In modern society, men who care a little bit about their image will shave frequently to keep their appearance fresh and clean. In ancient times, men "took more beard as beauty", why did the ancients regard more beard as a standard of beauty?
As the saying goes, "everyone has a love for beauty", in addition to women, of course, it also includes the majority of male compatriots!
In ancient society, the ancients attached great importance to their appearance and even clothing. When it comes to the identification of beautiful men, what comes to people's minds are idioms such as sword eyebrows and starry eyes, jade trees in the wind, and faces like crown jade.
But in addition to eyebrows, eyes, height, and face, the ancients also used the external condition of the beard as a factor in judging a man's appearance.
The ancients regarded men's beards as beautiful as many and dense, which was particularly prominent in the Qin and Han dynasties.
The reason why the ancients formed the concept of "beauty with more beards" has many reasons and factors.
First of all, it has to do with the ideas that the ancients have embraced since they were born.
There is an old Chinese saying that "the parents of the body do not dare to damage it". For the ancients, every hair on the body was given by their parents, and they had a special meaning of existence.
If you easily cut off your own hair, or let your hair be damaged, it is disrespectful and unfilial to your parents, and you will be spurned and condemned by those around you.
Since ancient times, the culture of "filial piety" has had an important position and influence in China. In the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Wei and Jin dynasties, some children from poor families would also embark on the road of official career through the act of filial piety and honesty.
Therefore, as a man, if he destroys his beard at will, he is not filial, and a son of a poor family who is not filial cannot become an official by raising filial piety.
Secondly, there is a connection between this and ancient social production.
In ancient societies where the means of production were relatively backward, people not only had to resist external threats but also participated in production and labor, so people gradually formed the concept of advocating force.
Those men who are physically strong and have a bear's back will be worshipped by the masses. And these well-built people, under the influence of endocrine, generally have the external characteristics of thick eyebrows and long beards.
In the "Book of the Continuation of the Han Dynasty", there is such a description of appearance: "white, beautiful beard, appearance, the countryside worships him like a god", this passage describes the appearance of the Taishou Sima Zhi. Because he has a beautiful face and gives people a sense of integrity and majesty, everyone reveres him as a god.
In addition, in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu, and the Biography of Cui Yan", it is mentioned that Cui Yan's beard is also very beautiful, and the book describes: "The voice is high, the eyebrows are sparse, and the beard is four feet long."
And in history, Cui Yan also made the Hun envoys feel that he was a handsome guy because of his beard. It is said that Cao Cao felt that he was not handsome enough, so he asked his advisor Cui Yan to meet the Xiongnu envoys. Unexpectedly, after the Hun envoy saw Cui Yan standing beside the bed with a knife, he sighed directly: "The person who catches the knife at the head of the bed, this is a hero"!
This directly illustrates the effect of beards on a man's appearance.
Finally, there is a certain relationship with the issue of official positions in ancient times.
The reason why the ancients formed the aesthetic concept of "being beautiful with more beards and not being ashamed of being white" is also related to a special profession in history.
That's right, it's a eunuch!
Before the eunuchs entered the palace, they were basically very young children, and they would be brutally castrated when they entered the palace.
Having lost the sexual organs that secrete male hormones, these eunuchs often had difficulty growing beards with masculine characteristics. Because they did not have beards, people had the impression that eunuchs were feminine, treacherous, and cunning.
Therefore, among the people, people will make fun of and even insult those who do not have beards.
Therefore, men in ancient times basically did not shave off a beard after they had it. Those who did not have a beard on their faces were either physically defective or eunuchs, both of whom were abnormal men for ordinary people.
In history, there have even been incidents where people died because they didn't have a beard.
It is said that in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Yuan Shao sent people into the palace to kill all the eunuchs in the palace, and an important impression of eunuchs was that they had no beards. So in a fierce and hasty massacre, some men who didn't have time to grow beards were killed as eunuchs.
With the development of society and the progress of civilization, the aesthetic concept of "beauty with more beard" has been gradually diluted. Men who shave frequently are the mainstream aesthetics of society.
