The history of wigs

People in China have a habit of wearing wigs for a long time. At first, they were ornaments for upper-class women, which were added to the original hair to make it thicker and make it into a more complicated bun. Wigs were very popular in the Spring and Autumn Period. In the Han Dynasty, hairstyles and hair accessories were all made according to Zhou Li. During the Three Kingdoms period, women also used fake buns. After the Northern Qi Dynasty, the form of fake bun developed towards simplification. Until the Yuan Dynasty, Han women began to use a kind of fake bun called parallel bun. There were still many styles of braided bun in Qing dynasty, but after the Republic of China, hairstyles became simple, and wigs and fake buns were used less.

The woman in the Tang Dynasty who wore a high bun in Zhou Fang's Zanhua Picture probably wore a wig. Wigs appeared in China a long time ago. In the early days, they were ornaments for upper-class women. They were used to add to the original hair to make it thicker and make it into a more complicated bun. In The Book of Songs, there are two kinds of wigs called "vice" and "disdainful". A "piece" is a bun made of some wigs or hair. In The Book of Songs, the bun made of wig is called "shell", which is the total leaf of beard.

In Zhou Li, wigs are subdivided into many kinds, and "vice" means "fu", which is a decorative wig; "Weaving" belongs to an unadorned wig; "Time" is a bun woven with wig and real hair. Later, these names were replaced by "beard" and "big beard" "Beard" refers to wigs made of human hair, and "beard" refers to wigs in general. Upper-class aristocratic women in the Western Zhou Dynasty, such as queens and imperial concubines, should wear accessories, braids, second-class jewelry and other accessories when attending major activities such as sacrifices. The queen's bun is managed by a special court official, Zhuishi.

Wigs were popular in the Spring and Autumn Period. It is recorded in Zuo Zhuan's seventeen years of mourning for the public that when he saw the beautiful hair of Ji's wife on the wall of Rongzhou, he ordered someone to shave off her hair and made a wig for his wife Lv Jiang as a decoration, which was called "Lv Jiang's article" in history. At that time, men also wore wigs, and Zhuangzi Heaven and Earth mentioned that (Shun) used wigs to cover up his baldness. Although the content of Shun in Zhuangzi is a legend, it can be seen that men also used wigs at that time.

In the Han Dynasty, hairstyles and hair accessories were formulated according to Zhou Li. For example, Empress Dowager Cixi still wears all kinds of complicated headdresses in a bun, which later evolved into a heavy rockhopper. There is a great demand for wigs in the palace. In order to find someone to make wigs, some officials even cut off their heads to get their hair. "Taiping Yu Lan" quoted Ji as saying that Zhu Ya (also known as today's Hainan Island) is densely hairy and the local governor is greedy and cruel. A woman's head was cut off and her hair was used as a wig. The History of the Three Kingdoms, Wu Shu and Xue Zongchuan also recorded that Xue Zong mentioned this matter in the Han Dynasty. It can be seen that wigs were regarded as treasures at that time. Because wigs made of real hair are hard to get, wigs made of black silk thread began to appear at that time, and objects were unearthed from No.1 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan.

During the Three Kingdoms period, women also used fake bun, which was defined as the jewelry of married women by Cao Wei. According to the literature, there is a kind of fake bun called "big hand bun", which is the jewelry of married women below the noble lady. In the Jin Dynasty, wigs and hairstyles were very popular in the courts, nobles and the people. Because people take them off and put them in wooden or bamboo cages when they sleep, they look like human heads, so they are also called artificial heads. "Yu Jin Fu Zhi" records that ladies-in-waiting at all levels were wearing fake bun inlaid with gold ornaments at that time, which was called "covering bun". During the first year of Tai Dynasty, princesses, nobles and women of letters all regarded wearing wigs as makeup, and called them "relaxing temples and bun", which became a fashion. However, wigs are not affordable for everyone. The Book of Jin records that some poor women who love beauty will borrow a bun from others, which is called "borrowing the head" and calling themselves "headless". Some poor people also sell their hair for money or food. For example, Tao Kan's mother once cut off a few meters of her hair and sold it to people who made wigs, then cut down the pillars to make firewood and cook for Fan Kui who came to stay. This incident was also recorded in Shi Shuo Xin Yu Yuan Xian, which was cited as a beautiful talk by later generations, and it was also the allusion of the idiom "Taomu invites guests".

