The image above is the chinese sign for "beauty" (for your interest: the mandarin word for beauty is pronounced "mei")
About this article:
First you'll see the "main" article, it tells you the history of beauty in China.
The second part are smaller articles that focus on specific keywords mentioned in the main article. So if you want to know more, keep reading or just scroll down! :D
Chinese Beauty through the Changes of Time
Women in China have traditionally been associated with the pursuit of beauty. For example, the Confucian scholar Liu Xiang ( c 77-6 BC) wrote "[she] takes delight in one's appearance" (1). The Chinese word 'beautiful' originally meant 'pleasant to sight' and is one of the earliest characters inscribed on oracle bones from 16-11 BC. However, standards of beauty have changed significantly throughout Chinese history. From slender to plump and frail to graceful, shifting ideals of feminine aestheticism in Imperial China can be traced through paintings, sculptures and contemporary accounts of women famous for their beauty. Although such women appeared as leading politicians and warriors, it was nevertheless from within a predominantly male-centred society that expectations of femininity were constructed. Conversely, the emancipation of women since the 1920s and increasing globalisation in the twenty-first century have effected further changes in ideals of beauty and fashion in modern China.
Western Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 8)
Founded by Liu Bang in 206 BC, this became one of the great dynasties of Chinese history. It was in this period that Confucianism was established as the main ideology of government in China.
Chao Fei-yen is reported to have been one of the most beautiful women in this dynasty. The Emperor Ch'en-ti was attracted by her slim and graceful figure. She displayed her agile body as a vivacious and energetic dancer. With her sister, Chao Hede, she used her beauty as a weapon against the Emperor, of whom she was a concubine. The government was thrown into chaos in an internecine struggle for power. Although she was ultimately unsuccessful, her story shows that strength and confidence were highly regarded as virtues in a woman during this period. This is in stark contrast to the frailty and wilting beauty that was later to be admired in the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties.Similar strength of character and resilience can be seen in Wang Zhaojun, also highly regarded for her beauty during the Han dynasty. Having caught the attention of many at the refined and sophisticated Chinese court, Wang Zhaojun continued to flourish despite having been bargained in marriage to strengthen an alliance with the Huns in the wilderness of the Asiatic steppes.
Terracotta sculptures that survive from the Han dynasty reflect the tall, slender ideal of feminine beauty so admired by the Emperor. Tomb figures from this period strive to capture the life and vitality of the subject and are noted for their graceful, slender style. Robes worn by noble women during the Han dynasty had a long train that trailed behind, gracefully emphasizing the women's height and stature.
The Lienuzhuan
The Lienuzhuan , compiled by the Han Confucian scholar Liu Xiang, contains 125 biographies of exemplary women. Aiming to promote dignity and moral virtue as necessary components of beauty, the Lienuzhuan can be seen as an attempt to caution women against using their beauty to gain power as the sisters Chao Fei-yen and Chao Hede had done. Many stories maintain that external physical beauty is merely a manifestation of internal beauty in the form of virtue. The book contains several biographies of physically ugly women who nevertheless married emperors and became empresses as a result of their attractive, special inner qualities. Women lacking such virtue, on the other hand, are described as scheming to entrap men in sensual pleasures in order to distract them and fulfil their own selfish plans. These women are attributed with causing disruption and breakdown in families and the state. It appears therefore that, whilst not regarded as necessarily dangerous, beauty at this time was strongly linked to female virtue. As such, beauty could be displayed primarily through strength of character and moral disposition.
T'ang dynasty (AD 618 - 907)
The T'ang dynasty is renowned for the artistic and personal freedom it afforded women. Artwork from the period shows energetic, full-bodied women engaged in outdoor athletic sporting pursuits such as polo on horseback (2). Delicate features and plump faces in sculptures of aristocratic ladies of the T'ang dynasty convey the ideal image of feminine beauty. Ceramic figures of elegant female courtiers that were used as tomb furnishings in the period are known today as 'Fat Ladies' for their fleshy faces.The origin of this standard of beauty can be attributed to the T'ang emperors' preference for plump women as a sign of wealth and privilege. An example of such a woman is Yang Kuei-fei, a heavy and robust concubine with whom the Emperor Ming Huang became infatuated. Known as the 'Jade Beauty', she is celebrated as one of the most beautiful women in Chinese history. Chroniclers at the time described her white skin and delicate features, comparing them to fine carvings in the jade with which she surrounded herself.
