Every so often, a Chinese fashion symbol unknowingly turned the fashion landscape upside down. This time, we unearth the imperial tomb of China’s Empress Dowager Cixi(慈禧)(1835-1908)and find her great passion for luxurious nails.
Ancient Chinese nobles started growing long nails during the Warring States Period to show that they weren’t manual laborers, but it wasn’t until the Ming Dynasty that long nails and nail guards became an important symbol of material prosperity. And the trend reached its peak in the Qing Dynasty, with Cixi as its poster woman. Cixi nurtured a nail length of roughly 20 cm on her ring and pinky fingers and took care of them in gem-laden(镶满宝石), colorful nail guards. During the day, Cixi usually wore nail guards made of gold or silver. According to the memoirs of her maid, before bed, she would switch them into nail pockets made of bright yellow satin(缎子), probably in a motherly manner similar to covering her nail babies into their sleeping bags.
The origins of nail guards began in the Han Dynasty more than 1000 years prior to their mainstream glory. At that time, they weren’t particularly decorative. It wasn’t until the Qing Dynasty that they became as expensive and delicate as people today know them to have been. Common design patterns included plants, flowers, and calligraphy art. Cixi, on the other hand, had unique rights to dragon and phoenix(凤凰)carvings on her nail guards. Needless to say, she didn’t skimp on exercising these rights.
Long nails may no longer be front and center on the fashion stage today. Yet the period drama series like Empresses in the Palace (2011), Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace (2018), and Story of Yanxi Palace(2018)brought in the popularity of the Morandi color palette(莫兰迪调色盘)in China’s nail art circle. Inspired by Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, the manicure(美甲)industry today also adopts a more softened color scheme that gives off a feeling of balance and elegance.
【小题1】What does the writer mainly tell us?| A．The legend of China’s Empress Dowager Cixi. |
| B．The history of long nails and nail guards. |
| C．Long nails plays an important role in period drama series. |
| D．Women in ancient times should wear long nails and nail guards. |
| A．Cixi took off nail guards when she went to bed. |
| B．Nail guards can show the status on the royal ladder in the Han Dynasty. |
| C．Ming and Qing Dynasties had lower degree of acceptance of long nails. |
| D．Cixi can only wear nail guards with dragon and phoenix carvings. |
| A．subscribe to | B．delay | C．be mean with | D．practice |
| A．Fashion nail art will permanently be on the fashion stage. |
| B．The period drama series are very popular today. |
| C．Morandi is a great master in period drama. |
| D．There is still a market for nail art. |
