introduction
In the traditional Chinese incense burning Xi, daily incense occupies a position that cannot be ignored. Whether it is traditional literati incense or female boudoir incense, incense has a high use value in daily life.
In "The Twelve Beauties of Yongzheng", the incense burner appears three times, respectively in the scene of wearing a coat to the mirror, twisting beads and watching cats, and watching books and chanting. From a male perspective, looking at the mirror, reading, and sitting are related to the Xi of traditional literati life.
The incense burner in the painting reflects the moral requirements of feudal etiquette for women, expresses the endless sorrow in the boudoir, and reveals the aesthetic fantasy of men in feudal society about women's life.
From ancient times to the present, "incense" has often been used to depict beautiful things, virtues, and emotions. In the traditional vocabulary to describe women, the word "incense" is always inseparable. For example, a woman's cheeks are called "fragrant cheeks", a woman's hair is called "Xiangyun", a woman's face is called "Xiangpei Yuzhuo", and a woman's skin is called "Xiangjiao Yutender", and the woman seems to be synonymous with incense.
Li Yu, a dramatist in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, said in "Idle Love: Voice and Appearance": "Famous flowers and beauties, the smell is the same, and those who have national colors must have heavenly fragrance." Tianxiang is self-inflicted, not self-dyed. There is really such a thing in the beauty, and it is not a beautiful word. This kind of fragrance also has a less delicate appearance, but can be good at it. ”
It can be seen that beauty and incense are inseparable, and the beauties in the literati's pen have the national color of visual beauty, and also have their own sense of smell aesthetic fragrance, and the combination of sight and smell constitutes a vivid beauty. In traditional images of women, the fragrance of a beautiful woman cannot be expressed in words, but as a metaphysical object, it can express an invisible fragrance.
1. Intangible moral requirements
The painting of ladies in the Ming and Qing dynasties was the second peak of development after the Tang Dynasty. It is combined with Western perspective, and under the influence of the aesthetic fashion of the Ming and Qing dynasties, a unique picture of a lady has been formed.
"Yongzheng Twelve Beauties" is said to have been made by court painters, drawing the image of a Han woman in Yongzheng's heart. Of the twelve pictures depicting women's private activities, incense burners appear in three places. The shape of the incense burner is different, which not only conforms to the Xi of traditional daily life, but also adapts to the activities of the characters in the painting.
"Fur to the Mirror" depicts a gorgeously dressed woman holding a bronze mirror and looking at herself in the mirror. This kind of female mirror view is not uncommon in traditional Chinese paintings.
Gu Kaizhi's "Women's History" written by Zhang Hua of the Western Jin Dynasty and the fourth paragraph of the edifying "Women's History" depicts two women dressing up in the mirror, with the text "People know how to cultivate their appearance, but they don't know how to decorate their sex". Women's self-grooming in the mirror has always been a requirement of the "boudoir model" in traditional Chinese Confucian ethics.
The emperors of the Qing Dynasty promoted Confucianism, and society became more and more strict about women's appearance, and women needed to pay attention to their appearance at all times. The beauties in "Fur to the Mirror" have neat hair buns, but they still have to look at themselves in the mirror and check their makeup.
Women under the control of feudal etiquette and ideology must not only have neat makeup, but also their inner moral cultivation cannot be ignored. Looking in the mirror is an examination of one's own appearance, and the copper incense burner at hand is a metaphor for his virtue.
The beauty in "The Book of Songs" exhales Ruolan, and the beauty in Cao Zhi's "Luo Shen Fu" is like Youlan, which shows that the beauty in the fantasy of the ancients has its own fragrance. In traditional Chinese culture, orchid has a unique meaning and symbolism. This is not only because the orchid has a unique fragrance, but also because it is a metaphor for moral character, which has the dual meaning of olfactory aesthetics and moral implications.
In the fantasy of the ancients, the beauty was full of fragrance. In Chinese incense culture, "smell" is connected to people, goods, and behavior. "Shangshu Zhoushu" said: "Zhizhi is fragrant, and it is felt by the gods." Millet is not Xin, Mingde is Xin. "Aroma is a representation of virtue. "Aroma nourishment" is also the core concept and important feature of Chinese incense culture.
The copper hand stove used by the figure in the painting is also called "sleeve stove" and "hand smoked", etc., the shape is exquisite, it is the palm heating tool used more by the court and even the people in daily life in the old times, in addition to heating, it can also be used as a smoker to achieve the purpose of incense, and can also realize the nourishing function of traditional incense.
Male painters put the imagination of women's boudoir activities into reality, and the beauties in the images have both national colors and colors because of the blessing of the incense burner
Tianxiang, the incense burner arranged at hand also satisfies the olfactory fantasy of dark fragrance sleeves.
The mirror in the picture can decorate the appearance, and the invisible incense in the incense burner can nourish the temperament, so as to achieve both internal and external cultivation under the requirements of traditional Chinese etiquette. The combination of the incense burner and the mirror not only shows the activities of women's boudoir, but also reflects the invisible moral requirements of feudal etiquette for women.
2. Endless sorrow in the boudoir
Wu Zimu of the Song Dynasty recorded in "Menglianglu": "Burning incense and ordering tea, hanging paintings and arranging flowers, all kinds of idle things, are not allowed to be at home." Burning incense, ordering tea, hanging paintings, and arranging flowers were called the "four arts" or "four elegances" by the Song people, and were part of the elegant life of the literati in the Song Dynasty.
