"The mountains overlap the golden ming, and the clouds want to smell the snow", people say that hair is the second face of a person. Taking Chinese as an example, because there is a certain relationship between hair and kidneys, people have paid great attention to the maintenance of hair since ancient times. In the case of sufficient kidney qi, the blood can get enough nutrients. And people with strong blood qi tend to have very good hair.
In modern times, due to the introduction of shampoo, when our head is oily or dirty, we can use shampoo to clean. But in China, there were no such chemicals used to wash hair in ancient times, how did their hair ensure cleanliness? Or did he hardly wash his hair, as a foreigner described in his memoirs as a Qing dynasty man?
Braiding in the Qing Dynasty
The earliest ancient Chinese tradition of men starting to braids originated in the pre-Qin period, when most men in the Shang Dynasty had fine braids on both sides, while people in the pre-Qin period had their hair coiled on top of their heads. Since then, the Han people have been full of hair, not cut or shaved, so they have long hair and no easy-to-wash items, so they are very easy to knot and scatter. Later, for convenience, they were all tied into a bun on the top of the head.
Inspired by the idea of "the body is skinned, the parents are subjected", the Han people let their hair grow from birth and never trimmed it. Therefore, when children go to school, the hair that grows behind their heads is called "hair bunching". Even if you do not have the consent of your parents in adulthood, unless you are a monk or have violated the criminal law, you basically cannot change your hair.
In ancient times, many criminal laws have a kind of hair called "hair punishment", because Han people's hair is basically grown from childhood, those who are shaved because of sin, often easy to identify in the crowd, just as the ancient brand on the face is as obvious. These are often people who have entered the Yamen and shave their hair, both for identification and to humiliate the prisoners, thereby deterring them.
The first dynasty to have the custom of shaving and braids was the Qing Dynasty, and the reason why they dared to do so with their hair was also because the ancestors of the Manchu Qing people were not Han Chinese, but "Jurchens". The Jurchens have long lived in the Songhua River basin and have historically had names such as "Heishui" and "Xiao Shen". It was not until the Liao and Jin periods that it began to be called "Jurchen". Later, with the change of dynasties and conflicts between tribes, it was finally destroyed by the Khitan.
The Jurchens, who were subsequently scattered, merged with other ethnic minorities to form the Manchus. Under the leadership of Nurhach, the Manchus won the throne through war and established their own state, named "Jin". After Nur Hachi's son Emperor Taiji succeeded to the throne, the name of the country was changed to "Qing", and the Jurchen clan was changed to Manchuria. In 1644, the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered Shanhaiguan and replaced the Ming Dynasty, and since then the last Chinese dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, was born.
After the Qing people entered the customs, in order to rule the Han people, they needed to suppress both by force and spirit. The Qing army first ordered that all officials and citizens must shave their heads, cut their hair and braid within ten days, and behead those who disobey. In order to deter the common people even more, the password at that time was "keep your head without hair, keep your hair without your head." As for why the Manchus strongly require braids, it can be traced back to the nomadic tradition of "riding and shooting".
The change of rights of nomads took place on horseback and on the battlefield, so for them, the braid and clothing they wore when riding and shooting were an absolute tradition left by their ancestors and guaranteed the stability of their regime. After the great integration with the Han people, in order to ensure that the Manchus are not "sinicized" by the Han people, only by depriving the Han people of their traditions, so as to cut off the legacy of Han culture from the root.
The Manchu hairstyles are related to their religious beliefs. They originally believed in shamanism, in which natural creatures such as mountains and rivers, trees, flowers and plants were worshipped, and braids were considered the foundation of life and the place where the soul lived.
Therefore, the Manchus also did not shave their hair at first, and carefully cared for their braids. However, when safari people hunt or fight in the grasslands, they often sleep outside, and longer forehead hair can block the view and cause some unnecessary casualties, so they shave their forehead hair.
It was not enough to shave the hair on the forehead, they also had to braid the second half of their hair, for them, the braid inhabited their souls, so after the Manchu soldiers died on the battlefield, they would ask someone to cut off the braid and take it home for their parents' safekeeping. In addition, when sleeping outside, you can also turn your hair up and act as a pillow.
For the Manchus, this is something they are accustomed to, but in the hearts of the Han Chinese, who have been in the custom of growing long hair for thousands of years, suddenly asking for shaving and beheading is no different. Therefore, many people left over from the Ming Dynasty believed that shaving hurt national feelings and were unwilling to follow the instructions of the Qing people. Riots against shaving their heads broke out in many places, and people preferred to die because they "could not bear to be the crown of the kingdom and become the emperor".
