Once upon a time, "men braided their heads, women wrapped their small feet" became a distinctive symbol of the Qing Dynasty. The reason why it is unique to the Qing Dynasty is because only in the Qing Dynasty did it have this kind of collocation. A French missionary in the 19th century witnessed the daily life of the city in the late Qing Dynasty and personally drew what he saw and heard as "Braids and Little Feet: A Chronicle of the Qing Dynasty". This album better shows us a real picture of the daily life of the people in the capital at the end of the Qing Dynasty, as if to take us back to the Qing Dynasty society full of "long braids and small feet".
Money rat tail, commonly known as "braided head" in the Qing Dynasty, is a custom of the Jurchen people (Manchus).
The Manchu Qing Dynasty had a total of three "shaving movements" in history, the first
Once, when the Manchu Qing did not enter Shanhaiguan, the Qing army implemented a policy of shaving the hair of the Surrendered and Enslaved Han Chinese, and the Ming soldiers who surrendered to the Qing army at that time also obeyed; the second time was that after the Qing army entered the customs in 1644 AD, Dolgun immediately issued a nationwide "shaving order", but because the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty and the regime was unstable, the implementation effect was not satisfactory; the third time was that after the Qing army occupied Jiangnan in 1645 AD, the then regent Dolgun issued a "shaving order" again.
The "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" records that Dorgon stipulated that wherever the Qing army went, regardless of the officials and the people, they should shave their heads and cut their hair in pigtails within ten days, and those who did not obey were beheaded.
Moreover, the Qing army implemented the purpose of "leaving hair without leaving head, leaving head without hair", which led to many Han people being brutally killed because they resisted orders.
The three-inch golden lotus, commonly known as "wrapping small feet", this feudal custom first appeared in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, flourishing in the late Southern Song Dynasty. The "three-inch golden lotus" is said to originate from the Ming Dynasty.
The "History of Ming" records that when the Ming Dynasty foot binding was at its peak, the official requirement was not only as small as three inches, but also bowed, so it was called "three inches of golden lotus".
It is necessary to mention here that the custom of foot binding in the Qing Dynasty has been extended to all levels of society, and whether rich or poor, women's foot binding is common.
First: the inclusiveness of Manchu and Han culture and traditions
The "braided head" has been a nomadic feature of the Manchus for thousands of years, and it can be the most vivid and direct symbol of Manchu rule. In the view of the Manchu rulers, the "money rat tail" is not only a cultural feature of the Manchus, but also a distinctive symbol of national rule, so it is said that there were three "shaving orders" in the Manchu Qing, which eventually made the Chinese under Manchu rule become the same braided head. At that time, the Qing Dynasty encouraged men to shave their hair and braid, but opposed women's foot binding. But the tradition that has been passed down for thousands of years since the Song Dynasty cannot be rewritten by a blank piece of paper. Even though the Qing Dynasty opposed foot binding, the custom of foot binding has always been developing. In the end, not only did it not disappear, but it infected Manchu women. As a result, some Of the Manchu women who were not bound to their feet also began to imitate, a phenomenon that allowed Manchu and Han cultures to better integrate.
The second is the severity of the long braids, the release of the small feet
The Tradition of Foot Binding in Han Chinese is much stronger than that of hair retention and hairstyle. Han people with pigtails is a tough means for the Manchu Qing to rule the world, and in order to successfully achieve the goal of "Manchuization of the Han people", the Manchu Qing will not hesitate to take all measures to force the Han people to shave their hair and keep braids. Although the Han people have thousands of years of traditional concept of "skin on the body, parents on it", the Han people accepted it in the face of the massacres of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the gradual stabilization of the Qing Dynasty's rule over the world. Compared with the money rattail, the three-inch golden lotus was opposed and stopped by the Manchu Qing. But how can the imperial power rival thousands of years of customs? This is like the Manchu "braided head", the Han "wrapped small feet" is also a custom and tradition, how can it be easily extinct?