漢畫中的美鬚髯形象及其文化意涵

The image of beautiful beards in the paintings of Han Dynasty and its cultural meanings

在漢代，男子的鬍鬚可分為鬚、髭、鬢、髯四個概念。口下為鬚（通「須」），唇上為髭，臉頰兩邊叫鬢，長鬚為髯。漢代社會文化中，對鬍鬚長得茂密又有威儀的男子，稱頌為「美須髯」。在秦漢墓室出土的畫像石、畫像磚及壁畫中，常可見蓄鬚髯男子之形象，其類型大致有「長鬚髯」、「山羊鬍」、「絡腮鬍」、「八字鬚」四種。漢畫中「長鬚髯」的圖像最多，其次為「八字鬚」圖像、「山羊鬍」圖像，「絡腮鬍」圖像最少。「長鬚髯」圖像以山東地區最多，「山羊鬍」圖像多集中在河南地區，「絡腮鬍」圖像多出現在河北地區，「八字鬚」圖像以陝西地區出現最多，其次為河南地區。各地所展現的鬍鬚形式皆有其不同的特色。從山東、江蘇、安徽、陝西、山西、河南、四川、河北、內蒙古、甘肅、遼寧、湖南等地皆有「美鬚髯」畫像出土來看，更能說明漢代對男子鬚髯的重視。從漢代社會文化中，將「美鬚髯」者視為神祇般崇敬，對一出生即長有鬍子的男子，視為不祥之貌，不得舉薦為官的規定，及輕視、鄙夷無鬚或鬍鬚稀疏之人，或赴死前，也要「銜鬚於口」，不讓鬍鬚受污土之染，來顯示志節，在律令中規定，剃去他人鬚髯者，是要受到刑罰處置等來看，可推知漢代風俗中，「美須髯」形象是男子的重要且珍惜的外貌象徵。

In the Han Dynasty, men's beards can be divided into four types: beard, mustache, sideburns, and long beard. The hair that grows on the chin and the lower part of the cheeks is a beard. The hair that grows above the upper lip is a mustache. The hair that grows down the sides of a man’s face, usually in front of the ears is called sideburns. When a full beard is longer than eighty centimeters, we call it a long full beard. In the social culture of the Han Dynasty, men with thick beards and majestic beards were praised as ''beautiful beards .'' In the stone reliefs, bricks and murals unearthed from the tombs of the Qin and Han Dynasties, the image of a bearded man can often be seen. There are roughly four types of beards: ''long beard '', ''goatee'', ''full beard'' and ''八''-shaped beard''. In the Han paintings, the ''long beard '' images are the most often seen, followed by the ''八''-shaped beard'' image and the ''goatee'' image. The ''full beard'' images are the least seen. ''Long beard'' images are most commonly seen in Shandong; ''goatee'' images are mostly seen in Henan; ''full beard'' images are widely distributed in Hebei, and ''八''-shaped beard'' images are most often seen in Shaanxi, followed by Henan area.The forms of beards displayed in various places have their own characteristics. Judging from the unearthed portraits with ''beautiful beard '' from various area, such as in Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Sichuan, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Liaoning, Hunan, etc., it is clear that people in the Han Dynasty attached great importance to men's beards. From the social culture of the Han Dynasty, people with beautiful beards were highly respected. However, when a man was born with a beard, he was seen as an ominous person, and he wouldn’t be recommended to be an official. Besides, people despised those who had no beards or sparse beards. Before a man was executed, he had to ''hold their beards in their mouths'' to prevent their beards from being stained with dirt. According to the law that those who shaved off the beards of others had to be punished, it can be inferred that in the customs of the Han Dynasty, the image of ''beautiful beards'' was an important and cherished symbol of men's appearance.