History of Chinese Hairstyle Customs

Author: Cen Dali
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-11-01
Features: Several years ago, while reviewing historical archives and notes, I discovered a lot of material related to changes in hairstyles, which sparked my interest in researching this topic. Later, a series of related articles were published in newspapers and magazines, deepening my thoughts on it. Why do Chinese people believe that "the body and hair are given by parents and should not be damaged, as this is the beginning of filial piety," viewing hair and the body as equally important and cherishing it deeply from childhood to adulthood? Why, when the Qing army entered the capital and forcibly forced Han Chinese men to shave their heads and tie braids, did the Han people fight desperately to protect their hairstyles? These questions may seem simple, but finding the true answers is actually quite difficult. Later, I began to systematically and deeply examine and study this topic. Through research, I found that changes in Chinese hairstyles actually reflect many cultural landscapes, social customs, and ethnic differences. Through this historical and cultural phenomenon, we can deepen our understanding of traditional Chinese culture and gain many beneficial insights.
In ancient times, human ancestors lived in deep mountains and dense forests, "building nests in trees" and "drilling fire," leading a very primitive life. At that time, people did not know how to adorn their hair; they simply let it fall loose on their shoulders. Therefore, in unearthed artifacts and early written records, there are only very brief descriptions of "loose hair" or "shaved hair." However, from this limited historical material, we can roughly understand some of the relationships between people's hairstyles at that time and the social economy, cultural life, and ethnic customs.