China has a long history of using women as objects d'art since the Warring States and Western Han Dynasty when people painted female figures on silk.

Each time in history has its own idea of "beauty" and from early times artists have recorded their particular version of "beauty". Artists in China are no different. Throughout the ages, the image of the "ideal" beauty has been subject to the trends and politics of the times, and through their legacies we can gain a better understanding of Chinese history.

Even though paintings of women were common, women did not gain respect because of it. In the paintings women are only beautiful objects to show or admire. It is possible to link the growth of women depicted in art and a lowering of their social status.

Beauty Painting in Southern and Northern Dynasties

The early stages of traditional Chinese depictions of beauty began in the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589). Virtuous women and fairies composed the main subjects in these paintings, and they generally came from literary works.

Beauty Painting in Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was the most magnificent period in feudal society. During this time the traditional Chinese depictions of beautiful women also entered a new stage. Painters paid attention to the richly colorful society, and were especially interested in displaying the idle and carefree life of aristocrat women.

Artistic trends in any given historical period are influenced by social consciousness, cultural background and the economic development at the time. In the mid-Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), after a hundred years of development, political power was stabilizing and the economy was prospering. Hedonism became increasingly popular among the ruling class.

The portrait painting style initiated by Yan Liben in the early Tang Dynasty which had aimed at praising national heroes, gradually lost its appeal. Even in many Buddhist paintings, the concubines of the rich were posed as goddesses, an indication that religious painting was becoming more realistic and temporal painting began to take on its initial form. Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang were two representative artists of the time.