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Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder-Women in Chinese Painting

 

In the painting, Luoshen has delicate features and a slender body. Her expression is gentle. She did not show her joy when she encountered Cao Zhi or reveal her grief when he left. This shows Luoshen's refined character. With an original concept and heart-stirring scenes, the painting is considered a classic in Chinese art..

From the vivid description of the goddess, one can see that the typical image of beauty in that period was a thin,weak body as well as fragility graceful bearing.

 Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was the most magnificent period in feudal society. During this time the traditional Chinese depictions of beautiful women also entered a new stage. Painters paid attention to the richly colorful society, and were especially interested in displaying the idle and carefree life of aristocrat women.

Artistic trends in any given historical period are influenced by social consciousness, cultural background and the economic development at the time. In the mid-Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), after a hundred years of development, political power was stabilizing and the economy was prospering. Hedonism became increasingly popular among the ruling class.

The portrait paintingstyle initiated by Yan Liben in the early Tang Dynasty which had aimed at praising national heroes, gradually lost its appeal. Even in manyBuddhist paintings, the concubines of the rich were posed as goddesses, an indication that religious painting was becoming more realistic and temporal painting began to take on its initial form. Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang were two representative artists of the time.

Court Ladies Wielding Fans

Zhou Fang's "Hui Shan Shi Nv Tu" (Court Ladies Wielding Fans) represents the outstanding achievements of depicting ladies of the court in the Tang Dynasty. Women in the pictures are vigorous, healthy, graceful and noble, representative of the magnificent beauty of the women during the prosperous Tang period.

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