The form of bun in the Northern Qi Dynasty developed towards simplification. The book of Shaozhu in the Northern Qi Dynasty describes that women's hair bun appeared flying, dangerous, evil and deviant style at that time. At that time, wigs even completely replaced the hair growing on the head. "Ji Yi Ji" records that some women who love beauty in the court shaved their hair and put on wigs, which later became popular among the people.

Hainan Island was called Zhu Ya County in ancient times, and Ding Yuan, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, established the city six years ago (11). Its governance is located in Tandu (now southeast of Qiongshan Mountain in Guangdong), and its jurisdiction is equivalent to the northeast of Hainan Island. At that time, because the mountain was high and the emperor was far away, the officials above the seventh grade in the Western Han Dynasty broke the law after taking office, so the indigenous people often rebelled. In the third year of Emperor Hanyuan (the first 46 years), officials in the Western Han Dynasty took a fancy to the hair of the aborigines and ordered it to be cut off and used as a wig, which attracted fierce resistance from the aborigines. The regime of the Western Han Dynasty was expelled from Zhu Ya, and the Western Han Dynasty was unable to send troops because of its own contradictions, so it had to give up Zhu Ya. The Western Han Dynasty lost Hainan Island.

During the reign of Emperor Xiaowu in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (373-396), the vogue for wigs became more and more fierce. According to Volume 27 of the Book of Jin, at that time, women's hair styles were very unconventional, and they no longer tied their hair in a bun at the top of their heads, but "slowed their temples; I think it's decoration, that is, it will let the hair hang freely. This fluffy "shawl hair" needs to be woven into a considerable number of wigs to achieve the aesthetic effect at that time. But "you can't always have a beard", so "put it on a wooden cage first and call it a bun or a fake head", that is, make a headdress first. This method is probably learned from a bald man, which is different from the previous method of mixing wigs with real hair. The appearance of headdress really saves the hard work of weaving hairstyle, so it is very popular. As for poor families, they can't run their own businesses. Headless person, borrow its head, spread the world. It can be seen that the price of headdress is quite high.

In the Tang Dynasty, wigs were still very popular. It is mentioned in New Tang Book Five Elements that Yang Guifei usually likes to tie a bun, which was called "Yi bun" at that time. However, some people think that the bun worn by Yang Guifei is a hair ornament made of wood and other materials, not a wig. Yuan Zhen The Journey to the West wrote: "Yi Shu Congji dances on the grass slope." A bun is a wig. Liu Zongyuan also praised Cui Shi's "Piece of Goose Goose" in the Epitaph of Cui Shi, the wife of nirvana in fire's Foreign Servant. Wigs at that time tended to be in a high bun style.

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms continued the custom of keeping a high bun in the Tang Dynasty. Wigs are usually added to the hair and then combed into a bun, or directly braided into a bun and then worn. Gao Ji was still popular in the Song Dynasty, and even more so in the Tang Dynasty. Wigs and fake buns are very popular, and some bustling cities have shops specializing in the production and sale of fake buns. At that time, some shops sold fake buns made of unsterilized dead hair, which made the wearer feel sick and the prevalence of fake buns became extravagant. In 989, the Northern Song Dynasty imperial court banned women from wearing fake steamed buns and combing high buns, but the custom has already formed, and even if it is written, it will not change much.

