China News Service, Changchun, January 23: Appreciate the beauty of women’s buns and taste the fashion of the early Tang Dynasty
Author Li Dan
"Xi Shi dreamed of the cold silk tent, and the fragrant servant girl fell into her bun and was half sunk in sandalwood..." Combing hair seems to be a daily thing, but for ancient beauties, it should not be taken lightly.
The song "Song of Beauty Combing Her Hair" by Li He, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, is a close-up of a scene of combing hair to show the charm of a beauty.
At the "Willow Silk Plum Blossoms - A Glimpse of Women's Life in the Early Tang Dynasty" exhibition held recently in Changchun, Jilin, dozens of female figurines of the Tang Dynasty unearthed from the tombs of Tang Zhaoling reproduced the spiritual temperament, aesthetic style and etiquette of the Tang people.
Zhaoling, known as the "famous mausoleum in the world", is the joint burial mausoleum of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty and the Changsun family of Empress Wende. It covers an area of more than 20,000 hectares and has more than 200 burial tombs. It is the largest imperial cemetery in China. The one with the most tombs.
"The ancients regarded hair as a part of the body and attached great importance to it. As the saying goes, 'the hair and skin of the body are received from parents, and they dare not damage them, which is the beginning of filial piety.'" Dong Zhaoxia, deputy director of the business department of Zhaoling Museum, told reporters that in ancient times, hair was very important to the body. For men, it represents a kind of "righteousness", but for women, it is emotional sustenance.
Throughout China's thousands of years of history, women in the Tang Dynasty reached the pinnacle of innovation in hairstyles.
Duan Chengshi, a writer of the Tang Dynasty, recorded no less than a hundred kinds of buns in his "Pin of Buns and Hairpins", such as high buns, reverse buns, Leyou buns, lily buns, cloud buns, flower buns, phoenix buns, flying fairy buns, etc.
In December 2023, at the "Willow Silk Plum Blossoms in Bloom - A Glimpse of Women's Life Exhibition in the Early Tang Dynasty" held in Changchun, Jilin, the painted and glazed pottery sleeve-hand female figurine unearthed from the Zhaoling tomb was on display, with her hair combed in a single-knife half-updo. .
Photo by Li Dan
At present, in the cultural relics unearthed from Zhaoling, women's buns are single or double, high or low, and generally high buns are the main ones.
In the early Tang Dynasty, women's hairstyle was inherited from the Sui Dynasty and was relatively low and flat, but soon high buns appeared.
According to the explanation by Linghu Defen, a historian in the early Tang Dynasty, women like to wear high buns to show that the king is strong and political.
High bun, also known as "Ejig", is the name of a tall bun.
There is a nursery rhyme in Chang'an City: "There is such a high bun in the city, one foot high in all directions."
Yuan Zhen wrote in the poem "Li Waxing": "The hair in a bun is one foot high, standing in front of the door to watch the spring breeze." It can be seen that women wearing high buns were very popular at that time.
The tomb of Zhang Shigui, one of the tombs buried in the Tang Zhaoling Mausoleum, is the joint tomb of Zhang Shigui, the Duke of Guo Kingdom in the Tang Dynasty, and his wife Qi. The painted and glazed pottery female equestrian figurine unearthed from it has a high bun, a delicate face, a high nose, red lips, a narrow-sleeved jacket, and a round coat. He wears a half-collared collar, a blue silk draped over his shoulders, and a long red skirt while sitting on horseback.
The left hand is held like a horse, and the right hand is naturally drooping, showing a dignified atmosphere.
In December 2023, at the "Willow Silk Plum Blossoms in Bloom - A Glimpse of Women's Life Exhibition in the Early Tang Dynasty" held in Changchun, Jilin, the painted and glazed pottery female equestrian figurine (left) unearthed from the Zhaoling tomb was on display, with her hair in a high bun. Painted red pottery figurine of a female equestrian with braided hair (right), her hair braided.
Photo by Li Dan
According to Dong Zhaoxia, the Tang Dynasty was a prosperous feudal age, with a prosperous country and a strong people, enlightened politics, close cultural exchanges between Han and Hu, and the great integration of ethnic groups that affected people living in this era.
"Among the equestrian figurines of the Tang Dynasty that have been unearthed, there are a large number of female equestrian figurines. Their images and clothing are unique and graceful, reflecting the love of women in the Tang Dynasty for horseback riding." Dong Zhaoxia said, from this female equestrian figurine It can be felt that women in this period had wider space and freer personality than in other dynasties.
Women's buns in the Tang Dynasty were basically named after their shapes.
For example, the conch bun is originally a type of bun on the head of the Buddha statue. Because its appearance looks similar to a conch shell, it is named conch bun.
Another example is a bun decorated with phoenix, which is called phoenix bun.
The double-snail bun is one of the hairstyles commonly worn by girls in the Tang Dynasty. It looks like two conch shells coiled on both sides of the head, making it look cute and playful.
This hairstyle is either combed on the left and right sides of the forehead, or hanging on both sides of the ears, and some are also combed on both sides of the head.
In December 2023, at the "Willow Silk Plum Blossoms in Bloom - A Glimpse of Women's Life Exhibition in the Early Tang Dynasty" held in Changchun, Jilin, the standing female figurine with sleeves and hands unearthed from the Zhaoling tomb (middle), with her hair in a double-snail bun, was on display .
Photo by Li Dan
The tomb of Zheng Rentai is the tomb of Zheng Rentai, the general of the Youwu Guard of the Tang Dynasty. The unearthed figurine of a painted and glazed pottery woman with sleeves and hands has a double-snail bun, thick eyebrows, red lips, a narrow-sleeved jacket, and a blue shoulder shawl. Silk, tied with a long skirt, with both hands sleeves in front of the abdomen.
The female figurine has a slender figure and a calm demeanor. She stands still and still retains her innocent and lively youthful and sunny beauty.
Among the pottery figurines unearthed from Zhaoling tombs, the most common hair bun is the half-up bun.
A half-updo, also known as an upturned lotus bun, has a shape somewhat similar to that of an inverted lotus leaf, especially when viewed from the side.
According to Dong Zhaoxia, in order to pursue fashion and beauty, women in the Tang Dynasty would first put wooden false crowns, hair pads, etc. in their hair to raise their hair.
Concubine Yang especially liked to use wigs and called them wigs.
Later, there was also a hairstyle called cicada wings. The hair at the temples was combed out into an extremely thin and open layer of hair, and finally a high bun was made on the top of the head.
Women in the Tang Dynasty had various styles of buns and rich hair accessories.
For example, aristocratic women like to insert a number of small combs in the middle or around the bun for decoration, some as many as eight.
Wang Jian, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote in "Palace Ci": "There are three layers of jade cicadas and golden birds, and tall green buns on the temples. The spring breeze blows to the ground when you dance, and you will be given a comb when you return." It can be seen that in the Tang Palace, combs can be used as Gifts or even rewards.
"A cicada's temples are combed into a thousand-year-old bun, and her eyebrows are long and sweep the spring for thousands of years." The many beautiful buns of women in the early Tang Dynasty attracted praise and imitation from the literati of the Tang Dynasty and later generations.
"These truly and vividly express the social scene and people's mental state at that time, and are also a further interpretation of the economic prosperity of the Tang Dynasty and the peace and prosperity of the country and the people." Dong Zhaoxia said.
(over)