Showing the cultural characteristics of each beauty and the ideal pursuit of beauty and beauty - viewing "The Beauty of the Other - The Exhibition of Women's Cultural Relics in the Han Dynasty and the Roman Period"
Poster of the exhibition "Beauty". In the center is a curved plain yarn single coat.
Marble statue of Livia from the 1st century AD.
The Jade Dancer of the late Western Han Dynasty.
The double-layered nine-layer lacquer unearthed from the tomb of Mawangdui Xin.
The above pictures are provided by Hunan Museum
The friendly exchanges between the two great civilizations of China and Italy have a long history. More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient Silk Road linked China and Ancient Rome, thousands of miles apart. The Han Dynasty sent an envoy Gan Ying to find the "Great Qin", the ancient Roman poet Virgil and the geographer Pomponius mentioned the "Silk Country" many times, and the ancient Roman writer Pliny the Elder even associated the "Silk Country" thousands of miles away in the "Naturalist". Although the East and Rome had not yet come into direct contact at that time, cultural exchanges were never severed.
From June 15th to October 7th this year, the Hunan Museum and the Roman Cultural Heritage Supervision and Administration jointly held the "Beauty: Women's Cultural Relics Exhibition of the Han Dynasty and the Roman Period". This special exhibition is divided into three units: "Yiran Yanju", "Women's Charm" and "Flower Good People Reunion", with the three scenes of women's family life, social life and emotional life as the context, through the dialogue between Eastern and Western cultural relics, reproduce the colorful female narratives in Eastern and Western cultures 2000 years ago, and reveal the cultural characteristics of women in different cultural backgrounds, and the ideal pursuit of beauty and beauty.
Gentle and unrestrained: beautiful and multi-faceted
When the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire flourished, the picture of women's lives presented a unique style. This exhibition shows the female voices and figures in history in a variety of ways, tells the wonderful and diverse stories of "her", and shows the beauty of women in the long history.
The first unit of the exhibition, "Yiran Yanju", focuses on the family life of women in the Han Dynasty and Roman periods, and selects six life scenes of "dressing", "makeup", "clothing", "residence", "food" and "music and dance" to depict the home situation of women in the East and the West, and guide the audience to gain in-depth insight into the unique understanding and ingenuity of women at that time for a better life.
In the context of a strong country and a prosperous economy, women's clothing shows more aesthetics, expressiveness, symbolism and the need to enhance personality. In the Han Dynasty, women wore deep clothes, and the top was connected to the bottom, and when worn, the front placket was gently wrapped to the back, which not only highlighted the graceful posture of women, but also added a bit of mystery and elegance. Outside the deep coat is the skirt, the wear is more casual, the short jacket "undergarment" is only to the waist, with the lower skirt, can be worn under the deep coat as an inner layer, can also be used as daily clothing. The highlight of this exhibition, the Qu Skirted Plain Yarn Single Cloth, was unearthed in the Mawangdui Han Tomb, which is as thin as a cicada's wings and as light as a feather, and its visual effect is elegant and free, highlighting the pursuit and unique aesthetic interest of the aristocratic women of the Han Dynasty for high-end fabrics and exquisite craftsmanship.
During the same period, Roman women's dress style was heavily influenced by Greece. For example, the women in the watercolor painting "Pompeii Figures" hanging in the exhibition hall wear a unique Greece-style robe "kunica", enjoying a leisurely holiday time, quiet and peaceful; A mid-2nd century Roman female bust shows obvious traces of stitching, with a white marble head carved and a garment carved in alabaster, and a pala shawl in addition to the coat "Stola", with a large knot tied at the chest and embellished with smart tassels to highlight the texture and ornate texture of the garment.
When it comes to grooming, the love of beauty between Eastern and Western women is the same. For example, the utensils in the first display case are all women's toiletries from the Roman Empire, including balm bottles, combs, spatulas, tweezers, measuring cups, pots, bowls, etc., as well as a makeup box carved with myths and washing scenes, which can be described as a "treasure chest". In the Han Dynasty, women also had small household items with the same style of dress and decoration. There are combs, jackets, brushes, puffs, incense powders, rouge and other combing utensils unearthed from the double-layer Jiuzi lacquer unearthed from the tomb of Mawangdui Xin, which are exquisite in material and exquisite in workmanship. Through these delicate dressing utensils, you can imagine the life scenes of Eastern and Western women thousands of years ago.
After tea and dinner, women gathered together, playing, singing, dancing, laughing, laughing, playing, playing, singing, dancing, singing, laughing, laugh Ancient Roman women, dressed in fine costumes, watched the dancers dance at a banquet. In addition to feasting and drinking, women in the Han Dynasty would also enjoy haiyu performances, music and dance. Among the exhibits is a jade dancer in the late Western Han Dynasty, which was unearthed in the No. 2 tomb of Dabaotai in Beijing, which is agile and elegant, lifelike, and is a vivid portrayal of the dance of "bending the sleeves and bending the waist" in the Han Dynasty. In a joyful atmosphere, women unload the tiredness of life and return to relaxation and happiness.
