TRACING FEMALE BEAUTY IN ANCIENT CHINESE ART

The emergence and development of any art form are always intertwined with various social and cultural phenomena of their time, and artistic representations of women are no exception. Images of female subjects in ancient Chinese art across different stages of history present society’s shifting ideas about them. Although the styles, techniques, narratives, and character choices of each depiction are influenced by the talents and sensibilities of its creator, when all of these details are laid out side by side, they reflect the changing trends of their respective eras, almost forming a “history of female beauty.” For example, the Warring States period (475–221 B.C.) was an era of significant transformation in Chinese history. During this time, people conceptualized the universe as a vast space encompassing all things. In visual depictions of this conceptual universe, human figures featured as part of the cosmic landscape. “Silk Painting of a Lady, Phoenix, and Dragon” is recognized as the first work in Chinese art history to focus on a female subject. Unearthed in 1949 from a Chu state tomb, located in the modern-day Hunan provincial capital of Changsha, and now housed in the Hunan Museum, the painting dates back to the late Warring States period. The painting features a profile of a woman standing in the lower right corner of the image with her hands clasped together. With her elaborate hairstyle, slender waist, long trailing skirt, and voluminous sleeves, the woman embodies the willowy female figure idealized in Chu culture. A phoenix soars above the woman’s head, while on the left a dragon spirals skyward. Based on Chu customs and archaeological evidence, it is believed that the woman in the painting is the occupant of the tomb, while the dragon and phoenix are accompanying her soul on its journey to heaven. During the Han dynasty (206B.C.–220A.D.), the feudal ruling class revered immortals and pursued longevity and immortality. During this period, people believed that the soul persisted after death and could ascend to the heavenly realm, giving rise to the widespread practice of elaborate burials. Few paintings from the Han dynasty exist today, and the majority of the surviving works bearing depictions of women are silk paintings that were found in tombs. One of these is the painted silk banner that covered the coffin of the Marquise of Dai, discovered in Changsha’s Mawangdui tombs. The T-shaped banner depicts the sun and moon, a dragon, and a serpentine representation of the goddess Nüwa on the wide upper portion, while the narrow lower portion bears a painting of a dragon and a likeness of the deceased marquise.

By portraying the human realm in the upper part and the underworld in the lower part, the painting follows a similar theme of the soul ascending to heaven as well as reflects the feudal ruling class’s fanciful imagination of the afterlife. The marquise is portrayed with a full figure and a solemn bearing, leaning forward with a slightly hunched back, embodying the image of a noblewoman.? The admiration for talented women led to the emergence of a group of female artists comprising both noblewomen and courtesans, who also created many court lady paintings. Looking back, the depictions of women in ancient Chinese paintings act like a mirror that reflects the artistic characteristics and era-specific features of different historical periods, allowing us to glimpse historical cultures and ideologies and trace their evolutionary trajectories. This history of female images in Chinese art not only reflects changes in aesthetic trends but also reveals the challenging — and often unseen — life experiences of women across generations.

This article, is an excerpt from the book “Images of Her in Ancient China” by Cai Qin, published by Shanghai Fine Arts Publishing House in 2023.