The term "green hat" originally had no special meaning, but was given a specific meaning as history evolved. Regarding the specific meaning of the word, exactly which dynasty it originated from, there is no certainty, some people say that it first arose in the Spring and Autumn Period, some say that it originated from the two Han Dynasties, and there is also a theory that it was the Yuan Dynasty, or the Ming Dynasty.
First, let's take a look at what green represents and how it evolved.
The earliest color is only different from plain color, so the earliest meaning it represents is the dignity of status. Ordinary people can only wear coarse linen clothes, the color is only monotonous black and white, only people with distinguished status can afford to wear colorful silk.
So, at that time, green had no special meaning. Some people have examined the tradition of men dressed in green in the Spring and Autumn Period, which is a bit unreliable. Unless the government forces it, who wants to take the initiative to label themselves?
In fact, green also represented the meaning of honor in the Qin Dynasty. According to the laws of the Qin Dynasty, senior officials were all dressed in green robes and deep clothes (mainly black), and ordinary people were all dressed in plain robes.
This change is related to the popularity of the theory of the five elements of yin and yang. The ancients believed that each dynasty corresponded to one of the five elements, which was compatible with or contradicted by the previous and subsequent dynasties. The five elements of the Zhou Dynasty belong to fire, and the five elements of the Qin Dynasty belong to water, and water is fire. The color corresponding to fire is red, and water corresponds to black. Therefore, the Qin Dynasty was still black, that is, black was honored.
The Western Han Dynasty is more complicated, one moment thinking that the Qin Dynasty is illegal, and it believes that it is the Zhou Dynasty that inherits it, so it is still black, and the other time it thinks that the Qin Dynasty is legitimate, so it considers itself to belong to the territory, shang huang, and the next moment thinks that the relationship with the previous dynasty cannot be overcome, and adopts symbiosis. According to Xiangsheng, aquatic wood, the Han Dynasty should belong to wood, the corresponding color is cyan.
Although there has been no conclusion, but green still did not mean inferior in the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang said that Wang's relatives were full of bruises, it is clear that cyan and green still represented honor at that time.
It was not until after the Sui and Tang dynasties that the green color was gradually "demoted", stipulating that all high-ranking officials should wear purple robes, officials below the six pins should wear red or green robes, officials should wear green robes, civilians should wear black robes, and soldiers should wear yellow robes.
The historical factors and aesthetic trends of each dynasty are completely different, and the perception of color often changes. The Ming and Qing dynasties regarded it as the most honorable yellow, and during the Sui and Tang dynasties, it turned out to be the clothing of soldiers! However, since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the turquoise color has not looked up, and its status has plummeted, and it has been reduced to the dress of seven or eight low-ranking officials and officials.
So, when exactly was the "green hat" given a specific meaning? It should have started in the Yuan Dynasty, and it was not until the early years of the Ming Dynasty that it became a well-known metaphor.
In the fifth year of Zhengzheng (1345), the Yuan government for the first time officially made a unified regulation on the dress of prostitutes and music workshops: "Prostitutes wear soap shirts and horned scarves; prostitutes' parents and relatives men are wrapped in green turbans." ”
The Yuan Dynasty not only had a clear distinction between the nobility and the lowly in the ethnic group, but also made a distinction between the professional nobility and the prostitute's home, and the prostitute's home was forced to be wrapped in a green turban. This is probably the closest event in history to the meaning of the Green Hat.
After zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he still followed the Yuan Dynasty's contempt for prostitution, and in addition to continuing the regulations on the green turban of men in the prostitute's house, he also issued an edict: "The people of the Church always wear green scarves, and the people of beishishu are dressed."
Since then, the turquoise turban has slowly become the identity representative of the family of the special industry, and gradually extended to the meaning of the man being cheated by his wife.
It can be seen that the specific meaning of the word green hat originated in the last year of the Yuan Dynasty, and the meaning that gradually became conventional was in the early years of the Ming Dynasty.