I made a dance-drama MTV in partnership with a local green screen video production house using a 2,400 year-old ancient lyrics/poem, set in the ancient mountains of China that inspired Mount Hallelujah in Avatar. I thought of giving more historical and contextual understanding to this extremely ancient poem-song.
We generally assume that poems and lyrics to be two separate literary artforms, one being more ancient than the other. For the Chinese, poems and lyrics existed as one, just as music and dance. So when we look at ancient poetry today, it must be remembered that it used to be also sung with music and dance.
Shan Gui (The Mountain Nymph) was originally a dance-drama of the ancient Shamanistic Chu Chinese society. One of the most important part of the video was to capture the Priestess as a dancer in the mystic mountains.
I’ve made the MTV public on Youtube and you can watch it here (and come back for more contextual explanation):
The Mountain Nymph meant a lot of things to different people who interpreted this ancient song-poetry of 2,400 years ago by the famous Chinese poet Qu Yuan (whom we remember fondly for the dragon boat festival). Some saw her as the lovesick mountain spirit, others saw her as the elaborately dressed priestess who was sent into the depth of the mountain to welcome the actual mountain spirit. She was also referred to as the Nymph of Mount Wu (I did an article earlier with Sailor Venus crossing over as Nymph of Mount Wu), who was known for her ephemeral beauty. In a sense, the Priestess was the avatar of the mountain goddess/nymph.
I used Hmong silver hair accessories because it is also a large part of the Chu Chinese culture. In the video, I also added a pair of deer antler-looking head pieces because deer was also a greatly worshipped/admired animal in the very ancient past.
The Song-poem was part of a compilation titled The Ning Songs, and nobody can summarise it better than Princeton University Art Museum:
The Nine Songs is a set of eleven poems from the anthology The Songs of Chu, which is traditionally attributed to Qu Yuan (about 343–278 B.C.).
The poetry, which may represent ancient shamanistic dramas, consists of lyrics meant to be performed.
By the time Wang Chong transcribed The Nine Songs in the sixteenth century, the words and content of the poems could still be read and spoken, but the accompanying sounds and actions had long been forgotten.
Involving spirit journeys and the invocation of divine beings, one passage reads:
The singing begins softly to a slow, solemn measure: Then, as pipes and zithers join in, the singing grows shriller. Now the priestesses come, splendid in their gorgeous apparel, And all the hall is filled with a penetrating fragrance. The five sounds mingle in a rich harmony; And the god is merry and takes his pleasure.(trans. David Hawkes)
Princeton University Art Museum
In Chinese traditions, they believed that there were 3 floating mystical mountains where the deities/gods/goddesses live.
You probably heard a lot about Taoism and Buddhism in China in my previous articles, but Shamanism is rarely discussed. This is partly because the Chinese identity is an extremely complex one which is not confined to the Han-Chinese culture, but also many other ethnic and cultural identities. The Chu culture of the central-southern area of China (Hunan, Hubei today) for example, had its very unique cultural identity and practised Shamanism extensively even during a period when the Han Chinese were more focused on Taoism.
Thus, you saw the mention of priestess. Most ancient civilisations saw women as having a special power to connect with the occult, the Chinese in their most ancient religion and beliefs had that too. Thus it was the priestess who would be decked in elaborate dresses, to perform rituals to welcome the various spirits of nature to descend onto her, possess her body for the duration to complete the blessing to mortals.
I picked a top blouse with a crane motif because cranes traditionally was also associated with longevity and immortality. Although that is more Taoist.
The Story of the Mountain Nymph/Spirit has been interpreted by many to have several symbolic meanings beyond the apparent love story of a mountain spirit waiting and longing for her lover, her inner dialogues and her changing emotions with the unpredictability of the weather in the mountain.
I added a musician in the video to kind of also reference another ancient Chinese story between two musicians who were soulmates.
It was also believed by some scholars that it was a metaphorical description of the ritual in which the priestess, magnificently dressed, went into the mountain to receive the mountain god/goddess in a joyous mood, only to lose her way in the wilderness. Filled with frustration, she lamented that she would not be able to bring blessings/longevity to her people, and sought comfort in the longevity herbs in the depth of the mountain. Before long, she became flustered and panicked that she might never get to receive the mountain god/goddess and lamented on her failed mission.
I also picked a outer blouse that is embroidered with flowers and vines, because the lyrics of the poem-song mentioned that the Priestess/Mountain Nymph was clad in them. Of course we can’t do an Eve of ancient China, because Chinese are always properly dressed in our artworks. It is a mark of respect for oneself and for your guests/people you meet.
I’ve translated the poem with help from my friend and online resources, and here’s the lyrics/poem with their translations and general interpretation of each stanza:
First Stanza of the poem takes a macro view of the mountains and zooming into the priestess/mountain nymph who coyly speaks about her beauty.
若有人兮山之阿，被薜荔兮带女萝。
Someone is there, in the mountain valley.
Adorned in vines, clasped by ivy.
既含睇兮又宜笑，子慕予兮善窈窕。
With adoring gaze and a gentle smile, she teased
“Does my beauty enrapture you?”
Then it zooms out again to describe the out-of-this-world beauty, imbued with nature. Really Pocahontas-like.
乘赤豹兮从文狸，辛夷车兮结桂旗。
She rides a red panther with trailing lynxes.
Her chariot of magnolia arrayed with banners of cassia.
被石兰兮带杜衡，折芳馨兮遗所思。
Her cloak made of orchids and her girdle of azalea.
Plucking a bloom to prepare for her groom.
The Priestess/Mountain Nymph finally arrived, but she was alone because she was late for her date. She explained why she was held back—She couldn’t tell night from day and had no idea of time, and the road was difficult to travel so she took some time as well.
余处幽篁兮终不见天，路险难兮独后来。
Deep in the bamboo grove I dwell,
The sky obscured.
The road hither is steep and dangerous,
I arrive alone and late.
So she is all alone now, and she stands atop of the mountain hoping to find her lover (or the priestess hope to find the mountain spirit), and also hope to be spotted as well but there were only the clouds beneath.
表独立兮山之上，云容容兮而在下。
Alone I stand now, atop of the mountain.
While the clouds tumble and gather beneath.
And then it starts to storm, and day is as dark as the night.
杳冥冥兮羌昼晦，东风飘兮神灵雨。
All gloomy and dark is the day,
The east wind brought the god-send rain.
She is hoping for her lover/the Mountain Nymph to stay with her and forget about going back, because she is not going to stay this beautiful forever. So carpe diem!
留灵修兮憺忘归，岁既晏兮孰华予？
Cajoling you to stay a while longer,
Time is running out with my fading beauty.
That failed, so meanwhile she was just passing time, waiting for the mountain nymph/her lover to return
While she is in the wilderness, she was gathering the longevity herb. It was a rather tough condition, definitely we romanticised her environment.
采三秀兮於山间，石磊磊兮葛曼曼。
I hunt for the longevity herb immured in impenetrable wilderness,
The rocks are craggy and the vines tangled.
怨公子兮怅忘归，君思我兮不得闲。
She then comes up with all kinds of self-consoling excuses for the missing lover/mountain nymph. Maybe he’s busy? Even though she kind of gets frustrated and blames him for not returning.
I blame you for my sorrow. Have you forgotten to return?
