It is a tradition for women in China to wear jewelry with a long history. From a certain point of view, behind the jewelry worn by ancient women, there is also a very heavy traditional cultural heritage. Such as hairpin, hairpin and step shake, were once the carriers of traditional etiquette culture and aesthetic technology.
Hairpins play an important role in ancient jewelry. Its literal meaning is relatively simple: it is a long needle used by the ancients to insert a bun or receive a crown. With the evolution of the times, it gradually developed into one of the special jewelry used by ancient women to fix the bun.
From this explanation alone, the role of issuing cards is obvious. Used for fixing men's and women's hairstyles, belonging to functional jewelry. Having said that, there is a broader connotation behind the hairpin.
(A) etiquette and customs require harmony.
That hairpin, its real name is Mao. Yes, it is a "gift" of women's behavior and gift, so behind the hair is the bearing of traditional customs and culture.
When it comes to etiquette and custom culture, it is natural to mention the Western Zhou Dynasty, where etiquette and music flourished. For men, there is a saying called "twenty weak crowns", which means that when a man reaches the age of twenty, he needs to be crowned and saluted, and then it means that he is an adult.
Being crowned as a man is equivalent to being crowned as a woman. In the Zhou Dynasty, when a woman reached the age of 15, a rite of passage was held. On this day, the female elders in the family will give school-age girls a plate of hair and then fix it with hairpins.
After the completion of etiquette, a woman means adulthood, and then she is qualified to get married and fulfill her obligations and mission as a woman. On some special occasions, for example, the woman needs to be filial, and the day of giving gifts needs to be postponed, but generally it is not over 20 years old at the latest.
According to relevant records, many customs and cultures, including bar mitzvahs for young men and women, are mainly popular in aristocratic families. Because of this, aristocratic women need to enter the palace or learn relevant etiquette in the imperial clan after receiving gifts.
Obviously, this traditional etiquette culture has its obvious advantages and disadvantages:
As far as the shortcomings are concerned, the process of ancient women's salute is not as complicated as that of male crowns, which implies the ancient idea that men are superior to women. In other words, women's behavior and gifts, although the society attaches importance to traditional etiquette, are also one of the necessary guarantees that bind women.
Through gifts, women's fate and rights are thus casually fixed in a relatively narrow range. Of course, women walking to give gifts also has some advantages.
Giving gifts to women is to help them realize their responsibilities and obligations in life. Although its purpose is not very friendly, it has played a certain role in encouraging and encouraging personal growth.
(2) Hairpin style has been continuously improved with the development of the times.
As early as the Neolithic Age, hairpin had already appeared. Its original function, of course, is not to cater to the so-called etiquette needs. It is inserted into the woman's bun to make it stick. However, the ancient hairpins are still a little rough.
It was not until Shang Dynasty that bone needles made of bones became common jewelry. At its tail, there are also patterns of birds and animals, gluttony and people. It can be seen that from the Shang Dynasty, women who loved beauty realized that they spent a lot of time on hairpins to show their beauty.
In the Qin and Han Dynasties, developed materials and styles were further developed. The hairpins on aristocratic women's heads are made of precious jade, and the patterns are becoming more and more diverse. It shows that the hairpin at this time is both practical and decorative.
At this time, the hair clasp has a new nickname, called "Jade Grab the Head". According to "Miscellanies of Xijing", Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once loved Li Furen very much, and he often wore some luxurious waitresses on his head. On one occasion, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took the Hosta off Li Fu's head and scratched his head with it. From then on, the Hosta was called "Jade Scratching the Head".
Compared with the Han Dynasty, the hairpin in Wei and Jin Dynasties also had a wider choice of materials. For example, rare things like tortoise-shell agate and jadeite were added to the hairpin to show the luxury and beauty of its owner.
The Tang Dynasty is a rare prosperous time and the peak of the development of ancient costume culture. During this period, the forms, styles and wearing methods of hairpins gradually developed new techniques. Many exquisite styles and styles of later hair clips also came from this.
It can be seen that the hairpin at this time has a corresponding aesthetic value on the basis of paying equal attention to practicality and aesthetics. After the Song and Ming Dynasties, ladies began to embed some precious jewels in their hair clips. At this time, the technological level on the hairpin has reached a new height.
Hairpins, similar to hairpins, play a role in fixing hair. In later generations, they were also used as decorations. As I said before, the ladies of the Song Dynasty were often covered in hair. But there are still obvious differences between hairpins and hairpins.
The original basis for distinguishing the two is that the hair pin is a long needle, while the hair pin is a double-headed needle, which is also evolved on the basis of the hair pin.
(A) the difference between hair clips
Hairpins are also rich in styles and materials. From the material point of view, Hairpin Phoenix makes a simple division between ladies and ordinary women:
Rich women's hairpins are usually called Baochai and Yuchai. For example, "Spring is beautiful and elegant, and the jade hairpin rolls in Lv Yun", which can reflect the beauty and refinement of the woman wearing the jade hairpin. Baochai is a general name, such as jade hairpin, coral hairpin, tortoise shell hairpin, amber hairpin and so on.
Among them, the treasure chai made by tortoise shell is often very important. According to the records of Huayang Guozhi, "There is a big turtle in Fuling Mountain, whose armor is predictable, and its edge can be used as a hairpin, which is famous in the world." In fact, the most pleasing implication of ancient hairpins is the various auspicious patterns on them. At that time, tortoise shell was a precious gem.
