The shape of the dragon concentrates the endless imagination of the ancients. Legend has it that the dragon has a beard, when the Yellow Emperor ascended by the dragon, a group of ministers climbed the beard of the dragon, wanted to follow the sky, but the sky did not go up, but the dragon whiskers were dragged down a lot. It is often said that Long Yan was furious, and I don't know what kind of mood Shenlong was in when he was dragged by his beard.
Beards were the "standard" for men in ancient times for a long time. In ancient times, beards could bring fatal disasters, and they could also achieve the name of "beautiful bearded man". The ancients grew beards, which was originally a last resort, but they achieved a variety of beards.
The seemingly useless beard reflects the history of changes in concepts in ancient and modern times. When the Year of the Dragon comes, let's also tell the story of the beard.
The terracotta warriors and horses of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang are mostly mustaches, and Xinhua News Agency issued a "beard" with a derogatory meaning?
The beard was first named by region: the upper lip is called "mustache" (zī), and Liu Xi of the Eastern Han Dynasty "Interpretation of the Name": "Mustache, posture, for the beauty of posture", and the mustache is "posture beauty" - the appearance has been greatly improved; The chin is called "beard", and the cheek is called "beard", so no matter how long the goatee is, it is theoretically not good to call it a beautiful beard.
For a long time, "beard" was synonymous with beard. And the word "beard" appeared later. There have always been different theories about the name "beard".
According to Mr. Wang Guowei's opinion in "Xihu Continued Examination", the name of "beard" is because Hu people have many beards. The beard is like a symbol of the bearded people. During the period of the Five Hu and Sixteen Kingdoms, Ran Min, the founding emperor of Ran Wei, issued an "order to kill Hu", and many Han people with high noses and beards were executed as Hu people ("Jin Shu Shi Jilong Jilong Jiji"), because the characteristics of high nose, deep eyes, and big beard were deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, which was the intuitive basis for judging whether someone was a Hu person at that time. When the Han people saw the beard, they suspected that it was "Hu (people)". The designation of Hu evolved from the initial "bearded Hu people" to "many beards", and then to "beard", and finally "beard" was called "hu".
Others argue that "beard" evolved from "droopy flesh and long hair in animals". "Shuowen" contains: "Hu, the cow's jaw hangs also", here Hu, refers to the ** fold under the cow's neck. "The Book of Poetry: Wolf Trek" contains: "The wolf bears its beard, and carries its tail", there is no hanging meat under the wolf's neck, and the beard here should refer to the wolf's mane or beard. In the early literature, when "Hu" refers to a beard, it is related to animals, such as "Historical Records of Xiaowu Ji": "There is a dragon hanging down the beard to welcome the Yellow Emperor", and "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty and the Book of Yufu" has a saying: "Seeing birds and beasts have a crown and horn beard system". The Han Chinese despised the exotic people with thick beards, saying that their faces were "full of animal drooping hair", that is, they had "beard", and the word "Hu" became a derogatory foreign term, which was similar to "Di", "Dog Rong" and "Lynx", which had the connotation of beasts and beasts.
The ancients didn't shave?
The ancients did not seem to deliberately grow beards when they were teenagers, and classical ** often described young generals who "had no beard under the chin". When you reach adulthood, your beard grows naturally and you won't shave easily. On the one hand, growing a beard can make you handsome (beautiful appearance) and show maturity, and not leaving a lock of beard on your face always gives people a feeling of unstability. On the other hand, the concept of the ancients believed that "the body is skinned, and the parents who receive it dare not destroy it", and shaving the beard indiscriminately is equivalent to unfilial piety, which is equivalent to self-mutilation. "Warring States Policy" said that Yu let "the paint body is strong, the eyebrows must be removed, and the self-punishment will change its appearance". In order to assassinate Zhao Xiangzi, the example of Fan Yao, the right envoy of light, changed his appearance: he painted his body to make ** fester, shaved his eyebrows and beard, according to the standards of the time, these behaviors were self-harm.
