There were many in ancient China
"Strange Tricks"
, the so-called magic tricks, that is, refers to
Novelty of craftsmanship and works
Hand Quest".
It is said that there was a strange woman in the Guangxu period - Yang Zhenyuan, who was born to like to raise nails, nails are well nourished, and there are many strange effects, mainly four kinds, one, but to eliminate the violent atmosphere in the heart, no longer grumpy, second, can predict the weather, the sky will rain, the claw pattern is yellowish white, the sky is sunny, the claw pattern is white. Third, can be tested, health is the claw color lustrous, before the illness, the claw color is exhausted. Fourth, can divinate the blessings, carefully maintained nails suddenly broken, it means that there is a disaster.
How can a tiny fingernail have such a mystery? Who dares to believe it? Who can say it's impossible?
Actually
"Han Feizi"
In the Warring States period, when the Seven Kingdoms were fighting for hegemony and wars were raging, civilian officials should have been used as military attachés, but in South Korea, there was a special phenomenon, Korean courtiers all had long nails, so it can be seen that the hobby of growing nails was originally used by both men and women.
And when it comes to nail care, everyone will think of the Qing Dynasty, concubines wear pointed finger sleeves on their hands, and now primary school stores have this kind of protective gloves to buy, after wearing it, you will find that it is quite unhindered, then, why do the concubines of the Qing Dynasty often wear this thing? Is it just to be pretty?
"Protective gloves"
Also called
"Armor Cover"
In fact, the armor cover has been in the Ming Dynasty, but at present, the Qing Dynasty armor cover has more things to pass on, the production is more exquisite, most of them are made of gold and silver, and jade materials will be used, in the Palace Museum there is an oil painting portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi, and the finger guard sleeve on her hand has gold and jade.
In the Qing Dynasty, the empress, concubines, do not have to work on weekdays, dress and wash have people to serve, these women are particularly fond of nails, but everyone also knows that nails are very easy to break, if you want to store an inch of nails, it takes more than half a year, but also have to be careful, otherwise if you are not careful, the nails will break.
So, the first role of the armor cover is:
Protects nails
They have a special structure, the size is just in line with the finger, which plays a good protective role for the nails and grows long nails. In addition to the thumb, other fingers can be worn, can be worn in sets, can also be worn with a single finger, and do not have to worry about wearing the armor cover will have a suffocating feeling, because these ornaments have hollow, engraved, inlay and other decorative techniques, after wearing, the pattern will be followed by the fingertips.
The second role:
Clothing matching, for aesthetics
。 As the saying goes, a woman's hand is the second face, as the emperor's concubine, naturally more love beauty, women with conditions will raise their hands well, "Peacock Southeast Flying" in a paragraph describing Liu Lanzhi's beauty: "Fingers like cutting onion roots, mouth like pearls, delicate steps, exquisite world unparalleled." This also proves that in ancient times, except for the Tang Dynasty, most of them were beautiful with slender figures, and also as representatives of beauty, there were "slim jade fingers".
Not only that, most of the armor covers exist in sets, and Manchu women are also very particular about wearing, they comb high buns, wear clothes that are wide and fat horseshoe sleeves, and also have to be paired with high-soled shoes that are 4 or 5 inches thick (about 16 cm), the pattern style is very exquisite, the outfits are dressed properly, and their clothing styles are more luxurious, if you do not wear some decorations on your hands, it always looks empty. Similarly, if there is a pair of short and fat hands under the wide and fat horseshoe sleeves, it should all affect the aesthetic.
Now people pay attention to collocation when wearing is also this truth, beauty is not a piece of clothing can be done, the main thing to have an atmosphere, the whole body collocation can highlight a woman's temperament.
The armor sleeve also has one of the most important functions:
Symbolizes status and status
。 Any feudal dynasty is hierarchical, the same is true in the harem, what grade, there is no grade of clothing, can not exceed the rules, otherwise this is disrespect for the imperial power.
Armor cover is not everyone can wear, the harem is also divided into 9 levels, of which, the higher the status, the longer the armor cover used, the more exquisite and atmospheric the material and style, from the TV series we can also see that the queen wears the armor cover is often longer than other concubines.
Similarly, there are differences in the things inlaid on the armor cover, for example, the queen's armor cover can be inlaid with three east beads, and the concubine's cannot be inlaid with the east bead, at most there can only be pearls. In the Qing Palace drama, the research on the armor cover is still relatively in place, and we can see very intuitively that the queen's armor cover is longer than that of other concubines.