperous Tang Dynasty, there is such a unique beauty.
Figure | From "The Legend of the Demon Cat"
We have all heard a saying that the Tang Dynasty was beautiful for fat.
Yang Yuhuan, one of the four beauties, has a record of "known flesh and rich qualifications".
Many paintings of shiren, such as "Lady Yu Chun Tu" and "Golden Bridge Diagram" of Saint Wu Daozi, the female characters are mostly waist full, round face and thick nose, which can be called "plump and magnificent" and "plump and beautiful".
Figure | Partial map of "Lady Yu Chun Tu"
The aesthetics of the Tang people can be said to be unique.
But this statement is actually not accurate enough.
"Slim waist to make the bright moon, long sleeves to dance the spring wind", this is the windward dance, slender waist of the maihime;
"The small waist beauty woman is amazing, and the golden saddle teenager once ignored it", which is the imagination of the beauty in the minds of young people;
"Cherry Fan Su mouth, willow small wild waist", this is Bai Juyi's favorite beauty Fan Su.
Fat buttocks are beautiful, and willow waists are also beautiful.
The beauty of Datang women has never been the same.
GIF | Tang Palace Night Feast
You don't see Datang Chang'an City, which is inhabited by a population of 1.5 million, and a total of 500,000 are visitors from a foreign land who come to Datang to play, do business, and settle down.
The Goryeo people, the Uighurs, the Tianzhu people, the Great Cannibals... At this time, Datang was the center of the world.
The so-called "sea is a hundred rivers, there is tolerance is great".
The tolerance of aesthetics has always been the underpinnings of Datang.
Figure | Originated from "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an"
Take makeup, the degree to which Datang women let go of themselves can be said to be unprecedented and unprecedented.
When people wear makeup, it is usually divided into seven steps, "one lead powder, two smears of grease, three coats of goose yellow, four paintings of daisy eyebrows, five points of lipstick, six strokes of the face, seven appliqués".
Such as eyebrows, today may come and go is a word eyebrow, sword eyebrow, sword string moon eyebrow, high eyebrow, curved moon eyebrow...
In the hands of The Tang Dynasty women, they can cultivate Mandarin duck eyebrows, distant mountain eyebrows, figure eight eyebrows, three peak eyebrows, hanging pearl eyebrows, moon eyebrows, split eyebrows, Han yan eyebrows, smoke eyebrows, inverted eyebrows...
Such as huadian, this decoration that did not originate in the Tang Dynasty, but developed to the peak in the Tang Dynasty.
In terms of shape, there are stars, apricot cores, copper coins, flowers, cranes, butterflies, dragonflies, diamonds, cicadas, swallows, trifoils, peaches, dewdrops, bulls, pheasants, fish scales, yuanbao shapes, fan shapes, tower shapes, crescent shapes, curly grass shapes, vertical lines.
In terms of material, it has also developed from colored paper and satin to gold leaf, fish cheek bone, mica flakes, screw shells, tea oil flower seeds, kingfisher feathers and so on.
On the heart of love of beauty, Datang women really have not been afraid of anyone.
In early summer, the peony blossoms, carefully dressed up, put on your favorite sticky skirt, rode a horse, and enjoyed the flowers in the countryside with three or five friends.
This is a unique landscape that belongs to Datang.
Datang women have always lived wantonly.
The reason for this is that in the genes of Datang, the four big words of "respect for women" are written.
Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, was born into the Guanlong family, and his grandfather was one of the Eight Pillar States of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
The Northern Wei Dynasty, a country that once unified the north, was once given a name , "Female Kingdom".
The reason is simple, as a country established by humble people, women are not limited to being subordinate to men.
Whether it is the founding mother, Empress Xianming, or the civilized empress dowager known as the "First Empress of China", women played a pivotal role in the entire historical process of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Datang has inherited this tradition well.
Here, women can participate in politics.
As Emperor Taizong's favorite woman, Empress Eldest Sun died before Emperor Taizong, and in her last words, she did not only explain her own affairs, but also "boldly" expressed her views on the government:
"His Majesty Xuan Ling has been the longest, cautious, and scheming, and has foretold it, and not a word has been leaked, and unless there is a big reason, I am willing not to abandon it."
Because of these words, Fang Xuanling, who was originally not reused, became an important promoter of the "rule of Zhenguan".
It is also her advice again and again that makes Li Shimin, who has always had a small temper, restrain his temperament and become a sage who is good at "accepting advice".
It can be said that in the prosperous era of the early Tang Dynasty, there were some credits for the eldest grandson empress.
Not to mention, the only female emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Cao, was the Emperor of Zetian Dasheng.
Figure | Portrait of Wu Zetian
From a fallen nobleman to the lord of the harem, when Emperor Gaozong was critically ill, he stepped forward and became the queen of heaven who dominated the government.
Many people may have a question: Why can Wu Zetian become an emperor, and it is difficult to reproduce no matter whether it is in the past and future generations?
Because in the Tang Dynasty, as long as a woman has enough ability, even if she becomes an emperor, it will not be a big thing that the sky will fall.
