A complete hanfu look is certainly not complete without fine jewelry to match. In the course of ancient history, traditional Chinese jewelry naturally evolved, graceful and luxurious, or refined and small.
In this article, we will reveal through the order of dynasties, the fashion secrets in ancient traditional Chinese jewelry boxes.
Let's see those periods of “China-Chic” how fashionable.
Wei, Jin and North and South Dynasties: A Fashion Trend from Abroad?
The poem “Ballad of Mulan” contains the line: “She combs her hair by the window and, before the mirror, fastens golden yellow flowers.”
This “yellow flowers (Hua Hunag, 花黄)” refers to the makeup of women in the Wei and Jin dynasties, which was inspired by Buddhism.
Stills from “Mulan”
Due to the popularity of Buddhism, the Buddha-nature of gold brought inspiration to women, so although the “flower yellow” in makeup may have been a little exaggerated, but it does reflect the characteristics of Buddhism at the time, as well as the pursuit of exoticism.
Stills from “Mulan”
Of course, the rise of the introduction of Buddhism to the fashion circle brought not only makeup, with the matching jewelry also with a clear Buddhist style.
In terms of production materials, although gold and silver remained as the main carrier of jewelry, they did not really glow with the bright colors of the real thing due to technological limitations.
The various kinds of jewelry that were introduced to the Central Plains along with Buddhism were more eye-catching than gold and silver, and Liuli (琉璃) was one of them.
Stills from “Langya Bang”
There is no doubt that ancient people were good at drawing inspiration from all kinds of things, and Buddhism also brought many creative elements to the craftsmen.
The “Ren Dong pattern (忍冬纹)”, “lotus pattern” and various “Rui Niao (瑞鸟)” patterns that were popular during the Wei, Jin and North and South Dynasties all have their origins in Buddhism.
At the same time, the Wei, Jin and North-South dynasties also inherited the tradition of the previous dynasties, which favored high buns, and the bigger the hair, the better.
However, the amount of human hair was limited, so in order to make the bun full and high, they had to use wigs and sometimes add another padding.
So, the fake bun also became a kind of jewelry at that time.
Tang Dynasty: The material and wearing are aspiring to freedom?
Every exquisite Tang Dynasty pretty girl's jewelry boxes to all have a small comb.
But the comb here is different from the ordinary comb, it has a special name: Shu Bi (梳篦).
Shu Bi actually did not originate in the Tang Dynasty, but its development in the Tang Dynasty was absolutely unprecedented. In addition to a large number of Tang Dynasty burial items that have been excavated, the variety of Shu Bi is also worth talking about.
Perhaps related to the open social culture of the Tang Dynasty, they not only used gold, silver and wood as materials, but also various kinds of onyx, crystal and jade as the choice for making Shu Bi.
Women in the Tang Dynasty liked to put a few of these small combs in their hair buns, and according to the beauty-loving nature of Tang Dynasty ladies, the exposed comb backs were exquisite since.
In addition to the various inlays, most of the combs came with delicate relief carvings.
Pic from “Zhuang Shu Fu Yuan”
Women of the Tang Dynasty also liked to put big and many flowers in their hair buns, Shao Yao (芍药) and Moutan peony were in their consideration.
Stills from “Tang Ming Huang”
Stills from “Tang Ming Huang”
Every piece of traditional Chinese jewelry that has been passed down to this day is very shocking, but it is not just the beautiful appearance, the long history and culture and the ancient craftsmanship is the real charm in the national trend.
Reference: Ink Aesthetics
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