What are the costumes and hairpins of concubines in ancient harem?

There are three kinds of cymbals: phoenix cymbals, full cymbals and semi-cymbals. The inner tube is made of black velvet and satin strips, decorated with silver wire or copper wire and jade or beads. "Generally, women use copper wire or iron wire to make their hair sticks. There are three kinds of cymbals: phoenix cymbals, full cymbals and semi-cymbals. Like a cockscomb in front of a scorpion, covered with a dustpan, the dome is wide up and down; Surround it with two strands of hair, and then insert ornaments such as flat hair, hair clasp and flowers.

Hairpin is an essential jewelry for Manchu women to comb all kinds of bun. Usually, Manchu women like to decorate their hair with big earlobes, small earlobes, beaded hairpins, sideburns hairpins, crested hairpins and faucet hairpins made of precious materials such as gold, silver, pearl jade, agate and coral. Although there are many kinds of hair clips, the choice should be based on everyone's conditions and identity. For example, before the People's Pass, Fujin in Nurhachi and Fujin and Gege in Baylor used Dongzhu as the best material for making hair accessories. After 200 years, it was gradually replaced by Hepu Pearl Nanzhu.

Compared with pearls, gold and jade are superior materials, such as gold-plated, silver-plated or copper, as well as precious stones, jadeite and coral ivory. They are made into various hairpin ornaments and decorated on the bun, which is much simpler than after entering the customs. After entering the customs, Manchu women, especially court women, paid more attention to hairpin ornaments because of the influence of Han women's headdresses. For example, in the 16th year of Qianlong (175 1), when Emperor Qianlong celebrated his mother's 60th birthday, only the names of all kinds of hair clips were jaw-dropping, for example, All goes well, Mei Caiying wins the hairpin, Jingfu sleeps in peace, and Riyongqin writes the hairpin. These hair clips are undoubtedly the top grade of materials and production.

Judging from the hairpin ornaments left by empresses in Qing Dynasty, there are two kinds of hairpin. One is a practical hairpin, which is mostly used to fix the bun and head shape. The other is a decorative hairpin, which is made of precious materials with exquisite patterns and is specially used to comb the bun and wear it in an obvious position. Many realistic palace paintings collected in the Forbidden City now depict queens wearing hairpins. From the picture, some of them put the hairpin in the middle of the bun, and some inserted it obliquely at the root of the bun. Empresses' heads are full of jewels, but their hairpins are the best. Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty, empresses and concubines were all made of jade jewelry, and their production techniques were also very particular. It is often the most precious to make a hairpin with a whole piece of jade, coral crystal or ivory. For example, the white jade in the Forbidden City in Beijing is made of a pure suet white jade, and the hairpin is the last stroke of the birth word. Similarly carved jade plate sausage hairpin and coral bat hairpin are excellent works of hairpin decoration. In addition, there are Jin Fu Qian Guan, Magpie Hairpin, Five Bats Shoushou Hairpin and so on. , with its exquisite carving and exquisite and eye-catching. There is also a kind of head hairpin inlaid with various pearls and gems on a gold base, which is mostly composed of a head and a pin, but it still has a sense of wealth and luxury. With the gradual widening and expansion of the queen's hairstyle in Qing Dynasty, the modeling of hairpin ornaments has gradually developed to two extremes. One is that the hairpin head gradually becomes smaller, such as a pimple needle, an ear-digging spoon and an old crow spoon. The other is that the hairpin ornaments are getting bigger and bigger, which are not only suitable for Manchu women to comb two heads and cover a large area, but also gradually evolve into headdresses, flat squares and other big jewelry.

