Why are the famous prostitutes and concubines so ugly in the old photos of the Qing Dynasty?

It's not that people are ugly, but that their aesthetics are different now. In fact, most of the concubines and prostitutes in the photos are ordinary from the present point of view, and the ugliness is overdone, but it is understandable. After all, it broke people's fantasy about the three thousand beauties of the emperor, and there was a great difference between imagination and reality, so it was described as ugliness.

First, physical conditions limit the content. Another reason is related to the rough manufacturing process before. The previous black-and-white photos looked hard, but they were even uglier after seeing them clearly. For the old machines that need to be turned on in the Qing Dynasty, it is still necessary to get angry when taking a photo, and it is also on strike from time to time. In addition, local photographers in the Qing Dynasty all became monks and studied halfway, so it is good to take a photo when several conditions add up. Do you still want to be beautiful? If you can restore these black and white photos in high definition, plus some whitening and polishing, you may become a fairy.

Second, people's aesthetics have improved a lot. In fact, not to mention the ancient times. Now that you have a beauty camera, who will take pictures with the original camera? Except for natural beauty, no one dares to send friends with photos of the original camera. Finally, all major mobile phone brands have their own beauty, and they are used to seeing handsome men and beautiful women in photos. Do you really think the whole world is like this? Is the average face value level the same as that in the photo? There are so many beautiful things now that it is good to improve people's aesthetics, but not everything in the world is beautiful.

Third, concubines don't rely on their faces. Finally, they don't rule out the existence of some ugly people, even if they shoot well. But famous prostitutes can rely on piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, or they can rely on art to flatter literati, and concubines don't even look at their faces. They basically look at people with strong backgrounds. Even if ugly enough for the emperor to see, you have to hold your nose and get married. Especially in the late Qing Dynasty, the Empress Dowager Cixi had the final say in the marriage of several small emperors. The Tongzhi empress was chosen by Ci 'an and the concubines were chosen by Guangxu empress Cixi.