Courage and wisdom: a glorious chapter of strength
The second section of the exhibition, "Women's Charm", focuses on the diverse roles and contributions of women in society in the East and the West. According to the different social roles of women, this unit is divided into three groups: aristocratic women in the Han Dynasty, aristocratic women in Rome and ordinary women, to help the audience clarify the different social attributes of aristocratic women in the East and the West, and discover the commonalities in social activities between ordinary women in the East and the West.
During the Roman Empire, aristocratic women were active in both the family and society. The marble statue of Livia in the exhibition hall was made in the 1st century AD, with an elegant and solemn appearance. Livia was the wife of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome and the first empress of the Roman Empire, and since then, women have made their mark in Roman politics; The spinning shuttle in her right hand reflects her side of daily labor as an ordinary woman.
Ordinary women, both in China and abroad, contribute to the prosperity and progress of society in their own ways. In many socio-economic fields such as medicine, handicrafts, and commerce, they have left an eternal female back. Historically, most doctors have been held by men, while women have also been active in the medical field as healers. The tombstone of the female doctor named Asilia · in the exhibition testifies to the fact that even in the face of social restrictions, some Roman women were still practicing medical activities. In the Han Dynasty, there were not a few civilian women who were doctors, such as Chun Yuyan, a female obstetrics and gynecology doctor in the Han Dynasty and Yi Ji, a female doctor in miscellaneous specialties mentioned in the "Historical Records" and "Book of Han", both of which are glorious examples of women in the Han Dynasty recorded in the annals of history.
The third unit of the exhibition, "Flowers for Good People Reunion", mainly focuses on the two keywords of "love" and "prayer". Here, the lingering marriage and love of Chinese and foreign women are recorded, as well as their prayers for this world and eternal life. In this unit, the sarcophagus depicting the Amazonian warrior is one of the treasures of the Capitoline Museum in Italy and the first time the artifact has been unveiled in a century. The carvings on the sarcophagus are lifelike, and the female warriors are armed with axes or mounted archery, with vigorous postures and resolute expressions, which arouse the audience's imagination and expression of female power.
Such a scene is reminiscent of "thousands of miles to the plane, Guan Shan is like flying." Shuoqi spreads the golden watch, and the cold light shines on the iron coat". In Chinese historical documents, it is not uncommon for women to join the army. Women in the northwest border counties of the Han Dynasty were quite accustomed to military affairs, and there is a record in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty that "women still wear halberds and spears, and carry bows and arrows". Archaeological indications show that the terracotta figurines were originally installed with movable wooden arms and wore battle robes and armor. The female cavalry figurines have eyebrows like mountains, prominent cheekbones, a cold expression, and a bold gaze, showing a heroic and sassy spirit.
Walking in the exhibition hall, the imprint of the life of women in the Han and Roman dynasties is clearly visible. They are colorful and full of infinite love for life; They are industrious and simple, and they are dedicated to society; They are innocent and full of longing for love; They were in awe and prayed for the blessings of their families. Standing in front of a group of cultural relics that highlight the commonality of women in the East and the West, listening to their past, you can feel the aesthetic interest and value pursuit that are thousands of miles apart but are rarely similar.
The United States and the United States: Mutual Learning among Civilizations through Exchanges
Hunan Museum has always maintained friendly exchanges and cooperation with the Italy cultural and museum circles. In 2018, the Hunan Museum, together with dozens of museums in Italy, France and other countries and abroad, jointly held the "Searching for Hometown in the Most Remote Places: Cross-Cultural Exchange Exhibition between China and Italy in the 13th and 16th Centuries". This exhibition is the second collaboration between the Hunan Museum and the Italy cultural and museum community, and the Italian exhibits are mainly from the Capitoline Museum, which is the first public museum in the world and is famous for its rich collection, especially many ancient Roman statues.
The planning cycle of the "Beauties" exhibition is long. In September 2023, China and Italy jointly formed a curatorial team to begin collecting collections and preparing for the exhibition. In the process of selecting exhibits, the number of exhibits that have been replaced has reached more than 400 pieces (groups). In the end, the Italian side collected 138 pieces (groups) of treasures from 10 museums and galleries in the city of Rome, all of which were in China for the first time. In cooperation with 8 cultural and museum units in China, the Hunan Museum has brought together 81 pieces (groups) of cultural relics from the Han Tomb of the Han Dynasty, the Tomb of Queen Yuyang, the Tomb of the King of Nanyue, the Tomb of the Han Dynasty, the Tomb of Emperor Yang of the Han Dynasty, the Tomb of the Queen of Changsha at No. 1 Tubi Mountain, and the Tomb of the Han Dynasty in Mawangdui, reproducing the picture of women's life in the Han Dynasty and the Roman period, and launching a unique cultural dialogue and exchange between the East and the West.
Although the women of the East and the West in the Han Dynasty and the Roman Dynasty were in different basins of the long river of history, they embroidered unique civilization totems on the tapestry of history in their own unique ways. We look forward to taking this exhibition as an opportunity to appreciate the different charms and common pursuits of women in the East and the West, and to build a bridge for exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations in the new era with the rich cultural connotations contained in cultural relics.
(The author is the Chinese curator of "The Beauty of the Beauty: The Exhibition of Women's Cultural Relics in the Han Dynasty and the Roman Period")