Chinese men are probably most afraid of putting on that "green hat" of their own, and there is a history of great interest. Regarding the green hat, the folk saying is that there is already a woman in the family who has cheated, which is mostly ironic. So, where did the "green hat" argument come from earlier?
If we talk about the origin, there are four theories, the first one. The "green hat" originated in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, and evolved from the symbol color of engaging in cheap business such as brothels and singers. The second way of saying it. The origin of the "green hat" began in the Yuan Dynasty. From the original men working in brothels wearing green turbans to the chinese men's most feared hat, that is, "green hat" There is another theory, which is much the same as the first one, except that the secret love signal wearing a green hat is sent from the wife's head to the husband's head. That is to say, as long as you see your husband wearing a green hat going out, this is a signal that you can sneak in.
But this was not the case in the Spring and Autumn Period, when survival was a big problem for ordinary people, and honest farmers who farmed the land might not be able to harvest anything when they encountered war, but this phenomenon was too common at the time, and many people did not have a positive livelihood to support themselves after losing their land. How can it be good to have no property and no income? Some men have moved their wives and daughters' evil intentions to let them go out into prostitution. Whether you are supporting yourself with serious things or supporting yourself with evil ways, you have to advertise to let others know what you are doing. Selling a rice noodle can also be shouted and drunk, selling his wife and daughter in public to drink that is too humiliating, how to let others know that they are selling wives and girls? Then bring a green turban. At that time, there were not a few men who made a living from their wives and daughters in prostitution, and everyone invariably wore green turbans, and the color of green had an extended meaning from here. The Seven Revision Drafts record: "When I saw that in the Spring and Autumn Period there were wives and daughters who asked for food, called 'prostitutes', wrapped their heads in green scarves, so as not to be noble and lowly." "
According to legend, in the early Ming Dynasty, when the emperor Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that all men who had prostitutes in their homes should wear green turbans and red shirts around their waists, and since then, the "green hat" has spread. Prostitutes in ancient times for the Qinglou women, as a woman who already has a family, still choose prostitution as a profession, at that time it was inevitable that the accusation of "stealing men" was inevitable, and the husbands of prostitutes wore green scarves, thus the "green hat" replaced "stealing men" and became the most humiliating title for men. Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a couple. The wife is a housewife, born delicate and lovely, still charming, usually doing some needlework at home, because of her beautiful birth, she has long attracted some wild bees and butterflies to pursue; the husband is a businessman, and he often goes to other places to do business. The life of the two is also rich, and in the days when the husband is out, the wife cannot avoid the cold and lonely pillow.
Finally, one day, the wife couldn't help but get along with a cloth seller in the market, and when the husband went out to do business, they would hang out together. Once, my husband didn't go out for three months after he got home, so anxious that the cloth seller was wandering around their house every day. One day, the husband rode his horse to hunt outside the city, passed the street market, the cloth seller was very happy to see, thinking that he was going to go out to do business again, and that night he could not wait to sneak into his wife's bedroom, ready to meet with each other.
That night, the husband returned and almost arrested him, and the wife was scared half to death, and the cloth seller had to sit under the bed of the family all night. After this incident, the wife asked the cloth seller for a piece of green cloth, made a hat for her husband, and made an agreement with the cloth seller that when you saw my husband wearing a green hat and going out, you could come. After a few days, the husband was going out to do business again, and the wife quickly took out the green hat and said to her husband: "The wind and sand outside are big, and it will not stain the hair when you wear it." And this color makes you look handsome, and every time you go out in the future, I will make a top for you, just like I follow you, you don't have to worry about me. The husband was very happy to hear this, thinking that he was really handsome, so he happily put on the green hat and rode his horse triumphantly through the street market and went to do business in other places.
That night, his wife slept in his bed with the cloth seller. Later, when the cloth seller saw the husband wearing a green hat going out, his heart could not help but be excited: "Ha! Yours
The green hat is really handsome, but tonight it's time for me to be handsome. So the green hat was passed down.
Under the widespread spread of the people, the "green hat" has been passed down to this day, and it has obviously become a trampling product of male dignity and an untouchable bottom line. In the hearts of the Chinese people, being wearing a green hat is a very humiliating and humiliating thing, and if, unfortunately, experience such an incident, most men would rather rest in peace than let the scandal come out. Although men were afraid to bear the name "green hat", there were many examples of "green hats" in ancient times. In fact, as early as 2,000 years ago, there was already a record of "green hats" in ancient documents.
