Braids of ancient people

Confirmed from archaeological data. The Zhou Dynasty had the habit of braiding, which was divided into double braids and single braids. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period, Qin and Han Dynasties, women combed double braids, while in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, women combed single braids. Comb this hairstyle, most of them are unmarried women in the middle and lower classes. Ancient children also had the fashion of editing and distributing, including single editing, double editing, three editing and multiple editing. Since 1840, when the British colonists forcibly opened the gate of China with cannons, for a long time, people of other nationalities in the world stared at the long braids dragged behind China people's heads with strange eyes, which was puzzling. An Englishman who personally participated in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution in China once said, "For many years, all of Europe thought that China people were the most absurd and strange people in the world: their shaved hair, braided hair, narrowed eyes, strange clothes and disfigured feet of women have long provided cartoonists with the theme of creating funny stories." [1] So that after more than one hundred years of history, at the beginning of China's reform and opening up, people in some European countries regarded braiding and wearing strange clothes as the inherent image of China people and posted them everywhere as advertisements for traveling to China.

Shaving one's head and changing clothes, in fact, talking about shaving one's head and braiding one's hair, is just a custom formed after Manchu entered the Central Plains in the middle of17th century. Before that, people in China didn't shave their heads or braid their hair. Han Feizi said, "The ancients had tattoos." This is what happened when our ancestors were uncivilized in ancient times. After entering the civilized era, with the development of productive forces and the improvement of living standards, our ancestors had the concept of beauty, and headwear also developed, gradually deducing a more complicated set of etiquette. Since Confucius issued the admonition that "parents dare not damage the skin", defending the hair on the head is not only an aesthetic demand, but also ethical significance. As a result, Wan's hair was fringed and crowned, serious and untidy. Not only the Central Plains people need to do this, but also the ethnic minorities located in the Quartet need to do this. For example, Hanshu said: "When the final army writes, please put a long tassel on it to pledge the king of South Vietnam. It is to make the king of Yue. Please name the domestic genus. " The more the wind blows, the haircut will become a punishment, and only when unforgivable mistakes are made will the haircut be implemented as a punishment. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao violated his military discipline because his horse stepped on the wheat field, so he cut the blue silk with his sword to show his gratitude to the army. From Qin and Han dynasties to Ming and Qing dynasties, the ancestral motto that hair can't be damaged goes deep into the bone marrow and can't be changed.

The Qing Dynasty began in Saibei, and Manchu was a nation on horseback. Perhaps because of riding a horse, I have a habit of braiding for a long time. Jin people, the ancestors of Manchu people, shaved their hair and braided their hair. Their hair style is "half shaved and half left". They drew a straight line on their foreheads, all the hair in front of the line was shaved, and the hair behind the line hung behind their heads. It is difficult to confirm when this habit began and how long it lasted, but at least it is certain that it appeared in the Song Dynasty. Li Xin's biography "Annals of Yan Li Nian" records: "After three years of Yan Li, Marshal Yuan banned people from wearing Hanfu, and those who failed to meet the style were killed." "History of Song Dynasty" recorded Liu Qi's deeds of resisting gold, saying: "It is dusk, it rains every day, and lightning shines everywhere. Anyone who sees braids needs to be cut off. Jin Bing retreated fifteen miles. "

About ancestors had such a precedent of forced haircut. Hundreds of years later, when the Eight Banners of Manchuria crossed Shanhaiguan and entered Shanhaiguan, it overthrew the decadent Ming Dynasty and established the rule of the Qing Dynasty, and the rulers of the Qing Dynasty began to vigorously promote the system of shaving and braiding hair. 1645, the emperor shunzhi of the Qing dynasty issued an order, announcing that "after this announcement, all provinces in Zhili, both inside and outside Beijing, will have their hair shaved within ten days. If you don't care about your hair, argue eloquently, and never lend lightly, your courtiers will not be allowed to shave their hair, or you will be killed without forgiveness [2]. This is the famous "haircut order" in history. From then on, the fate of hair is no longer a personal preference or an ethical issue, but a serious political issue. In order to completely conquer the Han people in spirit, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty took tonsure as a sign of submission. To this end, they did not hesitate to threaten death. The slogan is: "leave your head, leave your hair, leave your head." "Of course, this is unacceptable to the Han people. A strand of hair is not only influenced by parents, but also becomes a symbol of loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, and must not be shaved off. To this end, the Han people rose up and rebelled with the slogan: "Better be a ghost than a bald head! "