In the Yuan Dynasty, Han women began to use a fake bun called Pianji, which was made of hair or silk thread cut by others and worn on their heads. Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties have always used extremes. In Yuan Dynasty, Wang Shifu's zaju "The Romance of the West Chamber" mentioned Cui Yingying's "Crooked Bun" for the first time. At that time, poor people often sold their hair to make wigs. Zhao Wuniang was forced to sell her buried in-laws. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhou Sheng's Biography of Marriage to Wake the World also mentioned that women tied sharp buns. In addition to the bun, there are also hair drums, which are made of round frames made of metal wires and covered with wigs.

Many styles of braided bun appeared in Qing Dynasty. At that time, there were workshops and shops specializing in making and selling braided buns in Beijing. In the early Qing Dynasty, there were butterflies, full moons, flower baskets, folding items, arhats, lazy combs, flying swallows, inverted pillows, octagonal Guanyin and other styles in Yangzhou. In Qing Dynasty, Wu wrote in The Scholars that his wife Hu often wore a silver bun. At that time, women not only wore black hair bun in peacetime, but also wore white hair bun in mourning.

In the middle of Qing Dynasty, westerners brought western wigs to China, and Yong Zhengdi once wore western wigs. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, someone went to Japan to study, and the braid was ridiculed by the Japanese as "dolphin tail" (pig tail). Many foreign students cut off their braids and put on fake braids after returning home. For example, Lu Xun went to Japan to study and cut his braid. Half a year later, he put on a fake braid and arranged a wedding for his wife Zhu An with his parents. Shen Ning's "Hundred Years of Customs" also mentioned the phenomenon of false braids. The fake braid should be placed on the top of your head, and it won't fall off when it is surrounded by fake braid. Therefore, at that time, the Boxer Rebellion arrested the person who tied the braid. If it was found to be a fake braid, it was arrested and tortured, sent to prison or beheaded. Su also mentioned in the article "I Before and After the Revolution of 1911" that her second uncle went to Japan to study, where he "cut off his hair and decorated it" and put on a fake braid after returning home.

After the founding of the Republic of China, hairstyles became simple, and wigs and buns were used less. However, in the restoration of Zhang Xun in 19 17, Beijingers cut off their braids and looked around for fake braids. From then on, it was seldom seen that Han people used wigs in their daily life until the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC). Some ethnic minorities have the habit of wearing wigs. At that time, Naxi women in Yongning would weave a thick fake braid with the hair on the yak tail and wear it on the top of their heads, then wrap a big circle of blue and black silk thread outside the fake braid and hang it down to their waist. Traditional Japanese hairstyles are often combined with wig combs, which are called wigs in Japanese (in ancient Chinese, "⒚" originally refers to beautiful hairstyles without the meaning of wigs, but in Japanese, the pen name "かつら" is written as Chinese character "⒚"). Wigs have a long history in Japan. It is said that in primitive songs and dances in Japan, people have used stems and vines of grass and flowers as head decorations. Su Zhanwu's quest for the 500-imperial system of Heaven Emperor, "Hao" and "Ba Ban Qiong" is mentioned in both Ancient Books and Records of Japan. Although "Historical Records" and "Records of Japan" contain many myths and legends, which may not be in line with historical facts, according to the date of completion of the two books, wigs should be widely used in Japanese upper class no later than the Nara era.

In the early days, Japanese rarely wore wigs outside acting, and later some people wore wigs in general occasions, mostly women. The wigs they wear are often woven from the hair cut from their own heads, and they will also wear this kind of wig made by themselves at their own weddings. Later, ancient Japanese women often used wigs and buns to comb their traditional hairstyles. This kind of partial wig added to the primary hair is called "parallel imports".

According to the legal system, women with official positions below six grades should wear "Yi Ji". Women's drooping hair in peacetime will also be mended with wigs. Later, it evolved into the use of knotting hooks. When knotting, it uses the root element part of the stubble, that is, the "root" (ねかもじじ), and has achieved good results on the temples.

