The woman restoring ancient Chinese makeup

From Global Times:

By examining references in ancient books, Wang Yifan, a 29-year-old woman from Northeast China's Liaoning Province, has recovered 39 types of cosmetics and makeup tools from China's different dynasties including a powder used by Wu Zetian, China's only female emperor, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and bath beans, a type of facial cleanser used by the Empress Dowager Cixi in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Currently, Wang's recovered cosmetics cannot be sold, they are just for display as they still need further refinement.

read more here @ Global Times

Ingenious Girl Makes Idiom Dictionary Illustrated with Paper-cuttings

From All China Women's Federation:

A 17-year-old girl who was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome at the age of 9 has devoted great efforts to making an unusual idiom dictionary illustrated with paper-cuttings since her summer vacation.  The ingenious girl Liu Yu comes from Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

"Currently, people have attached great importance to traditional culture. I think idioms are an aspect of our culture and it is more interesting to use paper-cuttings to explain idioms. Meanwhile, the art form can be passed down," Liu said.

In the process of making the dictionary, she chose some idioms that are easy to understand for young children and she also noted the source of the idioms and some examples.

To date, she has made paper-cuttings of 103 idioms and she is expected to complete the dictionary by the end of next year. The young woman hopes that some publishing houses will help her publish it.

read more here @ All China Women's Federation

The Forgotten Language That Only Women Once Knew

Ever had the sneaking suspicion that women speak in different tongues? If you were a Hunanese peasant woman in 20-century China, there was a kernel of truth to the old joke. Inside a hilly, remote village of Jiangyong County, unschooled women and girls developed a mysterious system of writing called Nüshu to express their innermost thoughts and passed around favorite songs, prayers, traditional tales, birthday letters and wedding congratulations to each other in coded script.

The communications were hidden in plain sight from the men, who largely disregarded Nüshu — which means “women’s writing” in Chinese — as frivolous, not bothering to learn a word.

Similar female scripts arose in Japan and Korea too, but only Nüshu bore a certain mystique. When women died, they had their favorite works burned or buried with them. So we don’t know exactly when Nüshu began, but we know that women were using the script around 200 years ago, when girls weren’t expected to go to school and long before they received any formal education. 

read more here @ OZY

Chinese Actress Liu Xiaoqing on Playing Empress Wu

Liu Xiaoqing as Empress Wu Zetain

In the pantheon of great Chinese actresses, few names come as revered as Liu. The star of more than 60 films and TV shows, Madame Liu, as she likes to be called, has a résumé that includes four marriages, once being China’s richest woman and a jail term for tax evasion. Now 61 years young, she is keen to discuss her latest role over dinner at Beijing’s Four Seasons Hotel. It's a role she has already played four times over.

“The tale of Empress Wu is like jade,” she tells TIME, dressed in a black tee bearing the slogan ”Little Cutie” over a green military-style shirt. “We’re on a treasure hunt for this most precious of treasures, unraveling the mysteries of that period and person.”

That person is Wu Zetian, the only woman to have ever ruled China, and that period is the Tang Dynasty (AD618 to 906). Liu is due to reprise the role in a 14-part series entitled Empress, due to hit American screens late next year.

Empress Wu is legendary in China for using her wit, intelligence and cunning to eclipse all rivals and rise from her position as Emperor Taizong’s favorite concubine to the very apex of court life. She also had scores of lovers, ruled through 72 prime ministers, and is believed to have killed her own daughter. “Only after I acted as Empress Wu did people start thinking positive things about her,” says Liu.

read more here

@ Time

@ Broadway World

@ Variety

@ Women & Hollywood Blog

The Demonization of Empress Wu

“She killed her sister, butchered her elder brothers, murdered the ruler, poisoned her mother,” the chronicles say. But is the empress unfairly maligned?

Of all these female rulers, though, none has aroused so much controversy, or wielded such great power, as a monarch whose real achievements and character remain obscured behind layers of obloquy. Her name was Wu Zetian, and in the seventh century A.D. she became the only woman in more than 3,000 years of Chinese history to rule in her own right.

In death, as in life, then, Wu remains controversial. Even her gravesite is remarkable. When she died, she was laid to rest in an elaborate tomb in the countryside about 50 miles north of the then capital, Xi’an. It was approached via a mile-long causeway running between two low hills topped with watchtowers, known today as the “nipple hills” because Chinese tradition holds that the spot was selected because the hills reminded Gaozong of the young Wu’s breasts.

