With the fire of the cross-over drama, more and more ancient court dramas have sprung up like mushrooms, and their appearance in some ways also shows the ancient culture to future generations. But then came all sorts of doubts.
One of the most typical questions is why did the concubines of the Qing Dynasty have a long nail set on their hands? Some people say that it is for the convenience of the emperor. So what is it a convenient method? Does it do anything else? With doubts, today we will learn about this thing together and see what kind of secrets are buried in it.
First, change
First of all, this nail set is not an exclusive item of the Qing Dynasty, it is very historical, in ancient times, people paid attention to "body hair skin by their parents", even a hair loss is very painful, not to mention nails. But we all know that nails are a very fragile body tissue, and long nails are slightly bumped, either split or broken.
Nail covers were invented to protect them, but over time, it was discovered that nails were growing too fast and had to be trimmed. Later fingernail sets became ornaments, just like necklace bracelets. So nail covers are starting to get shorter and shorter, as long as they're beautiful enough.
When the time came to the Qing Dynasty, the concubines found that long nails had a unique beauty, so they began to keep nails, and the nail covers continued to grow with the length of the nails. In fact, their behavior is more like today's "nail art". However, due to the limited level of technology at that time, they could only put ornaments on nail covers.
The main material of the nail set is generally gold and silver, and a woman with a unique taste like Empress Dowager Cixi will also use the best jade to polish the nail set. In order to make it more noble and beautiful, craftsmen will also inlay various jewels on it, more commonly jadeite, rubies, small pearls and other things.
Second, taste and identity
During the Qing Dynasty, all the nail sets were customized, and it should be known that all the people who can use them are dignitaries and dignitaries, so this is also a very normal thing. The hostess will inform the craftsman of her requirements, from the choice of materials to the length and shape. This also reflects a woman's taste from the side, and according to the different materials, the level of her identity can be inferred, in today's terms, it is like an identity certificate.
Its production process is also very different, if it is gold and silverware, it will first melt it, and then pour it into the mold made in advance, and then polish it after cooling. After the overall molding, the next step is to carve, if it is hollowed out, it is better to say, afraid of the surface carving pattern. Once the strength is great, a hole will be cut, then all the previous efforts will be wasted.
Once the body is finished, it is more difficult to set, not only to polish the gem, but also to cut out the same size on the nail cover to facilitate the installation of the gem. It can be said that a well-made nail set takes as much time and effort as building a house. You can imagine how difficult the production process was.
Third, convenient for the emperor
In fact, the main reason for the popularity of nail covers in the Qing Dynasty was the emperor of the dynasty, which was originally for the sake of beauty, but later it became something that the emperor judged the qualifications of concubines. You must know that the emperor's women are innumerable, but he only has one person, but his energy is limited, and he cannot do the so-called rain and dew evenly, and he can only pick out one of the women at a time.
So how to choose? It is selected according to the exquisite degree of the nail set, and the more exquisite the nail set, the higher the status of its hostess and the older the seniority. Some concubines who have not been in the palace for a long time have shallow roots themselves, and naturally do not have the ability to create good nail covers.
So the emperor would select a few of the best among the concubines according to the nail set, and to see who was the least favored, he would choose who would serve. So later the manufacture of nail sets also had corresponding regulations, each concubine no matter how much money you have, you need to make your own nail sets according to the same rules, even if you don't keep nails, you still have to wear one.
At this time, a new problem arose, the emperor chose concubines to pass on to his own lineage, so those new concubines according to this saying, did not they not have the opportunity to contact the emperor for a lifetime? In fact, this is not the case, the emperor is the king of a country, but also known as the true dragon Tianzi, choose a concubine to serve the bed or be able to make his own decisions.
For example, if the emperor today chooses concubines with very beautiful nail sets, people can turn them upside down tomorrow and choose women who have just entered the palace and have relatively simple nail sets. This was all practice that actually existed at the time. After all, the emperor also wanted his concubines to see hope, or there would be no fire in the backyard after a long time.
Fourth, the times change
The nail cover was born because of the old idea, and because the new system was preserved, it can be said that it was accepted by people in a passive situation. However, with the continuous development of society, the current nail cover has returned to its original role, that is, to protect the nail.
But this time people are active, all say that the hand is the woman's second face, so women pay special attention to the maintenance of their hands, there are countless things about hand protection, many girls will take out a table of bottles and cans in their leisure time, and then they will be smeared on the hands one by one. Among them, nails are the focus of their care, in order to make their hands more beautiful, they will leave long nails in advance.
Then various trinkets are glued to the nails, so that the hands become more beautiful and make themselves much more refined. Some girls have fingernails that are too long and need to be protected by nail covers for a period of time after doing perfect nails.
In addition, dancers like Yang Liping will also use nail sets, in order to make the dance more beautiful and moving, they will choose to keep very long nails, which need nail sets to protect on weekdays, if they are broken, it will affect the audience's viewing experience.
5. Summary
Nail covers can be said to be the crystallization of the wisdom and culture of the ancients, who can think of such a small object, there can be so many stories. Moreover, it can be passed down across the river of time to this day, which is even more precious.
There are many things like nail sets, each of which has a high research value and historical significance, as a descendant we must protect these things left by our ancestors, and pass on their stories and spirits.