Incense incense entered the boudoir and was connected to the literati's use of incense Xi, reflecting women's deeper spiritual pursuits.
In traditional literary works, the description of women's incense is indispensable for the word "sorrow". Several of Li Qingzhao's poems are written about incense in women's lives.
The female images in the pictures of ladies in the Ming and Qing dynasties are different from the plump, graceful and luxurious beauties of the Tang Dynasty, and they are more in pursuit of the morbid beauty of the weak and can't help the wind, and the female facial expressions are also sad. This style of character expression reflects the aesthetic requirements for the image of beauty at that time.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, female painters attached great importance to the shaping of scenes in female paintings. The surrounding scenes of the twelve beauties in "The Twelve Beauties of Yongzheng" are also different, and the surrounding scenes and character activities cooperate with each other, and we can explore the inner activities of the characters from the surrounding scenery and decorations.
In "Twisting Beads and Watching Cats" and "Reading Books and Groaning", incense burners of different shapes appear on the side of the figures, and the woman in the painting is also indispensable to the word "sorrow" against the backdrop of the incense burner.
The beauty in "Twisted Beads and Cat Viewing Cat" holds a bracelet, her elbow rests on a wooden table with a marble top, and next to her is a bronze tripod-style incense burner. Following the gaze of the beauty, we can see two white cats playing, which adds a touch of vitality to the picture, but also contrasts with the loneliness of the characters in the painting.
Under the backdrop of the cigarette beside her, the beauty should recall the romantic life with her lover through these two frolicking white cats, and she can't help but feel a little sad on her face.
Two poems appear in "Reading Books and Singing Pictures", one is behind the lady: "Cherry mouth small willow waist, reclining spring."
When the wind is half lazy. A mood is a pastime, a desire to show and contemplation. ”
In the poem, "the waist of the cherry small mouth willow, when reclining in the spring breeze and half lazy" is a description of the beauty form, and the lady in the painting also has a cherry mouth and a waist as soft as a willow as depicted in the poem. The second half of the poem, "A mood is a pastime, and the desire to unfold and contemplate it" is a description of the lady's expression and mental activity.
In the painting, the lady is holding a book in her hand, but her eyes are moved away, making the viewer wonder what the lady saw that made her begin to meditate.
The answer was given in the collection of poems in the lady's hand, and the page that was turned over read: "Persuade the gentleman not to cherish the golden clothes, and persuade the monarch to cherish the youth." The flowers can be folded straight, and the branches must be broken without flowers. ”
This poem exhorts people to cherish their youth and pick the fruits of love in time
I was in the prime of my youth, but I didn't wait for love. Not far behind the lady is an ancient incense burner, which adds a bit of sorrow to the lady in the painting.
3. Men's aesthetic fantasies
Burning incense occupies an important position in the life of traditional literati. As part of the "Four Arts", "incense" not only brings olfactory enjoyment to the literati, but also highlights the identity of the literati and satisfies their spiritual needs. Incense can be healthy and nourishing, which can not only bring olfactory enjoyment but also stimulate aesthetic associations.
The patrons and painters of the Twelve Beauties of Yongzheng are all male, and the female activities and life scenes in the boudoir reflect the aesthetic fantasies of men.
Women's low-hanging eyebrows and soft willow-like waists all represent the aesthetic requirements of men in the Qing Dynasty for women's appearance. In addition to the requirements of physical appearance, male literati also gave these women a deeper spiritual fantasy.
Contrary to the traditional "women are virtuous if they are not talented", during the Ming and Qing dynasties, under the influence of the Qinglou culture in the south of the Yangtze River, the literati preferred women who could recite poems
Paintings of ladies began to appear in large numbers, which contained the aesthetic taste of the literati.
Books can intuitively show the talent of women. Among the twelve pictures of beauties, there are books in "Twisting Beads and Watching Cats", "Holding Tables and Chrysanthemums", "Reading Books and Groaning", "Bogu Meditation" and "Tongyin Tea Tasting". Whether it is on the shelves or the books at hand, it reflects the popularity of reading in women's daily lives.
Whether reading or contemplating, most of the paintings depicting scenes of men's lives have incense burners, which show the cultivation of literati from another perspective.
The incense burner appeared in all aspects of literati life and was a symbol of elegance, and a burner of incense was indispensable when reading. Lu You's poem "Closing the Door All Day Long and Occasionally Getting Quatrains" reads: "Burn incense and watch Yuxi poems".
In addition to maintaining health and cultivating nature, literati reading and burning incense can also stimulate imagination. The illusory space created by the aroma can stimulate the imagination of the reader, the fragrance is pervasive, the scenery in front of him becomes virtual and real, the smoke floats with the wind, the thoughts also drift into the distance, and the fantasy and reality are combined.
epilogue
"The Twelve Beauties of Yongzheng" shows the new aesthetic fashion of Qing Dynasty ladies' paintings. The appearance of the incense burner in the painting shows the popularization of incense in the Qing Dynasty, shows the diversity of incense, and contains the moral requirements of feudal etiquette for women, expresses women's feelings, and reflects men's fantasies about women's lives.
bibliography
"Idle Love"
Chinese Incense Culture