Read entire article by Mike Dash @ The Smithsonian Magazine
Women of History: Wu Chao
Ancient History Encyclopedia: Wu Zetain

Six Ancient Chinese Women

From ECNS:

Here are six talented ancient Chinese women who once impressed in their time, and still affect us in our time.

Li Qingzhao: Praised as the "No.1 talented woman", Li Qingzhao, a poet from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), was born in Shandong province.

Cai Wenji: Daughter of literatus Cai Yi of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). Cai was good not only at poetry and calligraphy, but also mathematics, astronomy, debate and music. Her masterpieces were Hu Jia Shi Ba Pai, or Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute, and Bei Feng Shi, or Indignant Poems.

Ban Zhao: Ban was the first female historian in China. Her father, Ban Biao, was an historian during the Eastern Han Dynasty. She was also good at writing poems, yet only seven of her works have survived.

Shangguan Wan'er: Shangguan was famous for being given an important position by the only female emperor, Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Su Hui: Su Hui, from the Qian Qin (351-394) was famously known for a handkerchief she made. The textile was embroidered with 841 characters that could form 7,958 poems.

Xue Tao: It is recorded that Xue Tao, a talented female entertainer during the Tang Dynasty created this colored paper to write poems. During her time, writing papers were often yellow, yet Xue changed the simple color into different shades of red or green. Later, people made similar colorful paper and named them "Xue Tao Jian".

Li Zhao - Female Pioneer of Communist China

Li Zhao is best known in China as the wife of the 1980s liberal reformer Hu Yaobang, who held the country's highest office as general secretary of the Communist Party – until being forced out. It was his death in 1989 that famously sparked the Tiananmen Square student protests.

One of the female pioneers of communist China, Li Zhao joined the revolution as a 16-year-old in 1937. After her father was killed at an anti-Japanese occupation rally, she took inspiration from the classical Chinese legend Mulan and disguised herself as a man – even shaving her head – to travel alone the long and dangerous road to Yanan.

She was laid to rest at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery on Friday, in an ancient hall reserved for Communism's heroes with unblemished careers. Hu hadn't been buried here. But on Friday the white floral wreaths included those from Xi and Premier Li Keqiang.

Read more here @ Stuff dot co dot nz

3,000 years of beauty enhancement in China

Chinese women have been attentive to their physical appearance since the ancient times. As is common with trends related to people's personal appearance, they come and go, only to regenerate and take on new forms when the circumstances are right.

Cosmetics have been used by people all around the world to accentuate their physical features for millennia. In China, this practice of face adornment gradually spread from the ruling class to the general population.

According to historical accounts, women in China were complementing their looks with lipstick, nail polish and perfumes as far back as two or three thousand years ago. During the imperial times, upper class women and traditional yiji entertainers, similar to Japan’s geishas, were the main trendsetters.

Read More Here @ GB Times

Lady of Dai

One of the world’s most preserved mummies, the Lady of Dai, is still soft to the touch, has bendy ligaments, and is 2,100 years old

A Chinese woman was preserved for around 2,100 years and is baffling scientists. She is called the Lady of Dai, and is considered to be one of the best-preserved mummies ever found.

Her skin is still soft, her legs and arms can bend, her internal organs are still intact. She has even retained her Type-A blood. Somehow she still has her own eyelashes and hair.

The Lady of Dai is also known as Xin Zhui. She lived during the Han dynasty from 206 BC through 220 AD and was the wife of the Marquis of Dai.

Her tomb was found inside a hill known as Mawangdui, located in Changsha, Hunan, China. The burial site was found in 1971 when workers were digging an air raid shelter.

Read More Here @ the Vintage News

Was it Love or Witchcraft?

Was it Love or Witchcraft? The Magical Practices of Chinese Empress Chen Jiao | Ancient Origins

Usually, the Empress of the Han Dynasty was invincible, untouchable, and protected by the law more than anyone else. However, in the case of Empress Chen of Wu, the accusation of practicing black magic destroyed her life. Nowadays, she is remembered as an ancient Chinese witch.

She was the wife of Emperor Wu of Han, who ruled between 141 and 87 BC. Their marriage was arranged and was not based on love. She was her husband’s servant when she was a little girl. Instead of playing and having fun like most children, she had to follow the strict rules laid out for Han Dynasty women.

