1.Origin and Evolvement of Aesthetics in Physical Appearance and Related Chinese Characters

The earlier the time was，the closer the men’s engagement with the production of goods.When tools were less developed，men had to find food by their own physical strength，thus strong men were so popular that they became the examples for aesthetics in early times.According to historical records，in the Pre﹣Qin Era，people of extremely big size were regarded aes﹣thetic.Some Chinese characters，like mei ， li ， jiao ， yan and shuo carved on animal bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty mean exactly“big and beautiful”.They can be used to describe both men and women.Besides，most men and women portrayed in Book of Songs ，one of Chinese classic books，were characterized with big sizes.Zhu Ziqing，a famous writer in China，writes in Annotation of Three Books of Ancient Poems ，“both beauti﹣ful men and women can be described as‘big and strong’”.In a song named“Ze Bei”in Book of Songs ，the verses“there was a beauty who was big and pretty；…there was a beauty，who was big and decent”celebrating a person who was tall and strong were repeated for several times.For women，“big”figures indeed were guarantees of strength and fertility，for women in ancient times had to do labor work.It can be exemplified by a great number of poems themed on labor work in Book of Songs ，such as“Guan Ju”“Juan Er”and“Cai Fan”.“Beautiful”men were described as“bearded，strong and brave”in Lie Yu Kou in Chuang Tzu. It is assumed that due to needs of survival and fertility，tall，strong，powerful and fertile men and women gained the most popularity in the Pre﹣Qin Era.The ancient Chinese’pursuit for“big sizes”was not alone in the world，and it resonated with the aesthetics of other nationalities during the same period of time.For example，there were a lot of strong naked women in the paintings and sculptures of early times in western countries.They were of big sizes，loo﹣king tall，healthy and chesty.In a word，taking the size of the body as the aesthetic standard marked a unique feature of that time.

In the Han Dynasty，due to the prevalence of dancing and singing，the emergence of caring for body，plus the belief that people’s appearances were influenced by places where they live and the appreciation of the differences between the two genders，people began to cherish the tender﹣ness of women and strength of men.Some Chinese characters which used to describe both men and women such as mei ， li ， jiao and yan were used only for women since the late Han Dynasty.Different kinds of beauty presented by different genders can be seen in different Chinese characters，such as wei ， fei ，and ya for men and lianɡ ， juan ， shu ， miao and xing for women.

In the times of the Three Kingdoms，the tenderness of women was ap﹣preciated while the masculine power of men was upheld，which can be seen from characters such as yi ， fenɡ ， zi ， chanɡ and xu .Then East Jin，West Jin，the North and the South Dynasties were the times featuring the pursuit of“pure beauty”，during which the gentlemen，described as xiu and jun ，were quite popular and the beauty of women was seasoned with beauty of move﹣ment.The detailed introduction is as follows：

（1）“Big Size”in the Pre-Qin Era

From eleven classic books in ancient China，including Book of Songs ， Tso Chuan ， Stratagems of the Warring States and The Stories of Yanzi ，we’ve found eight characters related to the concept of“beauty”，which are mei ， li ， hao ， jiao ， luan ， yan ， jia and e respectively.They all mean large and beauti﹣ful.From this we can estimate that：in this particular period of time，physi﹣cal fiteness was dismissed as a virtue for both men and women.Anthropo﹣logically speaking，in the hierarchical society dating back to the ancient patrilineal clan society，all the time﹣honored norms，including the status of both men and women，were tested in the course of overwhelming social changes.As Friedrich Engels wrote in his The Origin of the Family ， Private Property and the State ，the earliest classical suppression is concordant with men’s enslaving of women.Men played the part of production and labor work while women were responsible for raising children.Thus，it was men who were at a higher social position that determined the standards of aes﹣thetics.According to Mr.Li Zhihong，speaking of the survival﹣concerning demands，men’s possession of useful resources is the biggest in size and largest in number，while women’s is far less or none，which endows men with favorable facilitation with which they can quickly build a formative cognitive pattern equivalent to their appearances in women’s cognitive sys﹣tems by relying on the enforcement of the decisive factors. Influenced by the concept of“the beauty of big size”，in men’s eyes，the beauty of women includes such elements as big size and great strength，huge and solid head，bright eyes and exquisite skin.However，some women﹣specified beautiful body parts such as breasts，hip and feet were neglected in the mainstream aesthetics.In Book of Songs ，a song named“Shuo Ren”described a leg﹣endary beauty as，“What a slim lady，dressed in silk cloths and cotton blouse，as the daughter of lord Qi，the bride of the King of Wei and the sister of the crown prince，also the youngest aunt of the King of Xing and sister﹣in﹣law of the Duke Tan；she has soft and gentle hands，fair and moist skin，long neck and a beautiful set of teeth.With the round forehead and slim eyebrows，she can attract the men merely by a glance or a smile.”It was praised by Yao Jiheng，a scholar in the Qing Dynasty，as“the one and only best song of its kind in the long history of the odes to beautiful ladies”in General Survey on Book of Songs .In this particular song，the“size”and“height”of the beautiful lady were praised at the very beginning，and then detailed description was made of her body parts like hands，skin，neck，teeth，eyebrows and eyes.However，some female﹣specific body parts like breasts and waists were not mentioned at all.As Chris Shilling once said，“…For some women，body parts as a way of planning is more like a reflec﹣tion of men’s designing and fantasy than the expression of their individuali﹣ty…the beauty of women，to a large extent，has nothing to do with their brains.Even if it is connected with words such as mind，spirit and virtue，it is irrelevant to women themselves in essence，reflecting others’control over their souls.”

