The pair of tall courtesans are here
portrayed standing with hands crossed on
the front, the abundant white long vest
covering the pink gown underneath, the
shoulders with an ochre blouse topped by a
pink shawl surrounding the upper arms. The
up-turned curved shoes just visible
underneath. The vest still retains the
original floral patterns that would have once
embellish the entire figure. Both ladies wear
their hair swept up in a large chignon that
would have in real life been kept in shape by
hidden superstructures in a style common
during the high Tang period in the 8th
century CE.
Their moon-shaped faces are blushed, with
large full cheeks, small vermilion lips and a
decorative roundel placed on the front. This
Tang beauty ideal was indeed eulogised by
the famous contemporary poet Fang Gan
(d. 888 C.E) who immortalised it in verses
by writing:
“ the highs and lows of those vermilion lips
imitate cherries,
half covered breasts are snow on a sunny
day”.
In fact even their plum figure was inspired
by a contemporary famous beauty, the
favourite of the Chinese Emperor Tang
Xuanzong (685-762), Yang Guifei (719-756),
who is said to have set the fashion for
ample female forms. Yang Guifei's
ineluctable destiny brought her to a tragic
end in 755, when she was implicated in the
An Lushan rebellion. The “Prized Consort”
of the emperor, was blamed for the An
Lushan Rebellion, possibly due to a
purported relationship with the general.
When An Lushan sacked the capital, the
seventy year-old Emperor Xuanzong rode
out of the city with Yang Guifei, but his men
would go no further until she was killed. She
was executed on the spot, after the emperor
reluctantly accepted.
The years 755-756 were pivotal in Chinese
history. The Tang dynasty (618 –906 C.E)
capital of Chang’an (today’s Xi’an) had
become a cosmopolitan centre and hub of
the Silk Road, importing horses, musicians,
acrobats, dances, and Buddhist scripts
from Central Asia and exporting new forms
of architecture, poetry, silks, paintings,
government rule, and religious practice to
such places as Korea and Japan. In 755, An
Lushan (703-757), a general who had roots
in Central Asia, led a rebellion that not only
destroyed much of Chang’an but also
weakened the court’s confidence and
openness to new ideas. Attitudes toward
women, Buddhism, and foreigners changed
precipitously.
Before that time, women enjoyed relatively
high status during the Tang, participating in
horseback riding, polo, and various forms of
dance and music, many of which had been
introduced from the West. Besides Yang
Guifei, another woman has passed into the
annals for her renown deeds during the
Tang: Wu Zetian, who rose from concubine
status to become empress from A.D. 690-
705, known also for having commissioned
the creation of the first cast iron structures
of gargantuan proportions.
