What are the allusions to the curly hair hoods worn by judges and lawyers in Hong Kong?

Since the 17th and 18th centuries, lawyers and judges in Britain have to wear wigs when they appear in court. This special rule has been followed up to this day. Hong Kong used to be a British colony, so it has this habit.

It is one of the most distinctive traditions of British courts for judges and lawyers to wear wigs in court. In some former British colonies which were deeply influenced by the British judicial system, we can also see this cultural imprint with British characteristics, such as the China Special Administrative Region.

Why do British judges and lawyers wear wigs? Many people who study history have put forward various explanations, but it is difficult to convince everyone.

Some people say that in the Middle Ages, overwork and illness made judicial officers lose all their hair prematurely. In order to hide their "brilliant" in public, wigs became popular and became a scene of English courts.

Some people say that judges wear wigs to show their respect, while lawyers wear wigs to cover up and protect them to some extent, because they are worried that their defense results will not be recognized by the defendants and their families. But this is not so much a reasonable explanation as a joke made up by people who have a problem with lawyers to slander them. Because according to a recent survey, 57% lawyers are dissatisfied with wearing wigs and want to take them off. The reason is that these wig covers made of horse hair are very expensive but unsanitary. Generally, a wig will last for a lifetime. A family of lawyers has an antique with a hair age of 94 years, which has been passed down for four generations and can be called a family heirloom.

According to the research of historians and folklorists, the popular fashion tradition of wearing wigs in Britain began in the 12th century, when it was not just the patent of judges and lawyers. People in the upper class regarded wearing wigs as a fashion and a formal dress for formal occasions or salons.

Experts point out that wigs used by the judiciary are different from ordinary wigs. In England, there are three curls on each side of the judicial wig, but only two in the royal family. Whether this represents a subtle metaphorical meaning is unknown. But Scots are always quarrelling with English people, because in Scotland, the situation is just the opposite, the royal family uses three curly wigs and the judicial personnel only have two curly wigs.

The production cost of wigs lies in labor rather than materials, because it is not difficult to obtain horsehair, and the production of wigs is a delicate job, and it is impossible to mass-produce them by machines or production lines.

It takes a skilled craftsman about 44 working hours to produce a wig, including knitting and rolling. The finished products generally have four colors: white, golden yellow, light gray and gray. In some old British colonies, such as West Africa and the Caribbean, white is very popular, while in Britain, golden yellow and gray are the most popular.

Generally, a judge's wig costs more than 1,5 pounds (equivalent to about 18, yuan, wow, it's not cheap), and the most common wig is not less than 3 pounds.

Most people would rather bear lice than change wigs as often as ladies change their hats. The reason is not that they are reluctant to buy more wigs. It is based on a saying: the longer you wear a wig, the dirtier it gets, and the darker it is, which means that the longer you have to eat legal food. In the judicial field, qualifications and age are a treasure, just like old doctors in hospitals are the most popular. In a sense, the older the wig, the more time-honored it has become for lawyers to attract business, and the judge's antique wig is a signboard with rich trial experience.

After a law school student obtained the qualification as a lawyer, the best gift from his family or friends was a wig made by a famous designer. Many craftsmen who make wigs are inherited from their fathers, or even families, and their history of making wigs is longer than that of some British aristocrats.

Customizing wigs is also a process that needs patience, because many famous craftsmen have already made an appointment several years later. Even if they can be customized immediately, your skull needs to be measured by a ruler at least 12 times during the production process. This is not a requirement of craftsmen deliberately tossing you, but a requirement of exquisite craftsmanship.

Of course, you can buy a ready-made one, but after all, it's not as good as kissing your clever head gently as tailoring, not to mention that a wig bought casually is as rude as wearing jeans to a solemn banquet in the eyes of many legal persons. British people are known for their conservative spirit, especially in the judicial field. Justice requires accuracy and even rigidity, emphasizes stability and balance, and is less compatible with personalized things.

Many families of wigmakers keep records of every wig sold, requiring buyers to sign for the record. After hundreds of years, many famous people's autographs can be found in these records, because many famous politicians mostly worked as lawyers before they became famous.

The storage of wigs is also a meticulous job. Generally, each set of wigs is equipped with a ventilated iron box or wooden box, and some boxes are even another work of art that exists independently, and the value far exceeds the wig itself. At the earliest, in the days when lice often grew on British people's heads, wigs were sprinkled with some powder when they were stored to prevent lice.

The last question related to China is: For a long time, most of the raw materials used in wigs came from China, which was also an important trade item except tea in the Sino-British trade before the Opium War, because the mane of European horses was difficult to weave and easy to break, and it needed to be bleached and cleaned constantly in the production process, and only the mane produced by China horses could stand all kinds of tests.

