/lit/ - Literature

>>20881235
So the difference between China and Japan I think is that because of all the dynasties barbarian invasions and unifications and dissolutions and reunifications etc China had a lot of dramatically varying aesthetics. The courtesan and concubine stuff here
>>20866989
>>20872209
>>20877763
as well as the dance costume in the youtube here
>>20879801
look a bit high Tang dynasty (AD618-907) influenced to me. Basically by late Tang, Chinese culture had become quite decadent.

Nearly all of the translated poetry in this thread comes from this Tang era, as the poetry then was considered the zenith of aesthetic achievement and later poets endlessly emulated the style and copied it.

A lot of fashion in Late Tang was influenced by foreign barbarian styles, hufu or foreign clothing, all the women began wearing less and less, there is some famous painting which is like a woman in gossamer silks with exposed cleavage.

A lot of Islamic influenced art was I think also quite fashionable, there are scrolls of Arabic and Chinese calligraphy together, the Chinese art showed Persian influence in weaponry, apparel, porcelain. I think in Chinese history there was also Indian influence, for example Ne Zha (youth who flies on magic fire wheels) and Sun Wukong monkey king legends all are believed to perhaps have been influenced by India.

The dress style in Tang was women trying to show their suppleness by pleating their skirts and raising the waistline all the way up to under the armpits, to reveal their "body contours". So the costume and that dance in the youtube link above is probably not too fanciful, quite probably close to something seen in pleasure houses of late Tang. Later on by the Song dynasty China became very Confucian and conservative, the footbinding started happening and women I think no longer wore as alluring and revealing garments.