Hairpins, as jewelry, are worn on the head, which not only beautifies the bun, but also symbolizes the auspicious words made of hairpins and the beautiful pursuit of expressing feelings and wishes. As far as the hairpin ornaments left by empresses in Qing dynasty are concerned, the diversity of forms and patterns is beyond the previous generation. A deformed bead "Boy Ping An" hairpin once exhibited in the Treasure Hall is a rare treasure. Hairpin is an exceptionally deformed pearl, about five centimeters long, and looks like a dancing urchin. On the left side of the deformed bead, a sapphire vase is decorated, and several thin red coral branches are inserted in the bottle mouth to set off the word "An". There is a A Jin Ruyi handle behind the urchin, which is connected with the Aquarius into a whole, and the head of Jinleisi Ganoderma lucidum is exposed on the right side of the urchin. Judging from the urchin decoration, it is a boy. When the whole wishful thinking is linked together, it is called "the boy is safe" or "the boy is happy and safe". The moral ethics of feudal society pays attention to the "three cardinal principles and five permanents", that is, the monarch is the minister's cardinal principle, the husband is the wife's cardinal principle and the father is the child's cardinal principle. The emperor's wives and concubines, of course, take the emperor as the key link and want to have more children for the royal family, so that the royal family can have a strong blood line and the imperial power can be passed down forever. The intention of this hairpin is self-evident. However, the facts are not so satisfactory. Twenty-four of the thirty-five sons of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty grew up, and the princes fought for power and profit, so that Emperor Kangxi died before he was seventy years old. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, two emperors, Tongzhi and Guangxu, had queens and concubines, but no children, which made their mother Cixi listen to politics twice and ruled China for half a century.

Cixi is also a person who loves beauty. She likes gorgeous clothes all her life, especially rubies, red corals, jade peony hairpin and butterfly hairpin. In the 11th year of Xianfeng, Yining died in chengde mountain resort. Cixi became a widow at the age of 27. According to Manchu custom, the wife should be her husband Dai Xiao, and she was released for 27 months. The hair clasp on your head should be made of uncut bone or pure silver. Cixi ordered the factory to produce a batch of headdresses such as silver gray jade and thymelaeaceae. In February of the first year of Tongzhi, this batch of plain clothes jewelry was sent to Cixi one after another. Cixi wears it painfully every day. After the release expires, all the jewels are put in the cold palace. Cixi put on her exquisite and luxurious headdress again, and this habit remained until her later years.

The queen wears hairpins seasonally. They wear golden hair clips in winter and spring. In the long summer, they put on gold hair pins and jade hair pins. Until beginning of winter became a food hairpin. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Ms. Yu Deling, who worked as a female translator beside Cixi, recalled that April 24, 1903 was the long summer in the lunar calendar/KLOC-0, and "on this day, everyone had to change the golden hairpin and jade seal". This foot, Cixi gave Yu Deling's mother, sister and herself a jade hairpin. "The Queen Mother chose a beautiful hairpin for my mother, saying that all three queens had worn it, and two beautiful ones were given to our sisters, saying that these two were a pair, one was often worn by the Queen Mother, and the other was worn by herself when she was young." At the end of the Qing Dynasty, most of the empresses' hairpins were relics handed down by their ancestors, and all the empresses in the palace regarded them as treasures. People that Cixi likes can be rewarded at will, and there is no constraint. But Emperor Guangxu hated a Hosta so much that he would never forgive him until he died. After the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898 in the late Qing Dynasty, Cixi imprisoned Guangxu in Yingtai. One day, the Jade Dragon Queen went to see Guangxu, and Guangxu was very disgusted. Although he and Yulong are nominally husband and wife, they are not separated. Therefore, when Guangxu saw Yulong, he was so disgusted that he couldn't breathe evenly. Guangxu didn't want to see the arrival of Yulong, and even said, "Kneel down!" Yulong was very angry and pretended not to hear. Guangxu saw that she didn't leave, and his hands trembled with anger, trying to push her out. I didn't expect him to push too hard and hit the hairpin on Long Yufa's bun. Hosta fell to the ground and immediately shattered. This Hosta is a relic of the Qianlong period. It was passed on to Cixi, and she gave it to Yulong. As soon as Jiang Yu saw it, she cried and told Cixi about it. Cixi was furious and hated Guangxu even more. From then on, she sent people to closely monitor Guangxu, sent meals and cold soup, and treated Guangxu as a sinner. Political differences made the relationship between Cixi and Guangxu like strangers, and a jade hairpin became the fuse of their mother-child relationship, and Guangxu's early death became a historical necessity.