Or do you miss me too, but you are entangled elsewhere
The poem then zooms out again, and looks at the Priestess/Mountain Nymph all by herself, beautifully sweet but alone.
山中人兮芳杜若，饮石泉兮廕松柏。
Deep in the mountain
she is
sweet as the perennial flower.
From the rocky spring
She drinks
Shaded by pines and firs.
君思我兮然疑作。
You long for me, yet you hesitate.
And zooms into her first person narration wondering if the lover/mountain nymph will ever turn up. She is still full of anticipation and hope even though the condition is extremely harsh and she is in extreme isolation. Eventually she relented and accepted her loneliness.
雷填填兮雨冥冥，猨啾啾兮又夜鸣。
The gibbons mourn and howl through the night,
The wind whistles and the trees are bare.
风飒飒兮木萧萧，思公子兮徒离忧。
I long so for you, yet I sorrow in vain.
I have always loved the song Shan Gui (Mountain Nymph) which is a modern composition by a Chinese singer-songwriter Winky诗 using the lyrics of Quyuan some 2,400 years ago. It was a hauntingly enchanting song which I had no way of understanding simply by listening due to the ancient language used. But I have always wanted to know more and do something like a Music Video to complement it.
Fast forward a few years, I received a cold call from the founder Spring Forest Studio, a local video production company specialising in 3D virtual set filming and green screen technology video production. And I started my artistic conceptualisation and creation of the entire project from identification of the virtual background of the mountains of Zhangjiajie (which inspired the floating world of Avatar), and incorporating the many possible layers of meanings of this ancient poem into the music video with help from my fellow Hanfugirls (Vocalist Vivien Lai, Dancer Li Ruimin and Guzheng Player Jiang Xinheng) who are incredibly talented and genuinely passionate about the project. All of these are done with zero monetary exchange and budget, which meant that it is truly a work of pure love.
While most of us associate the Chinese dragon with men, the idea of a Dragon Lady was very popular in the West in the 30s. To the West, Asian women were dangerous, domineering, mysterious but sexually alluring at the same time, and countless films and pop culture references played on that stereotypical idea of an Asian woman. To be fair, the women of the West weren’t spared of the femme fatale stereotype either so I think it is fundamentally a female objectification issue, and in the context of America at the turn of the last century, it was complicated by racism.
The Original Chinese Dragon Lady
But the Western men were not alone in their vile objectification of women, or Chinese women. The Chinese men, too, had lots of tales of female spirits who “tempted” men and filled them with lusts. The most poignant one, personally, was the case of the Investiture of the Gods, a 16th century Chinese novel.
Image of Anna May Wong, a famous Chinese American actress in Hollywood in the 30s who was seen as the archetype of Dragon Lady on screen. Also, her biopic is in the making starred by Gemma Chan from Crazy Rich Asians.
In it, the creator of mankind, a goddess called Nüwa, was the main culprit of the downfall of the Shang dynasty (an ancient empire some 3,000 years ago). The story goes that the last king of Shang dynasty saw her sculpture at the temple, and was sexually attracted to her. He wrote poems expressing his lust and spoke of marrying the goddess. Upset by his blasphemy, the goddess brought down 3 nymphs (spirits disguised as beautiful women) to seduce him, causing him to neglect his nation and became cruel to his people and eventually the downfall of his empire.
Sounds about right for the idea of a “Dragon Lady” huh?
Except that this was a very problematic portrayal by the then extremely patriarchal Chinese society, of the goddess of creation who was an important female figure when Chinese society was still matriarchal.
The Chinese society (like many others) started as a matriarchal one which meant that kids would only know who their mothers were, and not their fathers. Thus Nüwa exemplified that far ancient part of Chinese when women ruled together as a community. It was only when the Chinese society slowly transited into a patriarchal one that a male creator Fuxi came into existence and they both came to be known as the creators of mankind.
In fact, Nüwa had a different name back then, it was Nüxi or Xihe (Xihe was also known as the Guardian of Sun and Moon way back, and she eventually was split into The Mother of 10 Suns and Chang-E The Goddess of Moon. I did a reinterpretation of her in my Sailormoon Series). She was said to have created mankind from the soil due to her extreme boredom of being alone on earth, which is a further evidence that there was no male figure at the very start. Also, it was believed that primitive societies did not associate sex with birth-giving, so they did not think that men were necessary in the birth of a child, while women could give birth to both genders.
Interestingly, like the story of Adam and Eve, snakes were involved in this creation myth. And like many civilisations such as the pre-Classical Greek, snakes were often associated with the female goddess/creators. Fun fact: China formed a matriarchal society some 40,000-50,000 years ago and Greek slightly later, and China transited into patriarchal some 3,000 years earlier than the Greeks. During my research I came across this book in which the author said there is no culture where paternity was ignored in prehistoric times, I think she didn’t study Chinese texts because there were many mentions when paternity was ignored including the birth of the ancient ruler of Shang dynasty being a result of his mom swallowing the egg of a black bird.
Painting from Western Han (3rd century BCE) with Fuxi the male god holding the Sun and Nüwa the female goddess holding the Moon.Eastern Han (1st century CE) wall engraving with Fuxi holding a tool to draw square, and Nüwa holding a tool to draw circleTang Dynasty painting from Astana graves (8th century) with Fuxi holding a tool to draw square, and Nüwa holding a tool to draw circle
After transiting into patriarchal society, subsequent Chinese artworks/records depicted the male and female creators as having the body of a snake. Now snake has been an important and highly regarded creature in ancient societies, and was present as a totem across civilisations. A far cry from its villain identity today.
The dragon, seen as the ultimate symbol of the Chinese ruler, was based primarily on the body of a snake (with many accessorising features from other animals such as the deer’s antlers, bull’s nose, Eagle’s claws, Tiger’s palms etc.). While some ancient Chinese tribes saw themselves as descendants of a bird, others saw their ancestors as snakes, and it is for this reason, the creator of mankind were depicted as snakes.
The modern Dragon with her snake body, eagle claws, beatle shell eyebrows, gill-like ears, and antler-inspired hair and accessories.
This styling was designed in collaboration with Aaron Han (@aharw) assisted by gabby @ga.bae.be Makeup assisted by Danny @chenlingx0 with Jamie as model Photo by Aaron and I
Symbolism of an Emerald Dragon
Yes, I call it Emerald, although prevalent sources translated it as Azure because of the context of its name.
Languages and words take on the meaning of the context, and in this case, the Emerald Dragon represented the regeneration of life in Spring. While the word Qing 青 could refer to blue and green (as in the case of the same character ‘aoi’ 青い in Japanese) in Chinese culture and at times even Black, it would make sense that the Qing Long would be green like the colours of Spring leaves. The ancient people saw colours quite differently from us today, which probably explains why humanity didn’t have separate words for green and blue way back.
The emerald dragon’s boots is a reference to its green/blue scales of the snake. A Tang period hairstyle to exaggerate the shape of the head to look like a dragon. An a vintage Gucci green jacket to signify the luxury and royalty of the dragon as an auspicious animal.
The Emerald Dragon represents Spring, when flowers bloom and butterflies flock from one bush to another. This costume from the Legend of Miyue is obviously a copy of the Japanese dress, which I will go into detail another time.