Song dynasty (AD 960 - 1279)
The Song dynasty was marked by a return to Confucianism and a desire to live a simpler life than in the former T'ang dynasty. Peace and economic security encouraged a flourishing of such educational and intellectual activity. This is reflected in a plainer style of dress for both men and women during this period.
In contrast to the T'ang dynasty, women were now encouraged to remain indoors and to be seen by none but their husbands. It was socially expected that women should display their virtue physically. This expectation was instrumental in establishing the practice of footbinding during the Song dynasty. The physical limitations of bound feet were intended to emphasize female delicacy and vulnerability in comparison with superior male strength, thereby confirming men's sense of mastery over women. In effect, female subservience to men in Song society was encouraged as a display of the highest form of chastity and virtue. Attention to physical appearance was therefore crucial to women in attracting the interest of both powerful men for marriage, and husbands in competition with their other wives and concubines. Paintings commissioned by emperors during the Song dynasty portray women according to these presiding standards of graceful and plaintive beauty (3).Ming dynasty (AD 1368 - 1644)
Between 1279 and 1368, China was under the foreign domination of the Monguls. During this period, the Monguls restricted the assimilation of Chinese culture and attempted to preserve their own national character. Following the success of an uprising against the Mongols in the 1350s, a new Chinese dynasty with the name Ming was declared in 1368. The founder, Zhu Yuanzhang, aimed to restore a traditional Han cultural identity. The growth of urban prosperity and cosmopolitan entertainment can be contrasted with the solitude and reclusion expected of women. They were classed as outsiders as a result of male anxiety and warnings about the dangers of their beauty.
Footbinding became more widespread and severe during the Ming dynasty as the "symbol for feminine beauty, hierarchy and morality" (4). The author Wang Ping comments on poetry from the period, writing that "The women presented in these poems and literary works all have the same qualities: they are floating and weightless like unreachable treasure. Men cannot help feeling pity for them and falling in love with them" (5). The ideal of beauty portrayed in such poetry emphasizes sickness, fragility and suffering as much as it does delicacy, elegance and grace.However, the meaning of bound feet in the Ming dynasty was essentially grounded in eroticism. Bound feet were central to a woman's identity as an aspect of her beauty that she could control. An outpouring of novels, plays and poetry by female writers at this time highlights the erotic associations of bound feet. The 'Three Inch Golden Lotus' standard of perfection in foot length was therefore closely associated with an expression of sexuality. As such, footbinding formed part of a larger valorisation of passion, or qing, that is characteristic of the Ming dynasty. A high point of Chinese erotic culture, the cult of qing helped to bring explicit sensual and passionate significance to ideals of beauty in women.
Ch'ing dynasty (AD 1644 - 1911)
The conquest of the Ming dynasty by the Manchus in 1644 brought China under the authority of the Ch ing dynasty. The State attempted to regulate the sexual and gender roles of women through the prohibition of footbinding and the promotion of chastity in widowhood.
Although footbinding continued among upper-class women, as the historian Susan Mann writes, "the meaning of bound feet shifted away from eroticism and toward social responsibility" (6). In other words, footbinding became a mark of social elitism and feminine morality rather than a symbol of eroticism as it had been in the Ming dynasty. Indeed, 'beauty' was no longer a formal requirement in ideal standards relating to the role of women during this period. Women were expected to possess virtue and talent, but beauty as a suggestion of passion and sexuality was inhibited.The difference between ideals of beauty in the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties is revealed in the exclusion of all poems dealing with love, sex or romance from a collection of women's poetry by Wanyan Yun Zhu, published in 1831 (7). She wrote that, "in compiling this anthology, I have attached the greatest importance to purity of emotional expression and the harmony and elegance of rhymes poems about sexual love and romance by courtesans, whom earlier compilers anthologised profusely and rhapsodised over, are not included here."