In the folk, generally speaking, the rich use jade and silver, and the poor use bones. Silver hair clips are also essential for ordinary people to marry their daughters. Women cherish it very much, because it is a more valuable thing to accompany them, some of which will never be lost or damaged. Most of the hairpins widely used by the people are bone, so people are always used to calling them "bone hairpins". Hairpins are usually three or four inches long, and there are some longer ones, but they are rare. The hair clip has a thin head and a round knot at the tail. The thin head is easy to insert into the bun, and the small protrusions at the tail can make the bun strong. There is also a flat hairpin with thick ends and thin middle, mostly made of silver and copper. The two sides of the flat hairpin are divided into two sides, the front is decorated with flowers and auspicious patterns, the back is light, and the whole shape is slightly bent inward. The flat hairpin has obvious decorative significance, and it shines when fixed on the hair. Hairpin is an indispensable ornament for many ethnic women to modify their hair. It is an effective product for fixing women's hair and hairdressing, which is the main reason why it has been used for thousands of years.

The headdress flower is jewelry developed from hairpin. It consists of a flower head and a pin. Because Manchu women's hair styles developed from soft-winged head to two fingers, then to shelf head, and finally produced big wings, the hair styles on their heads became wider and wider, so a headdress with a large coverage-Touhua was produced. Most headdresses are made of pearls and precious stones, so they need a stable support, that is, some corresponding changes have been made on the basis of hairpins. For example, a cross-shaped cross brace is welded at the top of the pin, and the cross-shaped cross is used as the main body of the headdress. Decorative flowers, branches and leaves, birds and animals, insects and butterflies, auspicious symbols and so on surround the main body. This mutual collocation not only makes the primary and secondary relationship of composition obvious, but also makes the headdress flower with treasures as raw materials share the load reasonably. When a Manchu woman combs her hair, she wears a big flower between her two heads, which is called a headdress. Some women will also choose two kinds of flowers with the same color and shape to be inserted at both ends of the two heads, commonly known as pressed hair flowers, also known as pressed temples.

Besides flags and hairpins, Manchu women generally like to decorate their hair with flowers. Wearing big flowers on the head has always been a traditional custom of Manchu. Pu Zhiyuan recorded in the Diary of Jehol that Manchu women are "full of wild flowers, regardless of age" and "over 50 years old" is still "full of flowers, full of golden flowers, a precious journey". "Even if you are nearly seventy years old, even if you are bald and shiny, you will still be full of flowers." In northern Liaoning, some Manchu women even put a small bottle full of clear water on their hair bun, and a few flowers were inserted in the bottle, which was full of vitality, reflecting their strong pursuit of beauty. In the early Qing Dynasty, the country was on the rise, and people's living consumption remained largely in the traditional mode. In order to satisfy the desire for beauty, Manchu women often wear seasonal flowers and a kind of "honeysuckle wisp" on their heads. In other words, the table is made of paper tires, and some are made of copper wire. They are packaged into all kinds of flowers, no more than two or three inches high, and the largest is nearly a foot, decorated with extremely delicate pearls and jade. In the early years of Shunzhi, the family members of Manchu military camp often used this honeysuckle as a decoration on the bun. With the establishment of politics and the consolidation of state power in Qing Dynasty, headdresses worn by Manchu women also appreciated. Although flowers can be seen everywhere, women prefer headdress flowers with precious texture. These women grow their hair to show off, not to be beautiful.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the national treasury was embarrassed and the national strength declined, which naturally affected people's lives. In order to save money, the headdress flower changed from pure gold to gold plating, the jewelry flower became velvet flower, silk flower, even paper flower and grass flower, and even the headdress flower with delicate feathers was dyed with madder. Feather Diancui jewelry has been circulating in China for a long time, and its technological level has been continuously improved, reaching its peak in Qianlong period. It is famous for its gorgeous colors and splendor, but it is very complicated to make. It is understood that a base is made of gold and silver pieces into a flower shape, and then a circle of raised grooves is welded with gold wire along the flower-shaped edge of the pattern. Apply an appropriate amount of glue to the concave part in the middle, cut off the kingfisher's feathers with small scissors, and gently arrange the feathers on the glued base with tweezers. Kingfisher's hair is emerald blue and snow blue. However, kingfishers are petite and have soft feathers. It takes a lot of kingfishers to make a headdress. Because the kingfisher's fur is bright and shiny, and the shiny convex edge, it can produce different effects from other jewelry when worn on the head.

