"Little Days in the Song Dynasty" Song people also wore hairpins on the ends of their hair.

The Elegance and Fashion of Song Dynasty

Main Film Transcript

I wonder if you have ever seen a costume drama with the Tang Dynasty as the historical background - "Chang'an" "Twelve o'clock"? There is a detail in the first episode of the play that impressed me deeply:

On the night of the Lantern Festival, the girls in Chang'an City walked out of their homes one after another and went to the streets to enjoy the lanterns. Everyone was dressed fashionably and in bright clothes. An eye-catching flower is pinned to the end of her hair. This is a fashion popular in the Tang Dynasty, called "hairpin flower".

The hairpin fashion of the Tang Dynasty continued into the Song Dynasty. This is nothing unusual, but what I find interesting is that in the Song Dynasty, not only women liked hairpins, but also hairpins were fashionable among men.

I have seen a Song Dynasty painting "Drunk Return from the Fields" collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing. The painting is of an old farmer who attended a government banquet. He was drunk and rode home on the back of an ox. And there was a bright peony on his head.

Su Shi, a poet from the Song Dynasty whom we all like very much, wrote a poem "Appreciating Peonies at Jixiang Temple": "When an old man wears a hairpin, he should not be ashamed of himself, and the flowers should be ashamed of the old man's head. Those who return drunk and help the road should smile, "Ten miles of bead curtains are half hooked." can be used as a commentary for this picture of "Tian Zhen Returning Drunk".

When I was reading the novel "Water Margin", I unexpectedly discovered that several tall and thick-looking Liangshan heroes actually had a preference for hairpins, such as the "little overlord" Zhou Tong, who "put a hairpin next to his temples" Ruan Xiaowu, the "short-lived Erlang", "wears a torn scarf diagonally and has a pomegranate flower on his temples"; Yang Xiong, "Sickness Guan Suo", "loves to have green hibiscus on his temples"; the prodigal Yan Qing, "there are four seasons flowers on the temples"; Cai Qing, "a flower", is an executioner, but "born to love flowers", his nickname "a flower" comes from his preference for hairpins.

Once in the novel, it is written that on the night of the Lantern Festival, "Little Tornado" Chai Jin wanted to sneak into Tokyo, so he disguised himself and put on official uniform, and put "a hairpin with a green leaf and a flower" beside the futou. Why is he dressed like this? Because on Lantern Festival night, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty would come to Donghua Gate to watch the lanterns and have fun with the people. The emperor gave each of the military attachés and soldiers in charge of defense a green leaf flower. You can enter the Donghua Gate of the Imperial City.

On the Lantern Festival night in Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty, women all over the city wore flowers; on the Lantern Festival night in Tokyo during the Song Dynasty, both men and women wore hairpins, with red men and women wearing flowers in their buns, and lanterns hanging all over the streets. Competing for beauty, as described in a Song poem: "Thousands of lights are vying to twinkle, and thousands of stamens are competing for fresh beauty in the corridor."

In the spring and summer when flowers are in full bloom, Song Dynasty women with hairpins can be seen everywhere. In June of the Southern Song Dynasty, jasmine flowers had just gone on the market, and a bouquet of flowers cost several hundred pennies. If you went to a restaurant to have a big meal, it would only cost a few hundred pennies. But women in Hangzhou loved beauty and did not think the flowers were expensive, so they rushed to buy them. Plug it into your head. Flowers are particularly easy to wither when placed on the head. Within half a day, a bunch of blooming jasmine flowers will wither. Hundreds of coins, just for a moment of pleasure. But women in the Song Dynasty who loved beauty would not feel it was worthless.

Even old women in mountain villages wear wild flowers on their heads. There is a song "Bamboo Branch Song" in the Southern Song Dynasty, which describes the fashion of hairpins for tea-picking women in Minjiang, Sichuan: "The old lady with her white head wears a red flower hairpin." , The black-headed girl goes up to the mountain with her child sleeping on her back, and she is already free to pick mulberry trees. "If the "black-headed girl with three buns" embodies the beauty of youth, then the "white-headed old woman with red hairpin" embodies the beauty of youth. It's old age and beauty. You see how much women in the Song Dynasty loved beauty.

A young lady in love cannot help but wear a hairpin. Every morning, there would always be the clear sound of selling flowers outside the door. The young lady couldn't help but stop the florist and bought a bouquet of flowers that were in bud. There were still dewdrops on the buds, as if they were stained by tears. The red color has obviously just been picked from the branch.

Looking at this delicate flower bone, the young lady felt a little sad in her heart, worried that her lover would say that a human face is not as good as a beautiful face. But she insisted on putting the flower on her temples and letting her lover compare it: which one is more beautiful, my face or the color of the flower.

The delicate thoughts of this passionate woman when buying flowers later led Li Qingzhao to write a song called "Magnolia". Let's read it: "On the flower seller's basket, I bought a branch that is about to bloom. The tears stain it lightly and evenly, and still have the traces of the dawn dew. I am afraid that the man will guess that the slave face is not as good as the flower face. The hairpin is slanted on the temples, and the disciples want it The priests compared and looked at each other."

