Text/Ajia
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As an indispensable member of society, women have been described and praised in countless literary works since ancient times. The beauty of women’s appearance and moral character.
From the mouth to the eyes, everything is discussed in detail.
The description of beautiful women in Cao Zhi's "Luo Shen Fu" is even more impressive for its skill, but it also describes the positive aspects one by one. The beauty of women is clear at a glance and extremely detailed: body shape, posture, height , shoulders, waist, neck, skin, makeup, hair bun, eyebrows, lips, teeth, eyes, dimples...
Sima Xiangru's "Ode to Beauty", Song Yu's "Ode to the Lustful Disciple" ", Cao Xueqin's "A Dream of Red Mansions"...
All of these are like this. It can be seen that most literary works of thousands of years cannot break out of such an inertial framework.
However, Han Yuefu rarely describes the beauty of women directly from portraits. Most of them focus on description of clothing and less on appearance. This is the unique perspective and technique of Han Yuefu when describing characters. .
For example, the description of Luofu in "Mo Shang Sang":
The beauty of Luofu can first be glimpsed from the hairstyle.
The Japanese bun, also known as the Tuoma bun, was one of the most popular hairstyles in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
According to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", this hairstyle was invented by Sun Shou, the wife of Liang Yi, a powerful official in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The way to comb and pull it out at that time was: after parting it in the middle, gather the hair to the back of the neck to form a single strand, then pull it into a bun, tie a silk rope, or put the bun to one side, or separate a strand from the bun and hang it on one side. Side, giving people the feeling of loose hair.
Such a weak and charming hairstyle with thin and curved eyebrows gives a sad look; the makeup on her eyes looks like she has cried; when she walks, she looks like willows swinging in the wind... as if a woman has just fallen off a horse. The falling posture fully demonstrates the woman's charm.
This charming hairstyle, which was widely circulated at that time, is deeply reflected in Luo Fu described in "Mo Shang Sang".
Secondly, there are earrings.
Come to think of it, moon beads are luminous beads. They are named because they emit crystal pearl light as bright as the bright moon at night.
Luo Fu used such clear moon beads as earrings, which not only complemented her pearly skin, but also showed the woman's swaying posture and graceful steps.
Finally, look at the clothes. "Xianqi is the lower skirt, and purple qi is the upper skirt." Among them, "Qi" is a kind of colorful clothing material, and "Ru" refers to short clothes.
Luo Fu was wearing a purple short top and a light yellow skirt embroidered with patterns. The combination of bright colors and fabric texture showed natural elegance. A feeling of spring breeze came over her face, and the purple and yellow colors They are all in bright colors, which further enhances the brilliance of Luofu.
When writing about the beauty of Luofu, there is not a single mention of Luofu's appearance and posture. The beauty of Luofu has emerged one by one from the clothes. There is even a scene where people were shocked when they saw Luofu along the way. The scenes that impressed him were astonishing: pedestrians unloaded their burdens and stroked their beards to examine them carefully, young people took off their hats to tidy up their appearance, and farmers forgot to plow and hoe the fields...
Han Yuefu The work not only fully displays the external beauty of women with the help of clothing description, but also hints at the character's personality traits, enriching the image of the protagonist and deepening the theme of the whole poem.
Diligence and simplicity have been the most common accomplishments and qualities of Chinese women for thousands of years. This is also the category most praised in Yuefu poems of the Han Dynasty.
Luo Fu in "Mo Shang Sang" has a beautiful appearance, and her husband is a handsome, talented, smart and capable son. It can be said that Luofu was also an official wife who was beautiful, wealthy and powerful.
But such favorable conditions did not make her lost. Before Dongfang was white, she had already finished dressing and went to pick mulberries in the south of the city early. Luo Fu plows her beautiful land every morning, working silently and diligently, showing the tenacity and simplicity of ancient working women.
"Yu Lin Lang" "Long skirt with a straight belt, wide sleeves and albizia rut. Blue field jade on the head, big Qin beads behind the ears. How can the two servant girls be so graceful, there is nothing good in this life. One servant girl has five million, two servant girls There are more than ten million servant girls." Hu Ji, who is so beautiful and rich, also works as a slave and sells wine, which shows her virtuous and hardworking nature.
Even in the luxurious and prominent owner's house in "Meet Me", the women are very hard-working. (Liuhuang: variegated silk, generally refers to clothing materials.)
These women often have extraordinary clothing and accessories, and it is precisely the gold and gold of these costumes and jewelry that reflects the rare diligence and simplicity of the working women of the Han Dynasty.
"Climbing the Mountain to Collect Silkworms" also describes a man who started to get into trouble and finally gave up. He compared the daily amount of silk weaved by his new and old wives as well as the market value of silk and silk, and finally concluded that "the new wife Not as good as before" conclusion, indeed, the image of a hard-working and kind-hearted ex-wife emerges vividly on the page.
Moreover, we can see that in ancient times, in a social system where men were the center of the family, whether a woman was diligent or not played a key role in her social status.
In the Yuefu poems of the Han Dynasty, women who rise up to resist and are unyielding are also more common.
