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Chinese Beauty – Then & Now
A little time in China will give you the correct impression that what's beautiful to the western eye isn't necessarily so to the Chinese, and vice versa. It's to be expected. After all, western men and women can't agree on who's beautiful. There are those female icons whom only women are attracted to, ala Julia Roberts, and objects of male fantasy, ala Pam Anderson (circa '93), who never fail to draw the criticism of any woman with an ounce of respect for her gender.
Then there's the fact that concepts of beauty change with the times. The standards of feminine beauty have morphed with the ages, and have as much to say about the admirers as the admired.
More than a few antiquated scholars took time off from chronicling dynastic intrigue to describe what constituted true hotness. Confucian strictures and the absence of Maxim made the world a much more innocent place. For the ancient Chinese, as for the readers of Women's Health & Beauty, smooth skin, a slim and delicate shape, shining eyes, and pearly white teeth were all a woman needed to be the village babe. The most widely-quoted description of classic beauty can be found in Shuo Ren, the 57th poem in The Book of Odes:
Her fingers were like the blades of the young white-grass ;
Her skin was like congealed ointment ;
Her neck was like the tree-grub ;
Her teeth were like melon seeds ;
Her forehead cicada-like ; her eyebrows like silkworm antenne;
What dimples , as she artfully smiled !
How lovely her eyes, with the black and white so well defined !
Soon enough, however, a woman needed more than an insectile neck, forehead and eyebrows to win admiration. By the Han Dynasty, a dancing component was required of any woman who wanted to think of herself as truly attractive. Han empress Zhao Feiyan had little of the strong moral sense and virtue expected of a royal. In fact, she was famous for prurient misdeeds, like smiling without covering her mouth, giving all and sundry a gander at her melon-seed teeth.
She made up for such sluttiness with unparalleled skill at the Zhangzhong Wu, or Palm Dance, performed on a crystal plate held by two attendant maidens. Needless to say, the empress must have had a physique tiny enough to shame a gold-medal gymnast. Zhao's child-like form impressed Emperor Cheng enough to make royalty of her.
On the other end of the scale stands Tang Dynasty beauty Yang Guifei, aka Yang Yuhuan. A towering (for Tang times) 1.64 meters, a thundering 69 kilos, Yang burst with the kind of proportions that make men drool and make women carp "you should lose some weight". Yang was one of the four legendary ancient Chinese beauties, and contemporaneous poets declared that flowers wilted when she passed by, in deference to her comeliness . A poem describing her love affair with Emperor Xuanzong, Chang Hen Ge, A Song of Unending Sorrow, proves that beauty by no means protects from life's slings and arrows.
Revolutions in turn foment revolutionary perspectives, and China's standards of beauty were turned on their head after the founding of the PRC. Any signs of being a fading lily, whether slender or full-bodied, were counter-revolutionary and to be ruthlessly suppressed. How could a woman concerned with keeping her fingers like blades of grass and her teeth whiter than melon seeds help build a proletarian paradise?
Chinese women from Shanghai to Shangri-la were enchanted. Here was their chance to be as masculine as the folks who had been waving around manhood as the prime virtue, and the prime reason why a woman was essentially a slave. Health and strength became most desirable in a prospective wife. Naturally, any indication of peasant stock was a plus, leading to the trend in ruddy cheeks and stout wrists and ankles. A lucky thing, as that was about all men got to see under the baggy military uniforms their female cadres sported en masse.
China's much over-referenced Opening Up led to a quick erosion of socialist commitment, and its concomitant aesthetics. The West, as one may well guess, was the prime influencer of Chinese fashion in the eighties and nineties. The still jeri-curled heads of many late thirty to forty-somethings have their roots in Jacksonmania, which penetrated to the very heart of theChinese hinterland.
As we rocket into the age of anonymous internet relationships, gender neutral has become the rage, and feminine appeal means always leaving them guessing. Li Yuchun, androgyne extraordinaire and winner of Supergirl 2006, still pulls serious numbers on Chinese internet beauty polls. Most of those voters are probably female, though. Forget East and West. When it comes to describing the perfect female, he is he, she is she, and never shall the twain agree.
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Comments
Your interpretation of
Your interpretation of modern Chinese female grooming practices/ beauty standards seems grossly off the mark. How you connect the fried out perms sported by Chinese broads from the provinces with gerri curl 80's is beyond me.