Back then there was no unanimous view on beauties in the South and the North of China.In the North，women who were strong，fertile and gentle were popular while in the South those who were plump and small，good at dressing，making up，dancing and singing were highly appreciated.In the Chapter of Da Zhao in Songs of Chu ，a sharp contrast was made between the women in the South and the North，in which the former was described as exquisite and small，good at singing and dancing in verses“chubby and small，with a slim figure”and“fair skin with make﹣ups and black eye﹣brows”，while the latter as tall and elegant with an air of natural and healthy beauty.

What Song Yu emphasized in his Master Teng﹣t’u was the beauty of women’s slim figure and fair skin.He wrote，“The daughter of Dong’s，was neither too tall nor too short，and neither too fair nor too pinky.”This type of“well﹣balanced beauty”resonated with the“well﹣proportioned beauty”prevailing in western countries.To some degree，it means that the aesthetics in the South has entered a more refined stage，laying a solid foundation for the appreciation of women’s gentle characters in the Han Dy﹣nasty.Correspondingly，ancient Greeks at that time also attached great im﹣portance to“well﹣proportioned beauty”.

As Aristotle once said，“Besides，whether animals or something else which are made with different parts，they need to meet two conditions if they want to be regarded as beautiful.Firstly，their individual（body）parts should be of good proportion；secondly，they should be of a certain physical size which was not randomly determined，since the beauty is usually deter﹣mined by sizes and sequences.Thus，animals won’t be regarded as good﹣looking if they are too small（since their image would be quite vague at an extremely quick glance）or too big（since the observer may not have a full picture of their appearance at a single glance—for instance，when an ani﹣mal is as long as 1，000 meters）.Accordingly，as there should be a proper length for human bodies and animals so that people can have a full picture of them when observing，the plots of stories should be properly planned so that they can be easily remembered by the readers.”

There were two types of beauty for men in the Pre﹣Qin Era，which were“the beauty of strength”and“the beauty of manner”.The warriors were strong and powerful，presenting a fresh beauty naturally，while scholars were gentle and learned，having good manners and being well﹣cultivated.In Lie Yu Kou in Chuang Tzu ，it said“（someone is）better than others as being good﹣looking，heavily bearded，tall，strong and brave”.What Chuang Tzu mentioned were basic requirements for a man with“the beauty of strength”.The“dancers”and“archers”in Book of Songs were quite representatives in this regard.In Jian Xi of The Odes of Bei in Book of Songs ，it said，“Easy and indifferent！Easy and indifferent！I am ready to perform in all dances，then when the sun is in the meridian，there in that conspicuous place.With my large figure，I dance in the ducal courtyard.I am strong（also）as a tiger；the reins are in my grasp like ribbons.In my left hand，I grasp a flute；in my right I hold a pheasant’s feather.I am red as if I were roughed；the duke gives me a cup（of spirits）.” In this poem，the main character was portrayed as a brave，strong and powerful man when he performed the martial dances，impressed readers with his athletic move﹣ments and tall figure，and then he was featured as elegant and charming when he performed artistic dances.In Yi Jie of The Odes of Qi in the same book，the main character was a talented and good﹣looking archer.It said，“Alas for him，so handsome and accomplished！How grandly tall！With what elegance in his high forehead！With motion of his beautiful eyes！With what skill in the swift movements of his feet！With what mastery of archery！Alas for his，so famous！His beautiful eyes how clear！His man﹣ners how complete！Shooting all day at the target，and never lodging out﹣side the bird﹣square！Indeed our（ruler’s）nephew！Alas for his，so beauti﹣ful！His bright eyes and high forehead how lovely！His dancing so choice！Sure to end his arrows right through！The four all going to the same place！One able to withstand rebellion！”

