This article is dedicated to discussing Yue Fei’s appearance
First of all, since the thirty-second year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1162), Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty Zhao Shen rehabilitated Yue Fei and Zhao Xue, Yue Fei’s Various portraits and statues began to be scattered among the people. Among them, the most standard portraits are the statues in various Yue temples: wearing a red tassel helmet, purple python robe, golden armor on his arms, military boots on his feet, a fist in his right hand, and a left hand in front of him. Holding the sword back, eyes like a torch, staring into the distance." In this image, Yue Fei has a melon-shaped face, inverted eyebrows, handsome face, and heroic spirit. He should be the Yue Fei in people's minds for thousands of years.
So, is this the true appearance of Yue Fei?
The earliest portrait of Yue Fei is the "Four Generals of Zhongxing" by Liu Songnian of the Southern Song Dynasty. There are eight people in the painting, from left to right. They are Yue Fei's attendants, Zhang Jun's attendants and Zhang Jun, Han Shizhong and his attendants, and Liu Guangshi and his attendants. From the painting, Yue Fei is white and beardless, slightly fat, with big ears and round head. Wearing a square scarf and pointed boots, he is dressed in light green and stands with his hands folded. This is very different from the seated statues of Yue Fei in various temples today.
Liu Songnian was born in 1155 and Yue Fei died in 1142. He lived not far from Yue Fei, and some people who have seen Yue Fei are still alive, so his portrait should have a certain degree of credibility. Ruan Yuan, a man from the Qing Dynasty, also saw this painting. He wrote it in Liu Songnian, Volume 3 of "Shiqu Essays". "Pictures of the Four Generals of Zhongxing in the Song Dynasty" says: "Yue Fei has a large and square face, a broad forehead and sparse eyebrows, very plump cheeks, round eyes from the tip of the nose, from the mouth down, a very long forehead, and no mustache. "In addition to these characteristics, what other characteristics does Yue Fei have?
First of all, it is said that Yue Fei has "big and small eyes" (that is, one eye is big and the other is small). In 1141, the Southern Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty Reconciliation was reached. In 1142, the Kingdom of Jin sent people to send the coffins of Gaozong's biological mother Wei Xian and Song Huizong back to the country. On the way, Wei Xianfei asked her entourage: "How is General Big Eye?" The entourage replied: "Yue Fei is dead. "From these words, we can know that Yue Fei is the "big and small eye" general. This is probably the derogatory name given to Yue Fei by the soldiers in the Jin camp.
In addition, Yue Fei's height should be about 1.7 meters. This It was because there was a flood in northern Henan in 1124. The Northern Song Dynasty used to recruit soldiers from the victims. First, they measured their height with a wooden stick marked with scales, then they measured their agility to see if they could jump and ride a horse, and finally they measured their eyesight. Those who qualified were assigned to each army according to their height. At that time, each army had strict height requirements: for example, the Tianwu First Army (infantry) must be five feet eight inches, and the Longwei Army (cavalry) must be five feet seven. The Shenwei Army (infantry) must be five feet four inches, and the Weiyuan Army (cavalry) must be five feet three inches five. After Yue Fei was admitted to the army, he was assigned to the cavalry branch of the Guangrui Army. The height requirement for soldiers is five feet. Five inches, calculated as one Song ruler equals 30.72 centimeters today, which is approximately 169 centimeters.
In short, Yue Fei is as tall as Huang Xiaoming, but not as handsome as Huang Xiaoming.
Finally, by the way, judging from the inscriptions and seals on the painting, the "Picture of Four Generals of Zhongxing" circulating today is not Liu Songnian's original work, but an earlier copy of Liu's painting. What is valuable is that this painting was circulated in an orderly manner and early. It was collected during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty and later moved into the Qing Palace. Emperor Qianlong couldn't put it down and had many inscriptions on it. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, it was taken out of the palace by Puyi in 1922 and lived in the Northeast. It was later collected in the National Museum of China. It is a typical cultural relic. Excellent product.