Chinese women, particularly those with dated, stunted, stuck in time fashion sense tend to over emphasize western female characteristics, and the easiest of those to achieve without under going costly cosmetic surgery is make your hair curly. Girls from the provinces are terminally ten years behind their big city counterparts (who trail HK, tokyo, and seoul by two to three years in the ability to adapt to trends). I digress, but why is the provincials hair so f'ed up? It is a cheap perm. That's it. She dosen't want to look Daryl from "Coming to America" it just comes out that way, and she knows you get what you pay for. Does she know that she dosen't look any where near as good as the HK and Taiwan pop stars in the magazines? Yes. Does she know with her soul-glo hair and jeans tucked into scuffed up boots that she looks busted as all hell? Yes? Why does she keep dressing that way? Because the standards of the man she is trying to attract don't require more of her. She isn't looking to nail down some communist party princeling or HK tycoon's son. She is just looking for a guy who can buy her a shitty apartment in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei triangle satelite suburb. Think like this, she is targeting the 29 yearold IT guy from Jiangxi in your office. You know the guy who changes his clothes twice a week in the summer, and not at all in the winter. This chick looks wrong as the day is long because standards don't require more of her, not because she idolizes Rick James ala "Party all the Time" with Eddy Murphy.
As far as that Li yuchun dyke goes it is pretty f-ing easy to figure out. Zhou Xun, Cecilia Cheung, and Stephanie Sun are sickeningly air brushed perfect. They create a standard that sadly 99.2% of all chinese females can never come close to attaining. Li Yuchun provides the nations ascetically challenged youth with a hero, and for all the young ugly birds in China it is a lot easier to look like a boy than a hot female pop star.
Hoisted by my own Petard
Wow,Touch, you could have had your comment made a post, if you contacted us first, then left out the juvenile effrontery. Sounds like you have a firm if heartbreakingly cynical handle on sexual politics in China. The one part beyond you, re: jeri-curls and jacksonmania, is from the observations of the incomparable Paul Theroux, in his seminal 1988 Riding the Iron Rooster.
Touchy
I agree with Ernie, this site should be more carefully monitored to avoid comments such as those of 'Touch' above. And real names please.
The concept of beauty as
The concept of beauty as represented through Chinese symbols truly captures its essence. This is because the art of constructing Chinese characters is in it self so beautiful that irrespective of what symbol you draw beauty seems to be the over riding factor as it is.
We claim to be different
We claim to be different individuals; we strive to be unique; yet we seek the same goals in life. A unified goal of all human beings is to find beauty; to enjoy it, to own it. Indeed, to each his own, but there seems to always be a unified major "theme" for what makes something beautiful.
They say "beauty is only
They say "beauty is only skin deep," but maybe they are wrong. A glance at the surface can tell a person a lot about the suffering soul of women in Chinese society.
After a lot of head
After a lot of head scratching, looking around idly, meditating and hesitating, most interviewees would answer: Well, you know, there are many standards for beauty...
A recent 'beauty contest'
A recent 'beauty contest' for female bloggers has attracted huge attention and aroused fierce controversy in China.
After public outcry,
After public outcry, political figure, Yuan Jing, decides to quit the ongoing "Miss Chinese International" beauty pageant.
Mmmm. I always thought that
Mmmm. I always thought that nothing could top the thought of dating a woman whose chest has been sliced open and stuffed with plastic sacs of viscous goo. But now, I can dream of kissing a bulimic on lips plumped up with executed-prisoner extract. Anyone who thinks the idea is gruesome probably just need a makeover. Two years in a Chinese prison should do it.
That's true - no one
That's true - no one appreciates EPE like someone who's been in the Dongbei clink a few years.
Who is the most beautiful
Who is the most beautiful Chinese woman?
Zhang Ziyi, the popular actress? Luo Yan, the super model? Or more established figures such as Maggie Cheung or Gong Li?
Some more liberated ladies
Some more liberated ladies begin to explore an alternative avenue: campus life. In their eagerness to carve out a clear distinction from their painted sisters, these women fashion an austere look: white blouse, black skirt and no cosmetics.
Yang Guifei, the concubine
Yang Guifei, the concubine of the Tang-dynasty emperor Xuanzong (AD 685-762), was renowned for her beauty. The poet Li Bo compared her to the peony, considered the most lovely of all flowers, and to female deities and immortals.
They say "beauty is only
They say "beauty is only skin deep," but maybe they are wrong. A glance at the surface can tell a person a lot about the suffering soul of women in Chinese society.
you are a Cock! or Cook!
you have done a terrible comparison here ! so it seems to you are coming with your article name "Beauty with the Beast" next time i think but you showed us here a lot of beauty in this article with your great article$$
After a lot of head
After a lot of head scratching, looking around idly, meditating and hesitating, most interviewees would answer: Well, you know, there are many standards for beauty...
To a woman of this era,
To a woman of this era, life's possibilities seem quite rooted, with few real surprises. Different fringes reflect different levels of emancipation.
What really make a
What really make a difference are preferences about temperament and character. Most Chinese nowadays may still not like Western assertiveness and activity.Regards
Great work by chinese artists
Great work by Chinese artists !! Chinese are very well known for their art work. Chinese people have magic in their hands as they nicely chop the vegetables, their hands on art as well is really commendable.
funny...
no i don't think the topic here at chinaexpat is funny.. it's informative actually, I just dont know what to say but im searching for proxy server for facebook
The standard of inner
The standard of inner beauty, however, has changed over time.