Japan and China
The East, where the Sun rises, is also associated with the Emerald Dragon. And of course, the land of the rising sun in our modern memory, also refers to Japan. So I’m going to share w a few funny stories about Sino-Japanese historical relations, and muse over how the Chinese inverse-appropriates the Japanese culture these days.
One of the most hilarious accounts I’ve read about Japan and China relations was one that happened in 607CE. The Japanese diplomat of Asuka period Japan Ono no Imoko presented a letter from the Japanese female emperor (Yes, it was a female emperor!) to the Sui dynasty emperor with the following line:
日出处天子，致书日没处天子，无恙
Greetings, from Son of Heaven where the Sun rose, to Son of Heaven where the Sun set.
Clearly I was bored and wanted to try a few different renditions with different mood for this portrait. Which is your favourite?
Now, I don’t know how you understand it, but I thought that is HILARIOUSLY APPALLING! Because as romantic as it sounds with the mention of sun set and sun rise, of heaven and all, I can totally imagine how offended the Sui dynasty emperor must’ve felt upon hearing it. The general consensus today was not that he was offended by the “sun set” part, but by the fact that Japan saw itself as an equal with China (Chinese emperor had always thought of themselves as the superior one to its neighbouring countries). And true enough, he told his liaison officer that he did not wish to hear from the “Barbarians” if they continued sending such rude letters.
I have styled the Dragon Lady in a Japanese-Chinese fashion also because Chinese pop culture depiction of ancient Chinese women over 1,000 years ago have always been extremely influenced by the Japanese aesthetics. And the Chinese liked to claim that it was because the Japanese were influenced by Chinese aesthetics at that point in time. I find this inverse-appropriation by the Chinese extremely interesting because instead of looking at their own artefacts to uncover the original Chinese look of the period, they decided to turn to the Japanese’s interpretation and evolved adaptation of the Chinese culture.
The long flowing hair was indeed valued by the ancient Chinese, but in nowhere could we find women draping it down like the Japanese during the Heian period although women did drape a little of their hair down with a knot at the neck area.
Have a look at the Han Chinese style vs the Heian Japanese styling of hair:
Chinese Han Dynasty female figurineChinese Han Dynasty female figurineJapanese Heian style femaleThe Han woman would not have long flown hair, or loose hair (unlike what has been portrayed in shows). It is a very Japanese-influenced aesthetic. So is the multi-coloured, layered robes with a long tail, like their juni-hitoe.
Even though the TV produces and stylists of China refuse to acknowledge it, they have been extremely influenced by the HK period drama creators of the 80s and 90s, who were in turn influenced by the Japanese aesthetics greatly. And fast forward a few decades, the Chinese period drama stylists and consumers have naturalised this Japanese aesthetics, blending what seems Chinese but essentially very Japanese aesthetics into their mix, creating a new fusion aesthetics today.
This topic is fascinating and a fun exploration to go into for a future post.
Yes, I should probably also talk about the recent/age-old debate about Korean vs Chinese dressing in modern Chinese period shows too, some day.
Emerald Dragon, Symbol of Spring, and the East where the Sun rises. It was a creature full of vitality.
While the biggest event in Fashion x History has just concluded, judging from the turnout at the Met Gala, one can conclude that dressing to the theme isn’t quite a forte of A-listers. In the name of greater good, this series will demonstrate how one can be fashionably historically-inspired, while still adhering to certain themes.
AUSPICIOUS BIRDS AND US
Birds have had a long history of being seen as auspicious creatures and totems in Chinese culture. The Sun, for example, was represented by a three-legged bird. And of course, we are all very familiar with the phoenix, which at some point became synonymous with the bird in question I’m discussing today.
It has been known by many names in the Eastern part of the world, Zhu Que by the Chinese, Suzaku by the Japanese, Jujak by the Korean and Chu Tước by the Vietnamese. It symbolised the southern constellations of the night sky, and the element Fire.
Because of its association with fire, the vermillion bird is often thought to be the phoenixes by the West. And yes, plural because the Chinese Phoenixes fenghuang had gender (Feng was the male, and Huang was the female, and they combined into a singular identity somewhere down the road later on), while the Vermillion Bird did not.
The phoenix was believed to have the colours of the rainbow while the Vermillion Bird took its colour from the fire. Was that a phoenix or a vermillion bird that we spotted in Mulan? hmmm…..
Mulan (2020) live action movie featured a ‘phoenix’ which actually looks more like the Vermillion Bird of the South. Disney probably got confused between the Chinese and the Western phoenix.
Although some sources said that the ancient Chinese thought the stars in the southern night sky resembled the vermillion bird, thus the assignment of this symbol, it is unlikely so as the Vermillion Bird of the South as well as the Black Warrior of the North did not come into existence in the constellation assignment until much later (about 2,000 years ago) while the ancient Chinese were already very familiar with the constellations for far longer and had assigned the Dragon and Tiger to them first.
THE STYLING
Since Tang and Qing dynasty has the most fun and daring make-up trends ands styles, our styles were mainly based on these two periods, jazzed it up for modern taste.
The vermillion bird wears vintage Thierry Mugler jacket, with big exaggerated shoulders but sleek silhouette to emphasize it being an animal of the skies. A single red feather nose piece is the only thing to hint at it being a bird.
This styling was designed in collaboration with Aaron Han (@aharw) assisted by gabby @ga.bae.be Makeup assisted by Danny @chenlingx0 and Silas @operatang Photo by Aaron and I
The styling was done in a manner to represent the animals but also not in a literal sense. The traits that are used are symbolic, just like the animal themselves are symbolic.
The Vermillion Bird obscures half of its face with a Bian Mian fan which is a half-oval type of fan with a history of over 2,000 years. Originally made of bamboo, it evolved to other materials overtime and the one in the shoot was made with an emerald green silk gauze with weaved patterns. Very understated, and quintessentially Chinese. Its subtletly is juxtaposed with the red feather nose piece of The House of Malakai styled by Aaron (@aharw) to suggest its avian nature. Of course, the collar design and the Tang style (circa 8th century) wing-like eyebrows are also suggestive of that.
Section of the reference brow from Tang. This is a painting on silk screen uncovered from the Astana tombs.
Underneath the nose piece, were rouge blushers across the cheeks which some might recall seeing on famous 90s Chinese singer Faye Wong, or more recently, singer Rainie Yang. Except that it’s a lot more intense, as it would’ve been how the Tang people of the 10th century were copying the Tibetans during that time in this style of make-up.
Who wore it better? Left Faye Wong, Middle a Tibetan lady, Right Rainie Yang.
Obviously celebrities typically don’t do much research when they try on different make-up styles, pretty sure the socialites of Tang didn’t either, it was probably just cool or fun for them to experiment with a different styles because this style of blusher was deemed barbaric by the early Tang rulers, and had requested for the Tibetans to stop this practice. Who’d knew that a few hundred years later, it would become vogue at the end of Tang!
And just in case you thought the hair looks non-Chinese (like the typical long hair at the back in Chinese period dramas), I’d like to point you towards the Dunhuang murals from the Tang dynasty (same period), and look at the blushers and the hairstyle and accessories, it’s really quite Over The Top:
Section of Dunhuang Mural in Mogao Cave no. 61 with a noble lady of late Tang accessoried with many large and elaborate hair pins, haircombs, and the Tibetan style brick-red rouge on her cheeks.
