Reflections on Beauty

Reflections on Beauty

Beauty and ugliness are both subjects worth exploring. Beauty is formed through both subjective and objective means. On the one hand, everyone has their own view on whether beauty exists and what it means; on the other hand, our perception of beauty is constantly influenced by the things around us. What we believe to be purely subjective judgment is, in fact, the result of many subtle influences accumulated over time. That is precisely why there is such a thing as a so-called “shared public aesthetic standard.” Yet when it comes to something more specific, this public standard of beauty begins to blur again. When we ask whether beauty exists in a particular object, the criteria of judgment can shift up and down. When thinking about beauty, there are several aspects that also deserve consideration.

First, the relativity of beauty. One of the most memorable scenes in Journey to the West is Zhu Bajie defending his own appearance. One of his arguments is: “Although Old Pig is ugly, Old Pig is pleasing to look at for a long time.” That idea of being “pleasing over time” is the most thought-provoking part. Even when the object before us conforms to public standards of beauty, given enough time, once aesthetic fatigue sets in—and that moment will always come, sooner or later—we begin to notice the subtle disharmonies within it. But when someone appears highly discordant at first glance, we may, over time, begin to discover their harmony instead. It is like Liu Piaopiao in King of Comedy, racking her brains to find some feature in a client that could be called beautiful. There is a similar joke: when a person is wearing a great deal, we always notice the exposed parts, but when they are wearing very little, we focus instead on what is covered. The principle is probably the same.

Second, the temporality of beauty. As the saying goes, “Since ancient times, beauties and great generals alike are not allowed to see old age.” To grow old gracefully is, after all, exceedingly rare. And whether for a beauty or a great general, an ordinary decline into old age is undoubtedly painful. Beauty is an asset that depreciates easily, and often at an accelerating rate. Such a roller-coaster-like fall naturally brings a heavy psychological blow to the person involved. Even if we are not always fully aware of our own beauty, the feedback we receive from the outside world can serve, to a considerable extent, as a reference. Former beauty forms a stark contrast with later aging; whereas if one began life with only ordinary looks, the accumulation of years may instead bring forth a sense of composure and kindness. As one rises while another declines, perhaps across a longer span of time, the amount of outward “resources” each person receives is not all that different—some simply possess an overwhelming advantage during one particular stage, while others have it spread more evenly over the course of a lifetime.

Third, the subjectivity of beauty. One person’s honey is another person’s poison. Even if public taste serves as a yardstick, aesthetic differences that fall outside the standard deviation remain richly varied because of their subjective nature. Since the possessor of beauty is an individual, whether that beauty wins widespread approval is sometimes less important than one might think. If, by chance, in the eyes of one specific person, that beauty perfectly matches their ideal, then for those two individuals, subjectivity often outweighs all objective standards of beauty. On the other hand, the subjectivity of beauty may also arise from a change in attitude. “If only life were always like the first meeting”: most encounters are beautiful at the beginning, while separations are often fragmented and painful. The beauty that once resembled Xi Shi may, once affection has ended and bonds are broken, fall from the realm of immortals back to the human world in an instant. Meanwhile, another once-unremarkable person may overnight rise from the mundane to the celestial.

Finally, beauty that radiates from within is, in every respect, more lasting than beauty that works only from the outside in. The latter can often be seen at a glance, while the former requires care and attention to perceive and uncover. Yet more often than not, outward beauty is the key that makes people want to understand what lies within, while inner beauty, if it lacks suitable soil, struggles to bloom and take root in another person’s heart. That, one cannot help but say, is a kind of sorrow.