In the cdrama "Zheyao" (折腰), Song Zuer's Han - style hairstyle looks elegant and dignified. The comb - shaped hair accessory on her head is as gentle as jade and just right to modify her face shape. Did the ancients really insert combs directly into their hair buns? First, let's talk about the conclusion. In ancient times, combs were originally hair - dressing tools and later could also be used as hair accessories. We often saw comb decorations in dramas with a Tang - style background, but in Han - style makeup and hairstyles, combs were actually also common on hair buns.
Combs were collectively called "zhi" (栉) in ancient times, which were divided into combs with sparse teeth and hairpins with fine teeth. In the Han Dynasty's "Shuowen Jiezi", it was said that "zhi" was the general name for combs and hairpins. The two characters "comb and hairpin" should be used separately. The one with sparse teeth is called "comb", and the one with dense teeth is called "hairpin". You use a comb to comb your hair and a hairpin to remove dirt from your hair. When I was a child, there should still be such hairpins at home, and the old people only said they were used to remove dandruff.
Combs had developed into hair ornaments at least two thousand years ago and were very popular in all dynasties in China. Various combs were unearthed from tombs from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties to the Western and Eastern Han Dynasties. Judging from the patterns on the comb backs, they had already gone beyond being just hair - dressing tools and become a kind of ornament.
Material Difference
The biggest difference between the combs used in Tang - style and Han - style hair accessories lies in the use of materials. For example, Han - style hairstyles often use natural materials such as wood, tortoise shell, jade, and ivory, which highlight the elegant and simple character of the Han style. While Tang - style hair accessories mostly use gold and silver ornaments and even add techniques like inlaying gold and silver, making the comb used for decoration look more luxurious. Later generations also used materials like ivory, but the overall style was more complex.
Wearing Style
Regarding the way of wearing, the way people in the Han Dynasty wore combs is almost impossible to verify. In current film and TV makeup, combs are basically inserted in the middle of the hair bun, which has also affected people's perception of it. However, there are many reference materials such as paintings left from the Tang Dynasty, including wearing combs in the middle, on the side, on the back, or all over the head.
Origin of Combs
Regarding the origin of combs, Mr. Wang Renxiang wrote in "A Brief Introduction to the Development of Ancient Chinese Combs and Hairpins": "The origin of combs can be traced back at least to the middle and late Neolithic Age. If people had started to tidy their hair before that, the purpose was only to prevent the scattered hair from hindering their production activities. At this time, the comb should have been people's five fingers. When people began to pursue a certain hairstyle, combs as special hair - dressing tools were invented, and the earliest combs were made to imitate human hands." There are also speculations that combs were used for sacrifices, and there are many theories.
From films and TV works, we can see that this kind of comb decoration is basically placed in the front - middle position of the hair bun, decorated with cloud and auspicious beast patterns, mostly made of jade, which can decorate the hair bun and increase the visual thickness of the crown. Different characters also use different materials for combs. For example, Liu Xiaoqing's comb hair accessory is made of yellow jade. In the Han Dynasty, yellow jade was scarce in production and had a simple and noble color, so it also had a very high status in ancient times. Some ritual vessels unearthed from the Han Dynasty were also made of yellow jade. While for younger characters like Song Zuer, the combs are mostly made of white jade, which is pure white, solid, and delicate in texture. It is often used in architecture and carving and is a relatively common and representative decorative material.
From the application of combs, the ancients had already split and evolved the uses of various hair accessories and flexibly used various tools in life to adorn themselves. And now, the decoration method of using combs as hair accessories has also been passed down. It has to be said that in makeup and styling, we have always been learning from classical aesthetics, which is also a kind of inheritance and development. This tradition not only enriches our modern fashion but also keeps the charm of ancient culture alive.