At present, most of the metal jewelry collected in the Forbidden City in Beijing is in Qianlong period. For example, ruby inlaid with rice bead flower, pearl inlaid with three friends flower, sapphire dragonfly flower, red coral cat iris flower, gold inlaid with pearl jewel flower, gold inlaid with rice bead flower, coral inlaid with turquoise gourd flower and so on. , are made of welding backing technology. It not only follows the traditional skills of history, but also highlights the characteristics of Qianlong period, so that the eyes, tentacles, beards and branches of insects and birds are burned into elastic springs with fine copper wires, which move gently and sway from side to side, making the image lively and dynamic. There is also a kind of metal welding as the base and pin, and the jewelry flowers are tied into a bundle of headdresses with copper wires, which is also loved by queens because of its flexibility. It is made of copper wires with different thicknesses into flower branches and leaf branches, and then the petals made of precious stones and the small holes at the end of the leaves are strung into different single branches such as flowers, stamens, flowers and leaves, and the branches are tied into a bundle according to the figure, and finally concentrated on a thick copper wire, which is fastened with a needle. This headdress is very effective on the head and adds a lovely charm to women. In addition, metal inlaid headdress and gold silk headdress are also loved by predecessors because of their vivid image and fine workmanship, which makes future generations marvel.

Manchu women's favorite headdress is velvet flower, especially when their daughters get married, they must wear red velvet flower on their heads, which is auspicious. It is said that "velvet flower" in Chinese is similar to "splendor" in Manchu, so wearing velvet flower means prosperity. Manchu women, as long as conditions permit, should wear velvet flowers not only on the wedding day, but also all the year round, seeking homophonic auspiciousness. In particular, seasonal velvet flowers should be worn in order: beginning of spring wears a spring flag, Qingming wears willow branches, Duanyang wears wormwood, Mid-Autumn wears osmanthus, Chongyang wears Cornus officinalis, and winter wears gourd flowers. The headdresses of concubines in the Qing Dynasty, as well as a large number of velvet flowers, silk flower and silk flower, all exist in the world. These flowers are harmonious in color and rich in halo levels, which can be called "confused flowers". It is said that Yang Guifei in the Tang Dynasty had a mole on her temple, and she often wore large flowers on her temple to cover it up. Because flowers wither easily, people developed the color of flowers to make silk flower. This process is constantly developing, and the finer it is, the finer it is. The headdresses made of velvet, silk and silk left over from the Qing Dynasty include white, pink and pink peony flowers, pale yellow, medium yellow and dark yellow chrysanthemums, white, lotus root and snow blue Chinese rose flowers, pink and white plum blossoms, etc. It has lasted for a hundred years and is still glamorous and pleasing to the eye.

Hairpins and hairpins have similar purposes, and they are both essential jewelry for women's hair bun. A double-pin or triple-pin hairpin is more firmly fixed on the bun than a hairpin. The ancient hairpin is similar to the hairpin shape, and it is naturally connected by the pin of the hairpin head. For example, Yuyanchai, which was popular in Han Dynasty, is one of them. According to legend, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty built the Zhaoling Pavilion, a goddess left a jade hairpin. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty gave the jade hairpin to his favorite concubine Zhao. Decades later, Zhao Han succeeded to the throne, and all the women in the harem combed their hair in fashion, but they didn't have ideal hairstyles and looked around. Once, the ladies-in-waiting saw that the jade hairpin was not carved or decorated, so they wanted to destroy it and make a new one. But the next day when I opened the hairpin box, I saw a flying swallow soaring into the sky. The beautiful image of swallows taking off and their tails forked greatly inspired the women in the palace, so they made their hair pins into the shape of flying swallows. Swallow's tail is very suitable for being inserted in a bun, so it is named Yanchai. With the wide use of headdresses, headdresses of various textures and shapes appear constantly. The most common one is the phoenix head hairpin, which consists of a hairpin head and a pin. At present, in the Forbidden City in Beijing, there are still women's clothes worn by concubines in the Qing Dynasty. Most of them are divided into two categories, one is that women's hair accessories are exquisite, and the other is that women's hair accessories are plain.

