A Study of the Paintings of Ladies' Dressing and Making-up in the Song Dynasty of China
Date Issued
2012
Date
2012
Author(s)
Chu, Shuan-Hui
Abstract
The Women Paintings can be classified into four categories, including "historical stories," "fairy tales," "fictitious personages," and "scenes from life." The Paintings of Ladies'' Dressing and Making-up in the Song dynasty is part of it and we can trace it back from the history of The Women Painting. The "scenes from life" in Han Dynasty was regarded as prototype of The Woman Painting which was used for repelling evil spirits. In Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Paintings of Ladies'' Dressing and Making-up represented virtue of women and the core of those paintings were based on "historical stories." In the Tang Dynasty, the subject of the Paintings of Ladies'' Dressing and Making-up is based on "scenes from life," depicting the beauty and attracted movement of dressing and making-up women, aiming to attract audiences’ attention. The subject of The Paintings of Ladies'' Dressing and Making-up in Southern Song Dynasty was combined the spirit of "scenes from life" and "historical stories," representing the virtue and responsibility of women. An incredible finding from these paintings was that there existed a mysterious relationship between literature and the Paintings of Ladies’ Dressing and Making-Up in Southern Song Dynasty. Many paintings and literature works contained the garden, beautiful women, and the surroundings which closely related to the subjects of Painting of Ladies’ Dressing and Making-Up.
There are four Paintings of Ladies'' Dressing and Making-up left in the Southern Song Dynasty, including Hanchen Su, Lady at Her Dressing Table in a Garden, anonymous; Lady Watching a Maid with a Parrot, anonymous; Looking in a Mirror by an Ornamental Box and anonymous, Flowers Viewing and Washing Hands, which are all based on the subject of "scenes from life," with backgrounds of little gardens, beauties doing making-up and dressing. The compositions of these all four paintings corresponded with literature in Song Dynasty.
The painting “Lady Watching a Maid with a Parrot” described that concubine Yang''s (楊貴妃) parrot were flying to dressing table. The painting “Lady at Her Dressing Table in a Garden” alluded a noble as well as virtuous lady. The painting “Flowers Viewing and Washing Hands” described the content of Dewu Chen''s(陳德武)poems depicting that ladies appreciated peonies and tried to scoop the moon from a golden basin. The painting “Looking in a Mirror by an Ornamental Box” were composed of motifs from other paintings of Ladies'' Dressing and Making-up in the Southern Song Dynasty. In Southern Song Dynasty, men usually thought of their wives and beloved women when they saw paintings of Ladies'' Dressing and Making-up. Therefore, the paintings of Ladies'' Dressing and Making-up were regarded as the works that women missed their husband.
Subjects
women painting, dressing and making-up
lady
little garden
virtue
Boudoir Sorrow
Type
thesis
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