The braid resistance of the Manchu dynasty was extremely fierce, and the repression of the Manchu rulers was also extremely cruel. How many terrible historical tragedies have been staged under blood shed? On the first 10 day in Jiangyin, three butchers in Jiading, how many people fell to the ground. The most tragic thing is "the tenth day of Jiangyin", the second day of the sixth lunar month. Jiangyin people, led by Yan Yingyuan and Chen Mingyu, swore allegiance to the Ming Dynasty, guarding the city for 8 1 day, killing 75,000 soldiers and 67,000 warriors on the wall. When the city was broken, the Qing army slaughtered the city for ten days, and it was not until the city was killed that the knife was sealed. 170,000 soldiers and civilians died by the sword of the Qing army, and only 53 people, old and young, survived. There are poems as evidence:

On the 80 th, Defa was loyal to him and represented the people of the 17 th Dynasty.

60,000 people died together, and Daming is 300 miles.

Resist, suppress, resist again, suppress again. With the collapse of the small court in Nanming, people's hopes of recovery were dashed one by one. People stopped resisting and finally accepted the reality of Manchu rule. There are braids, and they are left one by one. Over time, people become numb, accustomed to it, and no longer think it is not pleasing to the eye, nor do they think it is a barbarian custom. Even braiding has become a natural custom in China. People are not only comfortable with braiding, but also accustomed to braiding, paying attention to how to braid, especially the dudes in official families and rich families, who decorate the ends of braids with various decorations and ostentatiously cross the city for fashion. Scholars also take this as the object of chanting, and there is a couplet describing shaving braids:

Wash your face, brush your teeth and shave.

Stop and rest, just dig and knock.

More than 200 years later, when history entered the11940s, when the Chinese had the opportunity to cross the ocean and walk out of the blocked mainland, they attached great importance to this braid dangling behind their heads. Lin Zexu, a philosopher who burned opium in Humen, once said contemptuously when he saw a dress in Macau: "It's so vulgar!" I'm afraid this evaluation is similar to the exclamation made by foreigners when they see the braids of China people. However, the surprise and ridicule of foreigners cannot shake the complacency of China people. Because this is a symbol of civilization, and it is a symbol of people who "go to heaven and go to earth".

However, some people have not forgotten the full braid. 185 1 year 1 month, Hong Xiuquan and his "God-fearing" brothers established the name "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" in jintian uprising, Guangxi. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom called for anti-Qing, and dug up the old accounts more than 200 years ago. In the book "Hu Qiu in Tian Feng" published in the name of Yang, king of the east, and Xiao Chaogui, king of the west, it is declared: "Husband China has the image of China, and now Manchuria learns to cut his hair and drag a long tail behind him, turning China people into animals. China has China's clothes, and now Manchuria has another crown, a monkey crown and a rotten crown, which makes China people forget their roots. " Therefore, it is necessary to restore the "ancient system of the Central Plains", that is, to restore the clothes and costumes of the Han nationality. The officers and men of Taiping Army kept their hair and did not shave, which restored the old system that the Han people in the Central Plains tied their hair on their heads. In Taiping Army, you can tell by your hair. Whoever participates in the uprising early will have long hair, and whoever participates in the uprising late will have short hair. The length of hair is the best sign of continuous participation in the uprising. Storing hair without shaving is the most prominent image feature of Taiping Army, which is different from people at that time. Because of this, hair storage was often called "long hair" by the people at that time, while officials of the Qing court falsely called it "sending bandits", "sending thieves" and "sending chaos" and so on.