Political, economic and social change (1911 - 1976)
Underlying currents of nationalist protest against Manchu authority in China fuelled the organization of a Republican movement in the 1890s. In 1911, Sun Yat-sen was elected provisional president of the Republic of China. Following the May 4 th Movement of 1919, nationalist movements involving large sections of the population aimed to push China towards modernization.
Increased contact with the West through trade and commerce brought many women in China together with new Western ideas of gender equality and women's rights. Not surprisingly, ideals of feminine beauty were influenced by women's emancipation and pursuit of education, employment and independence. The practice of footbinding declined and many women wore the cheungsam or qipao . In response to the shorter skirts seen in Western fashion, the cheungsam was tight fitting with high side-slits. It revealed more of a woman's body than any previous style of Chinese clothing. 'The Changing Face of Chinese Beauty' (8) details the rise in popularity of lipsticks, eyebrow plucking and shorter fringe lengths during this period, and the way in which women continued these practices surreptitiously during the Cultural Revolution (1966 - 76). These changing aspects of beauty symbolized the transition from more restrictive traditions to women s newfound freedom in China.Consumer culture and beauty industries (1976 - 2003)
The death of Mao Zedong on September 9 th 1976 heralded the end of an era and the beginning of an 'open-door' policy with further economic reforms in China. The first Chinese fashion magazine, Shizuang , or 'Fashion', was published in Peking in 1979. Receptive attitudes and experimentation with regard to Western fashion styles signalled a growing interest in personal appearance, beauty and consumer culture. Within this consumer culture, changing attitudes to women in China can be discerned. Female beauty became a commodity in a renewed importance of the expression of body and gender ideals. Consumerism provided an alternative arena for femininity outside the domination of the Party State.
However, a dichotomy between nature, tradition and China on the one hand, and culture, modernity and the West on the other hand, can be seen to underlie contemporary Chinese consumer culture. Whilst women in China are advised to make themselves 'modern', sexy and alluring, they are also expected to represent Chinese culture and values through the proper enactment of chastity and submission in their roles as housewives. The tension between these two ideals is expressed in magazine advertisements. For example, whilst advertisements for bust enhancers portray uninhibited women with natural curves symbolizing modernity and Western civilisation, those for skin care products tend to rely on pictures of chaste, shy women wearing traditional Chinese dresses in domestic settings. Similarly, the rising popularity of beauty pageants in China, with the Beauty Queen Guan Qi being crowned Miss China on September 21 st 2003, reveals a conflict between the desire to embrace a Western tolerance towards activities once suppressed as being bourgeois and decadent, and the need to justify the competitions in terms of providing suitable role models for women. An emphasis on the judgement of beauty in manners and education as well as in appearance is reminiscent of the traditional Chinese ideals of inner virtue and talent in women regarded as beautiful.
Furthermore, the export of American entertainment products such as films, music and MTV, together with the aim of opening markets for Western beauty products and technologies in China are reflected in the rapidly changing norms of attractiveness among Chinese women in recent years. As a result, the processes of globalization are implicated also in the establishment of beauty industries in China. Practices promoted by these industries typically include breast enlargements, skin whitening procedures, limb lengthening and the creation of 'double' eyelids. Cosmetic surgery is becoming increasingly popular as a means of altering the shape of noses and eyes to accord with Western appearances (9). Ideals of beauty in contemporary Chinese culture can therefore be seen to be attached to symbolic meanings based on China's transformation from a closed socialist society to a globalized consumer culture.
Sources:
(1) In The Machinations of the Warring States , a 33 volume work by Liu Xiang ( c 77-6 BC) of the Former Han period.
(2) For example, the Tri-color Glaze Pottery Figure of a Lady playing Polo in the permanent collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
(3) For example, Looking in a Mirror by an Ornamental Box by an anonymous Song painter in the permanent collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
(4) Ping, W. (2000) Aching for beauty: Footbinding in China , Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.