When you mention a British judge or lawyer, your mind naturally comes up with that gray and slightly curly wig. For people outside the legal tradition of the Commonwealth, although the wig has become the symbol feature of the Commonwealth legal person, this kind of dress will not give birth to solemn prestige. On the contrary, it is often a strange feeling, which makes the viewers hold the sweat for them from time to time, worrying whether they will slip off with the graceful bow of the barrister and make a fool of themselves in court. Thomas, the third president of the United States? Jefferson once said, "(British judge) is like a mouse hiding under cotton wool and peeping out." The instrument also scared a child who testified in court to cry, which led to the complete abolition of wigs by the special court in Britain, which specializes in juvenile cases.

wigs have a long history, which is recorded in the documents of ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire. However, the popularity in the upper class in Europe is generally believed to be around 162, when Louis XIII wore wigs to cover up his baldness, which caused the nobles who frequented the court to follow suit, and then became popular in Europe, so that even women wore all kinds of wigs to attend social occasions. By the 166s, this fashion was spread to the British Isles by King charles ii. The diary of Samuel Pepys, an Englishman in the 17th century, truly records the history of wig popularity in Britain. On November 2, 1663, pepys learned the rumor that both the king and the duke would wear wigs, and the next day he couldn't wait to shave off his hair and make wigs. Pepys wrote, "It's still a little sad to say goodbye to my hair, but when it's over, I'm going to wear a wig.". It can be seen that wigs are popular in Britain and role models have played a great role.

besides role models, there is another reason why wigs are popular. According to Ed and La Fenske Love Factory (EDE&; Ravenscroft) introduced that due to the lack of heating system in 17th century Europe, it was inconvenient for people to take a hot bath. In order to prevent the breeding of parasites, the best way was to keep short hair and replace it with a long wig.

Early wigs were made of people's hair, such as debtors paying debts with their hair, or even dead people's hair. At that time, in the court, the smell of all kinds of wigs was suffocating, so that judges sometimes had to bring a bunch of flowers to solve it. This situation until 1822 Humphrey? The process of making wigs from ponytails ended when Humphrey Ravenscroft invented it.

Commonwealth jurists wear wigs when they appear in court or attend major ceremonies, which is entirely due to the prevailing situation at that time, and there is no mandatory legal requirement. Hundreds of years later, wigs are no longer fashionable, but they have become an old-fashioned image of legal people following tradition. Moreover, the wig is unsanitary, too hot, stinging and even ridiculous. However, it is also difficult to say change. People habitually associate wigs with status, identity and even justice. After the lawyer obtained the right to appear in court, he made several unsuccessful representations to the House of Lords because he was not qualified to wear wigs, and many defendants also gave priority to barristers who could wear wigs to defend them. It is said that wearing wigs is directly related to the ability to persuade the jury!

Although the era of charles ii has long passed, it seems that the original fashion-at least in wig-still holds out its hand from the grave to firmly bind the contemporary Commonwealth jurists. In the 197s, in order to comply with the trend of Family Court to reduce forms and promote harmony, Australia abolished wigs. But in 1987, it was said that the wig was restored because of many attacks on judicial personnel. The author believes that this practice in Australia is more about traditional psychology, or that traditionalists are just talking about these attacks in order to keep the wig on their heads. It is absolutely impossible to say that it is the right medicine. Because in Britain, after the practice of wearing wigs for judicial personnel in juvenile special courts was abolished in 1992, it seems that there is no evil consequence similar to that in Australia. In 23, Britain conducted another survey on whether to abolish wigs, and found that most senior judges and barristers wanted to abolish wigs, while junior judges and barristers insisted on tradition. More than 68% of the public want judges-especially in criminal cases-to wear wigs, which shows that wigs are still a strong symbol of justice in Britain.

Debate comes down to debate. Wigs don't seem to disappear in Commonwealth courts anytime soon. Lord Donaldson summed up the debate in a sentence, "Since wigs are out of date for at least a century, there is no need to cancel them in a hurry."

Justice needs to be manifested through ceremonies. It is through this vivid and concrete symbolic image and strong psychological suggestion that wigs arouse people's belief in law and hope for justice. However, there is no shortcut to construct modern judicial culture and even legal culture. The German school of historical law, represented by savigny, believes that the people themselves are slowly promoting the maturity of the law, and the law can't play any other role except recognizing the achievements of this historical creation. Historical jurisprudence is no longer the mainstream, but historical accumulation is indispensable in legal phenomena. China's robe is dead, right? At least at the local level, the phenomenon of appearing in court in a lawyer's robe this year can be said to be rare, which may be the inevitable result. The original decision was more about the situation, without taking into account historical and cultural factors. The author thinks that it is the power that makes the wig on the head of Commonwealth jurists linger, which makes China's lawyer robe leave quickly and disappear in the tunnel of history.