At the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wen Xu, the captain of the Qiang Guard, was robbed by the Longxi separatist forces and persuaded him to surrender. Wen Xu was furious, and killed several people in a row with the talismans he held, and re-restrained the thieves, because he respected him as a good man, and gave him a sword to let him cut himself. Wen Xu" must be in the mouth, Gu left and right said: 'Since it is forced to kill by thieves, there is no order to pollute the soil.' Then he fell on his sword and died. (Book of the Later Han Dynasty) although he killed himself, he did not want his beard to be stained with mud. For a similar record, see also Cui Hong's "Former Zhao Lu" of the Northern Wei Dynasty:
Liu Cong slandered him, so he punished Zhan and Cao Guang. When he came to the punishment, he behaved freely, and the person who said to be the torturer said: "Take the table and apply it, and there is no order to pollute me." ”
The head can be broken, and the beard must not be dirty. It is not allowed to be dirty, let alone damaged and shaved. Cao Cao, of course, sneered at this and looked disdainful. However, Boss Cao's era was pushed back hundreds of years, and in the pre-Qin period, forced shaving was once regarded as a great shame, so there was a kind of punishment for forced shaving, called "torture". Tang Dynasty Kong Yingda "Rites and Justice":
Resistant, must also, must be said to be the hair of the lower Yi, pictographs also. The ancients sinned, and they used their beards to endure crimes.
Qin Jian's "Questions and Answers on the Law" records a precedent for applying a sentence: a man who cannot stand the strict discipline of his wife, domestic violence against his wife, tears his wife's ears, or breaks her limbs, that is, he is sentenced to forced shaving. If the men at that time traveled to modern times, they didn't need to see mobile phones and cars, just seeing men shaving and cleaning their faces, they would have three views shattered.
After the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the punishment gradually died out, and Shen Jiaben's "Examination of the Criminal Law of the Past Dynasties" advocated that after the Northern Zhou Dynasty at the latest, the punishment of shaving hair and the punishment of shaving the beard should be abolished, and the taboo of shaving at the legal level should be lifted. In terms of aesthetics, men in the two Jin Dynasty began to advocate the beauty of femininity, and historical sources said that they were handsome but did not mention the beard abounded, such as He Yan of "Fu Fan He Lang", Pan An and Xiahou Zhan of "Lian Bi", and Wei Jue who was killed by strong onlookers because he was too handsome. The beard was sometimes ridiculed, and the Zhong Yu and Zhong Hui brothers were laughed at as rams because of their beards. Emperor Xiaowu of the Southern Dynasty insulted his ministers, gave his courtiers nicknames, and all bearded people were also called sheep ("Song Shu Wang Yuanmo Biography").
Can't catch the dragon's whiskers?
However, even in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the monarch who can grow a beard will still try to keep it. Legend has it that the dragon has a beard, when the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor ascended by the dragon, a group of ministers climbed the beard of the dragon, and wanted to follow the sky, but the sky did not go up, but the dragon whiskers were pulled down a lot. The monarch's face is known as the "dragon face", so much or less have to grow a few beards to live up to the name.
Interestingly, although the dragon scales are irreversible, in history, some subordinates also followed the example of Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor's ministers, and went to pull the monarch's beard to show their loyal followers.
During the Three Kingdoms, Zhu Huan, the general of Eastern Wu, was ordered to go out, and Sun Quan made a trip for it, Zhu Huan raised his glass and said: "The minister should go away, and he is willing to brush His Majesty's beard and have no revenge." Sun Quan stretched out his neck and asked you to touch it. Zhu Huan stepped forward and said, "The minister is really a tiger whisker today." (Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The Biography of Zhu Huan quoted in "Wu Lu") The saying of "picking up the tiger's whiskers" comes from this.
Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty Yuwen Yong held a birthday banquet, and Wang Liang, the general of the Zhu Kingdom, stepped forward to toast, and also touched the emperor's beard, touched it, and complained about the prince: "What a cute old man, but it's a pity that my son is a waste (I love my husband, I hate my heir's weak ears)." "Liang Shiyan, another pillar of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, guarded the lonely city of Jinzhou alone, and was attacked by the Northern Qi Sixth Route Army, and once fell into a desperate situation, and later Emperor Wu of Zhou Yuwen Yong personally led reinforcements to relieve the siege. When Liang Shiyan saw the emperor, he couldn't bear it, grabbed the emperor's beard and cried: "The minister almost can't see Your Majesty!" Emperor Wu of Zhou didn't know whether he was moved or was too painful, and he also shed tears together.
