Towel is one of the earliest clothes commonly used in ancient China, which refers to hats. The golden way refers to the hat worn by Taoist priests. Some people mistake a towel for a crown, but actually a towel is different from a crown. Towel is the headdress of ordinary people, which is different from the crown of scholar-officials. Towels began in the pre-Qin period and were the earliest clothes worn by ordinary people. It was not popularized until the Eastern Han Dynasty. Before the Qing dynasty, towels, as the first clothes, were used by all previous dynasties and changed in many types. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, he was ordered to shave his head and change clothes when he entered the customs, and the dress code of the Ming Dynasty was abolished. Only Taoism, after the Qing soldiers entered the customs, still did not shave their heads or change the costumes of the former dynasties to show national backbone.

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As the saying goes, "Tao has nine towels and monks have eight hats." The names of these nine kinds of towels are not fixed. At present, the nine popular towels are: variegated towel, Zhuangzi towel, pure Yang towel, noble towel, carefree towel, lotus leaf towel, sun towel, straight towel and wrapped towel.

Nine towels of Taoism

(1) mixed towel: also known as "crown towel". It is round, with a hard edge made of black tapir and a hole in the center of the top of the hat. When Taoist priests wear mixed towels, they tie their hair into a bun, with holes in the top of their hats exposed in the bun and hairpins passing through it. The rear upper part is slightly raised, indicating disengagement. Mixed Yuan scarf is the most formal headscarf in Taoism, and it is stipulated that Taoist priests can only wear it after holding the ceremony of "crown scarf". Now this restriction has been gradually broken, and there are not a few Taoist priests who don't wear scarves, but they are commonly used by Quanzhen Taoist priests who store hair. Quanzhen Gaogong used this towel during the fasting ceremony and pinned a crown on the exposed bun. Mixed Yuan towel should be worn by Taoist priests in Han Dynasty, and it evolved into mixed Yuan towel in Yuan Dynasty.

(B) Zhuangzi towel: meaning, symbol, such as Zhuangzi, unrestrained and free from vulgarity. Also known as Chonghe towel and South China towel. The bottom of the towel is square and the top is triangular, just like a roof. The front of the hat is inlaid with white jade, which is called a hat, so the hat is regarded as a symbol of good character. Quanzhen Taoist likes to wear this towel because of his age and sparse hair. There are also orthodox Taoist priests wearing Zhuangzi towels.

Pure Yang towel: also known as Lotte towel, Huayang towel, Ziyang towel, Jiuyang towel or Jiuliang towel. The bottom of the hat is round and the top is flat. The top of the hat tilted back to show detachment. Nine beams hung from the top of the hat. "Nine" is the number of pure yang, which represents the Taoist meaning of "returning Dan to nine". The center of the front of the hat is inlaid with a hat core. Now orthodox Taoists wear this towel more often.

(4) Haoran towel: a warm hat made of black satin, which looks like a hood. Wear this towel only in extremely cold weather. According to legend, Meng Haoran, a famous Tang Dynasty soldier, often wore this hat to go out to keep out the snow. Later scholars imitated it, so it was called Haoran towel. Also known as "big hood". Dai Haoran towel of Taoism, one is to resist the wind and snow, and the other is to commemorate the sages.

(5) Xiaoyao towel: it is a square (or round) towel wrapped in a bun and tied with two long streamers with swords, which is called Xiaoyao towel. The other is to use Zhuangzi towel or pure Yang towel, decorated with beautiful cloud patterns, and two long swords with streamers on the tail of the hat, also called Xiaoyao towel (formerly known as "Lei towel"). Quan Zhen Dao grew up soon, but because of the bun, he couldn't roll it all up, so he still wears this towel more when it is hot in summer. Wearing this towel, like a fairy, looks like a fairy, especially comfortable. Therefore, it was named Xiaoyao towel.

(6) Lotus leaf towel: The appearance is similar to that of Zhuangzi towel, and the bottom dome is flat. The top of the hat tilted back to show detachment. The center of the front of the hat is inlaid with a hat core. The hat is pleated like a lotus leaf, hence the name.

(7) Sun towel: The shape of the sun towel is like a modern sun hat. Mainly to block the summer sun. The difference is that the middle part of the sun towel is triangular hat, while the middle part of the sun hat is round.

(8) One-word towel: also known as Tai Chi towel, it is belt-shaped with wooden or jade buttons at the end, and eight Tai Chi patterns are generally engraved on the buttons, so it is called one-word towel or Tai Chi towel. This is the simplest of all the golden ways. According to Taoism, you can't go into a temple bareheaded, and you must wear a towel. If there is no other golden way, you can use this belt instead.

(9) Wrapping towels: also known as "tying towels". It is a square piece of cloth, with straps at the four corners, which can be tied on the head. The front center of a hat can be decorated with hats, but most of them don't need hats. The headscarf is the most irregular headscarf in Taoism, which is worn by people who have just entered the door and have not learned from their teachers. Some people think that it should not be listed in the nine towels. Now some official Taoist priests also wear this kind of towel.

Although Taoism has the name of "Nine Towels", ordinary Taoist priests only wear a few kinds every day. Mixed Yuan towel, Zhuangzi towel and Chinese towel are commonly used in daily life, while pure Yang towel and clean towel are commonly used by orthodox Taoists. In fact, there are more than nine golden ways in history. Before the Ming Dynasty, many towels were widely used in Taoism and customs. Such as pure Yang towel, Xiaoyao towel, mesh towel, nylon towel, square towel, etc. There are also some Taoist priests who wear them specially, such as Zhuangzi towel, word towel and Nine-beam towel. However, the colors used by Taoist priests of Jin Dynasty are all black, while the colors of ordinary secular towels and hats are informal. Because the door is also called Xuan door, and black is also called Diablo. Taoist priests, as disciples of Xuanmen, should respect Taoism, and of course wear the black golden road.

The three crowns of the door

Lotus is also known as:

One of the three crowns of Hibiscus. Only Taoist priests with superb Taoist skills can wear this crown when they walk the altar. Because of its shape as a blooming lotus, it is named Lotus Crown. The Tang dynasty was popular all over the world, and the Song dynasty followed its system. Made of gold and jade, decorated with jewels. The highest rank among Taoist crowns and hats.

Fishbone crown is also called:

Too clear fishtail crown. One of the three tops of the door. Only the leader of Taiqing Sect (believing in the old gentleman) in Taoism in past dynasties can wear this crown.

The hibiscus crown is:

The lotus crown on the supernatant, also known as the lotus crown, is the highest level of Taoist crown. Only the high arch master can use it when he is studying.