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ABSTRACT
During Early Medieval China, aristocratic groups experienced changes in their standards of emphasis on body aesthetics. During this period, appearance was a necessary standard of reference for aristocrats when evaluating people; as a result, the aristocracy emphasized appearance and the pursuit of improving it. These social changes affected the religious sphere. Shangqing Daoism, popular among aristocratic groups in the Southern Dynasty, had a pronounced tendency to cater to such a change. In order to convince the aristocracy, Daoists of the Shangqing movement argued that their practices would improve even one’s external appearance. This article summarizes the transformation and meanings of the aristocracy’s body aesthetic standards, especially for men, during this period and discusses the influence of this transformation on Daoism, especially the Shangqing tradition. Some scriptures claim that by using their methods, the practitioner’s body will change over time, which is very much in line with aristocratic beauty standards. The change in appearance is both the result of the practitioner’s pursuit and the proof that the practitioner is on the right track of the Dao.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. Tanikawa, ‘Rikuchō kizoku ni okeru jinkaku to shintai’.
2. Yan, ‘Zhonggu shizu de rongzhi xinshang yu gudai xuanguan de yimaoquren’.
3. Kohn, ‘The Looks of Laozi’.
4. Liu, ‘The Body and its Image in Classical Chinese Aesthetics’.
5. All references made to Yu, annot., Shishuo xinyu. In each case, the original text in this book is indicated by the method of (juan number. serial number), and all translations of materials in the Shishuo Xinyu are taken from Liu and Mather, Shih-Shuo Hsin-Yu.
6. Liu and Mather, Shih-Shuo Hsin-Yu, 331.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid, 333.
10. Ibid., 334.
11. See note 6. above., 333.
12. Unless otherwise specified, all translations are my own.
13. Nanshi, 19.522.
14. Quanjin wen 全晋文 [Complete Jin Prose], ‘Mingdiji zongping’ 明帝紀總評 [The Overall Evaluation in the Biography of Emperor Ming], in Quan shanggu sandai qinhan sanguo liuchao wen, 63.1820b.
15. Beishi, 5.175.
16. Shiming, 4.70.
17. Waitai miyao fang, 32.635.
18. See note 6. above., 330.
19. See note 9. above., 332.
20. There’s a problem with the translation. Mather’s translation of 脂 is ‘ointment,’ but ‘fat’ is more appropriate. This is a metaphor, from the poem ‘Shuoren’ 碩人 [A Splendid Woman] in Shijing 詩經 [Book of Odes] describing a beautiful woman whose white skin looks like congealed animal fat. Here, though, the expression traditionally used to describe women is being used to describe men.
21. See note 6. above., 337.
22. ‘Wuxing’ 五行 [Five Phases], Songshu, 30.886.
23. ‘Yufu’ 輿服 [Carriage and Clothing], Jinshu, 25.76.
24. See note 6. above., 484.
25. ‘Zhu Jianping zhuan’ 朱建平傳 [The Biography of Zhu Jianping], Sanguo zhi 29.810.
26. Xiangyang ji 5.105.
27. Mori, Rikuchō shitaifu no seishin, 31.
28. Mianxue 勉學 [The Exhortation to Study], in Yanshi jiaxun 3.96.
29. Plato, Plato, 402d.
30. Lunheng 3.108.
31. Ibid., 3.121–122.
32. Ibid., 3.122.
33. Ibid., 3.122.
34. This translation is from Queen and Major, eds. and trans., Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn, 436.
35. Chunqiu fanlu 13.356.
36. Ibid., 357.
37. See note 30. above., 116.
38. Ibid., 3.108–112.
39. Ibid., 3.112–113.
40. Renwu zhi 1.15.
41. Ibid., 1.27. Translation by John Knight Shryock in Liu and Shyrock, The Study of Human Abilities, 99–100.
42. Renwu zhi 1.27. Translation from Liu and Shyrock, The Study of Human Abilities, 100.
43. Renwu zhi 1.29. Translation from Liu and Shryock. The Study of Human Abilities, 101.
44. Tanikawa, ‘Rikuchō kizoku ni okeru jinkaku to shintai’, 29.
45. Liu, Shih-Shuo Hsin-Yu, 212.
46. Strickmann. ‘The Mao Shan Revelations’, 8.
47. Ibid., 14.
48. Bokenkamp, ‘Divine Instructions for an Official’, 563.
49. Translated by Bokenkamp, ‘Divine Instructions for an Official’, 567.
50. Zhengao, DZ 1016: 2.6a–b.
51. See note 49. above., 567.
52. DZ 1016: 2.6b.
53. Kohn, ‘The Looks of Laozi’, 203.
54. DZ 1016:14.1b–2a.
55. Bokenkamp, ‘Research Note’.
56. Shangqing taishang dijun jiuzhen zhongjing, DZ 1376: 2.8b–18a.
57. Ibid., 2.13b.
58. Ibid., 2.16a.
59. Ibid., 2.16b.
60. Ibid., 2.18a–19a.
61. Ibid., 2.19a.
62. Ibid., 2.19a–b.
63. Ibid., 2.19b.
64. Ibid., 2.19b–22b.
65. Ibid., 2.22a–22b.
66. Ibid., 2.22b–25b.
67. Ibid., 2.23a.
68. Pettit and Chang, A Library of Clouds, 5.
69. See Bokenkamp, ‘Research Note’, 262. Bokenkamp argues that the authors of the existing version of Jiuzhen zhongjing deleted references to Buddhism from the original version of Jiuzhen zhongjing, written by Yang Xi. At the same time, he believes that Tao Hongjing’s Dengzhen yinjue 登真隱訣 [Concealed Instructions on the Ascent to Perfection] was also treated in this way, so that only three juan remain today.
70. Taiwei lingshu ziwen langgan huadan shenzhen shangjing, DZ 255.
71. Dongzhen taishang zidu yanguang shenxuan bianjing, DZ 1332: 23b–27b.
72. Ibid.
73. It has nothing to do with the time the three scriptures belong to.