Many portraits of military commanders left over from ancient times that we see now are all painted with potbellies. And many of these people are famous, including Guan Yu, Yue Fei and Qi Jiguang. In other words, they all have a "general belly", and from the word "general belly", we can also see that there are not a few people with big bellies, but some "generals" also have the same characteristics.

(Like Yue Fei)

We know that when a person is fat, he can't go to war. Especially in the era of cold weapons, this is a taboo for military strategists. But why, "general's belly" has become a general's characteristic?

This is my understanding of this problem.

First, the generals are older.

Ancient generals came from the battlefield. It was because of many exploits that I was finally promoted to general. In other words, when he was promoted to general, he was older.

It is natural that a person will get fat when he is old.

One more thing, we now see that athletes will get fat when they retire when they are old. What's going on here? Because he takes part in sports and consumes a lot, he eats a lot and has an appetite. Later, although I was too old to take part in sports, my appetite was still there and I was easy to get fat.

The situation of generals who fought in ancient times is similar to that of athletes today. They certainly had a good appetite during the war, and later they became generals. When I am old, I still have a good appetite, so I am fat.

(Statue of Guan Yu)

Second, generals rarely charge before a battle.

Because most of our impressions of ancient military battles come from ancient novels such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Yue Biography, we feel that every time an ancient general goes to war on the battlefield, he will personally go to the battlefield and kill him with weapons.

Even in war, the general will fight first. After the general finishes the battle and the winner is decided, the soldiers will go forward to fight. Moreover, when a general fights, he usually fights a war of words first, and then insults and threats. For example, "Sign up, I won't leave a nameless ghost under my sword". For example, "you can't walk three rounds in my hand" and so on, the other party will go on the rampage, and then the two will grab each other and fight.

But in fact, a real war is obviously impossible. The general really needs to go to the front. However, you must not rush to the front line. If it's a mountain war, there must be an ambush or something. If it is a plain positional warfare, it is also necessary for generals to form a formation. When a general is in formation, the most important thing is to have a person in command. The commander is of course a general. If he kills the enemy at the front every time, there will be no one to command and the army will be in chaos.

However, when I say this, I don't mean that the general won't take the lead and kill with his army. But a general state of war.

(A military commander with a wide waist)

Third, the painter usually draws a "general's belly" for the general.

I mean, no matter whether the general is fat or thin, the painter will draw him a "general's belly". Why do you say that?

Because in the understanding of the ancients, strong waist is very important.

First of all, a strong waist will make you look very strong. The ancients described a general and often said that he was "nine feet long and ten yards wide." "Nine feet long" is understandable, but "waist width and ten circumference" is really not quite understandable. Because that means it has a big belly. However, in the concept of the ancients, this is not a big belly, but a sign of strength.

Second, you can have a sense of majesty. In ancient times, civil servants and military commanders wore embroidered robes. There will be a jade belt on the embroidered robe. If the waist is very small, the jade belt on this embroidered robe will look ugly around the waist. Because painters draw pictures of generals in official uniforms. Therefore, in the context of official uniforms, there will be a thick waist.

(Statue of Zhang Fei)

Fourth, most of the generals who can qualify for portraits have been "deified".

In fact, many people who can be painted and sculpted are mostly later "deified" by the people (such as Guan Yu and Yue Fei), and their portraits and sculptures are made by later people. In other words, the painter or sculptor has never seen the general's appearance, but according to his understanding.

It was discussed on the internet. Is Zhang Fei a white face or a black face? Because both of Zhang Fei's daughters are married to Liu Chan, it shows that Zhang Fei's daughters must be very beautiful. Therefore, Zhang Fei can't be ugly. The image of Zhang Fei's "leopard head and leopard eyes" that we see now is actually painted by the imagination of later generations. The painter did not see Zhang Fei at that time.

Because many people who paint portraits have never seen themselves, most of his paintings are "deified" military commanders. Therefore, when he paints, he will only consider whether the portrait of this military commander is "dignified", and naturally he will draw a thick waist.