JAPAN
to recall that "water is nature's mirror;" or that "the sun of spring disperses doubt and care," or that "love lurks in summer's hazes."
But if the ladies of the Heian epoch took nature's guidance in choosing colours and decorative patterns for their costumes, they relied solely on art in making up their faces. The eyebrows were either plucked out by the roots or shaved off, and in their stead two black spots were painted on the forehead; the teeth were stained until they shone like ebony; the face and neck were covered with white powder, and the cheeks were rouged.[1]
The rule still held that ladies must never show their faces in public. Those that had no carriages for riding abroad enveloped their heads in a species of silk hood. This hood helped them to manage their long hair also. The back hair was disposed under the hood, and the ends were pushed into the girdle. Generally when a lady went abroad on foot, she wore a wide-rimmed picturesque hat, and an umbrella was held over her head by an attendant.
It is to be noted that men showed greater extravagance than women in the matter of costume and ornaments. The romantic Emperor Kwazan carried a mirror on his hat, and in the reign (987—1011) of his successor, one of the Fujiwara magnates had crystal notches for his arrows. Bows, arrows, and swords became mere
- ↑ See Appendix, note 55.
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