The lip was also historically based on the last dynasty of China—Qing dynasty. Similar to the Tang rulers, the Qing were not of the Han ethnic group although they have adopted a great deal of the Han practices after ruling over this Han-majority land for centuries. The Qing lip would typically be just a red dot on the bottom lip, but there were instances where the top lip was also painted fully.
Picture of Imperial Consort Pearl (Zhen Fei), who was rumoured to have been drowned in a well in the Forbidden City by the Empress Dowager Cixi. She has the Qing style lip with a dot an her bottom lipi in this picture.
The Modern Vermillion Bird wears vintage Thierry Mugler jacket, with big exaggerated shoulders but sleek silhouette to emphasize it being an animal of the skies.
The fringe skirt by Raf Simon for Calvin Klein is a reference to its long tail feathers.
Unlike the Phoenix, the Red Bird is just red, while phoenixes were said to be of rainbow colours.
The vermillion bird wears vintage Thierry Mugler jacket, with big exaggerated shoulders but sleek silhouette to emphasize it being an animal of the skies. A single red feather nose piece is the only thing to hint at it being a bird with its front skirt is a reference to its long tail feathers.
The broad shoulder look was never really a Chinese thing, as sloping shoulder would look better in the traditional Chinese garment that has no shoulder seams. But that changed in the 40s with women adding shoulder-pads to their Cheongsams to accentuate the shoulder. This look is exemplified by the Japanese Singer in China Yoshiko Yamaguchi, most famously known by her Chinese stage name Li Xiang Lan 李香兰:
Left: Famous American-Chinese writer Eileen Chang Right: Yshiko Yamaguchi/Li Xiang Lan in broad shoulder Cheongsam
QUINTESSENTIALLY CHINESE CRAFT, ACCESSORIES AND AESTHETICS
The Western fashion is very big on silhouettes of the dress, while the Chinese has always been about the hair, the craftsmanship, and the understated luxury where one needs to be close enough and in the ‘right circle of knowledge’ to appreciate the weave, the texture, the material, the motif etc. There’s a lot of secrecy behind many of the crafts, and that made them exclusive, therefore a sign of prestige for those who recognise them. Yet, in Chinese culture (quite unlike the Japanese), the craftsmen are anonymous, and undervalued in the grander scheme of things because the Chinese aesthetics has always been literati-led and the craftsmen were more of the ‘technicians’ to the literati’s ‘artistic vision’. Not unlike the many craftsmen working anonymously behind designer brands that bore the mark of the big name designers who most likely did not make those items themselves.
Another style with hair full of Chineseness. Velvet silk flower of bird motif, Chinese-Hakka style wound silk flowers, and purple jade flower. Bodysuit by Richard Quinn, Nose piece by Ricardo Tisci for Givenchy, styled by Aaron han (@aharw) Hair and accessories by me, make-up by Silas and I.
And just to transition into the more purely Chinese look, we did another look with more Chinese accessories, and also a Tang style hair and make-up with Qing lips. You probably think that it is a copycat of Frida Kahlo, honestly we didn’t realise it until it’s been done, and I immediately recalled a stranger getting in touch to borrow from me my silk flowers for her dressed-up costume party (she stopped responding the moment I told her the price of the flowers. I know, the value of these things aren’t very apparent to those who are not familiar with them).
I use a lot of lacquer and silk flowers because they are so, so, archetypically Chinese but most people just think of Chinese = gold. When in actuality, Chinese didn’t really use much gold in the ancient past. Or Green Jade (Jadeite) for that matter.
I love the emerald green silk scarve that has the auspicious clouds motif done in silver and gold couching technique.
Notice the green bangle? That is a vintage carved lacquer bangle (very rare to come by as typically it would be in red/cinnabar). Carved lacquer came about sometime during the Tang dynasty as well (circa 8th century or so) and became quite a thing later on so even though lacquer was used in many Asian cultures, carve lacquer can be said to be quintessentially Chinese. It is an extremely tedious process, as you would require hundreds of layers of paint, painted and dried, and painted and dried, before you can reach just a few centimetres of thickness for carving.
The Met (HAH!) had an exhibition on lacquer/cinnabar in 2009, you can read the synopsis HERE.
For the Traditional Chinese Vermillion Bird, I’ve decided to go with a wedding look because we often think of phoenixes for Chinese weddings, yet the colour that brides often wear for that occasion would be Red which is actually the colour of the Vermilion Bird. And since the Vermillion bird is often confused with the Phoenix, and more often than not used interchangeably with it, might as well throw the two into the same mix. If you can’t beat them, join them!
Styled, shot, accessories by me.
And you don’t say, Silas certainly looks a bit like Gemma Chan here don’t you think?
For this time round, she’s wearing cinnabar carved lacquer bangles. One is red-on-red, one is red-on-black. Both are vintage pieces.
Now, I shall introduce you to the real Chinese filigree and cloisonné craft for hair accessories. Not the fashion jewelry type worn on the red carpet at the Met by Chef Melissa King for her nail protector. Apparently it was supposed to be inspired by Empress Dowager Cixi (who is, by the way, NOT the last empress of China, contrary to what the Chef wrote on her insta).
The thing about traditional craftsmanship that came from a lineage of thousands of years, is that they get finer and finer, and they are often consumed by the imperial family so the demand for finesse is extremely high. Also, they are all about understated luxury. If it’s that big a bling, it’s probably too crass for them.
Filigree nailguard with ruby, pearl and kingfisher feather inlay. Collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing.Close-up details of the nailguard
The Palace Museum collection has quite a number of nail guards made from the Imperial Chinese filigree craft, completed with gems, pearls and kingfisher feathers on many occasions. You can zoom in to see the fine details of these nailguards, and they are extremely intricate —as fine as the kingfisher feathers.
In order to give you a bit more context on the scale of these intricacies, I shall zoom in a little bit on the filigree and cloisonné of the phoenix hairpiece in my photo which has similar craftsmanship as the palace museum nail guard above.
It is made with tiny grains of freshwater pearls and ruby (I think, I can’t remember the stones cos I have too many of these accessories.. lol). Her earrings are also filigree and cloisonné phoenix. SUPER AUSPICIOUS I KNOW!
I did an apprenticeship a couple of years back on filigree, cloisonné and kingfisher feather craft in Beijing, and it was through this process that I came to fully appreciate just how intricate this craft is. It’s not the type that you can see on photos or videos, that’s why celebrities wouldn’t really wear them because they don’t show up on screen that well cos they’re too tiny.
Extremely close up view of the phoenix filigree and cloisonné hairpin.
If you zoom in close enough, you can see that the edges of the wings is made up of tiny dots of gold. It’s actually very very fine silver threads gilded in gold, twisted into like a braid-like structure and welded onto the base. When I did my apprenticeship, the first thing to do was to learn how to pull the thick silver threads into fine strands, finger than human hair. And how to twist them in shape without breaking them. Sorry about the resolution, it’s just too fine for my camera. I will do better next time.
Our vermillion bird bride with a hair full of intangible cultural heritage craft—silk flowers based on Palace Museum collection, and a fan of another type of intangible cultural heritage craft—Kesi, also based on Palace Museum collection.
Since this set is all about intangible cultural heritage and fine Chinese crafts, I threw in the Kesi (literally translated to carved silk) fan. This is a replica of the Qing dynasty fan in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing.