(5) Ping, W. Ibid.
(6) Mann, S. (1997) Precious Records: Women in China's Long Eighteenth Century , Stanford, Stanford University Press.
(7) Wanyan Yun Zhu (1831) Correct Beginnings: Women's Poetry of our August Dynasty (Guochao quixiu zhengshi ji).
(8) http://www.chinavista.com/experience/old/beauty.html
(9) BBC News, Chinese woman seeks perfect beauty , published 2003/07/24
Article Source:
Terra Cotta Warriors
The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses are the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century. Work is ongoing at this site, which is around 1.5 kilometers east of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum, Lintong County, Shaanxi province. It is a sight not to be missed by any visitor to China.
Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC), Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, had work begun on his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. It is speculated that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his after life. A group of peasants uncovered some pottery while digging for a well nearby the royal tomb in 1974. It caught the attention of archeologists immediately. They came to Xi'an in droves to study and to extend the digs. They had established beyond doubt that these artifacts were associated with the Qin Dynasty (211 --206 BC).
The State Council authorized to build a museum on site in 1975. When completed, people from far and near came to visit. Xian and the Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses have become landmarks on all travelers' itinerary.Life size terracotta figures of warriors and horses arranged in battle formations are the star features at the museum. They are replicas of what the imperial guard should look like in those days of pomp and vigor.
The museum covers an area of 16,300 square meters, divided into three sections: No. 1 Pit, No. 2 Pit, and No. 3 Pit respectively. They were tagged in the order of their discoveries. No. 1 Pit is the largest, first opened to the public on China's National Day, 1979. There are columns of soldiers at the front, followed by war chariots at the back.No. 2 Pit, found in 1976, is 20 meters northeast of No. 1 Pit. It contained over a thousand warriors and 90 chariots of wood.
It was unveiled to the public in 1994. Archeologists came upon No. 3 Pit also in 1976, 25 meters northwest of No. 1 Pit. It looked like to be the command center of the armed forces. It went on display in 1989, with 68 warriors, a war chariot and four horses.Altogether over 7,000 pottery soldiers, horses, chariots, and even weapons have been unearthed from these pits. Most of them have been restored to their former grandeur.
The Terracotta Warriors and Horses is a sensational archeological find of all times. It has put Xian on the map for tourists. It was listed by UNESCO in 1987 as one of the world cultural heritages.Article Source:
History - Chinese Foot Binding
| Click here to see a picture of a Chinese Bound Foot (explicit content warning!) |
The Origins of Foot Binding - The Golden Lotus
In the early 10th century, emperor Li Yu of the Southern Tang dynasty in China ordered one of his slave girls to bind her feet in silk ribbons and dance on a platform littered with golden lotus flowers. From that day on, foot binding was often associated with the term golden lotus. At first, foot binding was something practiced only by those within the royal court but soon women of all social classes were eager to have dainty, "beautiful" and desirable feet.
How Were Feet Bound?
So exactly what did foot binding do to the feet? Well, young girls would have their feet bound for the first time when they were about five years old. Their mothers would take long lengths of cloth and bind the feet so that the toes would bend under and the bones in the foot would break, forcing the front and back of the foot together, giving the appearance| Click here to see a picture of a normal foot compared to a Chinese Bound Foot |
Foot Binding Facts
Article Source:
China to hold fake beauty pageant
 Natural beauties like Miss China Qi Guan will not be eligible |
Plastic surgeons around the world are being given the chance to show off their talents, in a new artificial beauty pageant in China.
A contest will be held in October among women who have undergone cosmetic surgery, according to state media.
It will be open to any woman who can prove her beauty is man-made.
Plastic surgery is on the increase in China, China Daily newspaper said, with around 20bn yuan ($2.4bn) spent yearly on beauty treatments.
The idea for "Miss Plastic Surgery" was reportedly born after a woman was barred from a traditional beauty contest after spending $13,000 on 11 cosmetic operations.
