What is the national flag? The story of Yan Xi Palace tells you how to wear the national flag.

However, in the impression of many people, it seems that concubines in the palace will have a daily standard, which is a big ornament on their heads, called "flag head". Because there are so many things, many people feel that such things exist as if they existed throughout the Qing Dynasty, which is a symbol of the Manchu Dynasty. In fact, this is not the case. In the TV series "The Story of Yan Xi Palace", combing the timeline will reveal that the story takes place between the other two Qing Dynasty dramas "The Queen of the Palace" and "Princess Zhu Huan", but this drama has no full-screen banner. Why?

Recently, Emperor Qianlong was really busy, and two big productions revolved around him. Ruyi's Palace Love tells the story of Yi Ru and Gan Long supporting each other and finally Yi Ru becoming a queen. "The Story of Yan Xi Palace" tells the story of a maid-in-waiting who finally becomes a imperial concubine. However, Ruyi is still busy with the trial here, while Yan Xi is already holding up half the sky.

The story of Yan Xi Palace is inherited from the concubines in Princess Huanzhu in the palace, so it is not difficult for friends to straighten out their relationship. In the process of watching the palace fight, the friends also learned a lot about the Qing palace culture, especially the Qing palace aesthetics. However, if we revisit princess huanzhu and the queen of the palace, and then look at the poster of royal love in ruyi palace, we will find a problem in detail control: most Qing dynasty dramas wear the banner by mistake.

The flag head seems to be the standard hairstyle of Manchu women in our impression, but it didn't actually appear until the late Qing Dynasty. Its inventor was the famous Empress Dowager Cixi, and it is said that it was invented to cover up the problem of hair loss.

Since it is the trend led by Cixi, it is really unreliable to set up a flag in Yongzheng or Qianlong period. In other words, most Qing dramas such as Zhu Huan, Zhen Xuan and Ruyi. I made a cross and put on the flag by mistake.

In the early Qing Dynasty, Manchu women used real hair, and the hairstyle developed from soft wing head to the most common "two small handles", also known as "two handles". The flag head is developed on the basis of "two heads"

The flag head, also called big wings, big square and big Beijing school, is actually a bun. Two heads made of real hair, with a fan-shaped bun on their heads, are fixed on their heads with flat hairpins when in use and can be taken off when not in use.

In the important occasions of the Qing court, there were corresponding costumes and crowns, but the flag head did not appear in special formal occasions, and was mostly used for court banquets. The flag heads of court women in the Qing Dynasty have various shapes, most of which are customized by Chu Guangsi or the government, and they can wear whatever they like on weekdays. Just wearing a flag head, you must pay attention to the accessories you wear, otherwise you will expose major events and your life will be hard to protect.

In the play, Princess Zhu Huan, from the Empress Dowager to the ladies-in-waiting, we all wear flags that appear in advance, so we can cross it. Anyway, we just put on the cloak of history to talk about small love. If it is true, just look at the specifications of the flag head, Shu Fangzhai's ladies-in-waiting will all queue up to cross Naihe Bridge.

Generally speaking, the more distinguished the status, the more luxurious the decoration on the flag head, but the highest specifications are five accessories, namely flowers, cymbals, hairpin, touch breastplate and jewelry. There are some insurmountable hard and fast rules.

Like Gege, because of different grades, some people wear "three inlays" and "two inlays", and those below "three inlays" are not eligible to use Diancui.

Let's look at the emperor's little wives. Although concubines are mentioned, concubines are lower in rank than concubines. The specification that Ai can enjoy is that there are "three inlays" on the flag head, which means that three of the five accessories are selected. You can't use East Pearl for inlaid jewelry, only ordinary pearls. Diancui, a luxury, can be used, but it can only be modeled by plants.

(lishixinzhi.com in history) In addition to the princess level, what you can enjoy is that there are "five inlays" on the flag head, and oriental pearls are allowed in jewelry, but there are strict standards for the number of oriental pearls, and you can only use three at most. You can only use butterflies, flowers, birds and the like to touch the green, and you must never look like a phoenix. I think everyone must be impressed by the emerald tiara of the Chinese princess in The Queen of the Palace. It is said that it was a genuine product borrowed by the crew from a collector at that time. Although this prop has long been used to interpret the story of Yongzheng period, this gorgeous story is true.

Besides, the queen or queen mother, the flag head is also "five-inlaid", and the inlaid jewelry can be the best and the most upscale. The flag head can be inlaid with the best "East Pearl", which comes from wild pearls in Northeast China. The output is small, full, crystal clear and round. Cixi is the craziest fan of Dongzhu. There are only posts at the level of queen and empress dowager, and Diancui can be shaped into a phoenix.

If other people in the harem dare to use the Dadong Pearl Phoenix ornaments that only the Empress Dowager or Empress Dowager can enjoy, they will immediately be suspected of provoking the power of the ruler. This is "disrespectful" and once discovered, it is a big sin.

Apart from the rigid rules of Oriental Pearl and Diancui, other ornaments are not so strict.

As essential jewelry for bun, hairpin and hairpin have similar uses. Judging from the ornaments left over from the Qing Dynasty, they are generally divided into practical and decorative ones. Hairpins widely used by the people are mostly bone hairpins, wood hairpins and silver hairpins. The women and hairpin in the harem choose the gold hairpin with expensive material and wear it in an obvious position.

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. As a female translator around Cixi, Yu Deling mentioned something about the hairpin worn by his empresses: "In the long summer of 1903, everyone changed their gold hairpin and wore a jade hairpin on this day"; "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."

In addition, the headdress flower, the exaggerated and huge headdress flower on Manchu women's flags, was developed from hairpin. As the big wings become wider and wider, the headdress flower with larger coverage comes into being.

There is a big flower between the two heads, called headdress. Two flowers of the same color can also be inserted at both ends, commonly known as pressed hair flowers, also known as pressed temples. Those who pursue luxury will also use gold, silver, pearls or precious stones to make flowers, which are quite local tyrants.

Interestingly, Manchu women in northern Liaoning have a strong desire for beauty. They will put a small bottle of water and a few flowers in the bun, just like a walking vase.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the national strength declined gradually, and people's lives were affected, so they could not show off their wealth. Velvet flowers or silk flower are very popular. It is said that "velvet flower" in Chinese is similar to "splendor" in Manchu, so wearing velvet flower means splendor. Especially when a daughter gets married, she must wear red velvet flowers on her head for good luck.

Therefore, as long as conditions permit, Manchu women not only wear velvet flowers on festive days, but also want to wear velvet flowers all year round for the sake of homophonic auspiciousness.

Once you wear the flag head, the weight on your head and the high-heeled flag shoes under your feet will make your figure straight, and with the long cheongsam, you can make your figure look particularly slender. Women walking slowly will naturally have a stable and dignified temperament. This kind of temperament is fascinating, so until the late Qing Dynasty, "big wings" were still the main hair accessories of Manchu women. Only in proportion, this hairstyle is a minority, and it is often used by harem and official wives in Qing Dynasty. It is just folk imitation but not popular.

The reason is not difficult to understand. Wearing the national flag takes time and effort, and someone must help you. After combing your hair, keep your neck straight whether you are standing or sitting, and don't tilt your pillow at will. Although beautiful, it is uncomfortable. Except for grand occasions such as weddings or Chinese New Year grooming, it is rare on weekdays.