实践的身体美学:唐代文身艺术刍议

The Practice of Somaesthetics:a Brief Discussion of Tattoo Art in the Tang Dynasty

以附丽雕饰之美展示人体别样魅力的文身艺术,可视为身体美学独具一格的践行之道。文身由最初的图腾象征和上古的刑罚标记发展成为身体装饰艺术,则是始自唐代中后期。或为彰显审美趣味,或为宣泄愤懑情绪,或为附庸风雅,文身习俗伴随着唐代社会思想、文化和经济的蓬勃发展而成为普罗大众竞相追捧的时代审美风尚,在不同层面满足了各大阶层寻求群体归属和自我认同的心理需求。唐代文身作为一种以人之肉身肌体为塑造美、展现美、欣赏美的直接载体和场域的审美实践,实现了文身由黥刑之罚向身体艺术的转变,不仅开启了人类对自我身体进行审美化观照和艺术化塑造的独特方式,还暗合了中国古人意图反抗政治伦理对于身体之规训,寻求生命自由与身体解放的内在冲动与可能。

Displaying the glamor of the human body by an attached beauty of ornaments,tattoo art can be seen as a unique practice of somaesthetics.Not until the middle and late Tang Dynasty has Tattoo developed from an original totem symbol or a primitive penalty mark into the body decoration art.Whether it is to highlight an aesthetic taste,or to release resenting emotions,or to pose as a lover of art,tattoo customs have become an aesthetic fashion of the times that the masses chase after due to the thriving of social thoughts,culture and economy in the Tang Dynasty.It also meets the psychological need of every class for group identity and self-identification on different levels.Taking the human body as a direct aesthetic carrier or field to shape,demonstrate and appreciate beauty,tattoo in the Tang Dynasty turns itself from a punishment of branding one’s face into the practice of somaesthetics.Starting the aesthetic observation and artistic shaping of the human body,Tattoo is metaphorized as not only the discipline of the physical body to those ancient Chinese who intende to rebel against political ethics,but also the inner impulse and possibilities to seek the freedom of life and the liberty of the body.