Throughout history, the Tang Dynasty was the most open era in feudal society, and women's dressing was bolder and more innovative than ever, so all kinds of jewelry emerged. In these categories, flower decorations have become an indispensable element in women's makeup. Today, we will enter the Tang and Song Dynasties to see how the flower ornaments of the Tang Dynasty developed.
Floral ornaments placed on the face
Flower ornaments are made into ornaments from flowers and worn on women. In ancient times, colorful flower ornaments often appeared in women's makeup, and flower ornaments appeared on a woman's forehead, cheeks or sideburns, which were called huadan.
The earliest Hua Dian
The appearance of Hua Dan can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn period. In the Warring States Chu tomb unearthed in Changsha, a painted female figurine was unearthed. On the face of this figurine, there are step-like dots, and experts speculate that this is the prototype of Hua Dian. It is generally red, green, yellow, and tends to be dominated by large red. And the materials and types are also diverse, such as dots, plum blossoms, fish scales, etc. There are many types of flowers, many of which resemble flowers, the most popular of which is the plum blossom shape.
Plum makeup
It is said that Princess Shouyang at that time was beautiful in appearance, and she was napping in front of the palace one day, when a plum blossom fell on her forehead, although it was flicked away, but left traces of petals, and did not disperse for several days. Because of this imprint, Princess Shouyang's appearance has become more gorgeous, and it has been imitated by many women, which is "plum blossom makeup".
It is also recorded that Shangguan Wan'er, the maid of a generation of empress Wu Zetian, was once sentenced to ink punishment by Wu Zetian for improper service, thus leaving scars on her forehead. In order to cover her ugliness, Shangguan Wan'er put bright plum blossoms on her forehead. As a result, plum blossom makeup once again spread among women in Jingzhongcheng.
"Game Chess Handmaid"
In addition to plum blossoms, there are also peony-shaped flowers. In the "Chess Lady" unearthed in Xinjiang, there is a maid with her hairpin held high, but the flower between her forehead is more like a blooming peony.
"Dance Screen"
In the "Dance Music Screen" unearthed at the same time, the flower dan of the characters in the painting also resembles flowers. Although there are many varieties, these are flowers that come from nature. In addition to these, there are also geometric shapes, generally teardrop-shaped and diamond-shaped.
In order to make their makeup more beautiful, Tang Dynasty women made various changes in the shape of Hua Dan to match different clothes and jewelry. In many cases, the color of the flower depends on the material used. Gold leaf and silver are used to make the flowers, which are first sliced, then cut to the desired shape, and then glued to the forehead with fish bladder glue.
However, gold and silver leaf were expensive, and women in civilian families used other materials instead. Such as paper, fish gillbones and so on
In the Song Dynasty's "Lu Yilu", it is recorded: "After the Tang Palace people or nets obtained dragonflies, they loved their emerald thinness, so they painted their wings with a gold pen and made small folded branches and flower seeds." "You can see that at that time, women dressed up in an endless stream.
During Wu Zetian's reign, women were more confident and independent, and in contrast, makeup became more bold, and Tang Dynasty women paid more attention to eyebrow makeup, so Hua Dan became more popular, from court concubines, down to folk women, and even spread across the ocean to Japan.
In addition to the decoration on the forehead, a kind of "tear makeup" was also popular at that time, painting a ball of red on the cheeks and painting "teardrops" like petals to make yourself look very moving.
In the Song Dynasty, under the theory of "saving heaven and destroying people's desires" put forward by Zhu Xi, women's makeup gradually converged. During this period, the makeup became more modest, and in contrast, the variety and colorful flowers gradually faded out of the stage.
Song Dynasty princess portrait vs film and television drama imitation
The heavily colored Hua Dan was replaced by a pearl face. The original shape was just a dot, and it gradually evolved into various shapes in subsequent development. Moreover, during this period, pearl faces were mostly decorated by noble women, and among the various portraits unearthed in the Song Dynasty, most of them were decorated on the empress and the maids around her, and the shape became more single.
Portrait of Empress Renzong of Song
For example, Empress Renzong of Song, in this portrait, her hair crown, between her eyebrows, and cheeks, are decorated with several beads.
Portrait of Empress Gaozong of Song
In subsequent developments, the face also appeared in the form of flowers. In the portrait of Empress Gaozong of Song, it can be clearly seen that she uses beads to decorate her forehead, sideburns and earlobes, and the overall makeup looks more attractive.
Compared with the exaggerated Hua Dan of the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty was more elegant and simple, but it was also extravagant.
