Do you know whether women in the Tang Dynasty were all fat?

Fat beauty in Tang Dynasty refers to the view that fat people in Tang Dynasty treat women as "fat is beautiful", which has a long history. In fact, this statement is wrong, or at least inaccurate.

The reason why people think that obesity is beautiful for women in the Tang Dynasty is mainly based on Yang Guifei's posture and the female images in court paintings and ladies' paintings in the Tang Dynasty.

In fact, as long as we take a closer look at the famous painter Yan's "Walking Horse Map" and "Ladies Map" in the Tang Dynasty, it is not difficult to find that the ladies in the paintings are not obese at all. Surrounded by Li Shimin, the nine maids in Walking Map walked slowly, some carrying webbed children, some holding umbrellas and some holding fans. They all look powerful, not fragile and morbid beauty. However, look at their bodies, they are all quite slim.

As for Yang Guifei, it is recorded in the literature that she is fat and afraid of heat. For example, Kaiyuan Tianbao Heritage said that she "had a body, and Zhixia was bitter and spicy". However, Yang Guifei's "knowing body" is also the "micro-muscle" mentioned in Yang Taizhen's biography. A person who is good at dancing ("Dancing in a Dress and Feather" is her masterpiece) must have physical exercise, and it is normal to have a little muscle. Yang Guifei is afraid of heat, not because she is fat, but because she is so healthy. "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao" records that Yang Guifei often goes to the back garden alone early in the morning to suck the flower dew and moisten her throat.

To be sure, there are slim ones in the beauty standards of the Tang Dynasty. According to the old news of the Liu family, Tang Yulin and other documents, Su Zong, the son of the Tang Dynasty, was framed by Li when he was a prince. He was in danger and worried, and his hair and beard were white and he stayed away from all kinds of entertainment. After learning this, Tang asked Gao Lishi to send someone to "choose five slender women in white from the world and dedicate them to the Prince". It can be seen that the standard of beauty in Xuanzong era is the same as today: slim, tall and fair-skinned.

The two poems written by the monk Guan Xiu can best prove that the Tang people don't regard obesity as beauty: to be a man without dignity and not to learn from chickens and dogs (Bai Xuege). This means that people, regardless of their status, should not be obese.

It is said that people in the Tang Dynasty did not regard obesity as beauty, which can also be strongly confirmed by the use of words such as "thin waist" and "gentle and graceful" in Tang poetry. Please see:

I am willing to be light and slim, and I am willing to share my face for the mirror. (Liu Xiyi's "Gongzixing")

Swinging slender waist, swaying in the wind.

(Bai Juyi's Twenty Poems of Taiping Spring)

There are many gentle harems, learning new sounds every day.

(Lu Guimeng, "Xie Yu")

My gentle and graceful girl is like jade.

(Bai Juyi's Ten Continued Poems)