Since jintian uprising, in just over two years, the Taiping Army has been in Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces. At the same time, the system of storage and development in various places has also been implemented. In the Taiping Army's view, storing hair and changing clothes is not only a matter of clothing, but also a political expression of whether to support the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Therefore, they are equally strict in execution. In order to keep their heads, they must have long hair, or they may be beheaded. The surge of Taiping Army, like a flash of lightning, swept across the land of China in the middle of19th century. However, it comes and goes quickly. After more than ten years, with the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the behavior of storing hair and changing clothes disappeared, and everything was temporarily restored to its original appearance.

In the era of agricultural civilization, it is difficult for people to find the disadvantages of braids. However, since the Opium War, as the door of ancient China was opened under strong force, due to the origin of communication between China and the West and the comparison of Chinese and Western customs, some China people who first contacted foreigners or modern industrial civilization began to realize that braiding was a vulgar custom. However, no one dares to cut off the braid first. From the 1950s, the first batch of Chinese who settled overseas appeared the phenomenon of cutting braids and changing suits, but all of them were individual cases and did not form an atmosphere. 1898, 1 This month, that is, the Lunar New Year's Eve, Chinese Singaporeans organized the Chinese Braid Cutting Conference, and issued a collective braid cutting initiative. This move caused great sensation and controversy in overseas Chinese society. Those who agree think braiding is not good-looking; Some people say that braids stink if they are not washed for a long time; It is said that braiding is very harmful, such as those who are caught by the machine if they are not careful in the computer room, which will inevitably endanger their lives; It is said that braided hair or wheels are involved, causing people to be tossed; This thing looks like an animal's tail. What is it? Some people are like chains. Therefore, they advocate cutting off the braid and "keeping the whole hair short". But the opponents are also very fierce, especially some old people. They are worried that once they cut off their braids, they will be regarded as aliens by the Qing Dynasty. Then, the idea of returning to China will eventually become a bubble; Moreover, once there is a dispute with the local society, it is difficult to get the protection of the Qing foreign institutions. As a result, the traditional forces once again gained the upper hand, and the initiative to cut braids was put on hold. It was not until two years later that Singaporean Chinese finally put the idea of braiding into action. According to the June 1900 report of China Foreign Daily, "In a place in Singapore, 80 Chinese have cut their braids and changed their suits, and many others have cut their braids, probably now. "Under the influence of the trend of the times and industrial civilization, braiding finally broke through the traditional old circle of' dividing the ocean and summer' and was mentioned in the world at that time.

For a time, domestic public opinion was in uproar, such as Lu and Shen Bao in Shanghai, Guo Zaijin and Hunan. It is reported that Chinese Singaporeans advocate braiding in 1898. However, except for Guo's topic of "cutting braids to make news", which revealed that this was the first thing, the rest of the newspapers rarely commented to show their surprise.

However, although China didn't cut the braid, it doesn't mean there is no sound. /kloc-in the summer of 0/898, Kang Youwei, who advocated reform, boldly put forward the idea of breaking, changing clothes and changing yuan to Emperor Guangxu. He advocated braiding for the same reason as Chinese in Singapore, but he raised braiding to a broader vision and the height of reform, reform and power. He thought, "Although my hair was cut in India, it was created in Rome, a martial place. Taber is the best. Why not cut my hair first?" Moreover, the reform of Peter I in Russia and the Meiji Restoration in Japan "all started with changing clothes". Therefore, he asked Emperor Guangxu to change clothes when the political, economic and cultural changes were fully implemented, so as to "revitalize the national spirit".

Kang Youwei was the first person in China who formally asked the emperor to cut his hair and braid it.

1903, the student world published the article "Editing and Distributing Easy Clothes", saying that editing and distributing is beneficial to "strong species in Qiang Bing". 1904 Ta Kung Pao published another article, suggesting that China students "modify their braids" to "associate with westerners". Although the author carefully limited the scope of editing and distributing to international students, at that time, this discussion was still suspected of "changing clothes and changing yuan, and the revolution was full", so no more people dared to take the risk.