In Jiangyin, for example, when the Manchu Qing soldiers occupied the city, there was no resistance from the people in the city. They could have easily occupied the rest of southern Zhejiang in the same way, but after the decree was issued, it caused a revolt among the soldiers and people of the city, and the people took up hoes, flattened and any other weapons, drove these Dandan people out of the city, and even killed many Manchus. But this hair protection war ended in failure, and the famous "Jiading Three Massacres" tragedy was also caused.
After the bloody suppression and massacre of the Manchus, those Han who could not resist could only leave humiliating braids. In the following years, most of the people's daily hairstyles were this "copper money braid", until the establishment of the Republic of China, many people can still be seen on the street wearing melon skin hats, the back of the head is braided with a long heel-length twisted braid, and in the long-term brainwashing, it is considered a sign of nobility.
Cleaning of Qingren's braids
Many people are curious about how men and women in the Qing Dynasty took care of their hair, after all, in modern times, if you have too long hair, it is inconvenient to wash it. For those Manchus, before entering the customs, the places where they lived were very cold, and the living environment was relatively harsh, so they wore hats on their heads all year round to keep warm.
But they often have to go out hunting or marching to fight, and they tend to sweat profusely after intense exercise, so in order not to obscure the view and reduce the number of grooming, they shave all the hair on their foreheads, and the stubble left behind them is braided into a slender braid. Because of its elongated shape like a rat's tail, people call it "money rat's tail". This kind of hair can avoid sweat wet hair, and will not suffer from cold brain case pain.
After the Manchus seized imperial power, those Manchu royal families or wealthy families would usually have their hair cleaned by subordinates or specially hired shavers. Not only can you shave the newly grown stubble on the front half of your forehead, but you can also clean up the beard in your face. After washing their hair, the palace maids or eunuchs would re-braided their long hair, and in order to prevent knots from being difficult to comb, they would also apply hair oil and pancreas to ensure that the hair was soft and fragrant.
The noble concubines or palace maids in the palace are different. For those noble concubines, pig ling, which resembles ginger in shape, not only can maintain hair, but also has a special fragrance, but because it is difficult to find and expensive, it is difficult for ordinary people to afford. As for the palace maidens, the harem specially distributed a powder made of soybean flour and other medicinal herbs, which could not only wash hair, but also be used for daily face washing and hand washing.
In addition to washing their hair more elaborately than men, harem women also spend a lot of thought on hair care and styling. The material they used to shape their hair was exactly the same as the material used to shape their hair in the current opera class, that is, elm chips. After blanching the slices of elm wood in hot water, a light layer of mucus is secreted. It can fix the hair well, and it is also easy to wash in subsequent cleaning.
During the Qing Dynasty, ordinary people washed their hair mostly with cheap soap pods. Before washing your hair, you need to brush the soap pods clean and soak them in water for two or three days, and then mash them with a stone scoop. Heat the mashed counterfeit with water until white bubbles come out. Finally, collect the filtered soap pod liquid, and remove it and wipe it on the scalp every time you wash your hair in the future.
Of course, their long hair doesn't wash as often as we do now. Moreover, under the rule of the Manchu imperial power, most of the low-level Han people lived relatively poorly, and they were already able to live very well, and they did not have much thought to spend on washing their hair. Most people wash it once a month, and in the cold winter months, they don't wash it at all. It will not be specially cleaned until the next spring warms up.
What's more, for the coolies and men who are on the go to make a living, sometimes they can't even wash once a year. In this case, the scalp will continue to grow oil, and it will be covered by their hair, often accumulating thick stains that will be mixed with the hair. Therefore, the long braid of the Qing Dynasty is sometimes called "dirty braid".
After the Opium War, many foreigners interested in China poured into China to play and film, and many recorded what they saw and heard after returning and passed it down to the present. When a missionary named Myrod came to China during the Guangxu period, he recorded in detail the living conditions of the Qing Dynasty people and the social culture of various classes at that time, and even recorded people's clothing and hairstyles in detail, among which, the description of Qing dynasty people's braids caused many discussions.
