Aesthetic Evolution: Tracing Female Beauty in Ancient Chinese Art

Cai Qin wrote . . . . . . . . .

Editor’s note: “Fair Ladies — Digital Representations of Ancient Chinese Women,” a Zhejiang Museum exhibition of more than 1,000 paintings from 32 museums across China, was held first online in 2021 and then offline the following year. Based on the exhibits, Cai Qin, curator of the exhibition and the museum’s deputy director, compiled the book “Images of Her in Ancient China,” which aims to highlight, through exquisite artworks, how ancient Chinese women lived, as well as their styles, talents, and artistic creations. Following is an excerpt from the first chapter of the book.

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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” (image above) 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.

Court ladies

From the pre-Qin era through the Qin and Han dynasties, a period that spanned almost 1,000 years, numerous artworks bearing images of women were produced. However, this category of art did not yet have a clear and consistent name until the publication of the Southern Qi scholar Xie He’s book “The Six Principles of Chinese Painting,” where a term to describe “woman-themed” paintings as a specific genre first appeared.

Subsequently, in the Southern dynasties period, Yao Zui’s book “Continuation of the Classification of Painters” introduced the term “qiluo” to refer to silk pieces woven with patterns. It was not until the Tang dynasty (618–907) that Zhu Jingxuan’s book “Famous Paintings of the Tang Dynasty” introduced the term “shinü,” or “court lady,” which referred to a noblewoman in the upper social strata.

As time progressed, the court lady genre of paintings saw significant development, particularly during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The convention of exclusively depicting noblewomen was broken, and paintings of women from all walks of life, from aristocratic maidens to brothel courtesans, began to emerge, expanding the concept of “court lady paintings.”

The Wei, Jin, and North-South dynasties (220–589) were plagued by political turmoil, life for the common people was full of hardship, and Confucianism faced significant challenges. In addition, the new-age “pure conversation” and metaphysical philosophical movements gained popularity, forming an aesthetic ideal that expressed noble inner qualities through beautiful external appearances. Guided by this aesthetic ideal, artists adhered to the principle of “depicting the spirit through form” when portraying human subjects. Portraiture became an important and rapidly developing artistic genre, and female figures assumed a leading role, often appearing alone in paintings and becoming objects of aesthetic admiration.

“Graceful shape and elegant features” formed the aesthetic ideal for women at that time, with images portraying female subjects with willowy figures and slender waists as a physical expression of their inner gentility and refinement. One of the most iconic artistic works of this era is Gu Kaizhi’s “Nymph of the Luo River,” created during the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420). Among the numerous copies of the painting, the most complete version is housed in Beijing’s Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City.

“The Nymph of the Luo River” (partial image shown above) was created based on the poem “Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River” by the renowned poet Cao Zhi. In the poem, which was written in the third year of Huangchu (222), Cao recounts the story of encountering a beautiful river goddess while crossing the Luo River on his way to Luoyang, subtly expressing his longing for her between the lines. This story later reached Gu Kaizhi, who transformed the work into an artistic masterpiece. The sprawling scroll painting unfolds to reveal majestic mountains, graceful trees, flowing waters, and other beautiful natural images, along with people engaged in various activities — a motif that threads through the whole scene.

During this period, paintings of court ladies continued to extol female virtue and moral conduct. Gu’s “Wise and Benevolent Women” (image above) depicts 15 women from “Biographies of Exemplary Women,” a Han dynasty compilation of historical women that served as a textbook of ideal female conduct. The women were considered to be exceptionally knowledgeable and enlightened about heavenly principles. Also housed in the Palace Museum, the surviving portion of the painting from the Northern Song dynasty consists of 10 segments depicting a total of 28 people and is inscribed with seven complete stories.

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Source : Sixth Tone