Tortoise shell, originally a kind of chinemys reevesii, is a very popular gem made of this turtle shell. Because the tortoise in the eyes of the ancients had the meaning of ward off evil spirits, auspiciousness, longevity and happiness, tortoise shell gems were often placed on the hairpins. "Continued Han Shu" mentioned: "Noble people help silkworms wear tortoise shells." It can be seen that the tortoise shell is a symbol of noble people.
Corresponding to Baochai, Chai Jing is worn by civilian women. According to archaeological findings, the original materials for making hair clips are branches, thorns and bones. Among them, Chai Jing is made of Vitex negundo.
But in The Shrew, Qi Mei woman Meng Guang is taken as an example. After she married Hongliang, she wore a "Chai Jing cloth skirt". Because of this allusion, Chai Jing gradually became synonymous with civilian women. Later, iron hairpin and copper hairpin, which were cheaper than Baochai and Yuchai, were collectively called Chai Jing.
The ancients liked modesty, because according to Chai Jing, when many men called their wives outside, they often called them Jingfu besides concubines.
Hairpin is a symbol of love.
As mentioned earlier, the biggest difference between a hairpin and a hairpin is its double-stranded structure. Because of this, Chai is often regarded as a token of love by women.
"Why comfort separation? Tortoise shell behind the ear. " When ancient women separated from their beloved men, they would split their hairpins in two and give half to their beloved men. There is a similar record in Bai Juyi's Song of Eternal Sorrow:
"But it kept a branch of the hairpin and a side of the box, broke the gold of the hairpin and broke the shell of the box." "He only expressed his love for old things and sent him back a shell box and gold hairpin through his special envoy."
The previous poem shows that the hairpin is divided into two parts, which play the role of a token of love; The last sentence is that there is only hope of reunion when men and women are different.
Tang Xianzu's "The Story of the Purple Hairpin" vividly describes the implication of the hairpin. Li Yi, a young scholar in the Tang Dynasty, became attached to Huo Xiaoyu, a famous girl, because of a purple hairpin. They fell in love at first sight, experienced ups and downs, and finally got married.
When Yuchai first appeared, it actually suggested that Li Yi and Huo Xiaoyu would have an unusual experience. Later, Yuchai was recovered, which also revealed the happy ending of the two.
Strictly speaking, stepping is not a basic hair accessory, but a special form of hairpins. For this reason, the value of stepping is more reflected in its aesthetic significance and decorative value. As for practicality and functionality, it is minimal.
Having said that, it is not difficult to understand why Buyao first appeared on the hair accessories of the ancient queen. According to "Notes on China's Ancient and Modern Times", after Yin, take three clothes, that is, step shake with a dragon, comb the tassel beads, and take step shake with a dragon. If you wait, comb the Soviet Union and shake it step by step, so it is called stepping. " This record provides us with two necessary information:
First, what is a step shake? As a kind of headdress, it shakes with women's walking, giving people a rather intuitive aesthetic feeling.
Secondly, the formation of shaking step is quite ancient, which was one of the standard items of the queen in Shang and Zhou Dynasties. As a highly decorative jewelry, treading waves has become more and more popular with the enlightenment of social atmosphere.
History has proved time and time again that many things that are popular among nobles can always spread to the people. After Wei and Jin Dynasties, Buyao began to move down.
After the Tang Dynasty, rocking step became quite common and became a common jewelry for ordinary women. For example, in Tang Yulin, there is a saying: "In Changqing, Beijing women's jewelry is beautiful, called' I don't know'."
As can be seen from the introduction, walking is an aggressive jewelry. Although it is based on a hairpin or hairpin, with the gradual release of ancient women's love for beauty, Step Shake has become one of the favorite jewelry of many aristocratic women.
Not only that, although it moved down to the people, it is still one of the magic weapons used by court women to decorate themselves. Its materials tend to be luxurious, such as gold, jade, turquoise, amber, coral, glass and so on. Coupled with its cumbersome process, Step Shake once became the benchmark for women's makeup.
When Yang Guifei was in favor, she loved Jin Buyao, "the cloud of hair, the petal of cheek, the golden ripple of the crown of motion", which looked quite attractive and attracted countless imperial secretaries to follow suit.
Hairpin, hairpin and treading are the three magic weapons of ancient women's decoration and hairdressing. But if we distinguish them carefully, we can find that the meanings behind these three kinds of jewelry are quite different.
Hairpins and hairpins are both functional jewelry, but with the rise of ritual and music culture, they have evolved new meanings due to different structures. Zan is one of the representatives of etiquette and custom culture, and Zan is the token of love between men and women.
As for the more decorative walking, it was originally associated with hairpin, which is the embodiment of identity in etiquette and custom culture. With the enlightenment of social atmosphere, it gradually moved down to the people.
Of course, in addition to the above three magic weapons, there are other kinds of ancient female jewelry.
For example, "Sheng" is also an ancient headdress. For example, Watson, Fang Sheng and Ren Sheng all have their own unique meanings. It can be seen that the jewelry of ancient women, because it is closely related to traditional culture, has a variety of rich forms of expression.