The side profile you can see butterfly hair pieces made of dyed silk using the wound silk flowers craft, and also dyed goose feather accessories to replace the kingfisher craft. This hairpiece is based on the Qing dynasty item in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
The topic on Kingfisher feather is contentious, and there are many modern attempts to replicate the effect of kingfisher feather without the cruelty of it. Even the Qing dynasty rulers implemented a ban on using kingfisher feathers for accessories (with limited success obviously).
The cloisonné was one of the historical ways during the Qing period which middle class women could get a pseudo kingfisher feather colour accessory while the aristocrats continued with theirs.
These days, wound silk accessories, dyed goose feather, or peacock feathers are all reasonable substitutes. If you’re wondering (as I did), goose and peacock shed feathers quite readily and their feathers are abundant so it’s not like the case of the kingfisher where you need to kill many to get a tiny bit (disclaimer: goose and peacocks are not harmed since you just gather their shed feathers).
I’m actually making a series of accessories with these type of feathers and vintage lacquer pieces, and will be sharing them later half of the year! So stay tuned!
Meanwhile, if you’re planning to have a Chinese wedding shoot, please don’t go red + gold. It’s so cliché and nouveau riche. At least try to add some finesse like turquoise, blue, green, cyan, pearl, aquamarine, lapis lazuli, lacquer… They are going to add a lot more texture and colours to your otherwise crass look. We do, after all, have at least 5000 years of material culture and history to tap on, don’t behave like we only have 50.
Oh no, I was totally not referring to the billionaire daughter’s wedding (which one? so many huh.. :P).
POP CULTURE REFERENCE
The four guardians were first brought to my attention when I was a young latchkey child watching Japanese anime on my couch after school with my sister. Fushigi Yuugi was the name of the anime, and it started with the chapter of the Vermillion Bird of the South—Suzaku (in Japanese). It had all the characters with special abilities, each representing one of the 7 constellations of the southern nightsky under the charge of the Vermilion Bird.
So it is fitting that we start off this series with the Vermillion Bird.
DRAG IN CHINESE CONTEXT & AFTERTHOUGHTS
In the anime, the king of the southern kingdom Hotohori was a man who was as beautiful as a woman, probably very ahead of its time in the 90s.
And in this series, I have worked with Silas (@operatang) to portray this beautiful feminine side of a man. Drag is not new to Chinese traditional culture, except that it was not politicised like the West. The archetypical Chinese Opera look was a result of men trying to hide their masculine facial features in order to look more feminine. And beautiful men were a thing and even recorded in historical texts for thousands of years.
Hotohori in Fushigi Yuugi
When I approached Silas for this project, I also intended to try to re-interpret drag as we know it today in a traditional Chinese manner—from the perspective of someone who wants to look as much like a woman in representation according to a male perspective. This is historically related to the oppression of women in public for about 500 years where images and representation of women were manifested through male bodies in public performances, through their ideas of what a woman is like, how we walk, how we talk, or by male painters.
So as a result, as it is today, men could be more ‘feminine’ than we are (small sample size, but the 2 women involved this shoot can attest to that!). Maybe femininity has often been depicted through the male gaze, so what we see is often a man’s ideal woman image (not how we actually behave, but how they fantasize us to be). So a man could possibly represent very well this ‘ideal femininity’ if they are in touch with their feminine side. Silas showed me some Asian drag queens who are absolutely gorgeous and live up to the ideal female archetype upheld by society (we’re all fellow subjects of the male gaze in this instance!).
I also wondered about the concept of ‘womanface‘ in western drag practices, where features of what it meant to be a woman were used as content for jokes, as part of the overall ‘ridiculous’ look. I’m not sure if I prefer that, or the over-romanticisation of female body during our oppression (as in the Chinese context). Two extremes of the male take on femininity.
Food for thought I guess!
AND because you lasted till the end of this article, you are rewarded with a Vermillion Bird Instagram/facebook selfie make-up filter! Click on the hyperlinked text to claim them:
It’s with great amusement that I realised that there’s an ancient Chinese creature in the latest Fantastic Beasts series—The Qilin 麒麟 (pronounced Chillin, Spoilers on Qilin in the show available HERE). In recent years we have seen how ancient Chinese/East Asian mythical creatures are being represented in many of the Western shows such as Shang Chi (Morris’ my favourite, naturally), and now Harry Potter.
9-tail fox and MorrisShang Chi mythical creaturesQilin in Fantastic Beasts
There are many extremely interesting records of fantastic beasts in ancient Chinese texts from thousands of years ago, of creatures far beyond our imaginations. If I have time, I will get to some of them but let me just state the most familiar strangers in the lot — the kind that you probably have heard of (if you’re into Chinese shows, or Fengshui) but not really quite sure what they really are.
These creatures were not only used by China, but the entire Sinosphere which extends to the rest of East Asia and some Southeast Asian countries with strong Chinese influences.
PRESENTING:
The Four Guardians 四象— Vermillion Bird, Emerald Dragon (this name is contentious and I will explaining due course why), Black Warrior and White Tiger.
Motif design on the eaves of roof tiles in China over 2,000 years ago were of the 4 guardians
CHINESE ARCHITECTURAL FEATURE—FANCY AND FUNCTIONAL ROOF
The Chinese roof is made up of quite a few different types of tiles, each serving a different function. The part where it has large surface for motifs, were mainly for the purpose of preventing rainwater from seeping into the wooden roof structures, and to prevent the water droplets from corroding the building base originally.
Then, they got fancier.
In case you are wondering, why are the roof tiles round, and how does it work? Here’s a quick view of the traditional Chinese roof:
There’s the circular shape tile cap that covers the end of the entire line/row of barrel tiles (bamboo or pipe-like shape), and there is the crescent shaped drip tiles between the circular caps (as in water droplet, which was literally meant for water to follow the tip and fall down in a line when raining).
This feature is not exclusive to the Chinese and we can see similar examples in Greek and Roman roof of similar period. They are called the antefix, and they served similar function as the Chinese eave-end tiles.
FANCIFUL HISTORY
The Eave-end Tile (cap at the end of the tile) has a history of over 3,000 years in China, from semi circular shapes to round shape by the Han dynasty (2,000 years ago).
The motifs too, evolved from the more stylised totem-looking designs of the Warring State to more naturalistic ones of animals, plants, insects around the Qin dynasty (slightly over 2,000 years ago). And by then, circular eaves tiles became increasingly common.
Left: Tao Tie beast with dragon motif from Warring State (circa 2,500 years ago). The Tao Tie beast is just mega foodie, something many of us can relate to.
The Four Guardians series of rounded Eaves Tiles were particularly popular and iconic of the Han dynasty, which was the peak of the Eaves Tile’s development. Later on in the 1,000 years that followed, with the popularisation of Buddhism from post-Han through Tang and Song Dynasty, lotus motifs also became key motifs on these tiles. NOTE: This is not to say that lotus motif did not exist prior to the introduction of Buddhism to China, just that the form and significance of the lotus, and the popularity of use were markedly different pre and post Buddhism.
In the last 500 years during the Qing dynasty, the focus was mainly on the imperial roof tiles, which were generally of dragon motifs. The roof tile design evolution also kind of stagnated as more focus went into the development of wall tiles used by the commoners.
