#Film and television miscellaneous talk #Why do Qing Dynasty concubines always wear long nail covers? In addition to the beauty, it is more for the convenience of the emperor
As the saying goes, everyone has a heart for beauty, and for women, this is even more so. Women's love of beauty seems to be carved into their bones, even if they are poor girls, they will like to pick a flower and wear it on their heads.
But it is undeniable that women in different social classes express their love of beauty in different ways.
In many Qing Palace dramas filmed in recent years, the concubines in the palace are graceful and luxurious, and there are many jewelry, which attract people's attention, and the most eye-catching of them is probably the long nail sets on their hands.
First, the art of women's hands
As the old saying goes, the hand is the second face of a person, and judging whether a woman has a delicate face, whether she has a pair of slim jade hands is also an important criterion.
Therefore, in addition to decorating the face with rouge gouache, women also pay great attention to the maintenance of their hands, pursuing white and tender water spirit, gorgeous and colorful.
After research and development, the ancients created a thing called "Danko", which was made by mashing brightly colored petals into juice and stirring them with alum.
Women would smear this thing on their fingernails and wrap it in a cloth for a while, after which the nails would turn red.
At that time, the chemical industry was not so developed, and the ancients could come up with this method, which showed their ingenuity.
Tang Dynasty "Autumn Day" poem Yun: "Who is the house of the Dong Zhen Yi Song, the river Han Xi liu yue half oblique." Vulgar dyeing of fibrous red nails, golden pots of night pounding phoenix fairy flowers. ”
Among them, the hydrangea is a commonly used flower species, which shows that nail art has become a fashion at that time and has spread to the folk.
Ordinary people often decorate with nail art, while the upper class wears nail covers. The nail set originated in the Han Dynasty, and at the beginning it was mostly jade products, appearing to be slender fingers and white skin, making people look pleasing to the eye.
But these were only popular among the rich people at that time, and the women of ordinary people still needed to work, and the fingernails could not be left too long.
The most popular era of nail sets is the Qing Dynasty. No matter in which Qing Palace drama, it appears. Nail sets were often adorned on the ring and little fingers of harem concubines, which were valuable and used to show their identity and status.
Most of these nail sets are made of precious metals, including gold, silver, jade, etc., and some are cloisonné. In order to cater to the concubines' love of beauty, some auspicious patterns will be engraved on the nail covers, supplemented by jewelry and jade, which is more expensive and compelling.
Generally speaking, as the lord of the harem, the queen wears the most noble nail covers to match her mother's status.
Other concubines, if they have a high status in the harem, will also be reflected in the nail cover, which is higher than others.
Once in the palace, the concubines, regardless of their status, no longer have to engage in production, and the dirty work is done by the next person.
As a kind of jewelry, although it will cause many inconveniences and affect the movement of the hands, it is a symbol of status and status for concubines, so it is insisted on wearing.
This type of nail set is only used by certain groups of people, is prohibited in the folk, and once it is found that someone wears it without authorization, it will be convicted of snooping on the royal family. Therefore, as soon as we see a woman wearing a long nail set in the TV series, we know that this is a concubine in the palace.
There is also a rumor that long fingernail sleeves can play a protective role, and when it comes to this, we have to talk about Empress Dowager Cixi.
As the de facto ruler of the late Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi experienced many struggles in her life, and her sense of crisis was very strong. She herself knows that there are too many enemies, so she is always on the defensive.
In order to ensure her safety, Cixi not only arranged a large number of guards, but also created a special nail set for herself.
It is rumored that her nail covers contain a large amount of anesthetic, and in the event of an emergency, she can sprinkle it to buy time and improve her chances of escape.
Second, the emperor's careful thinking - look at the nails to recognize people
Speaking of this, careful people may ask, is the king of a country not an emperor, shouldn't everything revolve around the emperor's preferences, why only say concubines?
This understanding has to be based on its basis, and what many people can't imagine is that the most important role of the concubines' nail sleeves is to facilitate the emperor.
It is very difficult for the emperor to do a good job, not only to deal with the major affairs of the military and the country, but also to coordinate the relations between all parties, which can be said to be very busy. Most of the time the emperor was pushed by things and was in a state of involuntariness.
As we all know, the ancient emperor had three thousand harem beauties, and the three palaces and six courtyards were his concubines, which brought the emperor a sense of accomplishment at the same time, but also created a problem for the busy him: there are too many wives, and it is not clear what to do?
The role of the nail cover is precisely this, it is a fairly recognizable object, by observing the grade of such a thing can roughly know the status of its owner in the harem.
Although the emperor was the Ninth Five-Year Supreme, he did not dare to be too careless for many powerful people, and many of his concubines were backed by a big tree. Therefore, nail covers, although worn on women's hands, provide convenience for men.
Although the Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of the feudal era, the traditional thinking was still very strong, and even some aspects can be said to have reached the extreme, such as the influence of "the skin of the body and the influence of its parents".
As an indispensable object for concubines, nail covers can be said to have actually become a part of their bodies and are generally not taken off.
This can not only show that their identity is not ordinary people, but also attract people's attention, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
From the perspective of historical development, the birth and evolution of nail covers reflects people's desire to pursue beauty, which has detached itself from the meaning of an ornament and become a symbol.
This also indirectly reflects the central position of the ancient imperial power, which can be imagined to be undeveloped without the emperor's permission; and it is precisely because the emperor thinks it can work that it is allowed to be promoted.
The craftsmanship of this kind of jewelry is certainly still there, but we can't see it in our daily lives, and we can only see it in museums and film and television dramas. Such a change cannot help but make people sigh, there are both historical reasons and practical effects.
