Chinese Philosophy of Beauty“古典美人”是什么樣的？

China is a country with an ancient civilization， and the modern Chinese standards of beauty are often influenced by those from thousands of years ago.

The ancients had their own attitude towards beauty and fashion. Beauties Wearing Flowers is a Chinese painting of the Tang Dynasty. In this painting， women wear their black， smooth hair in a high bun. Various colors of their clothes match well. In addition， they wear floor-length dresses and their shawls are very thin and light， letting their skin show slightly.

In the painting， the women’s eyebrows are very pointed and eye-catching. This eyebrow was popular during the Tang Dynasty. It was actually typical of the fashions from the imperial court women during that period.

Lips were considered the most beautiful part of ancient women. From the Han Dynasty onwards， the ancients developed a deep interest in using rouge to paint different shapes on their lips， including a circle， a heart， a flower and so on. Cherry-like lips once appeared in many ancient Chinese paintings， and today many cover girls of fashion magazines have such lips.

中國是一個文明古國，現代中國人的審美標準往往受到幾千年前的影響。

古人對美和時尚有自己的見解。《簪花仕女圖》是一幅中國唐代的國畫。在這幅畫中，女性將烏黑柔順的頭發盤成高高的發髻。各種顏色的衣服搭配得恰到好處。此外，她們穿著及地的長裙，披肩非常輕薄，隱約可以看見肌膚。

畫中女子的眉毛尖尖的，十分醒目。這種眉形流行于唐代。事實上，受宮廷女性的影響，這種眉形在當時是時尚的代表。

嘴唇被認為是古代女性最美麗的部位。從漢代開始，古人就熱衷于用胭脂在嘴唇上畫出不同的唇形，包括圓形、心形以及花瓣的形狀等。櫻桃小嘴曾出現在許多中國古代繪畫中，如今許多時尚雜志的封面女郎也畫這樣的唇形。

Besides eyebrows， the ancient beauties also paid attention to their hair. There are many records on the hairstyle of women. The ancient women usually stuck flowers and hairpins in their buns to make them look more beautiful.

Music， chess， calligraphy and painting were the basic skills of gifted females in ancient times.

Music refers to the guqin， a kind of traditional Chinese musical instrument that has a history of more than 3，000 years.

Chess refers to weiqi. The ancient women had no chance to do the same work as men. So they gathered and played weiqi to relax.

Women learned how to read and write. They read to improve themselves， wrote poems to record their feelings and lives， and practiced calligraphy for enjoyment.

There were many women who had a talent for painting in ancient times. The theme of their paintings usually related to flowers， little pets and beautiful girls.

除了眉毛，古代美人也很注重自己的頭發。關于女性發型的記載有很多。古代女子通常會在發髻上插花和簪子，讓自己看起來更加美麗。

琴棋書畫是古代才女的基本功。

琴指的是古琴，它是中國的一種傳統樂器，距今已有3000多年的歷史。

棋指圍棋。古代女子沒有機會從事與男子相同的工作。因此，她們會聚在一起下圍棋，以放松身心。

古代女子也會學習讀和寫。她們通過閱讀來提升自己，通過寫詩來抒發情感、記錄生活，通過練習書法來愉悅身心。

古代的很多女子都有繪畫天賦。她們繪畫的主題通常是花、小寵物和美人。

Word Bank

bun /b?n/ n. 圓發髻

She wore her hair in a bun.

eyebrow /'a?bra?/ n. 眉；眉毛

calligraphy /k?'l?ɡr?fi/ n. 書法；書法藝術