On the contrary，the beauty of scholars is a kind of acquired beauty forged by schooling and educating，which does not only refer to specific body parts like eyes or eyebrows，but also to the overall impression of a person’s manners and movements.In Book of Rites ： Jade-Bead Pedants of the Royal Cap ，men of noble character were described as someone who“walk with firm steps without any irrelevant movements，put hands together in front of his body when they are not in motion，never move his lips except for speaking，eating or drinking，always sit straight，breathe in a mild way without making any unpleasing noises，have an air of elegance and look spirited and solemn”.At that time，Confucius and Qu Yuan were the best among their peers.Confucius appealed people to be“men of noble charac﹣ters”rather than“villains”.He himself never wore any purple or red clothes in private.In summer，he always put on another robe over his cotton cloths made of Ge .If he went to offer condolences for the family who just lost a member，he would never show up in lamb fur or with the Black Crown he usually wore on formal occasions.On festivals，he often put on a formal official suit and on the day of fast or fete，he would go showering in cotton bathrobe.In the South，a totally different style was presented by scholars there.In Li Sao ，one of Qu Yuan’s works，it said“although I am endowed with so many beautiful internal qualities，I am keen on self﹣culti﹣vation in order to become a better version of myself.Wearing the fragrant angelic herbs and sweat selineas，I wove the orchids for the ornaments I put on.How times flies and I’m afraid that I could not seize the time to culti﹣vate a beautiful mind in me.At dawn，I went for the magnolia on the slope in the morning glory；at dark，I took a shower with the winter﹣thorn collect﹣ed along the stream”.In the poem，the author was characterized as an ele﹣gant man of noble characters wearing fragrant leaves and flowers，presen﹣ting his taste of purity and romance.Thus，we can have a brief understand﹣ing of what scholars in the South looked like.

（2）“Softness”in the Han Dynasty

In the early Han Dynasty，the government upheld“the principle of set﹣tling down and rehabilitation”.People accordingly appreciated their bodies with profound humanistic feelings.At that time，men with a cultivated mind and a strong body were regarded as beautiful while little and gentle women were regarded as beautiful.Words such as mei ， li ， jiao ， yan ，which used to refer to both men and women，began to refer to women only.In that period of time，men were mostly described as wei ， fei and qi ，while women as lianɡ ， juan ， shu ， miao and qinɡ. Various versions of the concept of“beau﹣ty”showcased the colorful features of the beauty of different genders.At that time，the aesthetics of women shifted from“the beauty of big size”in the Pre﹣Qin Era to“the beauty of softness”in the Han Dynasty.The rea﹣sons are as follows：

First，culturally speaking，at that time，singing and dancing were high﹣ly appreciated.The culture in the Han Dynasty was so greatly influenced by the culture of Chu（cited by Li Zehou）that the prevalence of singing and dancing greatly influenced the physical aesthetics.Liu Chengji once said，“In the culture of Chu，the world was constructed by imagination，which can fill up the space of the once borderless and vast world with vari﹣ous saint bodies.” Thus，almost all the emperors and kings in the Han Dynasty，who had experienced cut﹣throat fights for the power，liked watc﹣hing，singing and dancing performances.People today are still talking to each other about how interesting it was when Liu Bang，the first emperor in the Han Dynasty，sang The Song of Dafeng in front of all his fellow officials to the drum beats on the court.As for another emperor，Emperor Wu of Han—concubines won his heart with talents of singing or dancing，which were known to all in history.Yi Pingce and Liao Qun said in the chapter of Pre﹣Qin Era of The History of Chinese Aesthetics ，“It’s safe to say that，there might be no other period of time than the Han Dynasty that everyone，no matter the most respected or the most humble，from Han nationality or oth﹣er ethnic groups，were so obsessed with dancing and singing performances that without which they could not even live on.” It can be estimated that during that time，people were no longer fond of tall and strong women as they previously did，instead they preferred gentle and graceful women who were good at singing and dancing.