Yuwen Yong in Tang Yan Liben's "Emperors of the Past Dynasties" (facsimile) is a member of the Xianbei tribe, with a thick beard to the Tang Dynasty, and grabbing the emperor's beard can still show allegiance. Yuan Zhen's "For Linghu Xiangguo Xie Zhi Jin Shi Ling Red Snow": "The ministers are reinstated, and they are in love with the hair, and they should crawl forward, and dare to have the fear of Hexi." Later, the meaning of the word "climbing hair" changed to mourn the death of the emperor, and his subordinates did not dare to grab the emperor's beard casually.
The shape is exquisite.
For the shape of the beard, the text records are mainly long beards and long hair, and short beards may be too popular, there is nothing peculiar, and they are often too lazy to ink. Like a few examples recorded in "Zuo Chuan": "Yu Si Yu Si, abandon the armor and come back" ("The Second Year of Xuan Gong"), Yu Si "refers to the beard; "Chu Zixiang is in Xintai, so that the long-bearded person looks" ("The Seventh Year of Zhaogong"), King Chu Ling built Zhanghuatai, and invited Lu Zhaogong to visit and guide, because many people in Wu Chu did not have beards, and specially found a long-bearded ceremonial official to receive them, which are all examples of bearded people.
However, judging from the portraits and figurines of the Warring States and Qin dynasties, the majority of men at that time were still bearded. For example, the dragon silk painting unearthed from the Warring States Chu Tomb of the Changsha Bullet Depot depicts a mustachioed dragon master with fairy wind bones. At present, most of the terracotta warriors and horses have long beards, and mustaches abound, and there are very few long beards, only four to five pieces.
Han and Wei literature, obviously preferred long beards. Han Gaozu "Beautiful Beard" in "Historical Records", Huo Guang's "Beautiful Beard" in "Book of Han", "Beautiful Beard" in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", Tai Shici's "Beautiful Beard" in "Three Kingdoms", Guan Yu's beard needless to say. Whoever has a good-looking long beard, it is difficult for historians not to notice, so they have to mention it in the biography. This does not necessarily mean that men in the Han and Wei dynasties had long beards, on the contrary, historical materials pay special attention, perhaps because neat, smooth, and pleasing long beards are too rare. Looking at the figurines and portraits of this period, it can also be found that beardless, mustache and goatee are still common, and occasionally there are a few big beards, which are also fluffy and messy.
The Li Tang royal family had foreign blood, and the emperors of the early Tang Dynasty were all bearded - curly hair. Du Fu's "Eight Mourning Poems: Gift to the Prince and Master Ruyang County Wang Jin": "The beard is like Taizong", "Youyang Miscellaneous": "Taizong's beard, taste the play and hang the bow and arrow." "Tang Taizong's beard is curled to support his special four long arrows, and "Du Yizhi" even talks about Taizong's beard curled to be used to hang a bow; Tang Zhongzong Li Xian is also "ochre robe and jade belt beard and anger". When he arrived at Tang Xuanzong, judging from the portrait, the natural curly turned back to black and straight. Of course, looking at the slightly curly beard of Tang Taizong in Yan Liben's "Walking Diagram", it cannot be ruled out that the painter did not fully depict the king's beard when dealing with it, and the beard is not so in line with the traditional aesthetics of the ancient Chinese after all. In Yan Liben's "Diagram of Emperors of the Past Dynasties", all the emperors have long straight hair.
In Tang Yan Liben's "Walking Diagram" (facsimile), Tang Taizong's beard is only slightly curly royal hair, neat short mustache and unruly beard, which cannot prevent scholars from pursuing neat long beards. Guan Yu's exaggerated long hair is hard to find and inconvenient to care for, and the compromise solution is to leave a thin long beard at the chin, which has almost become the standard for later scholars. In the paintings of the late Tang Dynasty, such as "Heavy Screen Chess Drawing" and "Han Xizai's Night Banquet", the shape of the slender beard is everywhere, and this aesthetic continued to the Song and Ming dynasties. Taking the emperor's beard as an example, most of the emperors from the Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty depicted in Yan Liben's "Diagram of Emperors of the Past Dynasties" still have long hair, that is, from the cheeks to the chin, all have beards; Most of the portraits of the emperors of the Song Dynasty in the old collection of the Guannan Xun Hall only have two lips and a lock of chin.
The more modern times become, the weaker the concept of "the body is skinned, and it is not filial piety to destroy". Looking through the late Qing Dynasty**, we can see a large number of young and middle-aged men who do not have long beards or beards. Nowadays, shaving has become a daily habit for most men to brush their teeth and wash their faces, while beards, which once marked status, have become fashionable for a few people.