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In December 2020, an interesting study (conducted by OnePoll) was published in the American journal of psychological science, Royal Society Open Science:
Interviews with 2,000 Americans found that the vast majority of men thought they would be more handsome with a beard.
Of those, 75 percent (three-quarters) of men said bearding made them more confident. 20% of men say they are willing to give up a full year of sex in order to grow a "perfect beard." In addition to giving up sex, 40 percent of respondents were willing to squat in jail for a night or skip coffee for a whole year in order to have a good beard; 38 percent were willing to queue up at a car control office for a day; and 18 percent were willing to shave their heads.
When OnePoll conducted the study, it also set up a "beard satisfaction" scoring session for male respondents to score a total of 10 points, 1 point represents dissatisfaction, 10 points means very satisfied.
Overall, men's "beard satisfaction" scored an average of 6. Despite the relatively high average score, we can still see that many men also want to change their beards. Why?
44% of men feel that their beards are growing faster somewhere than in another, 42% of men feel that their beards are growing randomly from east to west, and 31% of men feel that their beards are unevenly colored.
From this study, it seems that most men love beards as much as women's pursuit of beauty.
Why do men have such a "crush" for beards?
It is a symbol of male strength
In the last year of the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo brought people into the palace to kill the castrated party, and after entering the palace, he saw people without beards and killed them directly, because eunuchs had no beards.
In ancient times, most of the people relied on farming and serving as soldiers for their livelihood, and these two professions required a lot of effort. However, at that time, it was difficult to judge whether the body was healthy and whether it had strength, so the beard became one of the criteria for judging.
A thick beard represents the "ability" to have strength and support the family. On the contrary, beardless people either had some hidden diseases themselves or were eunuchs, which at that time seemed to lack the ability to make money and support their families, and they were not very glorious.
Because of the importance attached to beards since ancient times, by the Qing Dynasty, the Kangxi Dictionary even named the beards of each part different names, the beards of the upper lip were called "hair", the beards of the lower lips were called "粜", the whiskers next to the cheeks were "hair", and the beards on the chin were "襞".
Therefore, this is probably one of the reasons why until now, many men still attach importance to beards.
Social ideas
In ancient Times, Our country flattered Confucianism, and at that time, it was the orientation of social values. In the Confucian work "The Book of Filial Piety", it is said: "The skin of the body, the parents who receive it, do not dare to destroy it, and the beginning of filial piety is also."
This means that everything on the body is given by the parents, and there must be no damage, and you must love your body like you love your parents. And the body includes the beard.
Under this value concept, shaving hair in ancient times is one of the criminal laws, because shaving hair is equivalent to damaging the body, making people bear the charge of disloyalty and filial piety, and being spurned by the world.
This is also why when the Manchu Qing entered the customs, it was resisted by the people, not because the people missed the previous dynasty, but because the Manchu Qing 's "shaving order" was difficult for the people to accept. Therefore, it is not difficult for everyone to imagine the importance of beards at that time.
It's a fad
Huo Guang, the minister of the Western Han Dynasty, became a famous beautiful man at that time because of his beautiful beard; Sun Quan in the Three Kingdoms period, because of his "purple hair and blue eyes", was very eye-catching on the battlefield.
In the "Mo Shang Sang", it is written: "For people to be white and white, the beard is quite bearded"; even in the Terracotta Warriors of Qin Shi Huang, the pottery figurines also have various beards.
In ancient times, if there was a thick and shiny beard, it would be envied by everyone, even jealousy. In the Book of Wei, Cui Yan is known as "a tall voice, a sparse eyebrow, a whisker that is four feet long, very powerful, and a courtier", while Cao Cao is described in the "Spring and Autumn of the Wei Dynasty" as "short in appearance, and the gods are heroic".
"Must be four feet long" and "short posture" in sharp contrast, no wonder Cao Cao angrily rebuked in the "Order to Give Death to Cui Yan": "Although Yan yan saw the punishment, but through the guests, the door is like a city, the guests must look directly at the guests, if there is some anger." This is also a bloody case caused by a beautiful beard.
Therefore, in ancient times, everyone's attention to beard can not be underestimated, beard is completely one of the important indicators of masculine beauty.
In summary, we can see that the ancient people attached as much importance to beards as they paid more attention to physical health.
Although long beards are no longer popular in ancient times and hundreds of years apart from the present, the ideas and cultural atmosphere passed down from generation to generation have been integrated into the lives of generations of people.
The beard, which is still the "favorite" of most men, is a symbol of strength and a source of self-confidence.
- The End -
Author | Pick up the hee
Edit | Rain
The First Psychological Writing Group | A group of young people who like to look up at the stars
参考资料：Vogel, D. L., & Wester, S. R. (2003). To seek help or not to seek help: The risks of self-disclosure. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50(3), 351.