During the Tang Dynasty, which was the pinnacle of feudal society in China, many aspects reached unprecedented heights. Well-known achievements such as poetry, calligraphy, painting, and dance were accompanied by a vibrant clothing culture that became one of the most dazzling chapters in Chinese fashion history. Consequently, hairstyles also exhibited an unimaginable array of colors and postures.
High Bun
The term “high bun” may refer to a specific type of bun hairstyle, but it is more likely a general term for tall buns. High buns were frequently seen during the Tang Dynasty and underwent continuous innovation in style. Many poets mentioned them in their works. The popularity of these high buns spanned the entire three hundred years of the Tang Dynasty.
Lofty Bun
Lofty Bun (峨髻, e ji) implies grandeur and magnificence. It is widely believed that the hairstyle depicted in Zhou Fang's painting “Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers” represents lofty bun due to its towering mountain-like appearance. However, some people associate it with flower-decorated bun because women in the painting wear golden and silver floral accessories.
Side Bun
This type of bun existed as early as the Sui Dynasty. It involved creating a tall structure on top of the head that then extended towards one side before cascading down gracefully. This hairstyle can be observed in Zhou Fang's painting titled “Playing Zither and Sipping Tea.”
Knife-shaped Bun
Resembling flat slices stacked on top of each other, knife-shaped buns could be single or double-edged versions or even referred to as having a half-folded style.
Female figurines found at Princess Yongtai's tomb in Qian County, Shaanxi Province, and Zhang Shigui's tomb in Liquan County, Shaanxi Province, were discovered with this type of bun. However, it seems that it was not popular among women of all social classes. In the recently released film “Chang An,” the hairstyle of a dancer features a single-edged and half-folded bun.
Double Ring Bun
The hair is divided into two sections and rolled into separate buns on top of the head. Some even let loose strands hang down for added dynamism. This style can be seen in wall paintings at Tang Li Shuang's tomb in Yangtou Town, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, as well as female figurines unearthed from Tang tombs in Wuchang, Hubei Province.
Bao Bun
When styling this type of bun, various accessories such as flower pins, hairpins adorned with precious stones or gold and silver floral branches are inserted.
Half-Folded Bun
This evolved from forward-folded lotus buns. When creating this style, hair is gathered towards the top of the head before being flipped to one side for a certain height; it was most popular during the early Tang Dynasty. An example of this hairstyle can be seen in female figurines found in Tang tombs in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.
Other high buns that were popular include the “Baihe bun” from the early Tang Dynasty, the “Jiaoxin bun” from its prosperous period, as well as the “Changle bun,” and “Baiye bun.”
Various Styles of Hair Buns
The styles and names of hair buns worn by Tang Dynasty women seem to be countless, rich and colorful. In addition to the high bun, there are various other styles such as the cloud bun, Woduo bun, and Paojia bun.
Cloud Bun
The cloud bun can be used as a specific name for a hairstyle that appeared as early as the Three Kingdoms period. It can also be seen as a poetic term for women's hair buns because scholars throughout history have praised female hair as “dark clouds,” “stacked clouds,” or “clusters of clouds.” The typical depiction of palace maidens' buns in Yan Liben's painting “Emperor Taizong Receiving the Tibetan Envoy” resembles scattered clouds.
Woduo Bun
This style is commonly found in female tomb figurines unearthed from Tang Dynasty tombs. The specific method involves combing the hair towards the back of the head and then wrapping it into one or two buns that hang down in front of the forehead. It was once known as the “palace-style makeup.”
Pao Jia Bun
According to records in the New Book of Tang: “In late Tang Dynasty, women in Chang'an would gather their temples against their faces, resembling a spine bun; this style was called ‘pao jia bun' at that time.”
Zhou Fang's painting “Lady with Fan” is believed to depict this type of hairstyle. From its appearance and literal meaning, besides gathering temples against their faces, there is also an upright long bun on top which rises high before extending sideways.
Duo Ma Bun
Although this type of bun originated from the Eastern Han Dynasty, it became popular during the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty, especially during Zhenyuan era. The so-called duo ma bun mainly refers to selecting asymmetric styles instead of overall roundness; one side droops down like when a beauty falls off her horse causing her hair bun to shift sideways. This creates an unusually distinctive look. Duo ma buns can be seen in many palace paintings from the Tang Dynasty such as “Lady Guoguo's Spring Outing.”
Worth mentioning is also the existence of Buddha buns since Buddhism was introduced into China since late Western Han Dynasty; then flourished during Northern-Southern Dynasties while both Buddhism and Daoism coexisted during the Tang Dynasty.
Buddha buns became popular among the common people, forming a spiraled shell-like bun shape. This fully reflects that Tang women were not only influenced by a rich cultural background but also possessed bold artistic ideas and consciousness of wide-ranging innovation.
Hairdos of Unmarried Girls
Due to the abundance of hairstyles during the Tang Dynasty, there were also many styles for unmarried girls. Some had already appeared in previous dynasties and evolved into new variations during the Tang Dynasty, such as double hanging buns and four-looped buns.
Double Hanging Buns
This hairstyle has always been used by unmarried girls or maidservants as their style. It is most similar to hairstyles found in pottery figurines from the Tang to Five Dynasties period.
The specific method involves dividing the hair on top of the head into two parts and then twisting each part into a bun that naturally hangs down. After being styled this way, young girls or teenagers appear quite childlike, lively, and adorable. In Tang Dynasty paintings, there are many depictions of maidservants with this hairstyle.
Double Loop Top Bun
The loop bun appears most youthful and lively when styled with loops; therefore, it is commonly used by young girls and slightly older female children.
Triangle Bun
This type of bun had already appeared before but was mainly worn by young girls during the Tang Dynasty, especially maidens.
Hairstyles of Ethnic Minorities
The Silk Road from Han to Tang brought about economic prosperity and cultural flourishing in the Tang Dynasty, particularly piquing great interest among Central Plains Han Chinese regarding ethnic minority costumes from Western Regions. From the perspective of hairstyling, the following ethnic minority hairstyles influenced the Central Plains.
Wu Man Bun
The Wu Man bun is tied high on top of the head, forming a sharp upward shape that looks very neat. This article selects one style as a reference, as there may be various specific forms during its assimilation and evolution.
Hui Hu Bun
During the flourishing Tang Dynasty, Han women were greatly influenced by clothing worn by Hui Hu women from Western Regions; therefore, their hairstyle was initially imitated and later modified to form a Hui Hu bun with traces of ancient Central Plains hairstyles. The main structure involves gathering hair into a bundle on top of the head and optionally covering it with a small peach-shaped crown.
Xiao Ji Bun
The Xiao Ji bun often takes the form of one or two spherical buns. It may have been influenced by ethnic minority hairstyles from Western Regions.
During the Tang Dynasty, any hairstyle element with ethnic minority influences was commonly referred to as Hu bun and matched with Hu clothing, becoming quite fashionable.
