Why did men start to braid their hair in China history? What does this braid represent?

The long braid was formed after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs and enforced the "haircut order".

The Qing army issued a "haircut order" when 1644 entered the customs. 1645 15 In June, Dourgen ordered another "haircut order", which stipulated: "All officials and people in the country are limited to 10 days inside and outside the capital, and Zhili and all provinces and regions are also limited to 10 days."

Manchu men's heads [hair shaved off their foreheads and surroundings, leaving their hair braided] hung behind their heads. When the Qing Dynasty went through the customs, people of Han nationality and other nationalities surrendered or were captured, all of which were marked by shaving their hair. After Dourgen entered Beijing in May of the first year of Shunzhi, he announced that the soldiers and civilians inside and outside Beijing would shave their hair to show their obedience, but they were strongly opposed by the people of Beijing and were forced to stop soon.

In May of two years, the Qing army entered Nanking, and the Hong Guang regime in Nanming was destroyed. In June, the Qing court issued a shaving order again. The prescribed limit is 10 day inside and outside the capital, and all provinces and localities will also take this limit after receiving the order. All civil and military officials must shave their hair, dress and dress in accordance with the Qing system, and offenders will be killed without forgiveness.

The promulgation and implementation of the haircut order aggravated the ethnic contradictions in the early Qing Dynasty and was opposed by the vast number of Han people, which triggered the anti-Qing struggles in Jiangyin, Jiading and Suzhou in the south of the Yangtze River.

After 37 years of struggle, the final result was the victory of Manchu feudal rulers. Most Han people shaved their hair, braided their hair and put on Manchu clothes. Those who insist on not changing clothes are either killed or fled overseas, or fled into an empty door and took their hair to practice.

Extended data:

Men's braids in Qing Dynasty had different appearances in different periods.

1, Shunzhi was the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and that time was the time when the braid was the most upright and strict. At that time, there was a special name for the braid style: "suncus murinus tail" and "Only one braid as big as money is left, which is called suncus murinus tail".

It is also said that the braid is slender and needs to be able to pass through the copper hole, so it is called this. In short, it is to leave a pinch of hair on your forehead and then comb it in a pigtail.

2. During the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty, China people who endured rat tails for more than 100 years made some improvements to their braids. The hair left on the top of their heads was palm-sized and the braids were much thicker. At that time, a large number of foreigners came to China and affectionately called this hairstyle "pigtail", which even became the main impression of foreigners on men in China.

3. By the end of Qing Dynasty, when Sue was living, her hairstyle changed again, leaving more hair. Men are proud of dragging a thick and long big braid, which many people describe as "oxtail", just like in the general "braid play". By that time, after two or three hundred years of edification, the braid has become beautiful.

Baidu encyclopedia-shaving order

People's Daily Online-Braids of Men in Qing Dynasty: Only a handful of hair could be left on the forehead and heart during Shunzhi years.