After Showa, the number of people who used to comb traditional Japanese hairstyles decreased, so there were fewer people who used wigs. Generally, they only used them when combing traditional hairstyles, such as witches in shrines. In addition, some women who want thicker hair also use wigs. The Korean peninsula began to wear fake buns from the Korean dynasty, and Zhongjun ordered the whole country to wear Mongolian clothes and keep Mongolian buns (braided hair). Later, Li Chenggui, the great ancestor of Korea, established the Korean Dynasty (Li Dynasty) and implemented the policy of "men are superior to women". Men resumed the Han system, and women "parallel Mongolian and Chinese", and later developed into "parallel" style.

In Spring Ancestor, when a woman broke her neck and died because she was too parallel, the palace revoked the rule that married royal women and female officials must wear parallel, and banned it. From then on, it was only worn on wedding dresses, court dresses (no parallel uniforms) and prostitutes' clothes.

In the early and middle period of Lee's Korea, married women, prostitutes and senior female officials all wore Jiaqing. It is also a dead letter to add parallelism to the dresses and uniforms of ladies-in-waiting and female officials. From the style of parallel addition, grades can be distinguished. Parallel lines are also symbols of status and wealth. The similarities between the rich, aristocratic women and prostitutes may be very large. Later, a wooden bun called "Looking Up at Beauty" () was developed in the palace and added to the parallel on important days.

Later, women became more and more extravagant in parallel, and later, more women broke their necks and died because of excessive parallel. North Korea's Yingzu ordered the reduction of wigs used by parallel imports in the palace and negotiated with ministers to replace parallel imports with corollas, but he didn't know. Later, he adopted the request of Song Dexiang, a Confucian scholar, to ban parallel hair, and ordered aristocratic women to ban parallel hair and wear a small corolla, which was called Tou Li. In the thirty-third year of Yingzu, women in the palace and gentry were officially forbidden to add parallelism, and only civilians and untouchable women were allowed to add parallelism. Later, the married woman changed her braid into a bun, inserted a hairpin and stopped wearing it in parallel. Prostitutes still wear parallel imports. In the later period, officials' wives and royal women wore round shirts (a small dress) or on some formal occasions. The ancient Egyptians began to use wigs more than 4000 years ago, and they were also the first people to use wigs in the world. They became popular in the early dynasty. In the third to sixth dynasties of the ancient kingdom, men and women generally wore wigs made of wool mixed with human hair. The length and style of wigs vary with social status and times. Since the Middle Kingdom, no matter how rich or poor, people have shaved their hair and beards, put on wigs and fake beards, and only let their hair grow when they are in mourning, otherwise they will be laughed at. For this phenomenon, Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, believes that the ancient Egyptians believed that exposing their heads to the sun would make them hard, but this has no scientific basis and cannot explain the habit of wearing wigs. Later, some people thought that the ancient Egyptians loved cleanliness and their hair and beard were easy to hide evil spirits, so they shaved off their hair and beard and put on wigs to prevent their heads from being sunburned by the sun. However, some people have questioned that wearing a wig instead of real hair is not necessarily cleaner than leaving hair. It has been suggested that although in ancient Park Jung Su anyone could wear wigs, the styles of wigs worn by people of different classes were strictly regulated and could not be overstepped. Zhao put forward this view in the book Wisdom of Ancient Egypt. He believes that the ancient Egyptians wore wigs to distinguish between nobility and inferiority and to shape the glorious image of Pharaoh. It has political purpose and social significance. Besides wigs, pharaohs, male nobles and officials, and fake beards are symbols of status and power.

