The single eyelid aesthetic of ancient times
Thousands of years ago, the mountains and rivers of the mainland were inaccessible and divided, and there was little communication between various regions. It is difficult to transport rice grain, it is difficult to spread the written and written language, and people in different regions are like islands divided by high mountains, and the integration of genes is slow.
As a result, the facial features of people in various places tend to be homogeneous, forming distinct regional characteristics.
Taking the Central Plains region as an example, the climate here is mild and the four seasons are distinct, which has given birth to the industrious and intelligent Chinese nation since ancient times. They have fair skin and graceful features, and their most typical feature is a pair of clear and bright almond eyes like a spring in the mountains.
This is what later generations called "Danfeng Eyes".
In ancient societies, the lack of transportation made it almost impossible for people from different regions to meet each other. They are unaware of the ethnographic characteristics of the outside world and naturally regard the representative characteristics of the local territory as beautiful models.
Therefore, the single eyelid Danfeng eye has become an ancient and mainstream aesthetic form in the Central Plains.
This can be clearly seen from the portraits of ladies in ancient scrolls. Those beauties dressed in long skirts, drooping hair and sideburns, with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, are a pair of crystal clear Danfeng eyes, as if vivid and can speak, the spring in those eyes is enough to touch the heart of every appreciator.
It can be seen that in ancient times when transportation was backward, Danfeng eyes constituted a unique aesthetic standard in the Central Plains, which deeply affected people's judgment of beauty. As a naturally formed regional feature, the single eyelid was regarded as a symbol of beauty and beauty by the Central Plains people in the past dynasties, which had a lot to do with the geographical environment and cultural isolation at that time.
The Silk Road promotes the integration of double eyelids
In the 2nd century B.C., Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions and successfully opened up a road to the West, which was the world-famous Silk Road. This road led to frequent exchanges between the East and the West, and also promoted the penetration of the double eyelid gene into the Han people.
At first, the Han Chinese were highly wary of foreign things and refused to accept new cultural elements. They were proud of the uniqueness of Chinese civilization and believed that double eyelids were characteristic of the barbaric people of the Western Regions.
Therefore, despite the opening of the Silk Road, the introduction of the double eyelid gene into the Han people is very slow.
In the Tang Dynasty, Sino-foreign exchanges entered their heyday. The prosperity of the country and the open culture have caused more foreign things to pour into the Central Plains. From time to time, there are some beautiful women from the Western Regions with smart eyes and a spicy posture, and some of them already have the characteristics of double eyelids.
However, the Han people's national self-confidence has increased, and their sense of identity with their own culture has become stronger. Therefore, the proportion of double eyelids in the Han population is still very small, and it has not become a mainstream aesthetic.
In the Song Dynasty, due to the continuous migration of northern ethnic minorities to the south, the characteristics of double eyelids also spread south. However, the Han Chinese still insist on their own cultural identity, and the integration between different ethnic groups has been slow.
Therefore, the penetration process of double eyelid genes into the Han nationality is still relatively slow. It was not until the Yuan and Ming dynasties, with the formation of the trend of ethnic integration, that this gene was gradually popularized among the Han people.
To sum up, the opening of the Silk Road promoted the penetration of the double eyelid gene into the Han people, but due to the sense of identity and national pride of the Han people in successive dynasties, this infiltration process lasted for more than a thousand years before it was finally completed.
It reflects the spiritual characteristics of Chinese civilization while embracing foreign cultures, while also emphasizing the cultural identity of its own nation.
Mongolia moves south to promote the integration of double eyelids
The Mongolian tribes originally lived in the Mobei region, and they have a typical East Asian experience, and double eyelids are not uncommon. In the 13th century, Genghis Khan unified the Mongol tribes and established the Great Mongolian State.
The Mongol army waged wars against the Southern Song Dynasty several times and moved to the Central Plains on a large scale.
During this period, there were frequent intermarriages between Mongols and Han Chinese. Among the Han people, many descendants of double eyelids began to appear. This laid the foundation for the large-scale introduction of the double eyelid gene into the Han population.
However, due to the ethnic oppression policy adopted by the Mongols, they discriminated against the Han as a second-class ethnic group, and the integration of the double eyelid gene into the Han nationality was not smooth. The Han Chinese were resistant and reluctant to intermarry with the Mongols.
Even if you give birth to a double eyelid offspring, you will not necessarily be honored by this trait.
By the Ming Dynasty, the Han Chinese had regained power and the Mongols had returned to the northern steppes. The Ming people emphasized the restoration of Han culture and re-established the subjectivity of the Han people. This led to another slowdown in the spread of double eyelids among Han Chinese.
Those descendants of the Han Chinese who have double eyelids can only carefully hide this feature to show the purity of their bloodline.
It was not until the Manchus of the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains and the trend of Han-Manchu integration was formed, that double eyelids were accepted and recognized by the Han people as a feature of beauty again. Especially in the era of great integration after the Republic of China, the double eyelid feature gradually became a part of the Han people, and was no longer regarded as a symbol of other ethnic groups.
The reason for the prevalence of double eyelids in modern times
After the late Qing Dynasty, with the trend of ethnic integration, the proportion of double eyelids in the Han population gradually increased. It is a gradual process with its historical, social and economic reasons.
First, after the Opium War, China was forced to open up to the outside world, and Western culture poured in. The double eyelid beauties that appear in Western movies and magazines have deeply influenced the aesthetic concept of Chinese.
Gradually accept double eyelids as a new era of beauty.
Second, after liberation, ethnic equality was practiced, and the barriers of ethnic boundaries in history were eliminated. Frequent intermarriage between different ethnic groups accelerated the spread of the double eyelid gene among the Han Chinese.
More and more descendants of Han Chinese have developed double eyelid features.
Third, reform and opening up have made exchanges between China and the rest of the world increasingly frequent. The aesthetic influence of foreign culture, coupled with the economic prosperity that increased people's openness, made double eyelids widely accepted and became mainstream beauty.
Finally, technological advancements are also driving this trend. Oculoplastic surgery for double eyelids is becoming more sophisticated and popular. Confident modern people are no longer shy about changing their own characteristics, choosing to highlight the beauty of their double eyelids.
To sum up, the reason why double eyelids are prevalent in modern times is the inevitable result of historical evolution. We should not stick to traditional aesthetic concepts, but embrace diverse beauty with an inclusive attitude.