Read more here: Ancient Origins

Ancient Bling In Tomb of Chinese Woman

Ancient Bling: Exquisite Jewelry Found in Tomb of Chinese Woman

Around 1,500 years ago, at a time when China was divided, a woman named Farong was laid to rest wearing fantastic jewelry, which included a necklace of 5,000 beads and "exquisite" earrings, archaeologists report.

Her tomb was discovered in 2011 in Datong City, China, by a team of archaeologists with the Datong Municipal Institute of Archaeology who were surveying the area before a construction project. The researchers excavated the tomb, conserved the artifacts and reconstructed the necklace.

Her epitaph, found by the tomb entrance, reads simply, "Han Farong, the wife of Magistrate Cui Zhen" (as translated in the journal article). In China, the surname is traditionally written first and the given name second.

While no other burials were found in Farong's tomb, the archaeologists did discover two other tombs nearby that are in the process of being studied.

Read more at Yahoo! News

Women in History - All China Women's Federation

Women in History - All China Women's Federation
Series of articles of women who have made an impact on the history of China throughout the ages.  Link forms part of the Women of China website.

The Four Great Beauties, and the Arts of the Courtesans in Ancient China

The Four Great Beauties, and the Arts of the Courtesans in Ancient China | Ancient Origins

The Four Great Beauties are four ancient Chinese women renowned for their beauty which they skillfully exercised to influence Chinese history. Although each of the Four Great Beauties frequently appear as the subjects or objects of arts, one seldom learns much of them beyond their names, descriptions of their looks and brief mentions of their skills. This is common in ancient Chinese works related to female performers, or courtesans. In their legends, the Four Great Beauties were, in fact, heavily implied as courtesans themselves. Their legends illustrate applications of the early Chinese education utilized and perfected by the ancient courtesans of China, which was then preserved by Confucius as part of his philosophy.

Fu hao - Ancient queen, priestess and leader of warriors

Ancient queen, priestessand leader of warriors | Shanghai Daily

THE story of the woman warrior Hua Mulan has been passed down in history through ballad, film and drama for 1,600 years. Much of the tale’s popularity comes from the rarity of a heroine in a time when women were largely relegated to domesticity.

No artifacts have actually been discovered yet to prove the existence of Mulan, but an exhibition at Capital Museum is capturing attention with revelations of an even earlier female warrior named Fu Hao.

She lived more than 3,000 years ago. Her life is being pieced together through oracle bones, bronze and jade weapons, jewelry and vessels found at an excavation of her tomb in what is now Henan Province in central China.

The museum tribute to her is entitled “Queen, Mother, General — the 40th Anniversary of the Excavation of the Shang Tomb of Fu Hao.” The exhibition at Capital Museum in Beijing runs until June 26.

Empress Dowager Cixi

Bel Mooney's review of Jung Chang's "Empress Dowager Cixi" from the Mail Online:

She was a version of Margaret Thatcher, in a different age, an alien culture. From humble origins yet a natural leader, she used a powerful mixture of intelligence and natural charm to get her way, fighting a single-minded path to the top.

Autocratic and determined, she would let few things or people stand in the way of her ambition to change history.

The lady knew how to manipulate men who were weaker - which was most, even in a male-dominated culture. Powerful rivals held no terror for her, and heaven help those who made her their enemy.

Depending on whether you’re a detractor or an admirer, she was ruthless or tough-minded, devious or shrewd, cruel or simply pragmatic according to the standards of the age. Nobody can argue that this stateswoman made a significant mark on history, yet history’s jury is still out.

Was she an innovator or a despot? The answer is almost certainly - both.

Other Links:

Extract of Jung's book as featured on The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10324161/An-extract-from-Wild-Swans-author-Jung-Changs-new-book-Empress-Dowager-Cixi.html

Interview with Jung Chang featured on the Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10314619/Jung-Chang-interview-why-Im-still-banned-in-China.html

Article on Cixi featured in the Smithsonian Magazine: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/da-cixi.html

Tomb of Shangguan Wan'er

From Huffington Post:

Chinese archaeologists have discovered the tomb of a 7th century female politician who was one of the most powerful women in the country's ancient history, local media said on Thursday.