"Lady with Hairpins"
Exquisite floral ornaments in women's jewelry
In addition to the floral ornaments placed on the face, are there any decorations on the head? In the Tang Dynasty, among the overall makeup of noble women, hairpin flowers were the most indispensable decoration. In ancient times, hairpins were known as shi, and in ancient times, when women reached the age of marriage, they would perform ceremonies. The woman holds up her hair with a hairpin, representing that she has grown up.
The flower hairpin is a form of hairpin, and with the development of the dynasty, people have become rich in life, and gradually began to pursue the quality of the spiritual level. The ancients had a special preference for flowers, women often used flowers to decorate their hair, but real flowers are easy to wither, so imitation flowers came into being. This demand, in turn, has promoted the development of the weaving industry.
As a kind of decoration, flower hairpins often appear on various important occasions, and Qin Shi Huang stipulated that women must wear flowers on formal occasions.
With the development of the times, hairpins have also appeared in various materials and forms, and there are certain grades. During the Song Dynasty, the court used hairpin flowers to divide grades, and the hairpin flowers between concubines and concubines were still different.
It is worth mentioning that in the Song Dynasty, both men and women, young and old, rich and poor, all had to wear hairpins in spring. In ancient times, both men and women had long hair, and they wore a chrysanthemum when they ascended the Chongyang Festival. Depending on the season, the type of hairpin flower will also change.
Men's hairpins
In the book "History of Song", it is mentioned that "Li Bi, from the driving official, the serving official, the Praetorian Guard, etc., and the hairpin flower is returned from the driving inside." In the Song Dynasty, it was an extremely high honor to be given flowers by the emperor. There are many types of hairpin flowers, such as silk flowers, velvet flowers, dotted emeralds, etc.
Silk hairpins
The headdress flowers mentioned in ancient times are now often called Beijing silk flowers, which are often made of silk and satin. Because the material is optional and malleable, silk flowers also appear in a variety of colors and forms, peach blossoms, peonies, chrysanthemums and so on.
Silk
According to legend, Yang Guifei had a scar on her sideburns, and she often asked the palace maid to pick fresh flowers and put them on her head to cover the scar. But in winter, the flowers all withered, and there was a skillful palace maid who made handmade flowers out of silk for Yang Guifei to decorate. Since then, the act of wearing silk flowers has also become popular, and the production process of silk flowers is cumbersome, but the final product is like a real flower, which is also famous in China and abroad.
Velvet hairpins
Velvet hairpins
With the advancement of the technology of making flower hairpins, velvet hairpins gradually appeared in people's vision. In the beginning, the velvet flowers were only enjoyed by court women. However, in the later Ming Dynasty, velvet flowers were also used by emperors to reward ministers. The production process of velvet flowers is fine, using copper wire as the main frame, using silk and other weaving, and making it through different processes. Also pronounced "glory", velvet flowers were loved and sought after by the ancients due to their bright colors and their festive symbolism.
Point the emerald hairpin
Point the emerald hairpin
Compared with the ubiquity of silk flowers and the brightness of velvet flowers, dotted emerald is often more precious. It is also different from other colorful colors of hairpins, which are mostly lake blue or navy blue.
In the process of its production, gold thread, silver thread, etc. are often used to make the base, and various jewelry is set around it, mostly pearls, jadeite and so on. Then take the kingfisher feathers and glue the frame of the base without wrinkling the feathers. In "The Legend of Zhen Huan", Concubine Hua's crown is graceful and luxurious, which is to use a little emerald craftsmanship. It can be seen that the dotted hairpin often appears in the homes of the rich.
Emerald hairpin
But for every hairpin like this made, many kingfishers were sacrificed. Therefore, people chose other materials instead, such as dyed goose feathers and velvet flowers.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, hairpin flowers were not only a kind of jewelry, but also a political significance. Hairpin flowers were no longer limited to women, and were often used as court tributes. It is a precious handicraft that has been passed down to this day. In addition to hairpins, ancient women often wore hairpins, crowns, step shakes, grates, grates, and so on.
Hair
Hair
Since ancient times, there has been a saying of "wearing gold with silver", and gold and silver hair are also of great significance to ancient women. In the beginning, hair bulbs were only used to fix hair, and for convenience, people often used tree branches or animal bones as hair bulbs. In the future development, people began to pursue beauty, and various styles of hair appeared as a result. The appearance of gold and silver hair was first in the Warring States period. Because of its high cost, it often appears in wealthy homes.
Until the Tang Dynasty, the hair spread among the people. Due to the plasticity of gold and silver, it can make hair appear in various forms, and flowers gradually appear as a decoration. Different flower styles also represent different meanings. The emergence of the floral type has made people love hair more.
