Recently, "The Legend of Ruyi" has become popular again, but "black and red".
As a court drama similar to "Electronic Mustard" and "The Legend of Zhen Huan", "The Legend of Ruyi" was inevitably compared with "The Legend of Zhen Huan" by netizens, and as a result, many netizens found that the armor of the heroine Ruyi (played by Zhou Xun) in "The Legend of Ruyi" was wrong, and Ruyi's hands wearing armor were not like the slender jade hands of the ladies in "The Legend of Zhen Huan". For a while, there was a large wave of complaints on the Internet about the armor of "The Legend of Ruyi".
Source: Screenshots of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and "The Legend of Ruyi" Ruyi wears armor, what is the problem? Armor should be chosen right, not just expensive People who have watched Qing court dramas are no strangers to armor. In contrast to the protection of nails at the beginning of the birth of armor, in the Qing Dynasty, the decorative function of armor was magnified, and craftsmen carved ornate ornaments on it, making it evolve into a unique luxury jewelry of the Qing court, and gradually became a symbol of noble status and superior life for aristocrats. And the armor of "The Legend of Ruyi" was complained about one thing: it is not good-looking. Many times in the play, Ruyi wears a set of armor inlaid with blue-green gems on a silver body, and is ruthlessly complained by many netizens that she looks like a blue-ringed octopus. Some netizens said that the silver part was not bright enough, a little gray and dull, and the whole armor looked "old and not exquisite".
"Blue-ringed Octopus" armor|Source: Screenshot of "The Legend of Ruyi".
In fact, the scientific name of this "blue-ringed octopus armor" is inlaid filigree silver armor. The most common material for nail covers is precious metals such as silver and copper, with enamel or gold plating on the exterior. Ruyi's gem-encrusted style is more valuable than ordinary armor. And this armor was used by Ruyi after leaving the cold palace, which also corresponds to the meaning of her returning to a high position. Then again, even if you want to set things to show your dignity, there are many beautiful styles to draw from. For example, the gold and stone bead nail sets in the collection of the National Museum of China, and the tortoiseshell jeweled flower nail sets in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
Source: The official website of the National Museum of China, the official website of the National Palace Museum in Taipei Moreover, if you really want to be extremely luxurious, you can also choose jade and tooth bone horns. Nail covers made of jade are generally made of Hetian jade, jadeite and other materials, and sometimes supplemented by pearls, coral, agate and other gemstones, so they are often more expensive than precious metals. If a bone angle is used, tortoiseshell or rhino horn is mainly used. As a marine turtle that symbolizes longevity, the hawksbill turtle is not only used to pray for auspicious longevity, but also because it is not easy to obtain and expensive, so it has become a symbol of aristocratic power and luxury life.
The main material of armor|Source: "Research on the Decorative Art of Nail Sets in the Qing Dynasty Palace" But many dramas have never used armor made of jade and tooth bone horns, and they do not appear in "The Legend of Ruyi", otherwise it should also appear on Ruyi's hands. In addition to the style, the length of Ruyi's armor has also been complained by many netizens. The armor in "The Legend of Zhen Huan" is long, and the other concubines in "The Legend of Ruyi" also wear long styles, but Ruyi often wears very short armor, and she can't even protect the first knuckle, plus the armor looks a little small, it feels like she barely poked her fingers in, and the armor doesn't know when it will accidentally fall.
Source: Screenshot of "The Legend of Ruyi" In contrast, wearing long armor can better modify the lines of the hand and make the fingers look much more slender, such as the pair of emerald gold silk armor worn by Ruyi when he was sealed.
Source: Screenshot of "The Biography of Ruyi" In fact, if you want to talk about the length alone, Ruyi's short armor is no problem, the ancient nail sets are indeed of different lengths, the long ones can reach fifteen centimeters, and the short ones are only three or four centimeters. When you wear it, you can choose according to your preferences and the length of your nails, but short armor is indeed more difficult to wear and look good, and from the perspective of overall makeup, long armor is obviously more suitable for Ruyi. If the length of the armor is reasonable, then the position of wearing it is wrong, and this point "has not been washed". Ruyi's silver armor only clings to the tips of her fingers, but in fact, when wearing armor, the base of the armor is usually applied to the second joint of the finger. If it's longer armor, you can also wear it directly to the base of your finger. This not only adapts the armor to the movement of the joints, but also makes the whole hand line more beautiful. For example, wearing them like Huan Huan and Hua Fei gives people a sense of amazement.
Source: Screenshot of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" Moreover, the original meaning of the existence of nail sets is to protect nails. If you wear it too close to your fingertips, it may not only not protect your nails, but also make them more likely to be scratched. How picky is armor? Although it is only a decoration, the effect of wearing armor does vary greatly from person to person, and people with slender fingers will look better wearing armor. We often use "slender jade hands" to describe women's hands as good-looking, in fact, in the ancient draft standards, whether the fingers are slender and soft is also one of the considerations. Therefore, although the appearance of the hand is not such an important selection criterion compared to factors such as family background and knowledge, it is also a point that will be noted. In contrast, the ladies in "The Legend of Zhen Huan" all look slender and slender fingers, and Zhou Xun's hands are also good-looking, but they are more fleshy, and the visual effect of wearing armor will be slightly inferior.
Source: Screenshot of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and "The Legend of Ruyi" Taking a step back, although whether the fingers are slender or not is congenital and cannot be changed, the hand posture can be controlled and trained the day after tomorrow, and Ruyi's hand posture is also a little strange, always holding two fingers wearing armor. In addition to being deliberate, this posture is also related to the fact that Ruyi has to wear armor at all times. It is inevitably inconvenient to wear armor when writing and embroidering, so in order not to be affected by armor, you can only "hold your hands".
The picture on the left shows the hands of the other concubines in "The Legend of Ruyi", and the picture on the right shows Ruyi Ruyi was also complained about because the timing of the armor was not right. As mentioned earlier, armor can not only be decorative, but also show rank and status. In fact, at the beginning of the birth of armor, it was a self-entertaining behavior of palace concubines in order to show their class status and pass the time of boredom. There is a record in "Yanjing Customs": Banner women, who have no worries about food and clothing, and have nothing to do, often entertain themselves by raising long armor. In other words, people who are "free of food and clothing" and "have nothing to do" will grow their nails and wear armor. Of course, the ladies sometimes have to do some work, such as hugging the child, rubbing the emperor's temples, etc., usually at this time, just take off the armor directly.
Source: Screenshot of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" But even if Ruyi went into the cold palace to do rough work, she "couldn't lose her dignity", and finally had the "famous scene" of wearing armor to dry clothes.
Source: Screenshot of "The Biography of Ruyi" In fact, in the original work, the author wrote that Ruyi did not wear armor for a long time because she was abolished. The success of a good drama is indispensable for the script, actor selection, acting skills, makeup, etc., and next time, don't ignore these "small roles" such as armor. References:[1]Liu Zhenyan. Research on the decorative art of court nail covers in the Qing Dynasty[D].Shanxi University,2019.DOI:10.27284/d.cnki.gsxiu.2019.001296. [2] Zhang Xinning. Analysis on the production process of Qing Dynasty jewelry and its application in nail covers[J].Popular Literature and Art,2019,(17):144-145.)
Author: Min Min Song Qiyu Editor: Tennessee Duty Editor: Min Min