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
painting style initiated by Yan Liben in the early Tang Dynasty which had
aimed at praising national heroes, gradually lost its appeal. Even in many Buddhist
painting s, 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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