However, the bourgeois revolutionaries who take "filling the revolution" as their own responsibility dare to take this risk. Braids and Manchu have been followed for nearly 300 years, but the memory of these 300 years has not disappeared, especially the braid, which was ridiculed as "dolphin tail", is still regarded as the shame of Han people by many people. So removing this braid is a sign of breaking with the Qing court. When encouraging anti-Qing and publicizing the revolution, this is the most powerful call to mobilize the people to support the revolution. As early as 1895, Sun Yat-sen, Chen Shaobai and others shaved their heads and changed clothes in Japan beyond the reach of the Qing court to show their revolutionary ambitions. In the "anti-Russian movement" that broke out in 1903, young students studying in Japan cut off their braids one after another to show their break with the Qing court. The atmosphere is getting worse and worse, so that students studying in Japan are proud of cutting their braids. Jing Dingcheng (Mei Jiu), a member of Shanxi Merchants Alliance, discussed a braid cutting event in 1905, which is quite representative.

Among the students sent by Shanxi for the second time, there are many old gentlemen with conservative pigtails, like a life, who would rather die than cut them off. One day, I had a cordial meeting with my fellow villagers and had a discussion. Then I said: "this hair is a troublesome thing, and it is not a serious thing to tie it in the braid at the back of the head;" Now people hold him above their heads as a cover, give him a good start, let him occupy the top (alluding to the Qing court), and suppress his whole body (alluding to people's freedom). Now, please make up your mind to make a clean break and cut him off (implying revolution), not only with a round head, but also with a happy body. What scruples do you have and won't give up? This sentence was naturally understood by revolutionary colleagues and was welcomed by applause. Only the old man was very unhappy and said to people behind his back, "Some people are all right, but they are advised to cut their braids. It's really annoying!" " 〔3〕

After returning home, international students brought back the new trend of editing and distributing. 1903, there are many young students in Jiangnan who cut braids. The article in Ta Kung Pao 1903+00+06 describes it like this: "Freshmen and foreign students in the south of the Yangtze River cut more braids, thinking that otherwise there will be shortcomings in form." Especially with the implementation of the New Deal and the introduction of various reform measures in the early Qing Dynasty in the 20th century, the contradiction between editing and publishing and some new rules is getting bigger and bigger. 1June, 905, the new army changed its service system. Many officers and men put on new uniforms and cut off a bunch of braids for the convenience of wearing military hats. At the same time, Tianjin, which took the lead in implementing the system, also "cut off one-third of the braid". In view of the practice of braiding in academic and military circles, on May 6, 1907, students and soldiers were forbidden to braid their braids, and students were "punished separately after discovering them"; Soldiers "if they don't conform to the custom, put on other clothes and cut off their pigtails. No matter officials, monks or soldiers, they will reject leather clothes" [4]. This was the first order of the Central Committee of the Qing Dynasty, forbidding braiding. Now that this order has been issued, the wind of editing and publishing has been slightly stifled. However, once a new ethos spreads, can it be stopped by an administrative order? Moreover, at that time, everyone with wisdom had realized that "China's braid is harmful and useless to everyone". Even in the Qing court, some enlightened officials no longer insisted on braiding, which is the result of the times.

19101kloc-0/0 On October 3rd, the first executive meeting of the Senior Advisory Committee, a product of the New Deal of the Qing Dynasty, opened. Shortly after the meeting, a member named Roger put forward a motion of "cutting braids and serving the world easily"; Then, Zhou Zhenlin, a member of parliament from Hunan Province who is actually Revolution X, put forward a motion of "cutting off braids and improving clothes". Senior Council decided that "the main idea of the two cases was that China's braiding hindered the movement, and the imperial court reorganized the army, which was not enough to cut the braiding and reform the crown service, so it was not enough to make the new world look fresh and change its arrogant habits" [5]. Finally, it was approved by most members. The news came as soon as the resolution on braiding and changing clothes was passed. Regardless of whether the Qing court approved the filing of the case, the folk knot was "an unstoppable situation." But braiding is still a free choice at this time, and there is no mandatory social pressure.

