_CHARMING WOMAN_
COQUETRY
One is none the less a woman for being a Chinese woman. Woman is the
same everywhere. It is she who charms us—not to say who rules us. And
no matter in what part of the globe, it is she who is always the great
attraction of life.
They all know it; and without any need of a general understanding amongst
themselves, all the sisters of the universe do the best they each can to
render themselves more beautiful, or prettier, or merely more agreeable.
They need for that no other master that that instinctive desire to
please, which is a special feature of the female nature. Albeit our women
know neither how to grow fat or thin, or how to dye their hair, or how
to make use of a thousand other tricks, which beauty uses to repair the
irreparable ravages of time; they know how to paint themselves, and how
to adorn their persons. They are very skilful in the use of red paint
for the lips, of black for the eyebrows, and of white for the face. The
particular taste of each race modifies the forms of coquetry. In Europe,
you prefer large eyes and a Grecian nose; in China, small eyes and a thin
and delicate nose are considered the most beautiful. On the other hand,
we agree with you in admiring fine white teeth, and little wrists and
ankles.
It is said, in China, that a woman’s eyebrows should be elongated and
thin, like the silhouette of distant mountains; that the eyes should
be limpid, as water is in autumn; and the lips red, like dawn of day.
Dimples are greatly admired in China. We call them the “wine hollows.”
The flush of the cheeks is called “the colour of drunkenness.”
From Nature, let us pass on to Art.
Formerly, women used to dress their hair high up on their heads, the
coiffure being built up on a framework of iron wire. Little by little
this style was modified, and to-day the greatest simplicity is the
rule. Our ladies dress their hair almost in the Greek style, with this
difference, that the hair always remains smooth, curls never having been
in fashion in China. I may add, that natural curls are quite unknown at
home. A gold or silver pin, shaped like a double spatula, and bent in
the middle, is fixed in the centre of the chignon, so as to keep the
hair in place. Sprigs of flowers are fixed round this pin. Sometimes, in
the spring, a little wreath of scented flowers is put on the back of the
head. These simple ornaments are so much appreciated, that many ladies
have a standing arrangement with a gardener to bring them fresh flowers
every morning.
A poet has said about this custom:
“After having finished dressing her hair she casts another glance in
her mirror,
To see what kind of flowers will best suit her hair.
Therefore, before changing her morning toilette,
Behold her setting forth for the garden with a pair of scissors in
her hand.”
When flowers are wanting, butterflies, made in every conceivable shape,
and of all kinds of materials, are placed in the hair above the temples.
At grand ceremonies imitation flowers, made in jewels, are used instead
of natural flowers.
The forehead is always left free. Only young girls wear fringes, the rest
of the hair being allowed to fall down loose at the back of the head, or
being gathered up into two bunches on either side. The enormous coiffure
that you see in pictures, and which forms a kind of bull’s head, is known
as the coiffure in the style of “a crow with outstretched wings.” It is
now only to be seen in Canton.
Ladies in China never wear hats or bonnets. At ceremonies they wear
a helmet-shaped crown, and on less solemn occasions a little band of
embroidered stuff, which crosses the forehead and terminates in points
behind each ear. In the centre is a large pearl or other precious
stone, and round it a single or double row of pearls is entwined. Women
wear shorter clothes than the men, the shape being about the same for
both sexes. The clothes come down to the knees. On special occasions a
petticoat, which comes down to the feet, is worn, while indoors a pair of
trousers is added; which in the north is fastened round the ankles with
ribbons, and left loose in the south. The upper garment has wide sleeves,
with facings of embroidered satin. The uniform—for ladies in China wear a
uniform on grand occasions suited to the rank of their husbands—consists
in a dress of red satin, embroidered with dragons, over which is a
garment shaped like a waistcoat, also embroidered. If the husband has a
high rank, the wife also wears a pearl necklace. Whatever may be the
rank of the woman, she always makes her own shoes. There are no shops in
China for the sale of women’s shoes.
Jewels are never used for trimming dresses; at the very utmost, a few
gold or jewelled buttons are sometimes used; but bracelets are worn in
great numbers, according to the position and fortune of the wearer. Some
young girls wear ankle-bands, also necklaces in the shape of collars,
either in silver or gold, and fastened with a locket in the shape of a
padlock.
The general custom of wearing the nails very long has caused the use of a
special nail-glove, which is made of gold. It is shaped like a thimble,
open at both ends, and is prolongated by a gold nail, which is intended
to cover the real nail and to protect it. I may mention that in China,
as everywhere else, it is the demi-monde that creates the fashions. But
fashion varies considerably in the different provinces. Only a few
ladies, who have travelled a great deal, know how to combine the various
styles, often with the happiest effect. As a rule, one can tell at a
glance to what province a woman belongs.
One of the most feared of our Censors, a man before the severity of whose
criticism the whole world used to tremble, and who was all the more
feared that nobody could find any fault in him, was one day surprised
in the act of painting his wife’s eyebrows. I leave you to judge how
delighted his enemies were to be able to tell the sovereign that this
rigid guardian of public morality was, after all, but a very frivolous
man. The Censor was sent for and asked if the report were true.
“Yes, your Majesty,” he answered; “but what is there frivolous in that?
Is not everything allowed between man and wife?”
The Emperor was quite satisfied with this answer, and the matter dropped.
The story is repeated everywhere now-a-days as symbolic of domestic
felicity. I see in it, above all things, the triumph of feminine
coquetry, which knows how to subjugate mankind, even the most austere,
and enslaves us to its delicious trivialities and its irresistible
frivolities.
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