Hairpins were a national fashion in the Song Dynasty. In Luoyang in the spring, peonies were in full bloom. People in the city, regardless of age or age, rich or poor, wore peonies on their heads. In Yangzhou, peonies are in full bloom in spring, and "everyone likes to wear the flowers, regardless of high or low".

Yangzhou peony is famous all over the world. Among Yangzhou peony, there is a very valuable variety. The petals are purple, like a purple robe, with a gold thread in the middle, which is called the "golden belt". According to legend, anyone who has the opportunity to get the "golden belt" peony , can all become prime ministers.

Speaking of the "golden belt", I want to tell you an interesting story.

During the Qingli period of the Northern Song Dynasty, Han Qi, a famous minister of the Song Dynasty, was the chief executive of Yangzhou. One day, four "golden belt" peonies bloomed in the back garden of the Yangzhou government office. Han Qi was surprised and thought to himself: Could it be that four future prime ministers lived in Yangzhou City? He decided to take advantage of the flowering season to invite three distinguished guests to enjoy the rare four "golden belts" with them.

At that time, there were two young talents in Yangzhou, one named Wang Gui and the other Wang Anshi, who were both Han Qi's staff. Han Qi admired them very much and hoped that they would become prime ministers in the future. A banquet was held in the back garden and they were invited to have wine and enjoy the flowers. But there were four strange flowers, and the two guests plus himself, there were only three of them. Three missing and one was missing, which was a fly in the ointment. Just at this time, a guest came to report.

Guest: "Report, Dali Temple judge Chen Shengzhi is visiting."

Han Qi was overjoyed when he heard this.

Han Qi: "This is God's will. Please hurry up and invite me."

After Chen Shengzhi sat down at the table, Han Qi called for his servants.

Han Qi: "Come here, cut off these four peonies and tie them into hairpins for the three guests."

Of course, the last "golden belt" was left to Han. Qi himself.

Guess how the story will develop next? You must be as surprised as I am. More than ten years later, Han Qi, who held a hairpin banquet, indeed paid homage to the prime minister; more than 20 years later, Chen Shengzhi and Wang Anshi paid homage to the prime minister; thirty years later, Wang Gui also paid homage to the prime minister. It really fulfilled the legend that those who wear the "golden belt" can become prime ministers.

The story of Han Qi's hairpin flower banquet has been recited by many people, and several painters have painted the story, titled "The Picture of Hairpin Flowers in Four Phases". Today, if you travel to Slender West Lake in Yangzhou, you can also see a group of sculptures of "Four Phase Hairpin Flowers" on the lake.

The story of "The Deer and the Cauldron" written by Mr. Jin Yong, the master of martial arts novels, also wrote the story of "Four Phases of Hairpin Flowers" into the novel.

It is said that Wei Xiaobao, as an imperial envoy, visited Yangzhou and returned home in rich clothes. On this day, Wu Zhirong, the prefect of Yangzhou, held a banquet to welcome Wei Xiaobao, the imperial minister. The banquet was held in a peony garden in Yangzhou. Wu Zhirong first invited Wei Xiaobao to enjoy the flowers. Chief Secretary Mu Tianyan picked a peony flower as big as a bowl and presented it to Wei Xiaobao with both hands.

Mu Tianyan: "Please put this flower on your hat, sir. I have a story to tell you."

Wei Xiaobao took the flower and put it on his hat.

Wei Xiaobao: "This flower looks good to wear, please tell me."

Mu Tianyan: "Congratulations, sir, this peony has a name, it's called 'Golden Belt' , is a very rare and famous species. It is recorded in ancient books that people who see this 'golden belt' will become prime ministers in the future." Wei Xiaobao: "How can you be so accurate? Me?"

After hearing this, Mu Tianyan told Wei Xiaobao about the Four-phase Hairpin Flower Banquet in the Northern Song Dynasty. Wei Xiaobao was very happy when he heard this. It's just that this person is unlearned and has no skills. I wonder if he wonders why a grown man has a flower on his head, just like the girl from Lichun Court.

However, for men in the Song Dynasty, hairpins were indeed a fashion. Not only scholar-bureaucrats and ordinary people like to wear hairpins, sometimes even the emperor will wear hairpins.

During the Yuanfeng period of the Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Shenzong visited the "Jinming Pond" in the Royal Garden. Luoyang happened to present a peony as big as a basin, so Shenzong wore the peony on his head. On New Year's Day during the Chunxi period of the Southern Song Dynasty, Song Xiaozong congratulated the Supreme Emperor Song Gaozong on his birthday. Everyone from the emperor and ministers to the imperial guards and officials all wore hairpins on their heads. The poet Yang Wanli wrote this grand occasion in his poem: "Why does the spring scenery need to be reminded by drums? On the first day of the lunar month, the king ushered in spring. Peonies, peonies, and roses all bloomed on the hats of thousands of officials. "Yang Wanli wrote well and described the flowers of Baiguan Hairpin as "spring blossoms on the official hats."

Let me tell you, the popular hairpin fashion in the Song Dynasty was a touch of spring blooming on the hair of Song people.