Chapter 10 The first part is selected from the cultural relics Section 10 to talk about the beard problem of the ancients from the cultural relics (1)

In the seventeenth issue of "Red Flag", there is an article "Logic and Language" written by Mr. Wang Li, which is quite important.I don't understand logic and linguistics, so I have little say in this aspect.However, there is a section at the end that involves the history of beards and the ancient people's aesthetic views on beards, which is not in line with our common sense in cultural relics.I would like to put forward some different opinions for discussion. If the words are correct, they may be used as a reference for the author when rewriting the quotations. That article mainly counts three points, which are quoted as follows:

1.Men of the Han nationality grew beards in ancient times, not for those who like beards, but because men must grow beards. 2.The ancient Yuefu "Moshang Sang" said: "When a traveler sees Luofu, he puts down his load and strokes his mustache." It can be seen that every man who walked with a load at that time had a beard. 3.A good beard is one of the characteristics of a beautiful man, so "Hanshu" called Han Gaozu "beautiful beard". Mr. Wang's "ancient" boundary is not clear. I don't know exactly which dynasty refers to Xia, Shang, Zhou... which dynasty, men must grow beards?Are there reliable literature and other materials to prove it?

Secondly, just because of the two sentences in the Yuefu poem, it is believed that every man who walked with a load in ancient times had a beard. Is this kind of reasoning tenable?Or is there another reliable evidence to say so definitely? Thirdly, the interpretation of the word "beautiful beard and beard", according to the general custom, seems to be only a compliment of "a good beard", which has little connection with the characteristics of "beautiful men" in the Han and Wei Dynasties.Are there other documents and other proofs? The following article also said: "When it comes to future generations, beards will only grow after middle age."According to the literary style, the descendants should naturally be the Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. Is it true?Or is there any literature or physical evidence to prove it?

There is no basis for the generalization of the first point of selfishness, the second point is less convincing, and the third point is not very appropriate to explain the text.If the writing is not rigorous enough, it is easy to cause misunderstandings, and the citations are illogical, and it is specious, and it is even more different from the facts, so it is worth discussing. Regarding the problem of beards of the ancients, there have been a lot of references in books, and this article does not intend to make more references, because simply quoting books cannot solve specific problems.Now I just want to pay attention to the cultural relics and introduce some relevant materials, which may explain the following four things: 1. Men in ancient times did not necessarily have to grow beards.2. In a certain historical period, due to the influence of social atmosphere or aesthetics, the beard has indeed gradually been valued. What is the general style?What's different?Where the literature is insufficient, we can also obtain some knowledge from other sources.At a certain period in the Middle Ages, it suddenly did not pay attention to it, and there were also social reasons.3. It is certain that beards and beards are mostly related to heroism in certain periods, but they do not necessarily count as handsome men.For a long period of time and on the contrary, some people have more beards and lower status.But not everyone who bears the burden has a beard.4. Since the Jin and Tang Dynasties, there have been new changes in the style of beards, but middle-aged or elderly people, even famous officials, do not necessarily keep them.This trend continued until the late Qing Dynasty.

First of all, it can be analyzed from some cultural relics left over from the Shang Dynasty.There are several carved jade human heads in the Forbidden City, several human heads on a newly unearthed bronze tripod in Hunan, and several bronze knives, bronze daggers, and copper axes that have been handed down from ancient times. , was excavated in Anyang, Henan, and it tells us that there seems to be no necessary rules about beards during the Yin and Shang Dynasties.They are the same rulers, some have bare chins, and some have big beards around their mouths.Moreover, two materials can be used to prove that beards have little to do with personal status, because a white stone unearthed in Anyang unearthed a nobleman with a flowered dress and a flowered hat carved in white stone, and another pottery slave with a shackle in his hand, both of which have bare chins . (If there is no doubt about the material age, we can use it as a hypothesis. There are not many people with beards in this period.)

