Abstract

The Republican Period of China (1912 to 1949) was when the archetypes of thought (constituting contemporary China) engaged in heated rivalry and were directly influenced by Korea through frequent exchanges. This study analyzes the characteristic of Chinese women's aesthetics towards the human body with a focus on visual materials (such as articles and illustrations concerning hairstyle, makeup, skincare, fashion, and gymnastics) featured in the Chinese women magazines of Fun<TEX>$\ddot{u}$</TEX>zazhi (婦女雜誌) and Linglong (玲瓏). This study analyzes these magazines and compares them with Korean counterparts. The movement of the developed and controlled human body was a common characteristic of this period; however, compared to the Chinese, the Japanese colonial period of Korea resulted in an introspective self-examination through excessively objectified eyes. Dress and adornment as the symbol of a new civilization acted as the most remarkable signifier. The overlapping of a western image with a Japanese image led to more resistance in Korea. The criterion for the value of a women's external appearance (that traditionally dualized womanly virtues) collapsed and dress was accepted as an expression of individuality instead of as a social class. The human body was traditionally recognized as a microcosm of the universe that dominated the natural principle of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. However, the ideal human body was postulated and the aesthetic consciousness of the body changed into an imaginary view of the human body that proceeded to keep the body fit for and gave birth to the concept of supplementing the deficiency of the beauty of the human body with dress and makeup.

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