Today, the History Encyclopedia editor has prepared for you: Li Zhi and Queen Wang. Interested friends, come and take a look!
When it comes to Queen Wang, most people know what kind of person she is. Queen Wang was personally selected by Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji as a companion for Li Zhi, and was the person that the elders hoped to accompany Li Zhi throughout his life. The empress dowager in history can also be considered a charming beauty. The person who can be selected by Li Shimin as his son’s wife must also be a talented and beautiful person. Matching Li Zhi can also be considered a man of talent and a woman of beauty. However, this empress dowager is precisely not favored and is always treated coldly by Li Zhi. On the contrary, Li Zhi doted on Xiao Shufei. Xiao Shufei was arrogant and delicate, and their appearances were evenly matched, each with their own characteristics. Xiao Shufei’s appearance was not much higher than that of Queen Wang. Why did a person with less talent and virtue than Queen Wang receive Li Zhi’s exclusive favor?
First of all, we cannot just say who is not charming enough. Both women have their own beauty. As the saying goes, each woman has her own preferences. Although in our eyes, a dignified and virtuous woman like Queen Wang may be more likable, under the historical background and the aesthetic of the current emperor, Li Zhi may have been good at this. She likes to act coquettishly and has a little bit of a temper. Empress Wang, as the daughter of a wealthy lady, has been well raised since childhood, so she is definitely not as good at acting coquettishly as Consort Xiao. Therefore, in Li Zhi’s eyes, Empress Wang appears somewhat dull compared to Consort Xiao, which is the first reason why Li Zhi dislikes Empress Wang.
Just like the modern literary figures Lu Xun and Xu Zhimo, the original wives who were supposed to be married by their parents were also noble ladies from prestigious families. These women did not have any faults and devoted their entire lives to being faithful to their daughters while taking care of their husbands and children at home. However, in the eyes of Lu Xun and Xu Zhimo, their existence was the existence of feudal ethics, and their feudal atmosphere was the reason why Lu Xun and Xu Zhimo did not like them. As a woman, there is nothing wrong with herself, what is wrong is just meeting the wrong person at the wrong time. From the moment of her birth, Queen Wang, who lived in ancient times, was ruled by her parents throughout her life. Her union with Li Zhi was nothing more than a power friendship between the parents. In her subconscious, she only had the virtues of “three obediences and four virtues” and never had autonomy. Therefore, she may not have known what love is or why she got married. In her heart, she only knew that everything was arranged by her parents and she had to obey them.
So there is a reason why Li Zhi doesn’t like her. For a woman who doesn’t know what love is, she doesn’t know how to make Li Zhi love her at all. The only thing she can do is listen to her husband, and Li Zhi hates this boring person the most. No matter how the Queen of Nature listened to Li Zhi’s words, she had no place in Li Zhi’s heart. Li Zhi had taken the Queen’s kindness towards him for granted, and gradually in front of him, he was no longer a wife, but a servant who obeyed orders, let alone liked them. The Tang Dynasty regarded voluptuous beauty, with Empress Wang being thinner than Consort Xiao. Consort Xiao had a plump figure, with skin as white, tender, and smooth as condensed fat. In terms of figure, Consort Xiao was slightly inferior to Consort Xiao. For the two types of beauties, Li Zhi naturally chose the latter, which was influenced by the era background where obesity was considered beautiful.
The Tang Dynasty was prosperous and flourishing, so the people of the world lived and worked in peace and contentment. At the end of the year, there was surplus, and as the economy developed, people’s lives improved. Therefore, the aesthetic standard of beauty based on obesity emerged at that time. Fat not only represents the improvement of people’s economic level, but also represents the open folk customs of the Tang Dynasty. Fat women are praised as capable of having a prosperous husband and carry lucky stars. Empress Wang possesses both historical talent and moral integrity, but in terms of physique, she is inherently not prone to gaining weight, which can only be considered inferior. Xiao Shufei has a plump figure and is good at acting coquettishly, naturally capturing Li Zhi’s heart and tightly tying all of Li Zhi’s thoughts to herself.
The editor believes that a woman who knows how to use means is more likely to win the favor of men. Xiao Shufei was good at childbirth and had a son for Li Zhi, while on the other hand, Empress Wang had no offspring due to infertility. Therefore, in the society where children were the most important at that time, Empress Wang, who was unable to have children, was naturally the one who was neglected. Moreover, Empress Xiao Shufei was full of scheming and always used various means to bewitch Li Zhi. However, Empress Wang, who valued dignity and propriety, could not put aside her face and use various means to deceive Li Zhi. Therefore, Empress Wang was not favored by Li Zhi and had no choice but to be born into an imperial family!
