Reflections | What women’s hairstyles said about China’s Qing dynasty, reflecting the confidence of the era
- The rulers of China’s last imperial dynasty were not Han Chinese but Manchu and citizens were expected to wear their hair accordingly
- For women, the erbatou Manchu hairstyle became more elaborate as the dynasty gained power and prosperity
The rulers of the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), China’s last imperial dynasty, were not Han Chinese but Manchu, who were native to east Siberia and northeast Asia. During Manchu rule, men in China – with some exceptions – sported a shaved forehead and a braided pigtail that hung down their back, a style imposed on Han men on pain of death. The women of the period, however, had more choices.
Among Manchu women, the most popular hairstyle was the erbatou or liangbatou, literally “a head with two handfuls [of hair]”. We see it in television potboilers set in the Qing dynasty, as well as in photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where the women resembled hammerhead sharks with their elevated and horizontal coiffures.
The original version of the erbatou was a simple do where one’s long hair was gathered at the top of the head and then divided into two chignons that were shaped with hairpins.
As the chignons could be easily unravelled, they were minimally adorned with lightweight accessories, such as freshly cut flowers and wooden or ivory combs. This simple, everyday hairstyle was favoured by empresses, princesses and other women in the palace in the early decades of the Qing dynasty, reflecting the austerity of that period when minority Manchu rule was still tenuous, and parts of the Chinese empire remained unconquered.
By the time of the Qianlong Emperor (who reigned from 1735 to 1796) Qing dynasty China was at the height of its military, economic and cultural power. It was also a time when the humble erbatou was dialled up multiple notches in tandem with the new-found prosperity and confidence of the age.
