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During the Song Dynasty, men’s hairpins were popular
As we all know, the famous book “Water Margin” tells the story of 108 heroes in Liangshan during the Northern Song Dynasty. But what’s interesting is that among these strong men, several of them actually like to wear flowers on their heads—for example, the short-lived Erlang Ruan Xiaowu once wore pomegranate flowers; Suo Guansuo Yang Xiong once wore hibiscus flowers; the prodigal son Yanqing once wore Seasonal flowers.
Especially Cai Qing, the 95th executioner in Liangshan, loves flowers to the point of obsession. Don’t think that because they are gangsters, their tastes are unusual. In fact, this was also the fashion that swept the court and the public at that time-men love hairpins.
In the Song Dynasty, the wind of hairpin flowers prevailed for men
Speaking of the habit of men wearing flowers in the Song Dynasty, it has nothing to do with whether they are romantic or not, and it has nothing to do with whether they were born rich or poor, but it was a common social atmosphere at that time. According to the records of “Song History Yufu Zhi”, hairpin flowers were already a kind of court etiquette at that time.
Yang Wanli, a poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, once wrote in the poem “Deoksugung Palace Celebration Slogan”: Why do you need to be reminded of the spring, and the monarch will lead the spring back on the first day. Peonies, peonies, and roses all bloom on the thousand official hats. This not only describes the joyful scenes of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the palace, but also the grand scene of hairpin flowers on everyone’s heads at that time. Looking from a distance, there is a field of colorful flowers and dark fragrance floating.
Su Shi, a litterateur in the Northern Song Dynasty, once served as a judge in Hangzhou. When the peony was in full bloom, he went to Jixiang Temple to enjoy the flowers, and wrote a poem – “Appreciating Peonies in Jixiang Temple”: An old man should not be ashamed of his hairpin flowers, but flowers should be ashamed of the old man’s head. Drunk return to help passers-by should laugh, ten miles of bead curtains are half hooked.
The first two sentences of this poem vividly portray Su Shi’s broad-minded, unrestrained, free and easy optimistic image. Even though he is very old, he still admires the beauty of flowers, so he has the courage to wear hairpins. It can be seen from all these that in the Song Dynasty, men’s hairpins were no longer an unusual and strange dress. It has a wide audience, from court officials to common people, and it has become a social custom.
Walk into a state banquet and symbolize imperial power
In addition to being loved by people of all walks of life on weekdays, men’s hairpins in the Song Dynasty were promoted to one of the major features of “state banquets”-that is, the fixed etiquette of court banquets. “Song History · Li Zhi” said that in all large-scale national celebrations and banquets, there will be festive figures of hairpin flowers. These banquets fully include the Spring and Autumn Banquet, the Holy Festival Banquet, Wenxi Banquet, Tin Banquet, Qu Banquet, Drinking Fortune Banquet and so on.
However, the social trend of hairpin flowers for men did not start from the Northern Song Dynasty. In the earlier Tang Dynasty, the custom of hairpin flowers had already appeared, but it was only in the Song Dynasty that it really became more and more common. However, in the early Song Taizu and Song Taizong dynasties, there were no records of banquet hairpins. It was not until the Song Zhenzong period that the gift of hairpin flowers officially prevailed in court banquets. When it came to Song Huizong, he really praised the “men’s hairpin” to the extreme. Every time he comes back from a trip, he always wears a charming “royal cap, hairpins, and riding a horse”. Song Huizong also gave flower hairpins to those officials and guards who accompanied them.
At the same time, Huizong not only advocated wearing flowers, but also made rules. For example, he made it clear that only those who have palace flowers and brocade jackets can enter and leave the palace freely. Therefore, a small hairpin flower is not only a “passport” in the palace, but even a symbol of the status of the upper class and a symbol of rank. As the saying goes, “What the superior likes, the people will like.” Therefore, the reason why the people of the Song Dynasty flocked to hairpin flowers is inseparable from the emperor’s liking and advocacy.
Later, as a kind of court etiquette, every time the emperor ordered his ministers to enjoy the flowers, he would pick off his favorite flowers and give them to the princes and ministers around him to wear them on their heads, symbolizing the grace and grace of the imperial power. glory.
A spokesperson for official fortune
Of course, in addition to political implications, hairpin flowers are also endowed with interesting cultural meanings by literati. Shen Kuo once recorded an allusion of “four-phase hairpin flower” in “Mengxi Bi Tan”. During the Northern Song Dynasty, a peony called “Jindaiwei” was planted in the back garden of Han Qi, the prefect of Yangzhou. The petals are red up and down, and a circle of golden stamens grows in the middle. Four flowers bloom on one branch and four branches at the same time, which is very gorgeous. Han Qi was very happy, and invited Wang Gui, Wang Anshi and Chen Shengzhi, three officials of Dali Temple who were stationed in Yangzhou at that time, to watch this spectacle together.
When drinking wine and admiring the flowers, Han Qi cut off the four flowers and put one on each person’s head. Unexpectedly, in the next thirty years, the four people who participated in the flower viewing this time would all become prime ministers one after another, just in response to the auspiciousness of the “Four Flowers”. Since then, peony has been hailed as “flower auspiciousness”, which means that those who are lucky enough to meet the “golden belt” and wear it with a hairpin will have a prosperous official career.
Although it is an allusion and legend, here is the desire of people to pursue prosperity and wealth through the beauty of hairpin flowers. Gradually, hairpin flowers are regarded as an important symbol of official career promotion, and officials regard it as a supreme honor and auspiciousness. And every time the flowers bloom, the common people will put seasonal flowers on their heads when they go out to enjoy the flowers.
At that time, it became a great scene in the capital. Of course, there are also people who don’t like hairpin flowers. For example, Sima Guang who smashed a big tank. He is keen on the plain and simple style, and thinks that hairpins are extravagant and inconsistent with the heroic spirit of men, so he dislikes the gift of hairpins.
It is said that during the reign of Emperor Renzong, Sima Guang was a Jinshi in high school and attended the court’s Wenxi Banquet. The emperor gave each of them a flower, and others thought it was a great honor, so they quickly put it on their heads and thanked the Lord for his kindness. Only Sima Guang was very reluctant to put it on until reminded by others. He is really a maverick in the fashion trend.
However, hairpin flowers are not something you can refuse if you want to. The Song Dynasty also took severe measures against officials who were not used to wearing flowers. If an official does not wear the given flower on his head, he will be impeached by the censor. As a result, hairpins became a clearly stipulated etiquette system, which accelerated its widespread acceptance by all walks of life.
Throughout history, each dynasty has its own unique imprint and style, and each historical period has its own aesthetic and humanistic concepts. In the Song Dynasty, the style of hairpin flowers prevailed, in addition to displaying elegance, it also added a bit of literary and artistic color involving the participation of the whole people.
In this era known for its literature and art, people’s pursuit of beauty, regardless of rich or poor, regardless of class, regardless of gender, is like an instinctive yearning, and the deep love in the bones has reached the pinnacle. It can be said that from court etiquette to folk entertainment, “Men’s hairpin flower” not only reflects the enlightened and inclusive social environment of the Northern Song Dynasty, but also reflects the aesthetic destination, spiritual identity and universal attitude.