The paper said China now had a million beauty salons, employing six million people.
Their clients range from body-conscious teenage girls to women in their 30s seeking facial jobs and breast implants, it added.
The rise of the salons is based on the assumption that beauty is a route to success, China Daily said, citing findings by US economists which indicated that good looks increased overall hourly income by 5%.
China recently lifted a 54-year ban on beauty pageants, which the authorities used to see as bourgeois and decadent.
But the explosion of economic growth and the loosening of social controls of the past few years has led to a growing preoccupation with how people look.
The Miss World contest was held in China for the first time in 2003.
Article Source:
There's so much competition among the chinese (and other people) that they even spend $$ to just get that lil advantage when being on a job hunt. Now people when do you realise that if you all would get plastic surgery, that you ALL look the SAME!
For all you know next decennia beauty might mean having NO double eyelids at all! So remember every person is special in his/her own way, so PLEASE let us keep it that way! Better spend the money on proper education than on fashion. Because educated people know better! ;-) Remember Caesar once said: "Divide et Impera" (divide and conquer) and that my friend is what marketing is about... Making you feel bad, so they can sell stuff to you! So next time you spend $$ think about it if you REALLY need it or just REALLY want it.
If you have read all the above, but even if you aren't "strong" enough to follow the above rule of thinking, atleast you educated yourself some more! :D
Friday, July 13, 2007
Special Time...
What’s a better time to post in this “special” week than on Friday the 13th?
This week started with Saturday (07-07-07) and now ending on Friday the 13th.
Just a little “refresh” on what happened Saturday:
-Live Earth
-at 7 pm GMT I wrote the first post for this blog
-more than 6 billion people did a bunch of stuff too which we do not know about ;-)
I read this article (URL here) in regards to Live Earth:
These are some “snippets” & some “comments”* on those (if you want to read more, please click the links to the articles as displayed above):
Comecollectmythoughts.blogspot.com:
Why only start thinking about the world now?
I wonder too… Perhaps they only do it if it benefits them? Or when money is involved?
Never mind the rest of the world...let's take a look at Singapore. Why ask people to wear green on the 7-07-07 to show "support" for "LIVE EARTH"?? When everyone knows there's too many cars this tiny dot can contain? Would it not make more sense to encourage the people to leave their cars at home on this day instead of wearing green? Would it not make more sense to INCREASE the number of recycling bins all over the country?
I think so too, that instead of being “fashionable”… you better take action (and no, wearing a particular color isn’t considered a “green” action… doing something good for life on earth IS) You could try walking or using a bike instead of a car. And nope I don’t think increasing the number of recycling bins would make more sense… If the companies just made “green” packaging, we didn’t need to recycle at all. I don’t know for you, but when I buy a pack of cookies… I have each cookie packed separately and a plastic container for the 10 separately packed cookies and all that being wrapped in 1 big plastic bag… so 12 plastic packaging, where only 1 or 2 were needed!
So why waste money on events like the Ms Singapore Universe when the cash can be put to better use like making Singapore a "location of choice" for big name artistes? ( so at least we could hold a "live earth concert" here too?)
I think so too, that money for beauty contests could be used for better things… But for all you know one of those “winners” could be something to “pave the way to greenness”? Fat hope I’m afraid… Or perhaps are YOU the person who can accomplish this “task”? If you think you can, at least TRY it and show me what you got!
Recycled goods are expensive ( they're expensive why? cuz not many people opt for recycled items..I'm pretty sure 1 of the aims for holding the "LIVE EARTH" event was to make recycling & saving the earth the "IN-thing". <---take the "Louis Vuitton canvas tote ( "I'm not a plastic bag" craze too) Prices lower when more people buy an item right? So EVERYONE should opt for recycled toilet paper, kitchen towels...The more people use em, the cheaper n more recycled goods become readily available.