The earliest standards, which appeared in the classics, date back to the Zhou Dynasty (1100 BC - 22 BC).According to the Nu Er Jing (Girls' Classic), which provides a complete set of standards for women's beauty, a traditional beauty should be tender, obedient, quiet and timid.
Regards
just about the opinion
well it not about the time its about the opinion of different people in different times, some thought they wer beautiful and some think they still are
beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.
it lies in the eyes of the beholder
beauty is a phenomenon which can not be defined it lies in the eyes of the beholder , different people see thing differently .
so beautiful now or then , it depends who is actually , witnessing it.
Who is the most beautiful
Who is the most beautiful Chinese woman?
Zhang Ziyi, the popular actress? Luo Yan, the super model? Or more established figures such as Maggie Cheung or Gong Li.......these are not true, it has been updated.
Fta Fix
Miss Vancouver Chinese 2008
The finals this year will be held on Wednesday, December 13, 2008 at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre in downtown Vancouver. The slogan for this year's contest is "美凝聚 Mosaic" ( Beauty Coming Together, Mosaic ).
what matters is the view
the perception of the person who is the witness matters the most , in describing what is and is not beautiful.
everything in its own is a beauty but we see it in thway w want to.
Standards of beauty
Standards of beauty obviously have changed in China. Traditionally, looking at past Chinese dynasties, small eyes, almond eyes, bound feet and being fat were beautiful.
Great
Thanks great post
Chinese beauty
some great information about chinese beauty. though different ppl have different opinion about beauty. some care about inner beauty and some outside beauty.
define beauty
before we start commenting on what is beautiful and what is no ti think w should be clear about the core meaning of beauty.
In Chinese contemporary
In Chinese contemporary popular culture, no one female beauty ideal exists paramount. Bloggers and cultural critics alike have attested to the fact that regional (“Asian”) and Western images of beauty impact Chinese beauty norms.
beauty defined
i guess the first thing to do is to define beauty , but what ever may be the fact beauty is beauty , either now or then.
its just about the opinion .
I admire Chinese beauty as much as those cute blondes from the
I admire Chinese beauty as much as those cute blondes from the west, that's the way of the world, different cultures across the world show beauty in their own style, that's one of the reasons i like Chinese movies.
we need to understand
this is avery complex topic and we need to pay more attention to this article to understand even what is talked about here.
beauty means different things to different people.
excellent
Great post
Thanks
Art consisting of
Art consisting of representational, imaginative, or abstract designs produced by application of coloured paints to a two-dimensional, prepared, flat surface.
They live happily until
They live happily until Seven longs to return home. There, her jealous third sister tries to drown her and takes her place as mistress of the dragon's palace. Then the Prince must go searching for his lost bride. Lavish, hyperrealistic paintings appear opposite each page of text, with two wordless double-page spreads interspersed. However, few of the paintings begin to capture the shivery wonder of the narrative. Most are too literal to illuminate the mood of the story, and leave little scope for the imagination.
Chinese Art
I wonder if Chinese art remains like it was earlier. Things have changed all around the globe, and people are moving away from traditions. I guess this is not the case with China.
Guess you're not a regular
Guess you're not a regular reader, Susan's Guide.
http://www.chinaexpat.com/blog/ernie/2009/03/01/changing-times-changing-art.html
Centuries of Tradition
China was civilized when the rest of the world were still bohemians. The way beauty is perceived throughout the ages really has gone through quite a lot of changes, hasn't it? Some for the good, some for the bad, but with today's concept of beauty, who knows what's right or wrong, anyway?
Personal Opinion
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It also comes in different shapes and sizes, yes sizes. There are those women that even no matter how huge or skinny they are remains beautiful. Everyone also has different views about beauty that we should all respect no matter how modern or old it is.
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In the pursuit of beauty,
In the pursuit of beauty, women often rely on themselves. In the beauty creation movement developed in China in 2003, the Beijing-born Hao Lulu became the first Chinese woman to achieve beauty through artificial means. She underwent more than 200 days of cosmetic surgery. It cost her about 300,000 yuan.
Really nice
Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder. It depends on the person how they see the person or the thing. Beauty is not to spend thousands of dollars on anything. It is something from your inside.
beatiful, Greay!
great..Some more liberated ladies begin to explore an alternative avenue: campus life.
Good
Really good. Like the work ! Thanks for your efforts to share this.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading!
American film director and
American film director and screenwriter Oliver Stone - 奥利弗.斯通 who got Academy Award for Best Director twice poses with Chinese actress Fan Bingbing - 范冰冰 hand in hand for a magazine - February of i LOOK. This is the first time for Chinese mainland actress to get close cooperation with top-class director from Hollywood.
there is definitely a great
there is definitely a great beauty here. thanks for the great read.
Chinese tradition means that
Chinese tradition means that just about every woman there equates beauty with .... Herborist now has 180 freestanding boutiques in 40 cities in China and ... "Once Origins or L'Occitane come to China , then we'll have real competition. .
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