According to the book, he passed by a farm during his visit to China, and happened to see a man washing his hair in the yard, and he was very curious about the fact that men had long hair, and after asking for the farmer's consent, he wanted to see how it was washed and braided. But after he sat down, he saw the thick yellow and white grease under the man's untied braid and a smell, and the more he looked, the more difficult it was to suppress the tumbling in his stomach, so he had to take the opportunity to leave, and after that, he wrote the matter in a letter and sent it back to England.
The letter was later published by the British Press along with his records and aroused much discussion among Britons. Many of them were curious about what China looked like in his book and questioned the matter of dirty braids, and in this case, an English woman came to China with her husband to play and verify it. She was deeply touched by the bustle and bustle of the Chinese streets, as well as all kinds of novel jewelry and food, but on the train halfway, they met a merchant.
The businessman was very polite and gentle, not only offered to help the couple find seats but also carried their luggage. After both were seated, the couple was about to thank him, when they suddenly saw the merchant's hair hanging down his shoulders covered with fine dandruff and throbbing insects. As he leaned closer, there was an unbearable smell, which directly dispelled the idea of dialogue and made an excuse to leave the carriage after thanking him.
Ancient method of washing hair
In Chinese characters, mu means "pure". During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, regular bathing and washing of hair also became an important ritual. For officials and aristocrats, washing their hair was essential before going out, after all, they often attended important occasions, and letting others see their unkempt appearance would damage their reputation in the capital. Therefore, officials in the Han Dynasty would take a day off to wash their hair and bathe, that is, "Humu".
Usually, the maid disassembles the bun and picks up a bucket of hot water from the kitchen to wash and unclog the hair. There is a record in the "Records of History" that "the Duke of Zhou caught his hair three times, one meal and three vomits, and waited for the soldiers, fearing that he would lose the sages of the world". Here is actually the allusion to Zhou Gong's vomit, in order to entertain those idle talents, he did not hesitate to interrupt his mu fa, but also rushed out to entertain guests, and repeated it back and forth three times, enough to witness his sincerity, not hesitating to interrupt such an important moment.
Of course, the officials and nobles mentioned here wash their hair without worrying about themselves. Today, the ancients naturally explored many ways to wash their hair, among which the nobles have the methods of the nobles, and the people naturally have the methods of the people. Washing hair is mainly to remove grease and dust from the head, as long as these two points can be met, it is enough to serve as a shampoo.
One is the ash, which is collected after burning and can be used not only for fertilization, but also to dye clothes and even wash hair. When washing hair, stir the water in the ash bucket into a paste and then apply it to the hair. This method is widely used in the private sector because raw materials are readily available and cheap, and have been used for a long time.
The second is rice water, which is now also used by many people to wash their hair. Beginning some people used the juice after rinsing chestnut rice to remove oil stains from their heads, but it was too expensive for most people. Later, people began to use ordinary rice water, and it is recorded in the "Zuo Chuan": "Pan, rice juice, can mu the head" is this method.
However, washing the hair of washed rice is not to use the water left over from the existing rice directly, but to let the water ferment for a day or two before it can be used for washing hair. Although the taste is slightly sour, the fine particles in the rice water can remove head stains and head oil from the scalp when washing. Moreover, rice water not only refers to white rice, such as bean dregs, waste bran, wheat bran can also be used to wash hair after boiling or fermentation.
There is also the use of soap horns or bath beans to wash your hair. Use a hammer to crush the soaked soap horn, and then remove the impurities in the water, and the remaining soap can be washed and shampooed. Bath beans were more cumbersome to make, and at first they were only used for nobles. The beans are ground into powder and then kneaded into pellet-shaped balls by adding various spices or herbs. In Sun Simiao's book, it is mentioned that Zaodou was originally used by officials and nobles, and only later became a daily item for the people's life, which could be used to wash hair and face or bathe and smoke clothes.
In addition to these, such as sesame leaves, tea seed oil after being squeezed dry, mulberry white peel, cypress leaf peach branches, egg whites, ginger and other widely circulated folk shampoo materials, are more used in hair care, similar to the conditioner used by modern people. The soap closest to our modern use is the "pancreas" gently ground into oil, lard, pig pancreas, wood ash, etc., which also has the effect of cleaning hair.
summary
The cleanliness of hair requires great attention, after all, in social etiquette, the first thing people notice is the head. Dirty hair can make a very bad impression and is disrespectful to other guests. Most importantly, a good spirit and a neat appearance can motivate yourself and make those around you feel refreshed.