As you may know it isn’t as easy as more buyers -> prices lower (this is only the case if you’re thinking of the “steady costs” being divided among more units) More demand and less supply means prices go up. So if everyone opt for recycled toilet paper, kitchen towels… companies need to follow and so do the resources. NEVERTHELESS you better use recycled paper… EVEN better is not using it at all where you can! :D
THERE'S SOMETHINGS YOU COULD ALSO DO TO HELP SAVE THE WORLD:
2. You can sign up for a free account on care2.com & with just 1 click everyday, you're helping to save the dying world & the animals in danger of losing their homes + becoming extinct ;) (CHECK THIS BLOG FOR A LINK to care2.com )
Or just click here! :p More green tips will be posted another time!
It's not all about global warming (click to read article!)
*"You" implies on the reader of this post, who ever it may be and NOT the author of the original post. ;-)
What happened today:
-Kim Clijsters married with Brian Lynch (at 6am local time to avoid unwanted visitors)
-I tripped twice almost resulting in a fall (one of them almost down the stairs) and I hurt my finger (bad luck?)
-More than 6 billion people did a bunch of stuff too which we do not know about (so I imagine some got even more “bad luck” and others probably less or perhaps even won the lottery! Speaking of… I better check the results! :p Although I don’t believe in such money makers.) ;-)
-Exactly 1 year ago I broke my clavicle while I “went for a ride” for the last time with my snowboard… (Friday the 14th 2006)
I did a little research on Friday the 13th and found these interesting articles:
-About.com
-Wikipedia.org
These are some “snippets” (if you want to read more, please click the links to the articles as displayed above):
About.com snippets:
If Friday was a holy day for heathens, the Church fathers felt, it must not be so for Christians — thus it became known in the Middle Ages as the "Witches' Sabbath," and thereby hangs another tale.
Unlucky Friday + Unlucky 13 = Unluckier Friday.
If that's the case, we are guilty of perpetuating a misnomer by labelling Friday the 13th "the unluckiest day of all," a designation perhaps better reserved for, say, a Friday the 13th on which one breaks a mirror, walks under a ladder, spills the salt, and spies a black cat crossing one's path — a day, if there ever was one, best spent in the safety of one's own home with doors locked, shutters closed and fingers crossed.
Wikipedia snippets:
The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia (a word that is derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Παρασκευή, δεκατρείς, and φοβία, meaning Friday, thirteen, and phobia respectively; alternative spellings include paskevodekatriaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia, and is a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a phobia (fear) of the number thirteen.
>Effects in people and cultures
"It's been estimated that [U.S] $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day because people will not fly or do business they would normally do."
A British Medical Journal study has shown that there is a significant increase in traffic-related accidents on Friday the 13ths.
Any month that begins on a Sunday will contain a Friday the 13th.
>Notable births and deaths
Born on Friday the 13th | Date of Birth
Fidel Castro | August 13, 1926
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen | June 13, 1986
Died on Friday the 13th | Date of Death
Tupac Shakur | September 13, 1996
Tips, facts and more for the next entry! I hope you enjoyed reading, if you did add a comment and/or join the newsletter to stay up to date!
Thanks for reading and till next time!
Greetzz,
Anima-t3d
Saturday, July 7, 2007
First steps...
Well I’ve created this blog today to provide a way to keep in touch with the people who’ve crossed my path… Some crossed it, some kept following the same path for a while, knowing there’ll be a point where we’ll split… perhaps to come together later during the journey, perhaps not… This is journey I’m talking about is what most people call “LIFE”… So on this blog you can find back the things I experience or find “note” worthy… Or in other words on this blog you can read the path I’ve followed so far… Enjoy! (If not this blog, hopefully at least your journey XD)
And when would be a better time to start this blog than on the 07-07-07 at 7Pm GMT?
One of the most important and international events today happened was the “Life Earth” concerts held in 7 Continents and in 9 Places (US – New York, US – Washington, UK, Australia, Japan, China, South Africa, Germany, Brazil).
Read more about this event: I came across this article while typing this post
Well This was the first post of the “hopefully” soo many! Feel free to subscribe to this blog and/or to contact me!
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