However, this "green hat" is not another "green hat", it is a normal green hat, and has no special meaning. During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang gave a special meaning to the "green hat", which then spread. During the Qin and Han dynasties, green was the representative color of lowly status. At that time, the rulers had a rule that prisoners should dress in special clothes, called "ochre clothes", and the color was reddish brown. This garment originated during the Qin Dynasty, and by the time of the Han Dynasty, the ochre had become synonymous with lawbreakers.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, the meaning represented by green was gradually expanded, from a single "lawbreaker" to a "lowly group", that is, all the people wearing green clothes could be regarded as lowly people. Some local government officials in the Tang Dynasty did not punish those who violated the law, but wore a green turban on the prisoner's head to show humiliation. The humiliation here refers to the fact that the prisoner wears a headscarf, which means that the status is low, not the spouse cheating.
There was a literati named Li Yuanming, who loved words and often invited friends to come to his home, only to recite poems and stay up all night. This person has a wife who looks like a heavenly immortal, but because he is married to Li Yuanming, he often guards an empty house alone. After a long time, the woman could not bear the loneliness. live
There was a family next door to their house, and the man had been single because of the loss of his wife. The man often climbed on the courtyard wall to peek at the "Heavenly Immortals".
One day, Li Yuanming went to a friend's house as a guest, and his wife was idle and leaned in the doorway in a daze. At this time, the bachelor next door was also sitting in the doorway in a daze, and his wife called the bachelor to chat with her. Since then, for a long time, whenever she is lonely, my wife has called in bachelors to chat with. Over time, there was a little bit of affection between the two of them. Finally one day the two of them did something derailed.
Later, in order to prevent Li Yuanming from suddenly returning home to find the adultery, the wife walked around wearing his green hat when her husband was not at home, and the single man would understand it after seeing it. Where in the world is there an impermeable wall, not long after, The wife and the bachelor suddenly returned home Li Yuanming bumped into a square, and the husband in a huff abandoned his wife. Later, everyone called those things that did not abide by the way of women and thieves called wearing "green hats". Since then, "green hats" have become a taboo for men.
Why is "green hat" "green"?
Obviously, the "green hat" mentioned now is directly inherited from the "green turban" of the Yuan Dynasty, and its true origin is earlier.
During the Yuan Dynasty, restrictions were placed on turquoise and green colors, and only "prostitutes" and "happy people" could be worn. The YuanDian Zhang records that prostitutes need to wear soap shirts and horned scarves, while prostitutes' families and husbands need to wear green scarves on their heads. This rule was inherited into the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict that all men in the homes of prostitutes must go out with a green turban, wear red shirts around their waists, and wear furry pigskin shoes on their feet. When walking, it is forbidden to walk in the middle of the road, and you can only walk on both sides of the road.
It can be seen that at that time, the status of prostitutes and their families was low and they were not welcomed by the people. Under the edict of the ruler, the prostitute husband, despite all his reluctance, could only choose to compromise and obey the imperial court. Whenever a person wearing a green scarf appears in the streets and alleys, it will always attract the people to stop and point out and talk about it. The iconic "green hat" is outside, and the people can immediately know which family is the "Qinglou family" and which woman steals the man, and the men who are pointed out often complain and complain
To a certain extent, these prostitute families are forced to rely on the prostitution of wives and daughters to survive due to limited ability, and men wearing green hats have become synonymous with non-appearance.
As mentioned earlier, green means lowly in ancient times, whether it is the Qin and Han Dynasties, or the Tang and Song Dynasties, this meaning has never changed. As for why the ancients used green as a color for the lowly, there are many opinions among the people. The most popular theory is related to the turtle, the folk once had a green turtle said, green is the color of the turtle, this is the background. The ancients mistakenly believed that female turtles needed to breed with snakes, so they let female turtles mate with snakes to breed offspring.
This kind of statement seems to be a fantasy, but it has been recorded in many ancient books, including ancient books such as "Liezi" and "Commentary on the Interpretation of Words". Thus, when some male wives have an affair with someone else, they are called "turtles", and the green color spreads. However, the idea of "green turtle" is slightly far-fetched, and the meaning of green representing adultery only appeared in the Yuan Dynasty and was characterized in the Ming Dynasty. During the Han Dynasty, green only indicated low status.
The Records of Feng's Observations and Stories records that When Yanling ordered Li Feng to punish prisoners, he did not punish them with sticks, but with green turbans, and the green here means inferiority, as humiliation. In fact, the period when green really represents the meaning of adultery should be the Yuan Dynasty, according to the "Yuan Dian Zhang": it is stipulated that male dependents related to prostitutes should wrap their heads in blue turbans, and cyan is similar to green, so green can be passed down. After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, the "green" rule did not dissipate with it, but continued to the Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, on this basis, Zhu Yuanzhang strengthened, not only requiring men in prostitutes to wrap their heads in green scarves, but also to wear red shirts around their waists and pigskin shoes on their feet. And the scope is more detailed, only for the two groups of prostitutes and maids. Based on the above arguments, it can be seen that the green turban has long been the dress used by the untouchables or the stream of servants.