There are two main styles of wigs in ancient Egypt: curly hair and braided hair. Because in ancient Greek mythology, all gods had golden bodies and lapis lazuli-like hair, and aristocratic wigs were often dyed blue. Generally speaking, women's wigs are more natural in style, while men's wigs are more ingenious and complicated. In the ancient kingdom, the length of wig was from ear to shoulder. At that time, there was no habit of shaving hair, just keeping short hair and wigs, or adding wigs to real hair in a rebuttal way. Royal or aristocratic women will tie their long holidays in three braids. After the Middle Kingdom, women's wigs hung vertically from the top of their heads along their faces, and occasionally a small lock of hair was coiled in a spiral shape. For men, it always stays at the shoulder length or shorter, forming small curly hair, which is small triangle or square, and the forehead is cut or bent horizontally. When wearing it, a small part of the forehead is exposed, completely covering the ears and the back neck. Da Park Jung Su people cover their heads with ordinary scalps. Egyptians in the New Kingdom prefer to decorate the tail of wigs with several long tassels, among which short wigs were popular in the Amana era.

In addition, there are many kinds of wigs, which are suitable for use as headdresses in special occasions. When women in ancient Egypt attend festivals, they will wear fragrant cone-shaped ornaments on their wigs, and the sesame oil in the ornaments will gradually melt over time and penetrate into the wigs to give off fragrance. Some wigs are also filled with date-palm fibers to enrich them. In addition to wigs, ancient Egyptians also buried with wigs. They think that when they die in another world, they also need wigs. Archaeologists have also found wigs for burial in many ancient tombs.

Wigs are made of real hair, wool or plant fibers such as straw and date palm fibers cut from human heads. Among them, real hair is the most advanced and expensive. Medium-priced real hair mixed value fiber. The cheap ones are all plant fibers. Some wigs and hairpins are connected with real hair by knitting and knotting, some are directly fixed on the scalp with beeswax, resin or beeswax, and some are tied with belts like wearing a hat.

Because ancient Egyptians attached great importance to wigs, they would put fakes in special boxes for collection, put them in storage racks or boxes, and often sprinkle petals, cinnamon sawdust and balsam on wigs to make them smell good. In addition, wig manufacturing was also a respected industry at that time, and it was also one of the jobs that women could choose. Archaeologists have discovered the remains of many local wig factories. Wigs spread from ancient Egypt to Europe. Ancient Greece and Rome believed that baldness was punished by heaven and regarded baldness as a sinner. Officers with sparse hair or baldness will be refused jobs by some Greek local officials. The Romans even intend to let the parliament pass the "Bald Man Act", which prohibits bald men from running for parliament, and bald slaves can only be sold at half price. Bald men wear wigs to cover up this defect in order to avoid discrimination. Wigs have become more popular. During the Roman Empire, many Europeans used wigs, and even emperors wore wigs. During the war, the hair of enemy soldiers and civilians was often used as a trophy to pay tribute to the imperial court. Some nobles also shaved off slaves' hair to make wigs. At that time, it was a custom for married women to cover their hair. Some poor married women sold their hair for money. Some poor farmers will braid their hair and cut it off when it is long enough to be sold in the wig market.

Within a thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe was influenced by the Roman Catholic Church, which regarded wigs as masks of the devil and believed that wearing wigs would hinder God's blessing from entering the soul. At that time, if Christians wore wigs, they might be excommunicated. In 692, several Christians were excommunicated for wearing wigs in Constantinople church, so Europeans seldom used wigs during this period.

It was not until the 16th century that wigs became popular again and were used as decorations to cover hair loss or beautify appearance. At that time, the harsh sanitary environment made people prone to head lice, and some people shaved their hair and put on wigs. Therefore, in addition to decoration, wigs in ancient Europe also have practical functions. However, the revival of wigs is mainly due to the love of royal family members. Irina Karp Queen Tairova I was famous for wearing red wigs. /kloc-In the 7th century, the pioneer of men wearing Roman wigs was King Louis XIII of France. He wears a wig to cover the scar on his head, and recent ministers also wear wigs to please him. Louis XIV, the son who succeeded to the throne, also wore a wig because of his sparse hair, so his subjects followed suit. At that time, there were as many as 45 kinds of wigs, and even people with thick hair liked to follow the fashion. Later, the wig became a symbol of the era of the great monarch.