This is my favourite Eaves Tile design so far, the deer one on top comes next in line.
ANCIENT CHINESE OLYMPIC RINGS?
From top, clockwise: Black Warrior, Emerald Dragon, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger
Like how the Olympic Ring symbolised all the colours of the world’s flags (hah, yes it’s not the 5 continents!), the Chinese used these four symbols and colours to give representative meanings and characteristics to the world and the natural order of things.
Deep. I know.
Everything in the Chinese culture is so connected and inter-referencing each other. And they sprung off to another system of symbolism and more self-referencing so you had to peel away a lot of those layers to get to the very core origin: I-Ching and Astrology.
While you’re reading your horoscope for the day, rest assured that the ancient Chinese thought that the stars and their alignment told them a lot about their world as well.
INDIGENOUS CHINESE ASTROLOGY
Of course, the Four Guardians (literally translated as the “Four Symbols” actually) held important, symbolic meanings, and was related to the Tai-Chi logo you are familiar with. The Tai-Chi logo further extended into the octagonal trigram that people always associate Taoists with:
I know, how is this remotely relevant to the animals?!?
Well, the animals came about when the ancient Chinese started mapping the stars they saw in the night sky, mapping them out, and dividing them into quarters. And there had to be a system of reference, so they referenced the I-Ching which a very profoundly complex book that supposedly summarises the world’s natural order. This book was henceforth referenced by the Chinese in every single thing they do, from fortune telling to medicine, and by extension, the Chinese sought to categorise and make sense of the world through the rules laid out in this book (different period, different interpretation, different manifestations).
And so… the night sky was sorted into 4 groups (yes, like harry potter’s sorting hat, they were given different characteristics, and animals were assigned to it). And that is how the 4 creatures got allocated a spot to represent a lot of the other symbolic meanings which I will go into in the respective articles.
Before the introduction and popularisation of horoscopy astrology as we know today in the 8th century China (brought to China from the ‘West’ i.e. Central Asia/Iran and India), Chinese had their own astrological practices and charts but it was off limit to the commoners. Due to trade and cultural exchanges on the silk road over 2,000 years ago, the Chinese gradually adopted Western astrological ideas (we had Indian astrologers in the Chinese imperial court around the 8th century.
Top left: Greek Terracotta gorgoneion antefix 580-570 BCE Top right: Taotie motif from similar period Bottom left: Capricorn motif of Emperor Augustus period some 2,000 years ago in Rome Bottom right: Four beasts representing the 28 constellations in Chinese astrology
You can see the similarities between the Greek and Roman antefix motifs (left) and the Chinese ones (right) of similar period. The top row were over, 2500 years ago, and featured a gorgoneion, while the bottom row was about 2,000 years ago featuring animals which were representative of the constellations.
Due to the passing of thousands of years, many things have been so intertwined that it takes some time to thoroughly explain the gist of them (oxymoron, I know). And I will do so in the coming posts!
PROCESS & CONCEPT
For this series, I have worked with someone in the Fashion industry to reinterpret these creatures with a modern twist AND Since I love juxtapositions, I also did a parallel series with more traditional aesthetics. I will be sharing each of them in single, detailed entries coming up as well.
Here’s a sneak peek of the traditional ones:
I think this is enough information for the long weekend.
Happy Labour Day! Have fun trying to make sense of this piece!
Because of Fashion’s close associations with consumption, it has often been dismissed as frivolous in modern context. However, fashion, in its fundamental form, has all along been a highly politicised matter. A woman’s body is never her own, and how she dresses, the shape of her body parts, and her fashion choices were more than just superficial indulgences. Fashion has often been, especially in the context of ancient Chinese societies, a highly controversial political and moral signifier.
But you would be mistaken to think that Chinese women were way more repressed than their western counterparts. For one, if you’ve heard of the ‘bra-burning feminist‘ term (which didn’t really happen btw), you might be surprised to know that while this call for liberation from the constraints of bras happened in the late 60s America, Chinese women have been calling for liberation of their boobs in the name of female empowerment way back in the early 1910s! That’s 50 years before!
The next time you see an old photo of Chinese women, or an antique Chinese dress/Cheongsam, notice the chest area. It should be rather flat.
Most people are familiar with the done-to-death use of the bound feet as a mark of female oppression in ancient Chinese societies. But it was believed to be an influence from the West. In their initial stages, it wasn’t even all that small. Rather, it was more of a narrow feet aesthetic. Subsequently, as with everything, it lots its original sense and became festishcised into the form that we recognise today.
Early 1910s was the onset of a huge wave of Western influence in Chinese society. With the fall of the Qing empire, and return of many western-educated Chinese, the concept of “Westernisation” was exceptionally attractive to the Chinese literati. The flapper style in the 20s also caught on its run in China.
While we all know about foot-binding, very few know of the equally long-standing chest-binding practice which coincidentally fitted the flapper fashion in the early 20th century in the West. The irony is that while the women of the West embraced flapper fashion with flattened chest as a symbol of liberation from their corsets, at the same time, the women of China had flat chests as a result of the same constraints that the corsets imposed on their Western counterparts. So even though the more progressive Chinese literatis (men and women) of that time called for a liberation of their ‘natural breasts’ but it was not until 1927 that it was officially launched by the government. So Chinese women still maintained a very narrow and flat side body profile before that.
A more traditional Chinese woman in the early 20s would have her hair long and neatly combed up, and in two-piece dress as that was the traditional way of dressing for thousands of years. The one-piece robe was not a Han Chinese practice after the Han dynasty. Which is ironic but this little detail became relevant in the debate on the origin of Cheongsam.
And the East and the West met in the middle. The western flapper fashion was a natural fit to the Chinese women’s new feminist consciousness and their (newly-liberated)bound-chest silhouette. Think about it this way, if there is a mom-bod trend in fashion now, I would definitely be the biggest avocate and buy a million of the “mom-bod fashion” dresses. #justsaying. That’s probably what went on in China in those days, with women finding this ‘western’, and ‘modern’ fashionable look easy to transit into with their existing body.
Women who just came out of the Qing dynasty period would still have relatively flat chest, and the practice of chest binding and preference for small chest continued in the consciousness of many as a mark of elegance. I know, even my mom who’s born in the 50s still subscribes to that. This coincides with the aesthetics of the Flapper style in the 20s, which adds to the attractiveness and ease of adoption of the western fashion during that period.
The traditional Chinese dress, which is generically referred to as the Hanfu is done with a flat cutting (Kimono has a similar structure). To put it simply, you can put it on a flat surface, and fold it easily without having a lot of uneven parts such as the seams around the boobs and the butts popping out. It is technically not totally flat but that’s a topic for another day.
For the purpose of the shoot, we had all the models binding their chests (if they are well-endowed) so that the fabric of the dresses would drape nicely down instead of having a bulge at the chest level that’s too vulgar for the cutting of the dress. If you think that having feminine curves is what defines a Cheongsam, then you’re probably referring to the less traditional (relatively so) Cheongsams that were influenced by the Western cutting. Early cheongsams were very comfortable, loose fitting and less sexualised. My personal favourite style to go with my mom bod.