People are used to calling the unadorned ones "inserts". There are also many forms of inserts, such as round-headed pins, pointed pins and flat-headed pins. Most of them are gold, silver and gold-plated plain colors, which are commonly used by ordinary women such as copper and iron. Inserts are only used to fix the bun. In the headdress of Manchu women, there should be a fixed center that plays a major role, that is, an insert that plays the role of a fixed center. There is also a kind of hair clip called "silver clip", just like two flat hair clips combined together. The silver clip not only attaches importance to the practical value of its fixed hairstyle, but also has the aesthetic value of showing beauty, which can be regarded as an ideal hairpin. There are also women who belong to the category of "Chai Jing Cloth Skirts". Because of the embarrassment of their family, they are not very particular about whether they want it or not. They only use thick iron wire to make inverted U-shaped inserts, and also use straight iron wire to sharpen one end and break one end to make hair clips.

In the past, when appreciating the elegant demeanour of raising the flag, we often saw the headdress of Manchu women, which was wide and long, like a fan instead of a fan, like a crown instead of a crown. It is called flat square, commonly known as "flag head" Another meaning of "flag head" refers to several hairstyles with distinctive national characteristics and unique charm commonly used by Manchu women, such as "Ertou", "Water hyacinth", "Swallowtail", "Big wings", "High head", "Shelf head", "Front bangs" and "Pan head wings". Flat square is the main jewelry of Manchu women when combing their hair. In the article "The Life of the Noble in the Late Qing Dynasty" written by Heyun, he once said: "Manchu women generally comb two J prefixes, and the style is simple. They are all' flat' and really hold jade or jade. " A square like a hair crown inserted horizontally on a bun, 32 to 33.5 cm long, 4 cm wide and 0.2 to 0.3 cm thick. It is ruler-shaped, with a semicircle at one end and a scroll at the other. For example, a disguised horizontal hairpin, whether combing two heads or pulling wings, plays the role of a "beam" connecting the true and false bun. The function of the flat square is similar to the long hairpin used by ancient men to tie their hair. Perhaps the flat square evolved from this. The texture of the square is mostly white jade and sapphire, and a few are gold and silver products.

As for Bian Fang, a unique headdress for Manchu women, we can see from the description of Mrs. An's headdress in the 20th chapter of the novel Legend of Heroes of Children in Qing Dynasty that "He Yufeng destroyed her filial piety, and Enron repaid her kindness with media service". The article said: "I saw the lady ... wearing two short heads, a red head, a flat square with a big head, a pair of three-line Hosta sticks and a small-eared spoon on her head, but she didn't wear it on her head, but stuffed it behind her head." On Cui Hua's left, there are three big gem needles and nails, and she still wears them. No matter how many hairpins she wears at this end, it reflects the portrayal of female headdresses in Manchu official families after the middle of Qing Dynasty.

In the northern folk of the Qing Dynasty, there were also very small squares. In the case of funeral, his wife Dai Xiao put down her two heads, put her hair on her head and braided it into two braids. The ends of the braid were not tied with ropes, which made her hair loose and a three-inch or four-inch long bone stuck on her head. If the daughter-in-law is Dai Xiao, a small square of silver or copper should be inserted horizontally. Fang is usually wrapped in green satin, green velvet or green yarn, commonly known as "Zi Zi". When worn, it can be fixed on a bun, often embroidered with various patterns, inlaid with gems or flowers, and decorated with long tassels. The square used by royal aristocratic women is exquisite in texture and elegant in style. On the narrow side of the square, which is only over a foot long, the patterns of flowers, grass, insects, birds, melons and fruits, pavilions and pavilions are lifelike. Princes and ladies wear flat squares, deliberately revealing patterns at both ends to attract attention. It is said that the silk tassel hanging on the flat side echoes the flowerpot shoes worn on the feet, which makes it introverted and adds to the dignified and beautiful manners of women. Manchu women, such as those who celebrate auspicious days or receive distinguished guests, will wear square scarves. Wearing this wide and long square towel can limit the distortion of the neck and make them straight. Coupled with the long cheongsam and high-grade flag shoes, walking is particularly stable and elegant.