Shangguan Wan'er -- who lived from 664 to 710 in the Tang dynasty -- was a trusted aide to China's first female emperor Wu Zetian, and married to Wu's son, while having relationships with both the empress's lover and her nephew.

As a sequence of murders, coups and affairs enveloped the dynasty, Shangguan Wan'er's husband Li Xian briefly became emperor -- only to be killed by his senior wife, who took power herself.

She was deposed in turn by Li Longji, who killed both her and Shangguan Wan'er.

The site was discovered near an airport in Xianyang in northern Shaanxi province and confirmed by an epitaph, China Radio International said on its website.

Peng Liyuan: First Lady of China

From the Washington Post:

A photo of China’s new first lady Peng Liyuan in younger days, singing to martial-law troops following the 1989 bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, flickered across Chinese cyberspace this week.

It was swiftly scrubbed from China’s Internet before it could generate discussion online. But the image — seen and shared by outside observers — revived a memory the leadership prefers to suppress and shows one of the challenges in presenting Peng on the world stage as the softer side of China.

The country has no recent precedent for the role of first lady, and also faces a tricky balance at home. The leadership wants Peng to show the human side of the new No. 1 leader, Xi Jinping, while not exposing too many perks of the elite. And it must balance popular support for the first couple with an acute wariness of personality cults that could skew the consensus rule among the Chinese Communist Party’s top leaders.

Long Haired Village

From The Nation:

HAIR is very important to women, who generally use it to highlight their features, but for the women of the ethnic Yao people of Huangluo Village, China, hair is their most prized possession.

Located in the Longji Scenic Are of Gulin, China, Huangluo Village numbers around 82 households of Red Yao ethnics, who get their name from the traditional red clothing. Like many other Chinese villages, Hunagluo enjoys very attractive natural surroundings and has plenty of ancient traditions to keep tourists entertained, but the most fascinating thing about it is the women’s obsession with long hair. In fact, the Yao settlement has received a Guinness certification for the “world’s longest hair village” and is also known as the “Long Hair Village” across China. Considering the average hair length of the 120 women in Huangluo is 1,7 meters and the longest locks exceed 2.1 meters, I’d say its reputation is well-deserved.

Hair has always played a big part in the lives of the Red Yao women of Huangluo. Until a few years ago, it was considered so important that no one, apart from the husband and children was allowed to look upon it when let loose.

End To Foot Binding In China

From the Blaze:

Believe it or not there are still some Chinese women alive who practiced the ancient, incredibly bizarre tradition of binding their feet to prevent them from growing.

The feet of girls as young as 5 would be broken and bound tightly with cotton strips, forcing their four smallest toes to gradually fold under the soles to create a so-called 3-inch golden lotus, once idealized as the epitome of beauty.

Chinese men were hot for tiny Chinese lady feet, for some reason.

But not any more. Today there are only about 30 women alive in China who did this when they were younger.

See also a more in depth article in the LA Times.

Sheng Nu - China's Leftover Women

From Care 2 dot com:

In China, the sexist term “leftover woman,” sheng nu, is widely used to describe an urban, professional female over the age of 27 who is still single. This derogatory term has been aggressively disseminated by the Chinese government, warning women that they will become spinsters if they do not marry by the time they turn 30. The irony of the media campaign is that China’s sex-ratio imbalance has resulted in a surplus of tens of millions of men who will not be able to find a bride.

In 2007, China’s Ministry of Education added the term “leftover woman” to its official lexicon, according to state media reports. In 2010, the All-China Women’s Federation and other government groups carried out a nationwide survey of more than 30,000 people in 31 provinces. Their findings on “leftover women” have been publicized repeatedly by China’s official media.

The article uses the heading “See What Category of ‘Leftover’ You Belong to.” The first category is leftover women aged 25 to 27 years, who are called “leftover fighters,” sheng dou shi, a play on the title of a popular martial arts film. It says these women “still have the courage to fight for a partner.”

The next category is 28- to 30-year-old women, or “the ones who must triumph,” bi sheng ke, a play on the Chinese name for Pizza Hut. It says these women have limited opportunities for romance because their careers leave them “no time for the hunt.”

The final category, 35 and older, is called the “master class of leftover women.” The term qi tian da sheng plays on the name of an ancient Chinese legend, the Monkey King. It says this category of woman “has a luxury apartment, private car and a company, so why did she become a leftover woman?”