Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder-Women in Chinese Painting

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.

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.