Secondly，there was an ethical basis of caring for the body at that time.Compared with earlier times，the Han Dynasty witnessed people’s most overwhelming attention on human bodies.It was written in Biographic sketches of the Emperor of Xiang Yu in Shi Ji ： Historical Records written by Sima Qian that，in 167 BC，a girl named Ti Ying wrote a petition to the king，declaring that she was willing to sacrifice herself as the slave for the exemption of his father’s corporal punishment.The Emperor Wen of Han was so touched that he later issued The Announcement of Remitting the Cor poral Punishment. From the Emperor’s kind act，we can see the rulers’care for physical wellbeing of ordinary people at that time.Moreover，both Con﹣fucianists and Taoists attached great importance to the integrity of the the human body.That the learning of the Emperor Huang and Lao Tzu preva﹣lent in the early Han Dynasty upheld the concept of“loving oneself and loving each other”proved that people at that time were very much caring so much for the integrity of the body from the perspective of aesthetics.And the theory of“Fortune﹣telling Based on One’s Osseous Structure”prevalent later confirmed that there was an aesthetic concept of the integrity of“body”and“spirit”，as well as the integrity of“sex”and“soul”prevalent among people in the Han Dynasty.It was believed that the lofty moral aspi﹣ration would always be embodied on the actual look of a person.Xu Qian，a scholar living in the end of the East Han Dynasty，once said in Yi Ji in Zhong Lun that，“The people with noble characters had their deeds accord with their words.Thus，we can tell their aspiration by their look and their moral according to their artistic talents.The inner beauty can be fully re﹣flected by their physical appearances.Their noble minds and hearts can e﹣ven glorify through their skin.”And he also said that compared with their counterparts in the Pre﹣Qin Era，great thinkers in the Han Dynasty were not good at abstract thinking.One important element of the philosophic en﹣deavor then was turning the intangible and abstract things in works of scholars in the Pre﹣Qin Era into specific and tangible objects.For in﹣stance，scholars in the Han Dynasty developed a cognitive system including five important organs，five colors，five types of taste，five notes of music，five types of smell and five ways of self﹣cultivation according to the concept of“five basic elements in the nature”.

Since people cared for human bodies greatly，they were keen on the connection between one’s appearance to one’s character and fate.Han Ying in the Han Dynasty once said，“One’s eyebrow can tell whether he is kind or not.”“Fortune﹣telling Based on One’s Osseous Structure”meant telling one’s fate according to their physical figures.In the Chapter of Xiang Lie in The Book of Qian Fu ，Wang Fu once said，“The bodies and appearances of human beings can be classified into different types，reflecting people’s fates and even life span.”This type of fortune﹣telling was actually a qualitative observation of the comprehensive principles，drawing conclusions of one’s character and fate by their physical appearance.In Words of Confucius and his Students ，it is said that Confucius can tell emperors’characters，good or evil，based on their portraits.This was the practical case of the“Fortune﹣telling Based on One’s Osseous Structure”.Wang Chong，also from the Han Dynasty，once said in the book Lun Heng that，“One’s life，whether it’s go﹣ing to be rich or poor，noble or humble，long or short，can all be seen from his body.Thus，one’s life span was pre﹣determined by fate and his charac﹣ter，kind or evil，is reflected by his physical appearance.”The specific quantitative analysis of one’s fortune，based on the appearance of one’s face，was further divided into several aspects.As for the different facial parts，when seeing a face as a whole，“eyes，forehead and chin，the most important parts，each accounted for almost thirty percent，and other parts including ears，nose and mouth all together accounted for ten percent”.Ac﹣cordingly，human beings’physical features were classified into different stereotypes.According to historical records，excellent osseous structure was actually the authoritative standard for the beauty contest in imperial courts.It was recorded in the historical records of the Empress in the first part of the tenth chapter in History of the Later Han Dynasty that，“（Liu Xiu，the Emperor）sent officials and his fellow staff to the villages in Luo Yang to search for some good﹣looking young girls，aging between thirteen and twen﹣ty.The girls selected would be brought to the imperial palace and it was the Emperor himself to decide whether they could be his concubines.”This anecdote told us how concubines of the Emperor were chosen at that time.

