On the Image of Court Ladies in Chinese Classical Painting from the Perspective of Feminist Discourse: The Tang and Five Dynasties Period

Abstract

This paper, grounded in feminist theoretical perspectives, focuses on the central research subject of the "scholars' women" iconography of the Tang and Five Dynasties periods. Through the application of visual analysis and socio-cultural contextual interpretation, it reveals the construction logic of female imagery in paintings from this era and the mechanisms of gender power dynamics. The study employs key visual materials such as Dunhuang murals, Caves of the Thousand Buddha Silk Paintings, and classic extant portraits of "scholars' women" (e.g., Zhang Xuan's *Lady of the State of Guo Going Out to Spring Outing* and Zhou Fang's *Scholars' Women Adorning Their Hair with Flowers*). Analysis is conducted across four core dimensions: socio-cultural context, corporeal representation discourse, clothing semiotic systems, and visual narrative structures. It primarily explores how the "scholars' women" iconography mirrors the open and inclusive social morphology of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the positioning of women's subjectivity in religious practices, aesthetic activities, and daily life domains. The research demonstrates that the Tang and Five Dynasties "scholars' women" iconography bears dual cultural imprints of Confucian ethical norms and Buddhist iconographic traditions, while also profoundly reflecting the composite connotations of women as aesthetic objects and cultural symbols—both constrained by traditional gender orders and revealing nascent subjectivity in specific contexts. This study not only clarifies the cultural formation logic of the Tang and Five Dynasties "scholars' women" iconography but also addresses the gender perspective gap in traditional art history research, offering a new perspective with both historical value and theoretical significance for gender studies in classical Chinese painting.