Most people probably have tried on a Yukata or Kimono (probably more likely than a piece of Hanfu). And you would have noticed that the general aesthetic is to have a flat chest waist and butt line, essentially having a special bra that presses your chest down is one of the important accessories. Traditional Hanfu, due to its flatness, has similar aesthetics. The explanation which I found through my own experience, is that you would look bloated if you have big boobs as the excess fabric would drape down your body like you are pregnant since it is not fitted to your body shape.
So an ideal Chinese beauty in the last few hundred years, would have no boobs (and shoulders) essentially.
Because fashion is an important way for women to project their ideological stands, you could tell who were the ‘liberated’ new age women and the traditionalists.
There were two camps of women at the turn of the century:
The traditionalists who kept their hair long, with bound chests, bound feet and loose-fitting Qing dynasty two-piece top and bottom. They would mostly be home-bound.
The revolutionists who cut their hair short, campaigned for the liberation of natural boobs as a sign of their intellectuality, and a slightly less baggy dress. It could be a mix of western dresses, early form of cheongsam (one-piece and two-piece). And they loved a good party.
The socialites and women from the big families who were educated overseas started cutting and perming their hair, and they design their dresses by merging traditional Chinese elements with the Western styles, and many of them were inspired by the Art Deco style which worked perfectly in an Asian setting as it was very much influenced by the East with its designs peppered with Chinoiserie amongst its other influences.
I wrote ‘liberated’ because you’d have thought that they would’ve been less more moderate in their approach to women’s dressing identity, as the more ‘woke’ group. However, fashion, as always, is bound to be politicised regardless. Haircutting became a political statement, and more educated women saw it as a physical manifestation of their revolution against the patriarch and it was the true spirit of that time.
Before Cheongsam, there were many different types of dress-robe-vest-top styles resembling the eventual form of Cheongsam. They were influenced by both the Han and Manchurian women fashion of that time and evolved organically into the eventual form we know today. Besides the revolution in dressing, there was also the revolution in hairstyles and the cessation of foot binding and chest binding. It was more of a fashion trend as well as a political move towards a perceived liberation of women of that period.
The ‘liberated women’ saw it as a mission to ensure that all the ‘oppressed’ women who still conformed to tradition have their hair cut and started going about forcing everyone to do so. Little did they realise that hair meant so much to the traditional Chinese, not only as a symbol of filial piety, but also as a symbol of one’s very identity, one that is equally important as their ideal of a liberated female identity. So one of the village woman who had her hair forcefully cut, commited suicide. And in an even more extreme case published in a female magazine, it was said that villagers saw women dressed in military wear going around cutting women’s hair, and a group of over 30 women escaped into the middle of a lake on a tiny boat which eventually capsized (presumably drowning everyone on board).
This was so unnecessary on hindsight because top-down approach never works in meaningful conversion. Eventually, women naturally started cutting their hair as they saw more celebrities, socialites/courtesans and famous people doing so. It became so popular that Beijing even started a female hairdressing school in 1928 with a minimum qualification requirement even.
The importance of soft power.
When you look at the old Chinese posters of the republican era, you’d always find women who permed their already very short hair. And even hair perming, went through a politicised process of being first banned by the government to eventually embraced by everyone. What’s interesting is that the first Chinese woman to have been recorded with a permed hair was in 1926, and she went all the way to the Philippines to do so. The price was about the monthly salary of a professor in China’s top university. So those who could afford it naturally were the celebrities, women from rich families and likes, and that became a highly sought after fashion by the masses before being banned in the mid-30s in the name of prudence and simplicity as a highly valued quality of women (with limited success of course).
So, fast forward 100 years or so, women and how we dress/look are still subject of public interest and debates related to morality and value. And we think that we have come a long way? I guess not really!
Public Service Announcement:
This series of photos were taken in partnership with the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall to create more visual educational content online. They are currently running a Republica era women’s fashion exhibition (a small scale one–managing expectations here) Modern Women of the Republic: Fashion and Change in China and Singapore from now until 12.12.2021.
Meanwhile, I’m still working on the #Yanzilou immersive online film project, hoping to start sharing more with you in mid September, so stay tuned!
We also appreciate contributions to Hanfugirl to allow us to produce and share more topics which are rarely written in English, and even less represented in images. I have a few projects (besides Yanzilou) that I’m dying to make such as the four guardian mythological creatures of the constellations, Chinese Weddings reinterpreted, Chinese gods and fantastic beasts… We’ll get there some day. Slowly, but surely.
Special thanks to Lin Tong for her knowledge, amazing retro vintage hairstyling, hairpin, and the velvet blue dress. Sharon (Dressed up dreams) for light and the Hanfugirls for modelling!
I’m shamelessly linking it above and below before we go into what we have prepared for you this International Women’s Day!
This International Women’s Day, we’ve prepared a range of experiences and learning opportunities to satisfy both our thirst for knowledge and our penchant for vanity.
We will kickstart the weekend with a full day of activities focusing on the concept of Chinese femininity (not the way you probably assumed for it to be), epitomised by the Chinese courtesans who are really more of the predecessors of Geishas than what conventionally we would think of as prostitutes.
Of course, since I’ve said in the news report that the world has no lack of pretty girls, we need more empowered women, I can’t possibly offer photoshoot opportunities/packages that are not historically-accurate (means the airy-fairy-goddess kind one would see on TV). Think of it as an experiential learning opportunity rather than a simple glamour shoot opportunity. As part of our fundraising efforts for the performance, I’m partnering Dressed Up Dreams Photo Studio for the Tang courtesan dress-up experience. I will focus on the styling, and Sharon my counterpart will focus on the photos.
7 MARCH 2020
To the ancient Chinese, music and dance were referred to by the same word yuè 乐, and entertainers both male and female would be referred to as jì 伎. Over time, jì came to be identified with female entertainers, then courtesans, and eventually, prostitutes.
History has always been told from a man’s perspective, of their conquests, victories and achievements. This International Women’s Day, we are telling the stories and artistic legacies of women from the ancient past starting from music and dance.
Music and dance have been an integral part of human life throughout history in every culture. Each culture has its unique aesthetic sensibilities which is usually a culmination of beliefs, lifestyle factors and these in turn shape its art forms. It is a continual evolution brought about with the exchange of ideas and people with the opening up of trade routes and human migration. Come and learn more about the evolution of Chinese classical music and dance through the ages, and how foreign influences have contributed to the arts we now know today. Do dress in comfortable attire as you will have the chance to learn and experiment with a few dance movements in this interactive session.
Part I: Encountering Tang courtesans in early Yanzilou $40/person (limited to 10 guests who will stay on for the lecture)
7 Mar (Sat) | 7pm–9pm
Poets and scholars feverishly penned poems to catch her eye, while noblemen gifted her with mansions in exchange for an evening of entertainment. The Tang courtesan accepts no ordinary patrons – only those who value her art above the banal things in life. Tonight, the courtesans of Yanzilou will host ten guests fortunate enough to catch their fancy – you may indulge in conversation with them about the fascinating culture of Tang, and take in the sights and sounds of a regular evening in the courtesan house.