Fun, commonly known as "Baotou", is called "brain" by northerners. It is a long strip with a wide middle and narrow ends, which is worn between the forehead and the eyebrows. Originally in the south of the Yangtze River and the Central Plains, it was used to protect the elderly women from the cold in winter. It was widely circulated in Ming and Qing dynasties, and was used as decoration by ladies and shelter from the cold by poor women. Married Manchu women in Northeast China use lacing to make their hair slightly backward, which is slightly different from the flat bun of Jiangnan women. Its shape and quality are mostly made of yarn, yarn, silk and satin. And it is wrapped around your head. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the fun was still very wide, but it gradually narrowed down, but it was extremely elaborate. Embroidered with auspicious patterns and inlaid with pearls and precious stones. Women's wear in Qing dynasty followed the old system of Ming dynasty. For example, there were two beautiful women's heads in the early Qing Dynasty, Dai. From the picture, there are tulle and mink, which reflect the different styles and textures of wearing in different seasons. For example, in winter in the north, the cold wind blows hard, and it is mostly made of mink, which is called mink double forehead. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, it was the time when fun flourished. Both ladies-in-waiting and folk women make fun of it. Because of the difference between the rich and the poor, the texture and decoration of fun are different. This eyebrow cover is practical in the north, so it has been popular for a long time. In addition to fun, there is also a golden Covenant, which is similar in shape to fun, but narrower than fun.

Tassel is a favorite jewelry of Manchu women, and its shape is similar to hairpin. But there are several rows of beads hanging on the top of the hairpin, which move with people and keep swaying, much like walking in the eight categories of ancient jewelry. Bead-walking jewelry was first seen in the Han Dynasty, and at first it was only popular with court and aristocratic women in the Han Dynasty. What is shaking step? "Those who step and shake, with gold beads and jade, hang on the hairpin and step and shake it." Buyao belongs to the ritual jewelry of Han Dynasty, and its shape and texture are symbols of rank and status. After the Han Dynasty, Buyao was gradually seen by the people, and only then did it have the opportunity to spread widely in society. Among aristocratic women, there was also a time when a rocking crown was added to the crown. Wearing it on your head is more luxurious than walking.

In the "China Cultural Relics Exhibition" held in the Forbidden City, several gold tree walking crowns unearthed in Liaoning Province were exhibited. The golden tree is a crown umbrella, and each branch has more than 40 branches and twigs. There is one or two movable gold rings at the top of each twig, and each gold ring is tied with a gold leaf, which is extremely beautiful when touched lightly. Its excavation makes us feel the intelligence and superb creativity of our ancestors, and at the same time, we can learn about the luxury of the life of feudal emperors' concubines. In history, after the Tang and Song Dynasties, many changes have taken place in the shape of stepping stones. Besides gold, there are stepping stones made of precious materials such as jade, coral, glass, amber, turquoise and spar. Tang Yin, one of the four famous painters in the Ming Dynasty, wrote in the poem "Song of Recruiting the Sages": "Yujin steps to shake the silver finger, and the moon hangs on the dragon chair". It can be seen that "Yujin" was used in the Ming Dynasty, and it may be a stepping shape with metal and jewels. Among them, there are many new welding technologies popular in Ming Dynasty. In fact, the durability of gold wire welded with gold base and inlaid with pearls and gems is much higher than that of traditional crafts such as carving and stewing.

