从幽静闲雅到妩媚妖冶——窈窕意象的原始内涵及演变

窈窕指幽深 ,《诗经》中用于形容美女 ,指的是幽静闲雅 ,这种意义在后代继续沿用。进入战国时期以后 ,窈窕一词的含义开始发生演变 ,有时指的是妩媚妖冶 ,是由它的原始意义引伸出来的。从汉代开始 ,窈窕又获得普遍性的意义 ,成为美的代称 ,所修饰的对象有女性 ,也有男性。窈窕在用于形容宫殿建筑和自然山水时 ,往往用其本义 ,表示幽深

From Quiet and Elegant to Charming and Coquettish--Yaotiao Imagery's Original Intension and its Development

Yaotiao means deep and quiet. In The Book of Songs it was used to describe beauty and its meaning was quiet and elegant. This kind of meaning had always been used in the later periods. When the history entered Warring Period, Yaotiao's meaning began to develop. Sometimes it meaned charming and pretty and coquettish, which was extended from its original meaning. Yaotiao had gained the universal meaning since Han Dynasty, that is to say, it had become the replacement term of beautiful, modifying both female and male. When it was used to describe palace buildings and natural mountains and rivers, it usually used its original meaning-deep and quiet.