Type | Traditional Chinese hairpin |
---|---|
Material | Diverse |
Place of origin | China, at least since the Neolithic Hemudu culture (5500 BC to 3300 BC) |
Ji (筓) (also known as fazan (髮簪 or 发簪), zanzi (簪子) or zan (簪) for short) [1] [2] and chai (钗) are generic terms for hairpin in China. [3] 'Ji' (with the same character of 笄) is also the term used for hairpins of the Qin dynasty. [4] The earliest form of Chinese hair stick was found in the Neolithic Hemudu culture relics; the hair stick was called ji (笄), and were made from bones, horns, stones, and jade. [5]
Hairpins are an important symbol in Chinese culture, [1] and are associated with many Chinese cultural traditions and customs. [6] They were also used as every day hair ornaments in ancient China; [3] all Chinese women would wear a hairpin, regardless of their social rank. [7] The materials, elaborateness of the hairpin's ornaments, and the design used to make the hairpins were markers of the wearer's social status. [1] [6] Hairpins could be made out of various materials, such as jade, gold, silver, ivory, bronze, bamboo, carved wood, tortoiseshell and bone, as well as others. [3] [8] [1] [9]
Prior to the establishment of the Qing dynasty, both men and women coiled their hair into a bun using a ji. [3] There were many varieties of hairpin, many having their own names to denote specific styles, such as zan, ji, chai, buyao and tiaoxin. [10] [3] [11]
During the Chinese funeral period, women in mourning were not allowed to wear hairpins. [1]
Ji played an important role in the coming-of age of Han Chinese women. [1] [4] Before the age of 15 years old, women did not use hairpins, and always kept their hair in braids. [1] When a woman turned 15, she stopped wearing braids, and a hairpin ceremony called " Ji Li" (笄礼), or "hairpin initiation", would be held to mark the rite of passage. [3] [1] [6] [4] During the ceremony, their hair would be coiled into a bun with a ji hairpin. [1] [4] After the ceremony, the woman would be eligible for marriage. [3] [6] [4]
When engaged to be married, Chinese women would take the hairpin from their hair and give it to their male fiancé. [1] After the wedding, the husband would then return the hairpin to his newly-wed wife by placing it back in her hair. [1]
The chai hairpin [12] also used to be a form of love token; when lovers were forced to break apart, they would often break a hairpin in half, and each would keep half of the hairpin until they were reunited. [3]
Similarly, when married couples were separated for a long period of time, they would break a hairpin in two and each keep one part. [1] If they were to meet again in the future, they would then put the hairpin together again, as a proof of their identity and as a symbol of their reunion. [1]
Initially, Chinese people liked hairpins which were made out of bone and jade. [13] Hairpins which were made out of carved jade appeared in China as early as the Neolithic Period ( c. 3000–1500 BC), along with jade carving technology. [7] Some ancient Chinese hairpins dating from the Shang dynasty can still be found in some museums. [14]
By the Bronze Age, hairpins which were made out of gold had been introduced into China by people living on the country's Northern borders. [13] Some ancient Chinese hairpins dating back to 300 BC were made from bone, horn, wood, and metal. [8]
The art of engraving wood first appeared in the Tang dynasty, and this new form of art was then applied to large wooden Chinese hairpins. [15] Many of these wooden hairpins were then coated with silver. [15]
In the Ming dynasty, the hairpins became more elaborate, and the carvings were made on silver, ivory, and jade, with pearl being used often as a setting. [15]
Hairpins could also be decorated with gemstones, as well as designs of flowers, dragons, and phoenixes. [8]
There are various types of Chinese hairpins:
The zan is a type of hairpin with a single pin. [10] [9] The zan could also come in different styles such as: [10]
Phoenix (Fenghuang) hairpin originated in Qin dynasty and had an upper part made of gold and silver while the feet was made of tortoise shell; it later evolved into the fengguan during the Song dynasty. The fengguan then continued to evolve further in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and in the modern republic. [16] In the Han dynasty, an imperial edict decreed that the hairpin with fenghuang decorations had to become the formal headpiece for the empress dowager and the imperial grandmother. [16] The fenghuang is an auspicious bird in Chinese tradition and is believed to represent the empress or the bride in a wedding. [17] Phoenix hairpins were also made and used by Peranakan women after settling in the Straits as part of their wedding headdresses. [17]
The chai is a type of hairpin with double or multiple pins. [10] [9] The double-pin chai evolved from the zan; it was frequently found in Chinese poetry and literature as it played an important symbol and as a love token. [12]
The buyao was an elaborate and exquisite form of hairpin which denoted noble status. [3] It was generally made of gold and was often decorated with jewels (such as pearls and jade) and carved designs (such as in the shape of dragons or phoenix). [3] [13] It looked similar to a zan, [12] but one of its main characteristics is its dangling features, which gave it its name 'buyao' (lit. "shake as you go" or "that sway with each step" or "step shake"). [3] [9] [18] [12] The buyao became popular in the Western Han dynasty. [13]
The diancui hairpin, also known as " kingfisher feather hairpin", [19] were made using the traditional Chinese art of diancui. [18]
The Flower-hairpin headdresses is a generic term which was used to refer to the jewellery and headdresses worn by the Song dynasty Empresses and imperial concubines. [20] The Flower-hairpin headdresses were decorated with flower hairpins. [20] Different numbers of flowers were used depending on the imperial consorts' ranks and specific imperial rules were issued on their usage. [20]
Known as the "gold cicada on a jade leaf" hairpin, or "jin zhi yu ye" (a homonym for the Chinese idiom "one of noble birth"), [21] a type of Ming dynasty hairpin in the shape of a cicada made of gold sitting on a piece of jade carved in the shape of a leaf. [9] [21]
The tiaoxin is a Chinese hairpin worn by women in the Ming dynasty in their hair bun; the upper part of the hairpin was usually in the shape of a Buddhist statue, an immortal, a Sanskrit word, or a phoenix. [11] The Chinese character shou (寿, "longevity") could also be used to decorate the hairpin. [11]
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (
link)
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (
link)
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)