19110 In June10, Wuchang Uprising broke out, and the provinces responded one after another, and the revolutionary wave surged. Compared with forcing Han people to shave their hair in the early Qing Dynasty, the Revolution of 1911 also regarded hair as a symbol of political division. Independent provinces naturally take the braid that marks the Han people's submission to the Manchu court as their revolutionary goal, and cutting off the braid has become a new symbol of getting rid of the old and the new. Xu Jincheng's unofficial history of the Republic of China records: "Countless Han people happily cut off the braid of this slave symbol. There are also superstitious people who choose auspicious days in advance to worship their ancestors, then cut them solemnly and burn their braids. There are still many people who cut braids, set off firecrackers and celebrate at office banquets on the same day. " At that time, a magazine called Yue Feng published an article saying: "It is not revolution or fashion if you don't cut your hair. You can't walk into the big government to talk or go to school. " For a time, the wave of braiding was like a storm, which quickly swept across the country.

However, after the founding of the Republic of China, the trend of braiding gradually expanded, and a few months after Shanghai's independence, the situation of resisting braiding continued to occur. At that time, someone pointed out: "It has been more than two months since the recovery of Shanghai, but people from all walks of life are still hesitant to cut it. It is the thief's ugliness that still exists, and the prestige of the Republic of China is detrimental. " [6] Shanghai was the most civilized city at that time. As for some remote towns and rural areas, many people resist weaving. It is not only Manchu aristocrats who are unwilling to cut their braids, but also people who are obsessed with monarchy. A considerable number of ordinary people are unwilling to cut off greasy braids out of long-standing inertia. According to the declaration 19 12 02 19, Xiangtan county, Hunan province, "nine times out of ten people cut their braids, and it is said that one or two people who didn't cut their braids were just stubborn rural fools", and "a water bearer still hung his braids and soldiers forced him to cut them". As a result, there was a quarrel and the water delivery man was injured and died. In view of this situation, in order to further eradicate the bad habit of braids, Sun Yat-sen, the temporary president of Nanjing, ordered the whole country to cut braids after the reunification of the north and the south, saying:

Man Lu stole the country, changed my crown, made it strong, and learned fishy customs. At the beginning, Gao Shi was unyielding and unyielding, and he died calmly; Or escape to a stream for the rest of your life. ..... Today, the Manchu court replied, and the Republic of China succeeded. All my compatriots are allowed to wash away the old stains and become the people of the new country. We found that there are many people who cut braids in Datong, and there are still many people who leave braids in remote places. Yang's internal affairs office issued a circular to the provincial governors and informed all localities. Anyone who doesn't braid his hair will be cut off within 20 days from the date of the order, and those who don't comply will be considered illegal. Local officials are not allowed to live in seclusion, which leads to national discipline. It is also found that people all over the country have shaved their braids, which is extremely inconsistent. It is suggested that the Ministry should ban it together to eliminate customs and make it spectacular. 〔7〕

The wording of the temporary circular is very strict, which has greatly promoted the nationwide braid cutting. However, some people still have pigtails. One of them is a very famous person named Zhang Xun, and his name is Shao Xuan. He is a newcomer in Jiangxi and joined the Qing army at the age of 30. When Wuchang was sworn in, he was serving as the prefect of Jiangnan, stationed in Nanjing, and retreated to Xuzhou after being defeated by the Jiangsu-Zhejiang revolutionary Coalition forces. This man is very stubborn. After the abdication of the Qing emperor, he still expressed his loyalty to the Qing dynasty, and his Ministry banned braiding, so he was called "braid handsome" 1965438+June 2007 14, Zhang Xun led thousands of "braid troops" to Beijing; /kloc-in July, Zhang Xun held the restoration of Puyi. As a result, many people who cut braids in Beijing are panicked. There is a ballad that says, "You can't get along without cutting your braids. I am afraid of Zhang Xun when I cut my braid. " For a time, fake braids were popular in Beijing.

Who knows, true and false braids are only popular for twelve days. 12 In July, the "Rebel Army" organized by Prime Minister Duan of Beiyang invaded Beijing, and Zhang Xun fled into the foreign embassy in Dongjiaominxiang in panic. Emperor Puyi of Xuan Tong announced his abdication again, which soon ended a farce. There is a song saying:

Xuan Tong back to the DPRK, bald men to open gourd ladle.

Xuan Tong escaped and his bald head healed.

With regard to the history of braids, China people have been tossing about for nearly 300 years and finally come to an end.