Thirdly，the living environment can also affect people’s appearances.As an old saying goes，“The unique features of a local environment always add special characteristics to the inhabitants，”people nurtured by different natural resources of their birthplaces grew up with totally different looks.In The Analysis of Landscape in Huai-nan Tzu ，there was an enlightening a﹣nalysis of influences of the environment on men.The East was where rivers and streams converge and the sun rises，thus people living there were thin with roman noses，wide mouths and high shoulders.They always walked on their toes and their eyes were fully connected with all the other facial or﹣gans as well as the whole body.The color for the East was dark green，re﹣presenting the liver in human bodies.People living there usually were tall and strong，and pre﹣mature in intelligence development.However，they of﹣ten did not have a long life expectancy.The land there was suitable for growing wheat but unfortunately there were quite a number of predators such as tigers and leopards.The South was a place where sunshine gath﹣ered and the heat in the summer as well as the humidity lingered，thus peo﹣ple living there were tall and thin，with a skinny top，wide mouths，hollow eyes，and their ears were fully connected to each organ and all the veins.The color of the South was red，representing the heart.People there were physically pre﹣mature and usually did not live a very long life.The land there agreed with rice，but there were a lot of elephants and rhinos.The West was the plateau area where rivers started and sun and moon set，so people living there had curved spines and thin necks.They walked with their faces up.Their organs in the body were fully connected with noses and so did the skin.The color of the West was white，representing the lung.People there were brave but evil.The land where was good for grow﹣ing goosefoots lived a lot of yaks and rhinos.The North was a very dark place where the sky met the land with cold ice accumulated and animals torpored.People living there were very short and thin，with short necks and broad shoulders.Their buttocks were flabby and their body organs connect﹣ed to the private parts，and so did the development of their bones.People there were quite retarded but enjoyed longevity.The color of the North was black，representing the kidney.The land there was fit for planting beans，but there were a lot of dogs and horses.The Central Part，accessible for all directions，was a place where winds and clouds travelled and it rains a lot.People living there had broad faces and short cheeks.They had beautiful beards but were overweight.All their body organs were connected to the mouths，so did the skin and the muscles.The color of the Central Part was yellow，representing the stomach.People there were full of wisdom and good at management.The land there agreed with the rice，but there were a huge number of cows，sheep and the six domestic animals including pig，ox，goat，horse，fowl and dog.Although it needs further evidence to prove whether the theory mentioned above was scientific or not，we can still learn from a brand﹣new perspective for the study of the aesthetics and the aes﹣thetic outlook of people in the Han Dynasty，which was broad﹣minded，full of wisdom and detailed.

Forth，there was a biographical basis of differences between men and women.In the Han Dynasty，people had a stronger conscience of gender and a more detailed differentiation between men and women，promoting the budding of gender aesthetics.As mentioned earlier，some characters such as li ， jiao and yan referring to both men and women in the Pre﹣Qin Era changed to refering to women only since the Han Dynasty.The aesthetic standards for men and women were detailed then.For instance， wei ， qi and xuan referred to handsome men only，and lianɡ ， juan ， shu ， miao and jinɡ referred to beautiful women only.The characters describing the concept of “beauty”gave us a hint of beauty of the different genders.

（3）“Delicacy”in the Wei and Jin Dynasties

In the era of the Three Kingdoms，women’s softness and men’s power and strength gained appreciation just as that in the Han Dynasty；however，the popular aesthetics changed radically since the Wei and Jin Dynasties，for instance，delicate men were greatly cherished then.It is safe to say that people in the Pre﹣Qin Era regarded the masculine aspect of women as attractive.On the contrary，the feminine aspect of men was quite popular in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.Jiang Yin，a fellow researcher from the Institute of Literature of China Social Academy，said in an interview by China News week that，it was quite unique that men at that time were so obsessed with the appearance and dresses that they tended to be feminine to some extent.They paid too much attention to dresses，wore make﹣ups when going out for social activities and were appreciated for being tall，intangible and de﹣tached with earthen affairs.This attitude affected the following generations greatly in such a way that an unanimous standard to select good﹣looking of﹣ficials in the Tang Dynasty was formed.The nobles and educated scholars also attached great importance to the appearance while seeking for the in﹣ner beauty.Jiang also held that this prevalence did not contradict with the Confucianism in ancient China in essence，since they both upheld men’s power and strength.

