Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder-Women in Chinese Painting
Five Dynasties
After the Tang Dynastypainters in the Five Dynasties (709-960) not only
inherited the Tang Dynasty tradition of painting beauty but also made
changes.

Han Xizai Evening Banquet
Take Gu Hong Zhong's "Han Xizai Evening Banquet " for example. The court
attendant's posture is poor compared to that of the women in earlier Tang
Dynasty paintings, but the woman is healthy and beautiful. In Ruan Gao's"
Fairies of the Celestial Realm," there are also evident changes. Instead of
painting obese models, he began to depict women with a more slender stature and
charming posture.
Song Dynasty
With a relatively stable political power, developed economy and prosperous
culture, Chinese artists in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), continued to make
innovations in their portrayals of women.In addition to mythical female figures
and courtesans, the women at the bottom of society began to catch artists'
attention.
Take Wang Juzheng's " The Spinning Wheel " for example. Women in this picture
do not have sweet and pretty facial expressions, attractive statures,
magnificent clothing or honored status. They are real, ordinary, rural women.
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