In Qing dynasty, the new welding technology was mostly adopted in step swing. In the Catalogue of Clothing Exhibition in Qing Dynasty compiled by the Palace Museum in Taiwan, there is a "phoenix jade bead", which is lined with metal welding, decorated with kingfisher feathers, with rubies and snow-white rice beads embedded in the eyes and red coral beads embedded on both sides. Phoenix is sideways, with two strings of small pearls more than ten centimeters long in its sharp mouth and a small green gourd in its corner. The whole walking posture is light and unique, and its materials are excellent, which is really rare.

In another catalog, there is also a tassel, which is more auspicious and similar in shape. At the top of the tassel connected with the pin, there is a golden halberd (an ancient combat weapon) with golden silk thread. There is a gold pendant on the halberd, and a string of beads is hung at both ends of the pendant. One string is a pearl lapis lazuli bat with an emerald cover and a ruby pendant. Another string is pearl honey fish, emerald cover and ruby pendant. The whole tassel consists of halberd, stone, bat and fish. Homophonic "More than auspicious and festive" This tassel symbolizes auspiciousness and has a unique shape. It not only plays the role of decorating hair style, but also combines sense of humor, symbolism and homophonic. It is a masterpiece of tassel jewelry.

The original meaning of the word tassel refers to the colorful silk tassels used by ancient people to decorate chariots and horses. However, the step and the tassel are exactly the same in shape and function. As for why the name Buyao was not inherited, it was replaced by the word tassel, which needs further study in the future.

Manchu women like a variety of tassels. There are rockhopper, rockhopper, flower, butterfly, mandarin duck, bat and so on. There are one layer, two layers and three layers of hanging beads. Among the jewelry of empresses in the Qing Dynasty exhibited in the Treasure Hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing, there is a word "wearing a tassel" that the queen wore at the emperor's wedding. At the top of the tassel is a feathered bat with two small gold rings in its mouth, which are connected with the feather head of a flowing cloud. Ruyi's head is decorated with three strings of long pearls in parallel, each string of pearls is divided into three layers on average, and the word "double happiness" carved by red coral is separated between each layer. The bottom of the bead string is made of ruby. The whole tassel is 28 cm long from the top to the corner, which is the longer one of the tassels. This kind of long tassel is usually inserted obliquely at the top of the bun, and the beads hang down just shoulder-level. In addition, the tassels collected in the Qing Palace are the most common, with phoenix-shaped beads at the top. Such as "Dragon and Phoenix Becoming Auspicious", "Cai Feng Qi Fei", "Feng Dan facing the sun" and "Phoenix wearing peony". Phoenix is the king of birds. It is said that it can bring happiness, beauty and light to people. The image of a phoenix holding a pearl means that the phoenix is nesting and preparing to brood. Emperors in feudal times wanted to have many children and grandchildren, so many queens' headdresses were crowned with the title of Phoenix.

In the early Qing dynasty, ordinary flag girls and Han women imitated Manchu ladies' hair accessories, focusing on high bun. When combing their hair, they divide it into two long flat bun, about one foot wide, commonly known as "fork head" (also called "two ends" or "handle head"). When making a fork head, a lock of hair hangs from the back of the head, and the lower end is trimmed into two sharp corners to form a dovetail shape, which is called "dovetail". In the Qing Dynasty, Wu Shizan described this hairstyle in Gong Ci: "The bun and the clouds are in line, and the pearls protect the cricket." The city is more than a foot high, and the forked dove tail is low. "These palace words vividly describe the unique hairstyles of Manchu women.

"Tuantou", also known as flag temples, is a common hairstyle among the people. When Manchu women reach middle age, they no longer wear "Toma Evelle" and comb "Tuantou", which looks like a steamed bread with patterns, but the "Tuantou" is different from the "zits and temples" of middle-aged women in general. The two combs are also different in different positions, and the pimple is in the lower part of the back of the head. The ball head is directly above, and the hair is combed into a vertical round or flat high bun on the top of the head. Some people leave "swallowtails" and insert jewelry such as silver and copper squares in their hair. Because some elderly women have less hair, they have a spiral "roll" on their heads, which is simple and convenient, and can still be seen in rural areas where Manchu people live in concentrated communities in recent years.