Part II: Origins of the Geisha: Women and Art in Tang China (Lecture) $20/person
Speaker: Mamapan (Hanfugirl)
7 Mar (Sat) | 8pm–9pm
Modern literature, pop culture and even academics often dismiss the courtesans of ancient China as just prostitutes, without exploring their artistic achievements and legacies in a historical narrative dominated by male scholars, literatis, and historians. On the other hand, the Japanese Geishas who were very much influenced by the ancient Chinese courtesans traditions, have been hailed as keepers of Japanese artistic traditions, admired and respected by foreigners and Japanese alike. This lecture will unveil the forgotten origins of geishas in the form of Tang dynasty courtesans, who held contradictory identities of both superstar celebrities and slaves, occupying the liminal space between a muse and a slave, and who were indispensable in the proliferation and popularisation of Tang dynasty literature and arts. You will also see how female entertainers, then as now, were also subjected to objectification and exploitation of their talent, and how history is always repeating itself.
8 MARCH 2020
So this is the moment many of you have been waiting for! Photoshoots! I don’t typically do photoshoots for the public because of my schedule and need for me-time. But I was relieved to find a partner in Sharon who would be doing the photos while I just focus on the styling (yay to no more sleepless nights of photo-editing!). Whenever there’s a query/request for photoshoots, I would also typically refer people to Sharon since she does it professionally for a living.
For this collaboration, you will be transformed into a Tang courtesan and have a taste of what life was like through her eyes. It would also be a once-a-lifetime chance for you to get any shoot of yourself done in our beautifully decorated to Tang style space!
As playing the role of a famous courtesan is no easy feat, come with an open mind, an appreciation for alternative beauty ideals, and an inquisitive spirit in order to get the most out of the session!
Packages start from $588 for an hour’s shoot between 1pm–6pm, and you can top up another $100 for a pure silk dress which was recreated to be as authentic as possible based on Tang artefacts and paintings.
If you were to engage me beyond this opportunity, it would cost you a lot more, so do grab this chance!
Elizabeth Chan, or 美锜, is a Chinese dance practitioner-researcher. She graduated from the University of Roehampton (London) with an MA in Dance Studies in 2016 and prior to that, from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with a BFA in Dance (majoring in Chinese dance) in 2013. She worked in Hong Kong for two years, with Hong Kong Disneyland and as a freelance dance artist. Most recently she is based in Singapore, studying her PhD at the National University of Singapore, as well as working with local artists and fellow Chinese dance practitioners on varied contemporary, intercultural and traditional topics. Her own research is focused on the multiple past and present positions of Chinese dance in the world.
Cen Haishan
Haishan is a Guzheng teacher and performer. She graduated from the China Conservatory of Music with a B.A. in Music Performance. She has played for TV broadcast both in China and Singapore. Haishan has performed with key arts groups both as a soloist and ensemble player with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, City Chinese Orchestra, DingYi Music Company, Teng Company. She was featured in MediaCorp Channel 5 documentary, The Big Unknown I & II in 2005-2006. Her other identities include being a certified Yoga and Taijigong instructor.
Growing up, I was more into mythology than Wuxia, and I admit that I have never read any Wuxia books or watched Wuxia shows from start to end. I missed that window in my developmental phase, and now to me, Wuxia stands for something that perpetuates a lot of the stereotypes about Chinese culture which I don’t necessarily identify with.
It presents to the world, and to Chinese unfamiliar with Chinese history, a world of Chinese fantasies where women were expected to be perfectly beautiful, or awfully vicious; where men were expected to be spectacularly heroic, or hatefully conniving; and they all let their hair loose in life or even during swordfights in a very Taoist-aspirational-deity/fairy manner. I felt alienated from that narrative. I grew up not having long hair as a child, and I was never slim with porcelain skin. So that perhaps put me in a category of the ‘evil witch’ or ‘hysterical evil sorceress’ of sorts. Even they were kinda beautiful in a stereotypical manner. Maybe I would just be the matchmaker sort, with a big mole on my face no less (think Mulan’s matchmaker in Disney version and that stereotype).
But I can understand the aesthetics and the romantic ideal of these stereotypes. It allows escapism where good and evil are clear cut, and people get their just desserts. Everyone has a dream girl in the form of the Dragon Girl 小龙女 –the women want to be her, the men want to date/marry her. She is the hard-to-get, aloof, but fiercely loyal and extremely capable and invincible fighter who fights like she’s dancing. One of her famous moves (which strangely is rarely discussed and possibly never showcased on TV) was the Fist styles of all ancient great beauties 美女拳法 where she turns into different ancient beauties in the past thousands of years with each move that is representative of the beauties.
I’ve known the folks at Asiapac Books for a while, and one of them is in then Hanfugirls Collective. So I was happy to be able to help a friend in creating some images for her publicity for her kickstarter project to republish the comic collection of this book. Of course having not read the book, I relied on the internet to understand her better. Naturally, there seems to be really strong Taoism influence in the description of her out-of-the-worldliness and fairy-like disposition. This style is possibly a trend that was piloted somewhere in the Wei Jin era, epitomised by the story and depiction of the female protagonist in Ode to the nymph of Luo River painting over a thousand years ago.
Most TV shows in the past did not have much historical accuracy in its fashion and hair stylings, partly because of the lack of interest/resources in doing such detailed research, another would be the high artistic liberty the stylists took in trying to convey the original books’ description and overall feel, especially for fantasy-related ones. The idea of having your straight long hair hanging freely and moves gently with the wind plays up that gentle femininity in a fantasy of women archetypes, and adds to that desirable, youthful, virginal innocence of a girl. Somewhat disturbing if you think about it in a more 21st century context. Of course, I’m speaking from it from a different time-era, which isn’t fair to the original period where it was created.
But as young (kinda) women of the 21st century, many of us had our own discussions while doing this shoot about what we think about the storyline and the characters. Maybe one day, we should do a refresh look at these Wuxia stereotypes from a modern perspective, and see how that perception of female identity has evolved yet again.
In March, we will delve deeper into female identity as well as part of our lectures and workshops, the idea of dance and music, and the changing law regarding women’s rights. So stay tuned~
Meanwhile, if you’re interested in supporting the kickstarter project by Asiapac Books, do visit their kickstarter page! Link: http://kck.st/31cCO6V
Description of the Dragon Girl was very stereotypical fairy goddess kind, that goes like this: Pure and fair like snow (Snow white?), aloof and calm to the extreme. Beauty surpassing all and unique demeanour.
For the media launch event at Yanzilou, Asiapac Books invited Kenny, our traditional tea tutor for Hanfugirls Collective to do a historical introduction and demonstration of tea practice and ritual during the Song dynasty (period which the story is set in). The Song tea ritual was to later be brought to Japan to become the current Japanese tea ceremony. The interest difference I learnt from Kenny, between the Song tea ritual and the Japnese tea ceremony was that the Song Chinese used white tea powder which doesn’t have a bitter taste to it (thus no need for accompanying dessert), while the Japanese green tea comes with a dessert as it has a slight bitter tinge.
Of course the Japanese ritualised everything, so they added a lot more rules and ceremonial things to it while the Song Chinese just thought of it as a more daily enjoyment with friends kinda thing with more flexibility and room for variations.
We are also training up our Hanfugirls for the tea preparation so that when Kenny does conduct an actual tea workshop and experience at the space, we could serve you the authentic Song whisked tea experience too.
We ended the evening with a very Tang style dining set-up and experience just amongst the Hanfugirls Collective ourselves, cos I GOT NEW LIGHTS! Needed to test them for the performance in August! We’re loving the mood already!
#Hanfugirl 