For example, "Thinking":
The heroine in the poem worries about her lover who is far apart day and night. Her sorrow grows and her lovesickness deepens, but this deep love cannot be expressed. Finally, I gave him a double-beaded tortoiseshell hairpin to comfort his lovesickness.
The tortoiseshell hairpin is made of organic gemstones. It is translucent and shiny. It is already very delicate and delicate. In addition, the woman specially decorated it with pearls and jade, making the whole hairpin lively and fragrant. Showing gorgeous and noble style.
Just from her careful selection and layer-by-layer decoration of this gift, we can infer the deep love and longing for her lover in her heart.
However, when she suddenly heard that her lover was unfaithful, at this time, as tender as the love was, the resentment was so painful: She angrily broke the hairpin full of love, smashed it, and burned it again, but destroyed and burned it. It is still not enough to vent his anger and dissipate his anger, and it will fly into the wind again.
Breaking, smashing, burning, and raising ashes, this series of rapid and cruel actions made the resentment burst out, and the heart of abandonment was so determined.
The poem uses "double-beaded tortoise shell hairpin, decorated with jade shading" to show that the heroine has put a lot of thought into this hair accessory. A character with a clear distinction between love and hate.
"Ancient Poems for Jiao Zhongqing's Wife" describes Liu Lanzhi's brilliance when she left her husband's house: "Wearing my embroidered skirt, everything is well done. Silk shoes are underfoot, and tortoiseshell is on the head. Her waist is shining. In order to preserve her last dignity, Liu Lanzhi got up in the morning to bid farewell to her mother-in-law, and a series of costumes revealed her dignity and gentleness. undoubtedly.
This is her unyielding and silent struggle against Jiao's mother's tyrannical behavior, which reflects her oppressed but rebellious personality, which is soft on the outside but strong on the inside, and inviolable.
For a love that has been betrayed, a strong-tempered woman will naturally be determined to leave, while a weak abandoned wife will just silently complain and be in ecstasy. This is also the common psychology of women in feudal patriarchal society. Among Han Yuefu, the most classic work is "Song of Resentment":
This poem uses a round fan to describe a woman. Many women in the old days were like the round fan in the poem. They came when they were needed and discarded them like worn-out shoes when they were no longer needed.
In the first and second lines of the poem, it is written that the round fan is bright, clean, exquisite and soft, made of new silk fabric from Qi State, which is a metaphor for a woman who comes from a famous family and has pure character.
The third or fourth sentence describes the acacia pattern and shape of the round fan, which resembles the full moon. It is made with exquisite workmanship, so the beauty of the appearance of the round fan is self-evident.
Wu Qi, a native of the Qing Dynasty, commented: "Cut it into a sentence, which not only has this inner beauty, but also focuses on cultivating one's abilities." This also implies that women have intrinsic beauty, and now they also have the beauty of their external appearance. It is rare to have both inside and outside.
"Albizia" is a pattern named after its symmetrical pattern, which symbolizes the love and beauty of husband and wife. Therefore, the acacia pattern here not only shows the exquisiteness of the round fan, which is a metaphor for a woman's extraordinary appearance, but also expresses her wish for a happy marriage.
Similarly, the "bright moon" here is not only a metaphor for the dazzling appearance of a woman, but also expresses her fervent hope for a happy marriage.
Five or six sentences, the ancients' clothes were wide and the sleeves were long, and the fan could be placed in the sleeves. When the weather was hot, it was a cool thing to fan the wind. Shake the fan handle gently, and the soft wind would blow out, and you would be instantly comfortable. . At this time, the woman seems to be favored by three thousand people, but the fact is that in the feudal patriarchal society, even if a woman is favored, she is just a plaything for his pleasure.
The rest of the poem says that when the fan was favored by his master in the summer, he was often afraid of the arrival of autumn. The cool breeze drove away the heat and heat, which was to take away the master's love for him. Sure enough, when autumn comes, the fan is left idle in the box, and the kindness between you and me is gone.
"Autumn Festival" implies that time has faded, "Liang Biao" means a new love, "Hot" means passionate love, and "箧笥" means no more affection. These are all semantic puns.
The woman’s endless uneasy thoughts are all caused by the man’s favor. The woman places her beautiful life value on the man, which profoundly reveals the subordinate role of women in the feudal patriarchal society. , passive status and the inevitability of its tragic fate.
The first six lines of the poem describe the prosperity of the round fan, the beauty and favor of the woman, how they flow in all directions, how glorious and charming it is! The last four sentences describe the fear of the decline of the fan, the woman's loss of power, and the sudden turn of events. How sad and stubborn!
A mere ten lines of poetry describe the ups and downs of a woman's life. Its lingering and deep resentment is just as Zhong Rong commented: "The short chapter "Tuan Fan" is clear and concise in its diction, and its resentment is deep and elegant. "It's the result of getting a good wife." This is by no means an exaggeration.
Just as Bai Luomei said: "She has low eyebrows, gentle and clear eyes, but her charm is condensed with a touch of sadness, and there is an indescribable calmness and romance.
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