After a period of exile in France, King charles ii of England introduced this wig to English-speaking countries when he regained power in 1660. This kind of shoulder-length or slightly longer wig became a fashion for European men from the1620s, and soon became popular in the British court. Samuel pepys, a diary writer in London, wrote that he wore a wig for the first time after his hair was shaved by a barber on 1665. When the Black Death broke out, he felt uncomfortable wearing a wig;

September 3 1665: I got up and put on my colorful silk suit, which looks nice. I also bought a new wig that I didn't dare to wear for a long time, because I bought it in Westminster where the plague broke out. I was thinking that after the plague, people were afraid that wigs were made from the hair of people who died of the epidemic, because they were afraid of being infected, no one dared to buy wigs. What will happen to wig fashion?

In addition, wigs have other disadvantages. For example, pepys wrote on March 27th 1667:

I'm going to Swan to find Javas, a wig maker I've known for a long time. He gave me a wig, but it was covered with lice eggs, which was hard for me to see (this was his old problem). I have to send it back to him to clean up.

During this period, wigs almost became a necessary costume for men and almost represented social status, so wig makers were highly respected. 1665, the first wig manufacturer's union was established in France, and similar unions were established in other European countries. In the17th century, wigs were extremely fine, so making wigs was also a technology. At that time, the wig covered the shoulders and back and hung down to the chin, so it was heavy and uncomfortable to wear. This kind of wig is very expensive to manufacture, especially made of real hair, and it is cheaper to make it with horse hair or goat hair.

In the18th century, wigs were often powdered to make them look white or gray. The wig powder is made of starch and has the fragrance of orange blossom, lavender or iris root. They are sometimes dyed purple, blue, pink and yellow, but the most common color is white. Until the end of18th century, powdered wigs were still necessary on some important occasions. Powder wigs are easy to lose powder and difficult to take care of, so there are some fake seizures made of white or spotted white horse hair, which are used for daily court wear. From the1780s, it was popular for young men to put powder on their hair. /kloc-after the 0/790 s, wigs and powder were used by older and conservative men, while women were used in court. From 1795, the British government levied Guinean tax on hair powder every year, which made the fashion of wigs and hair powder gradually fade in 1800.

/kloc-In the middle and late 8th century, women in the Palace of Versailles in France began to wear large, exquisite and eye-catching wigs (such as a boat-shaped wig). These wigs are heavy and contain hair wax, powder and other decorations. This gorgeous wig became a symbol of the decadence of the French aristocracy at the end of the eighteenth century, which prompted the French Revolution.

/kloc-in the 0/9th century, wigs became smaller and more solemn. In France, wigs no longer represent social status, while in Britain, wigs have been kept for some time. Some professions also regard wigs as part of the clothes they wear, which has become the tradition of some legal systems and the practice of many Commonwealth countries and regions. Until 1823, bishops of the Anglican Church and the Anglican Church of Ireland wore wigs in religious ceremonies. Wigs worn by barristers were very popular at the end of18th century. Judges usually wear wigs in court clothes similar to those worn by barristers, but they wear full-face wigs when attending important ceremonies with Queen's Counsel.

The development process of female wig is different from that of male wig. It became popular in18th century. In the early days, small locks of wigs were added to their real hair. Until19th century and early 20th century, full-head wigs were not popular, and most of them were worn by elderly women with hair loss.

From18th century to the beginning of 20th century, many poor people in Europe sold their hair to make wigs. In the Encyclopedia Britannica of 19 1 1, it is said that rural girls in the poor and backward Balkans often cut their hair and sell it, and it is also common for rural girls in southern France to cut their hair and sell it. Catherine Hale, a female writer, once cut off her hair and sold it to pay for her tuition. At that time, some people who made wigs in Europe came from America. During the American Civil War, a woman named Delia wrote to the media, urging all female supporters over the age of 12 who belonged to the Confederacy to sell their long hair to Europe to repay the debt of the Confederacy. In the novel Little Women by American writer louisa alcott, there is also a story about Joe March, the second daughter of the Ma family, selling her beloved long hair.