Portrait of China's traditional general

You can't fight with an empty stomach. Why do the portraits of ancient generals all have a "general's belly"? This is because later painters usually draw a "general's belly" for the general. Whether the general is fat or relatively thin, the painter will draw the image of "the general's belly". Because in the understanding of the ancients, only a strong waist can have strength and look like a general.

In ancient times, a powerful person was often described as "nine feet long and ten waist wide". It is easy to understand that this man is nine feet long, which means he is tall, but if he is waist-wide, it means he is a paunchy man. But in the concept of the ancients, it was not considered to be a big belly, but a symbol of strength and reason, with a thick waist and a sense of dignity.

In ancient times, civilian military commanders always wore embroidered robes. There is a jade belt in the middle of the embroidered robe. If you put the embroidered robe around your waist, the jade belt will look very empty and unpretentious. Painters usually wear official uniforms when drawing generals, so they all have a strong waist against the official uniforms.

Moreover, generals have their own light balls and majestic reverence in the hearts of ordinary people, and some generals are gods in people's hearts. ? Some people are deified among the people, such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Yue Fei, so their portraits and statues are created by later generations. Later painters or sculptors have never seen them, so they just do it according to their own understanding.

Because the painter has never seen himself, most of the paintings are deified military commanders. Therefore, when they draw, they will only consider that the portrait of this military commander looks dignified and dignified, and naturally they will draw a thick waist.

It's just that modern people eat and drink, don't know how to exercise, and often grow a big belly, which is different from the thick belly of ancient generals.