Romanticizing the Past through Beauty Practices: Reconstructing and Recontextualizing Zhuangtai ji 妝臺記 (Record of the Dressing Table)

Abstract:Zhuangtai ji 妝臺記 (Record of the Dressing Table) is, in its present standard form, a one-chapter compilation comprised of brief entries about women's hairstyle, eyebrows, makeup, and other beauty practices from mythic prehistory through the Song dynasty. It is attributed to early Tang high-ranking official and general Yuwen Shiji 宇文士及 (d. 642) but, although it does contain some materials from the Tang and pre-Tang periods, it is, as it currently exists, a much later work. Although clearly not a straightforward Tang document, Zhuangtai ji contains an especially rich trove of information about the Tang period. The present paper traces to the extent possible the textual history of and sources for Zhuangtai ji while also considering the appeal of the text as a later pastiche that participates in the aesthetic construction of nostalgia for the Tang and earlier periods. In this vein, Zhuangtai ji is approached in comparative perspective through the theoretical lens of nostalgic clothing consumption, and is also considered in tandem with other texts devoted to enumerating and preserving knowledge of women's fashion and beauty trends.