There is also a hairstyle called "water hyacinth", commonly known as "water temples". It is to pick off the weak hair on the sideburns and form a hook next to the root of the ear with soapy water to enrich the cheeks and face, which is particularly beautiful in contrast to the peach blossom with rain.

After Kanggan, due to the influence of the "Ruyi Theory" of the Han nationality, Manchu J girls generally comb their hair in the shape of "I", commonly known as "prefix" and "Ruyi Building". In the middle of Qing Dynasty, the styles of Manchu women's bun gradually increased, and the "double horns" were also expanding. The hairstyle of Manchu women developed from H-shaped bun to shelf head, and at the same time, their own hair style gradually developed into a mixed hairstyle of real hair and wig by borrowing shelves, and many ornaments were inserted into the bun. Among them, there is a plate-shaped ornament called "Square", which was very small at first. In the late Qing Dynasty, especially in Xianfeng period, Manchu women's hair styles became more tall and exaggerated, and evolved into fixed decorations as high as cards, thus replacing two combs with shelves.

"Reading the World" once said: "At the beginning of Shunzhi, I saw Manchu women braiding their hair in front of their forehead and parting it backwards. Their heads were wrapped like Chinese Baotou, but the decoration on their heads was effective in the capital and invalid in other provinces." Later, this hairstyle became higher and higher, and later it became a tall and big form. Some people describe it as a small blackboard. This arch decoration does not need hair, and it is made of silk and satin into a "fan-shaped" crown, commonly known as "big wings", which is the hairstyle of Manchu ladies. These aristocratic women are wearing tall ornaments and high-grade flag shoes, which are used to, and they are particularly slender and walk more calmly and dignified.

Big wings, also known as "big Beijing style", "big rollover" and "big wings", are similar to the styles of Qing court costumes seen on the stage and in film and television dramas. They should be developed from "two heads", that is, a bun on the top of the head is used as the head seat, a blue plain satin or gauze velvet frame is added on it, and a "dovetail" is left behind the head. This hairstyle was very popular in Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty, and it became higher and higher. It developed into a style similar to the later "flag head board", with flowers in front and tassels hanging on the side, so some areas in Northeast China called it "Beijing School" or "Palace Dress".

The headdress of "big wings" is a fan-shaped hard shell, about a foot high. The inside is made of iron wire according to the size of the head circumference, and then the cloth ring is used as the tire. The outside is covered with green satin or blue flannel as the fixed decorative head, and some flowers made of green satin, green velvet, green diameter yarn or silk are inserted. You can wear it on your head without brushing when you need it, and you can take it off and put it aside when you don't use it. It not only beautifies the hair, but also is convenient to take off and wear, which can be described as the best of both worlds. Big wings, shaped like a big wish, and the dovetail hooked at the back of the neck is bigger than before, almost touching the collar. Because the large pull wing is made of thick iron wire, it has strong bearing capacity, and is equipped with fixing devices such as pins, hairpins, tassels, pimples, ear scoops, headdresses, etc., which meets the needs of wearing multiple pieces of jewelry at the same time.

This kind of hair accessory of Manchu women is unique to aristocratic women. The Palace Museum has the Yongle Map of Yongzheng, which depicts the image of the imperial concubine in the early Qing Dynasty. Because this kind of hair accessory belongs to the dress of high-ranking and aristocratic women, ordinary women often wear it on their heads as a "ceremonial crown" when they get married, just like the "phoenix crown summer dress" of the Han nationality, which makes them feel glorious and rich. Until the late Qing Dynasty, "big wings" were still the main hair accessories of Manchu women, and both official women and folk women followed suit. In fact, few people dress like this except aristocratic women in daily life. The reason is that it is time-consuming and laborious and must be completed with the help of others. Don't tilt your pillow after combing your hair, and keep your neck straight when standing or sitting. Although beautiful, it is uncomfortable. People seldom see it, except on important occasions, such as weddings or young girls and daughter-in-law combing it during the New Year.