More image materials of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods have been unearthed.The more important ones are: 1. Houma of Shanxi found the two humanoid clay models. Judging from their clothes, they were obviously men of a certain status, and there was no trace of beard.2. A painted lacquer was unearthed from the tomb of Guan Chu in Changtai, Xinyang, Henan Province. There are some figures of music and dance, hunting, and aristocrats on it, but there is no beard.3. A large number of painted wooden figurines from Chu tombs in the Warring States period have been unearthed in Changsha, Hunan Province in the past two decades. Most of the men, regardless of their military attire, have a little beard. The tip is slightly upturned, some have a small chin left, and some have nothing left.There are no less than a hundred kinds of the same image, which shows that it must have a certain relationship with the social preferences of a certain area at that time, and it is not accidental. (If the artist uses it as a reference for the statue of Qu Yuan, he will not make a historical mistake.) But there are also quite a few older ones who don't grow beards.In addition, the Forbidden City also has a supplementary material handed down from generation to generation that is sufficient for reference, that is, the "Lie Nv Ren Zhi Tu" volume based on the biography of Lie Nu, on which there are a series of images of famous historical figures in the Spring and Autumn Period, and several of them have the same Rendan-style eight-character beard , There are also those who are old and don't grow beards.This picture scroll is said to be the manuscript of Gu Kai in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.If the beard style is connected with the analysis of the clothing and crown system, the original manuscript may be as early as the Western Han Dynasty, that is, based on the manuscripts of the four screens at that time (maybe even earlier, because the beard style is different from the Han Dynasty).In addition, there is another mural of the Western Han Dynasty newly unearthed in Luoyang, Henan Province, which is also a story of the Spring and Autumn Period.From this, we can learn some rules for representing the images of historical figures at that time. For example, when painting ancient warriors Tian Kaijiang and Guyezi, they often used images of beards and beards to express heroism.The stone carvings of Wuliang Temple also follow this example.In addition, the hero Wu Zixu reflected on the mirror of Shaoxing at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the warrior Meng Ben on the stone inscription of the Han Dynasty in Yinan, Shandong, and Zilu in the "Seventy-two Sages" made by later generations are mostly the same.As for other civil servants and celebrities, they usually only keep two mustaches, or they are parted, or drooping, in short, they keep a little bit with reservations and choices.Regardless of whether the rest is reflected in the lacquered dowry of figures on chariots and horses in Changsha, or in the murals of the Han Tomb in Yingchengzi, Liaoyang, Liaoning, or the story of a filial son unearthed in the painted lacquered bamboo basket unearthed in North Korea, there is not much difference.At the same time, there is still nothing left.That is to say, it can be seen that there is a lot of room for flexibility in the growth of beards from Shang to Han in ancient times. It is somewhat voluntary and is not restricted by laws or certain social habits.I really can't see the situation that Mr. Wang said that men must grow beards.

As for the customs of the Han and Wei dynasties, there are more abundant stone carvings, murals, lacquer paintings, clay sculptures and small bronze statues for reference.It very concretely reflects the images of many working people, such as hunting, fishing, plowing, boiling salt, pounding pestle, fetching water, playing music, and many other major tasks in the kitchen, such as cutting fish and roasting meat, and it is rare to see people with beards.Unless it is another specific person who bears the burden, it is hard to say that everyone who bears the burden at that time must have a beard!At that time, there were indeed some bearded people, such as the gatekeepers, servants, and Wu Bo, the pioneer of He Ge, that is to say, most of them had a lot of beards, but this phenomenon was rarely seen in the upper and middle classes of rulers.There are also two famous narrations in Yuefu poems: "He is clean and fair, with a beard", no more, no less, like a bunch of people.It can be proved that Mr. Wang's third point cannot be established, because based on these materials, even from common sense, it can be seen that the feudal rulers at that time would never be willing to be in the middle and lower reaches, but let his janitors and pawns dominate as beautiful men!

In fact, it is worth noting that the opposite trend formed by the social atmosphere continues to develop, that is, for a long period of time since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, beards were not valued.There are many reasons, and detailed analysis and extension are not the purpose of this article.It can be roughly said that it must have something to do with the favor and monopoly of young royal family members and eunuchs.In the literature, such as "Book of the Later Han·Eunuch Biography", "Book of Han·Ning Xing Biography", "Biography of Foreign Relatives", and Ganbao's "General Discussion of the Jin Dynasty", "Book of Jin·Five Elements", "Baopuzi", "Yan's Family Instructions Mian Xue Pian" and Yuefu poems have recorded many important and reliable explanatory materials for us.By this period, beautiful beards and beards not only could not become the objects of beauty in the upper class, but on the contrary had become a joke in song and dance comedies. The main character of "Wen Kang Dance" is a drunken bearded man.In addition, there is a Zui Fu who plays lions, and he is also a foreigner with a big beard!Can we say this is a masculine trait?Can't say that.