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A young woman in China embraces her plus-sized figure while dressing as a legendary ancient Chinese beauty and starts a national conversation on body image. Photo: Weibo

Plus-size woman’s role as legendary concubine beauty of ancient China starts body diversity discussion

  • At first Wang Yu couldn’t stop crying after finishing work each day because of all the negative comments she received
  • Now, after she has received a flood of positive reactions, she feels ‘pleasure’ from her role-playing of a historical period legendary figure

A plus-size woman who impersonates one of ancient China’s legendary beauties has helped start a conversation about body confidence for Chinese girls.

Wang Yu, 28, from Shanxi province in central China plays the role of Imperial Concubine Yang, also known as Yang Guifei, in a Tang dynasty recreation designed to attract customers to a thematically decorated shopping centre.

Video of her performance has gained a lot of attention because of her larger figure and for her re-enactment skills.

Wang, who has 15,000 followers on Weibo, is a fan of Chinese traditional clothing, known as Hanfu, which she said makes her feel confident whenever she puts the outfits on and enjoys the recognition she receives from people online.

At first, Wang was devastated by online comments but later took comfort in the positive voices she encountered. Photo: Weibo

“I gained weight after taking hormonal drugs, which discouraged me,” she told Chinese online news outlet Bailu Video.

“The first time I put on Hanfu clothing for my job I was aware of how much pleasure I felt.”

Wang’s job involves entertaining tourists for up to 10 hours a day by role-playing the daily lives of people who lived during the Tang dynasty through costumes, make-up, food and drink.

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At first, she said she couldn’t stop crying after finishing work each day because of all the negative comments she received.

“There were many voices that would compliment and criticise, all of which targeted me,” said Wang.

Wang said her 100kg weight does not affect her optimism.

Fans love Wang’s body positivity and admire her skills at historical re-enactment. Photo: Weibo

“I think no matter what your appearance is, you should dress as you like and maintain an attitude of kindness and optimism.”

The news report of her Yang Guifei role-playing has kick-started discussion on Weibo with 170,000 likes on the clip at the time of writing.

Many people who watched the video have called for a change in attitudes and an end to negative stereotypes about people with plus-sized body types in China.

“I admire her very much, as I believe that people with confidence shed light on important issues,” said one commenter.

As well as wearing traditional costumes Wang re-enacts things like tea ceremonies and other aspects of daily life under the Tang dynasty. Photo: Weibo

“Why do people always think thinness equates with beauty? Everyone is unique, so it’s really unnecessary to try and please everyone but to please ourselves,” said another.

“I do wish for both boys and girls to have more confidence, as well as not to judge others by their appearance and the way they dress.”

Professor Li from the sociology department of Fudan University told the South China Morning Post: “Generation Z and millennials in China are more likely to value personalities over appearances and they are not afraid to present who they really are on social media.

“Instead of making judgments about others, they prefer to learn from their own individuality.”

In 2015, the Fudan Development Institute released a report on 1,708 university students who were born in the 1990s, the beginning of the internet age. It found that most students had very tolerant attitudes about cultural and physical diversity.

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