text丨Difficult households (members of History Study Society)
Is the era of male sex an abnormal era?
In a humanities class, a male professor over 50 years old on stage was speaking with a Shanghai-style Mandarin, and pointed at the chalk with one hand: "Oh, you girls nowadays are chasing stars all day long, and they teach everything, and that's how they look..." While smacking their lips and shook their heads, they whispered to themselves "floating curly hair" (his self-evaluation) and said with a heartache: "The era of male sex is all abnormal times!"
We were in a state of sympathy: Now, we are all living in an abnormal era! Thinking about it again, the word "du" is not a false reference. I don't know which group of unlucky and lustful people are also included in such an "abnormal era".
If you talk about the "male sex era" in Chinese history, perhaps only the Wei and Jin Dynasties were there. After looking through the "Rongzhi" chapter of "New Words of the World", you have to be amazed at the creativity of the people of the Wei and Jin Dynasties in praise of their appearance, and said that their graceful postures are as bright as the sun and the moon entering their arms", "declined as the decay of the Jade Mountain is about to collapse", "the face is as solidified as fat, and the eyes are as lacquer as the lacquer, this is the man among the gods"; it looks like "it is always catching the white jade handle and the tail, and there is no difference between it and the hand"; even the words "floating like a floating cloud, as if it is astonished as a dragon" can be used to describe his own elegance. People in the Wei and Jin dynasties were lustful and ugly, as is known to history. Pan Yue and Zuo Si also returned in full car, but they were different from throwing fruits and throwing stones. Wei Jie's uncle sat next to his nephew and sighed deeply, "Pearls and jade are on the side, and I feel that my appearance is dirty." Not only do the world admire him, but the emperor is also keen on this. "The Story of the World" records that Xiahou Xuan is famous for his appearance, and Emperor Ming of Wei let his handsome brother-in-law Mao Zeng sit with him, and a "reed leaning on a jade tree". Xiahou's beauty was unhappy, and Emperor Ming was so angry that he deposed him. He saw that He Yan's face was white, and he suspected that he applied powder and made the hot soup cake. He Yan was sweating profusely while his color was still bright. Only then did Emperor Ming feel convinced.
The Wei and Jin scholars who were not allowed to take off their pinks
The words in "The Story of the World" are mostly untrue. For example, He Yan does not spend enough fans, which is a false statement. "Wei Lue" records: "Yan is happy, and he doesn't take off his hands when he moves and stillness, and he looks at his shadow when he walks." It can be seen that He Yan is well versed in the way of applying powder, and it is no wonder that later generations call him "Fu Fan He Lang". In an era of rampant men, there is no reason why men are not "good at self-modification". Compared with the complicated steps of women's makeup, men in the Wei and Jin dynasties paid the most attention to the beauty of skin tone, and applying powder became the most important part of men's makeup skills.
There were two main cosmetic powders at that time. One was " rice powder " extracted from pure natural plant, which precipitated the rice juice and then placed under the sun to expose the sun to the sun. The powder made was white and delicate. Especially for those made of corn , because corn itself contains a certain viscosity, it is used to apply the surface and is not easy to fall off. Add various spices to make it into fragrant powder. The other type is " lead powder ", which contains chemical components. The main component is alkaline lead carbonate. It has a more delicate texture, a whiter color, and is easy to preserve. It is much more popular than "rice powder". However, the lead powder is toxic and unknown to people at that time.
(Ancient Makeup Powder Box)
Wei and Jin Dynasty powder, its origin is. "Book of Han: Biography of the Bible of Ning Xiang" records: "During the time of Xiaohui, the ministers and ministers all made makeup for makeup"; "Book of Later Han: Biography of Li Gu" records that people wrote flying chapters to frame Li Gu, saying that when the late emperor was in funeral and passers-by were crying, he used "Hu whitewashing and scratching his head and posture". Although it was a false statement, Li Gu might not have no such habits in normal times. Even if Li Gu himself was not like this, there must have been such a literati at that time. The nobles in the late Han Dynasty had such habits, but in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, this trend was even more serious. In addition to He Yan, the famous ones were also like Cao Zhi . According to the notes of "Wei Zhi·Biography of Wang Can", Cao Zhi and his guests were sitting in a banquet. It was summer. After Cao Zhi ordered his servants to take water and take a bath, he applied makeup powder, and then took a slap in his head and danced Hu dance. Lao Laizi is a colorful costume to entertain relatives, but Cao Zhi is a fan of powder. Pleasant and pleasant The prevalence of makeup for scholars and officials in the Wei and Jin Dynasties is to please themselves and pleasant. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the famous religion rule that the Eastern Han Dynasty relied on to establish a country collapsed, and the individual scholars and officials developed consciously and highly, thus forming a complete set of aesthetic styles.The scholars talked about Laozi and Zhuangzi and their words, and their bodies and minds were interpenetrating. When their bodies and minds penetrated, the "Skin is like snow and snow, and graceful like a virgin... riding on the clouds and protecting the flying dragon" in "Zhuangzi Xiaoyaoyou" also became the form that scholars yearn for. So at that time, "the literati held pink and white hands, spoke in a clear and clear manner, and praised each other in a good mood." This became a trend, to please oneself. Those who please others are influenced by the style of evaluation of Han and Jin dynasties. Tu Longhong's "Bao Xuelu" says: "The Jin Dynasty has a family background and is very fond of it. Cui, Lu, Wang, Xie's children... are clear and clear in their skin, and the jade color is the best. The gentry's official words are the beginning of the court, and the Ministry of Personnel has made a comment." Appearance and speech are important signs of human ethics. Beautiful appearance and elegant manners are the themes of the court's discussions. Even the Ministry of Personnel should consider this factor. Although the children of the high family have a family background, they also strive to embellish and cultivate, striving to be worthy of the scholars and without insults at home. (Part of "Lanting Xiuhua Picture", painted by Ming Qiangu, collection of the Metropolitan Museum of the United States) However, as the Wei and Jin dynasties gradually drifted away, this trend began to be criticized. Yan Zhitui, who went from south to north, reviewed heartbrokenly in his family precepts: "When the Liang Dynasty was in full swing, most of the children were not academic... They all had clothes and shaved their faces, slimming their faces, slimming their faces, slimming their faces, slimming their teeth, and rode long carriages, sitting on chess pieces and square mattresses, hiding silk closures, playing with the left and right, calmly entering and leaving, looking like a god." It is said that "beauty is in trouble", so here we need to add another one: "Men's sex will ruin the country"! Since then, men are very secretive about pursuing beauty in their appearance. Men's makeup is regarded as "greasy-headed and pink", and an era of male sex that is longing for is over. Fortunately, another era of male sex is underway. References: 1. "New Words of the World", Yu Jiaxi's Notes, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2007. 2. "Collected Explanations of Yan's Family Instructions", written by Wang Liqi, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2013. 3. "Scholars and Chinese Culture", written by Yu Yingshi, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2003. 4. "A peek at the male beauty phenomenon of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties - Male beauty phenomenon under the "Wei and Jin style"", Wang Qiyue, "Sichuan Cultural Relics" No. 2, 2009.
