(L-R) Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, HK actress Maggie Cheung, mainland super model Luo Yan [Shanghai Star]

After a lot of head scratching, looking around idly, meditating and hesitating, most interviewees would answer: Well, you know, there are many standards for beauty...

True. That's why in an online debate held by www.sina.com on the standard of Chinese beauty on September 6, it took the three guest speakers, a famous writer and two editors an hour to reach the conclusion that it is not easy to reach a conclusion about Chinese beauty.

It's even harder for Westerners and Easterners to agree to the same standards.

As a prelude to the fourth China International Beauty Week 2005 to be held in Beijing this October, discussions about Chinese beauty have been organized on big websites, such as Blogcn, Sina and Sohu.

Diverse views

Doufu, a registered user at Shanghaiexpat.com, opened a debate about Luo Yan, one of the most hotly discussed subjects when talking about different ideals of beauty.

"Lu Yan is a Chinese model. she won international fame in Paris and it's said she's very popular there, but she's only considered so-so in China," said Doufu. "Big round face with small eyes, big thick lips."

Blogcn explained at www.blogcn.com that Luo is popular in the West because she is a typical Chinese in foreigners' eyes, yellow skin, small eyes, flat-nosed.

But she is less popular in China because Chinese don't accept this kind of beauty as characteristic of China.

Jia Ming, an aesthetician at Shanghai Normal University, agreed.

"Chinese and foreigners have different understandings of beauty. The beauty we Chinese appreciate is Western-styled," said Jia, "Look at the dolls our children are playing with."

Yu Hai, a sociologist at Fudan University, said the difference should be viewed on two levels.

"The ideal of external beauty is similar between the West and the East," said Yu, and the standard of Chinese inner beauty is also changing.

In the public's eye

According to an online survey by www.sina.com about the standards for Chinese beauty, the majority of more than 5,000 people surveyed reached a consensus on 20 items like height (165 to 170 cm), oval face, long and thick eyelashes, willowleaf-shaped eyebrows, long black straight hair, slender legs and smooth skin, among other features. Yet none of these characteristics are distinctively Chinese.

"What really make a difference are preferences about temperament and character. Most Chinese nowadays may still not like Western assertiveness and activity," said Yu.

The best example of this might be Zhang Ziyi, one of the most promising actresses in China.

In 2001, Zhang was voted one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World, but many Chinese would disagree.

Peng Bo, president of Shanghai Time Cosmetic Surgery Hospital, refused to give a direct answer to the question whether Zhang was beautiful, "I would only say her face is up to the standard of beauty. Zhang's job requires that she has to be assertive," said Peng.

On the other hand, Tomio Geron, a 30-year-old American, said Zhang Ziyi was the most beautiful Chinese woman.

"Zhang is tough, elegant, tall and thin," said Geron. But he also agreed that Zhang might be more similar to the American ideal of beauty.

Yu said that the standards of physical beauty didn't change a lot, but he accused the media of pushing a skewed standard, for instance the pursuit of slenderness.

"There can be more than one standard for external beauty," said Yu, "One standard would dull the world."

Evolution of Chinese beauty

The standard of inner beauty, however, has changed over time.

The earliest standards, which appeared in the classics, date back to the Zhou Dynasty (1100 BC - 22 BC).

According to the Nu Er Jing (Girls' Classic), which provides a complete set of standards for women's beauty, a traditional beauty should be tender, obedient, quiet and timid.

One representative of this kind was Xue Baochai in the classical novel "Dream of the Red Mansions," the most popular figure in the novel among older people.

Preferences changed dramatically in the 1950s and 1960s after new China was established.

"Women at that time were like men," said Jia.

Jia once attended a poetry reading activity. A woman there wrote a poem as an ode to the women of the new age. The poem was full of images like scaffolds, axes and working women.

"At that time, people thought women with bushy eyebrows and big eyes were beautiful," said Jia.

Now the trend is back to the normal appreciation of feminine beauty, he said.

Yet the change goes beyond that.

The appearance of Furong, a woman famous for putting her own pictures and narcissistic articles on the Internet, bred new fire among supporters of the beauty of self-expression which takes confidence and courage.

And with cool performances and transgender dressing, the top two winners in the latest "Super Girls" singing contest aroused interest in androgynous beauty.

Jia said the trend was positive in that the old standards were products of unfair male supremacy, so the new trends were liberating.

Yet even if the standards seem more diverse, Yu said the major principles were the same.

"Li Yuchun (the winner of the "Super Girls" singing contest) simply satisfied the fantasies of some young girls," said Yu. "If they are to find boyfriends, they will still have to dress up and behave like a traditional girl."

It is said that a list of the basic standards of beauty will be compiled for the fourth China International Beauty Week 2005, but Jia, Yu and Peng said that would just be for show.

"I don't think it's necessary," said Yu. "Just as most people would say, there can never be a single standard of beauty."

(China Daily September 14, 2005)