In Datang, it is not said that "a woman without talent is moral".
Even if the girls who are enslaved into the court are also educated from the dolls.
Jun did not see, the only female minister of the Tang Dynasty, Shangguan Wan'er, was in the deep palace, reading successfully, and finally became the first person to comment on the world's talents.
Figure | Portrait of Shangguan Wan'er
Even the Quan Tang Poems contain thirty-two of her poems.
In Datang, there is no such thing as the "Zhenjie Arch".
In the Tang Law, there is a provision of "peace and separation", and if the husband and wife are "not harmonious" and "do not get along", they can sign a document and break up peacefully.
This is actually equivalent to today's "marital relationship rupture", so peacefully break up.
The most surprising thing is to remarry.
In the liturgy of later generations, widowed women are usually encouraged to remain widowed for life, so that countless people spend their lives for a chastity archway.
The Tang people didn't care about this, they didn't see it, and even the princesses of the royal family regarded remarriage as a common thing.
According to the History of Tang, the princess remarried twenty-three people: there were four daughters of Gaozu, six daughters of Emperor Taizong, two daughters of Emperor Zhongzong, two daughters of Emperor Ruizong, eight daughters of Emperor Yuanzong, and one daughter of Emperor Suzong.
Four of them were also married three times.
The freedom of marriage has become the biggest confidence of Datang women.
If you travel through time and space, you can see the Gongsun Lady dancing the sword, you can see the princess herself playing polo, and you can see the heroine who fights the sword.
Figure | Women play polo, from the "Cai Xiaoli Works Collection"
That was the most beautiful moment of the Prosperous Tang Dynasty.
Of course, Datang is not perfect.
Even if there is no chastity archway, there will still be three principles and five constants, from the father at home, from the husband to the husband, and from the husband to the son - the mountains on women are always one after another.
However, the women of Datang can always shine under all kinds of oppression.
In the Tang legend, we can see many female figures who have broken through the shackles.
Cui Yingying in "The Legend of Yingying", when he fell in love with Zhang Sheng, a down-and-out student, he did not hesitate to break through the family barriers and swore to pursue free love. When Zhang Sheng was chaotic and eventually abandoned, yingying also resolutely cut off two knives, and never saw each other again.
In "The Legend of the Dirty Beard", the red breeze, who was originally a prostitute of the powerful, dared to risk death at first sight, and deserved the four words of the wind and posture.
In the "Biography of Xie Xiao'e", Xie Xiao'e's father and husband died tragically at the hands of others, and Tomeng informed Xie Xiao'e of the name of the enemy, and Xie Xiao'e, who was weak and could not help the wind, did not hesitate to embark on the road of revenge, and finally revenge was repaid.
In the recently published book "Out of Shape, Wisdom, No Tiredness: The Sui and Tang Women's World in The Last Words", there are also several female stories that impressed me.
The daughter of the Guo family in Chang'an City, because of her mother's greed for money, forced her to marry a man from the Dong family of the Southwest Barbarian family under pressure.
This is one of the most common deals in the seemingly beautiful family.
Guo Shi spent most of his life in the Dong family, and at the moment before his death, he issued his truest complaint:
Logically, our husband and wife should be buried together, but we already have different hearts before we die, so why should we bury together after death?
In her last words, she boldly announced her discord with her husband and announced the decision to be buried with her husband. At that time, this was not a stone-shattering thing, but it was also an amazing statement.
There was also a daughter of an official eunuch from Luoyang, Yang Shi, who was married to a county magistrate in Anyi, Shaanxi. The daughter who is married far away is homesick every day, and even worries about the disease.
How far will she go about this thought?
"Divorce, I want to go home!" In order to go home, he actually filed for divorce from his husband's family, which may still be unimaginable today.
But the women of Datang dared to do so.
For the women of the Tang Dynasty, to be born is to live out their own glory; to die, they must also walk frankly.
They are not willing to live behind others, nor are they willing to be vassals, they just want to be themselves.
This is the Datang women.
Write at the end:
Why did the women of the Tang Dynasty lead the world by a thousand years?
There is certainly more than one reason.
The re-formation of a unified country, as well as the rare decades of prosperity, has the space for women to grow freely.
Datang's inheritance of "respect for women" has given women the opportunity to study and participate in politics.
But more importantly, women never lose to anyone.
In the bones of women, there are also those who are praised by human beings for their intelligence, strength, courage, and resilience...
But most of the time, the shackles imposed on them are too many.
In the body of Datang women, we can see:
Once the shackles fall, the scarf never lets you raise your eyebrows.
Resources:
"Out of shape and wisdom, no tired things- The Sui and Tang Women's World in the Last Words" Mo Zhenhua and Lü Luyao
"Trying to Compare the Political Participation of Women in the Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties" Zhang Yu
"The Spiritual Outlook of Humble Women in the Northern Dynasty Era" Zhuang Huafeng
"Empress Eldest Sun and the Reign of Zhenguan" Xiong Jia