a.Aesthetics about Women

At that time，the beauty of women started to have its own significance，gradually being appreciated and valued by the mainstream.People at that time even thought that women’s main contribution to the society was their beautiful look.Their morals，compared with the beauty，took a secondary position.According to Xun Can，“Compared with their morals，women’s beauty is far more important.”Due to the emphasis of different standards on women’s appearance and morals，women were encouraged to pursue beauty.In Cao Zhi’s work，Goddess of the Luo River，a gorgeous woman was created.She was depicted as someone who was as shiny as the rising sun and had a very thin waist，dark hair，rosy lips and white teeth.She also had beautiful eyes and long necks.It was known that Goddess of the Luo River was a woman made up by the poet based on the prototype of Zhen Fei，one of the Emperor Wen’s wives.Due to this poem，she became the dream girl for young men of noble families at that time.Specifically speak﹣ing，the poet has made a detailed description of the beauty of women in the following five aspects：firstly，the beauty of quietness and movement；secondly，the beauty both when being looked from afar and observed close﹣ly；thirdly，the beauty of the figure；fourthly，the natural beauty and the beauty of posture and fifthly，the beauty of appearance and fragrance.

In the East and West Jin，being good at singing and dancing became one of the qualities of beautiful women.As Lu Ji wrote in the poem Sunrise from the Southeast，“When the sun rose，its light shed on the high place，there were a lot of good﹣looking women and men.The women were beauti﹣ful，gentle and quiet.They were with good﹣manners and beautiful smile…I could not praise their beauty more and wrote about the spring expedition more vividly.” During that time，characters describing the beauty of women were yao ， yan ， ye ， fanɡ ， chuo ， xian ， run and su.

b.Aesthetics about Men

The Records of the Three Kingdoms authoredby Chen Shoupresentedthe audience with a fest of heroes and good﹣looking men.According to the statistics，more than 80％ of good people in this book were good﹣looking，with tall figure，handsome face，elegance and grace，and they were de﹣scribed by the following Chinese characters such as yi，fenɡ，zi，xionɡ，kui，chanɡand xu.

As I mentioned earlier，delicate and elegant men were regarded as beautiful in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.Jiang Laiyong and Gao Li once said in their book The Story of Aesthetics ，“During that time，most philosophy scholars were notable figures in the society.They were proud of being bornd in renowned families and being good﹣looking”，and they always held“idea﹣exchanging”salons to discuss abstract topics.This actually became a trend known as“the trend of philosophy” .They then started to shave the beards and wear foundation powders.They liked to light scented can﹣dles in their daily life and even put on women’s clothes and walked in a way as gently as possible.All of these features mentioned above proved that men at that time were fond of the beauty of softness.In the Jin Dynasty，men were regarded as more attractive if they looked sluggish and power﹣less.“One was so weak that she can barely handle the weight of her clothes”was no longer a description referred only to women but became a virtue of men.As Nietzsche once said，“The problem of being healthy or sick must be paid attention to！The standard for healthiness is still the vi﹣tality of the body，the growth of power and courage and the spiritual happi﹣ness—however，and it also depends on how much one can gain from sick﹣ness，how much he can overcome and recover.The cause of the deaths of the weak is exactly the stimulant for the great health.” An article in A New Account of the Tales of the World entitled Appearance and Manner，which was specifically about good﹣looking men said，“Once there was a very handsome young man called Pan Yue.When he went hunting，he would be circled by the women on the street since they were attracted by him.”And in The Story of Pan Yue in The History of Jin ，he was de﹣scribed as“a man with beautiful appearance and good manner”.In a book The Vessel Travelling at Night written by Zhang Daizhui，a writer in the Ming Dynasty，there was a story about two ugly but talented scholars.One was Zhang Zai，a famous writer，who was“so ugly that even little boys threw pebbles at him on the street”.The other was Zuo Si，described as“a man who was not only extremely ugly imitated Pan Yue to dawdle on the street，but only got spitting from the women around him”，so he had to“go back home gloomily”.These anecdotes showed that only good﹣looking men were appreciated by the society of that time.The prevalence of softness in men was closely connected to the popular queer trend. Lost Book of Zhou ，a history book，said，“The good﹣looking men distracted emperors from listen﹣ing to the suggestions of experienced advisors and good﹣looking women made emperors turn a deaf ear to the advice given by the fellow officials.”This book explained how good﹣looking men and women lead to the end of some great powers in history.Characters like xiu ， yu ， zhuo ， bai ， jun ， shuanɡ ， xianɡ ， guanɡ and ɡao prove that men at that time were in pursuit of the beauty of softness and delicacy.