Chinese hairpin

During the Chinese funeral period, women in mourning were not allowed to wear hairpins.[1]

Ji played an important role in the coming-of age of Han Chinese women.[1][4] Before the age of 15 years old, women did not use hairpins, and always kept their hair in braids.[1] When a woman turned 15, she stopped wearing braids, and a hairpin ceremony called "Ji Li" (笄礼), or "hairpin initiation", would be held to mark the rite of passage.[3][1][6][4] During the ceremony, their hair would be coiled into a bun with a ji hairpin.[1][4] After the ceremony, the woman would be eligible for marriage.[3][6][4]

When engaged to be married, Chinese women would take the hairpin from their hair and give it to their male fiancé.[1] After the wedding, the husband would then return the hairpin to his newly-wed wife by placing it back in her hair.[1]

The chai hairpin[12] also used to be a form of love token; when lovers were forced to break apart, they would often break a hairpin in half, and each would keep half of the hairpin until they were reunited.[3]

Similarly, when married couples were separated for a long period of time, they would break a hairpin in two and each keep one part.[1] If they were to meet again in the future, they would then put the hairpin together again, as a proof of their identity and as a symbol of their reunion.[1]

Silver hairpins, Tang dynasty

Initially, Chinese people liked hairpins which were made out of bone and jade.[13] Hairpins which were made out of carved jade appeared in China as early as the Neolithic Period (c. 3000–1500 BC), along with jade carving technology.[7] Some ancient Chinese hairpins dating from the Shang dynasty can still be found in some museums.[14]

By the Bronze Age, hairpins which were made out of gold had been introduced into China by people living on the country's Northern borders.[13] Some ancient Chinese hairpins dating back to 300 BC were made from bone, horn, wood, and metal.[8]

The art of engraving wood first appeared in the Tang dynasty, and this new form of art was then applied to large wooden Chinese hairpins.[15] Many of these wooden hairpins were then coated with silver.[15]

In the Ming dynasty, the hairpins became more elaborate, and the carvings were made on silver, ivory, and jade, with pearl being used often as a setting.[15]

Hairpins could also be decorated with gemstones, as well as designs of flowers, dragons, and phoenixes.[8]

The zan is a type of hairpin with a single pin.[10][9] The zan could also come in different styles such as:[10]

• Ji-style: A style of zan hairpin which likely refers to the hairpin used to secure the hair in a bun.[10]
• Ruyi-style: A style of zan hairpin in the shape of a ruyi scepter.[10]
• Tiger-head style[10]
• Round-dragon style[10]

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  Shang dynasty bone hairpin
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  Shang Bone Ji
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  Shang bronze hairpin
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  Shang dynasty jade hairpin
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  Spring & Autumn Bronze Hairpin
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  Warring States period bronze hairpin
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  Tang dynasty jade hairpin.
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  Coral hairpin, Song dynasty.
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  Hairpin from Southern Song.
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  Ming jade hairpin decorated with flowers.
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  Ming gold hairpins
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  Tomb of Prince Chuang of Liang-gold hairpins
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  Ming dynasty Jade Hairpins & Ornaments
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  Ming dynasty Hairpins & Gold Earrings
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  Ming Gold Hairpins
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  Ming Gold Earrings and Hairpin
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  Ming Gold Hairpin and gourd earrings
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  Hairpin from China, Qing dynasty, nephrite,
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  Qing dynasty hairpin, Silver gilt

Phoenix (Fenghuang) hairpin originated in Qin dynasty and had an upper part made of gold and silver while the feet was made of tortoise shell; it later evolved into the fengguan during the Song dynasty. The fengguan then continued to evolve further in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and in the modern republic.[16] In the Han dynasty, an imperial edict decreed that the hairpin with fenghuang decorations had to become the formal headpiece for the empress dowager and the imperial grandmother.[16] The fenghuang is an auspicious bird in Chinese tradition and is believed to represent the empress or the bride in a wedding.[17] Phoenix hairpins were also made and used by Peranakan women after settling in the Straits as part of their wedding headdresses.[17]

• Phoenix (Fenghuang) hairpin
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  A pair of fire-gilded silver phoenix hairpins of the Southern Song dynasty.
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  Ming-Qing Gold Earrings & phoenix Hairpin
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  Golden phoenix hairpins from the tomb of Prince Chuang of Liang, Ming dynasty, 15th century

The chai is a type of hairpin with double or multiple pins.[10][9] The double-pin chai evolved from the zan; it was frequently found in Chinese poetry and literature as it played an important symbol and as a love token.[12]

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  Jin dynasty (Western & Eastern) Silver Hairpin
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  Tang dynasty chai.
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  Ming dynasty gold hairpin
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  Yuan dynasty chai.
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  peony gold hairpin
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  Tang dynasty,silver,gilt - Royal Ontario Museum
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  Tang Gilded Silver Hairpins
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  Ming Gold Hairpin
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  Silver hairpin of Tang Dynasty
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  Liao dynasty Gold Hairpin
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  Tang Gilded Silver Hairpin
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  Ming dynasty gold chai

The buyao was an elaborate and exquisite form of hairpin which denoted noble status.[3] It was generally made of gold and was often decorated with jewels (such as pearls and jade) and carved designs (such as in the shape of dragons or phoenix).[3][13] It looked similar to a zan,[12] but one of its main characteristics is its dangling features, which gave it its name 'buyao' (lit. "shake as you go" or "that sway with each step" or "step shake").[3][9][18][12] The buyao became popular in the Western Han dynasty.[13]

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  Qing dynasty gold phoenix zan hairpin.
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  Buyao, 18th century

The diancui hairpin, also known as "kingfisher feather hairpin",[19] were made using the traditional Chinese art of diancui.[18]

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  Kingfisher feather hairpin.
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  Kingfisher feather hairpin
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  Tian-tsui cricket-shaped hairpin

The Flower-hairpin headdresses is a generic term which was used to refer to the jewellery and headdresses worn by the Song dynasty Empresses and imperial concubines.[20] The Flower-hairpin headdresses were decorated with flower hairpins.[20] Different numbers of flowers were used depending on the imperial consorts' ranks and specific imperial rules were issued on their usage.[20]

Known as the "gold cicada on a jade leaf" hairpin, or "jin zhi yu ye" (a homonym for the Chinese idiom "one of noble birth"),[21] a type of Ming dynasty hairpin in the shape of a cicada made of gold sitting on a piece of jade carved in the shape of a leaf.[9][21]

The tiaoxin is a Chinese hairpin worn by women in the Ming dynasty in their hair bun; the upper part of the hairpin was usually in the shape of a Buddhist statue, an immortal, a Sanskrit word, or a phoenix.[11] The Chinese character shou (寿, "longevity") could also be used to decorate the hairpin.[11]