Hairpins made by modern craftsmanship
In modern times, there is also a craft of making hairpins. On metal hairpins, filigree is made of copper wire, petals made of glass, then threaded with copper wire, etc., and decorated with pearls and other items to make delicate hairpins. Because there are many options, the color of the hairpin can be both elegant and simple, but also bright and delicate.
Hosta
In addition to metal hairpins, there is also a type of jade hairpin. On the top of a whole piece of jade, various shapes have been polished by exquisite craftsmanship, in addition to flower patterns, there are dragon heads, phoenixes and so on.
There is a line in the "Long Hate Song", "The clouds are plump and newly sleeping, and the flower crown is not in order." This flower crown is a decoration of a woman's head and dates back to the Six Dynasties period, which was very common by the Song Dynasty.
Crown of the head
Ancient women especially liked to wear crowns, and there were many types, such as flower crowns, horned crowns, bead crowns and so on. Fake flowers made of silk cloth and silk adorned the crown of the head, because of the low cost, in the Song Dynasty, even the children of commoner families could wear them. In the Xi'an Museum, 181 artifacts excavated from the Tang Dynasty have been exhibited, and among the many artifacts, the crown made of copper wire and copper flowers stands out. In this artifact, we can see the elaboration of the art of making flower crowns at that time.
Empress Xiaozhuang wind crown
In ancient times, empresses in the imperial court often wore a phoenix crown, which was much more precious than the usual hair crown. In the phoenix crown, pearls are often used as decorations, and some are also set with various gemstones, and different phoenix crowns have different ways of making them. Empress Xiaozhuang's phoenix crown is decorated with more than 5,000 pearls, and phoenixes and flowers are also decorated with dian cui craftsmanship. To make such a phoenix crown, the manpower and material resources consumed are enormous.
There is a record in Song Zhuoyi's "Butterfly Love Flower", "Walking together and shaking green jade, missing flower branches, leaves and bees." ”
Step shake
This decoration sways as the woman walks, so it is named Step Shake. The earliest dates back to the Yin Zhou period. It was first worn by the queen, and only appeared at important events such as sacrifices, and was not accepted until the Han Dynasty. Bu shake is often made of jade, gold and silver, made of copper wire filigree, or decorated with various decorations, often made into various floral shapes.
Grates of various shapes
Combing
Among the jewelry, the grate is the first to appear. Unlike today's combs, comb grates were also ornaments on women's heads during the Wei and Jin dynasties. And in various drawings in ancient times, the grate often appeared as a decoration. In the subsequent development, the grate has a variety of forms, vertical type, horseshoe type and so on. But what remains unchanged is that floral motifs are often drawn or engraved on the handle.
Dian
Dian
"Say Wen Jinbu" describes: "Tan, Jinhuaye." ”
It is a common decoration used by ancient women, it is similar to the hairpin, but different. Generally, it can be divided into two types, one is that the back of the flower has a long handle, which can be directly inserted on the combed bun; The other is with holes that can be worn with hairpins and then fixed to the hair, which can be used as decoration for hairpins.
The ancients often used gold and silver to make huadian, and then used various gemstones to inlay, all kinds of unearthed dian, basically made of pattern shapes, in the flat material, carefully carved, and finally composed of flower shapes, and contains a good wish. There are many patterns of patterns, including group flowers, folding flowers, honeysuckle and so on.
Regimental pattern
Regimental pattern, folded branch pattern, honeysuckle/cirrus pattern
The group flowers are relatively single, but the shape is exquisite, the pattern is mostly the type of plant, generally round, but also divided into sizes. In ancient times, both architecture and decoration were called beautiful, which was also reflected in the pattern of large tuanhuas. There are also unorganized tufts, but they are generally symmetrical, with only minor details changed. Although the origami pattern has an S-shape, it also pursues symmetry, and the style is closer to a sketched flower. The honeysuckle/cirrus pattern is on the overall skeleton, decorated with curly leaves on the sides, and finally forms the pattern we see.
Shaw back crown
In the unearthed Xiaohou crown, we found ornaments in the shape of water drops, carved in the shape of flowers on the template with jade and so on, and decorated with pearls around it, which is also often said by the ancients. Because of the exquisite pattern of dian, in the development of various jewelry, dun has also been applied to the crown, step shake and so on.
In the development of successive dynasties, whether it is face decoration or jewelry, flowers have played an indispensable role, and also directly affected women's makeup and dress trials. Due to people's various needs, flower ornaments also show different forms, and these ingenious skills are still worthy of scholars' study today.
bibliography
The Old Book of Tang, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1975
Peng Dingqiu et al., Quan Tang Poems, Beijing: Zhonghua Bookstore, 1979 edition
"Tang Dynasty Jewelry Image Research - Hua Dian", Hua Mengxi