Primary Source

This is a famous drawing from Tang Dynasty in ancient China from about 1,400 years ago. This picture is considered to be high art in nowadays China. The women in the drawing was very accord with the appreciation of beauty and elegant in that age. We can tell the bodies of women in the picture were overweight comparing with the modern Chinese girls. Their eyebrows were painted in a particular way which was very thick and small. They all have heavy hair and tied up. Besides, both of their clothes and gestures were very different from the modern Asian women. The picture does not have a lot of color on its background as well as the women’s cloth. But if you are careful enough, you will find out the cloth were very delicate and the way they drew them make you feel the women are still alive and just standing in front of you.

The women in the picture not only describe the changes during history and times but also indicate the cultural symbol’s differences. The taste of beauty in that time was so different from nowadays. The way that they drawing portraits was also different. Their angles of seeing women and describing women were essential clues for us to analysis the art styles in ancient China. Instead of the distinct description, ancient painters would rather to express in an implicit way and dip inside of the people in picture. Women, who are pursuing beauty for their whole lives, can in some extent represent the appreciation for beauty of the society. It may even reflect the economics changing, the political background and the cultural demands in their time.