(), also known as phoenix coronet or phoenix hat, is a type of (a type of Chinese traditional headgear) for women in . It was worn mainly by noblewomen for ceremonies or official occasions. It is also traditional headgear for brides and could be worn in set of

Traditional Chinese wedding dress Traditional Chinese wedding dress is a collective term which refers to all the different forms and styles of traditional wedding attire worn by the Han Chinese when performing their marriage ceremony, including the traditional Chinese marriage. ...

attire, such as the '.

Terminology

' literally means "phoenix crown" in English language, a name that originates from its adornments: phoenixes made of inlaid kingfisher feathers, as well as gold dragons, beaded pheasants,

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

s, and other

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

s. One of the earliest phoenix crowns that has been excavated belonged to Empress Xiao of the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and la ...

. The type became most popular during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, with many changes made over time.

History

' evolved from ' (), the

Chinese hairpin () (also known as ( or ), () or () for short) and (钗) are generic term for hairpin in China. (with the same character of ) is also the term used for hairpins of the Qin dynasty. The earliest form of Chinese hair stick was found in the N ...

worn by empresses and emperor's concubines. The wearing of ' was issued by Emperor Qin Shihuang (259BC–210BC). It was in

Eastern Jin Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

(317–420 AD) that the word ' first came up; however, it was referring to the hairpin which was imitating the comb of

Chinese phoenix ''Fènghuáng'' (, ) are mythological birds found in Sinospheric mythology that reign over all other birds. The males were originally called ''fèng'' and the females ''huáng'', but such a distinction of gender is often no longer made a ...

. The earliest ' discovered was the crown of Empress Xiao of the

, unearthed from the

Emperor Yang of Sui Emperor Yang of Sui (隋煬帝, 569 – 11 April 618), personal name Yang Guang (), alternative name Ying (), Xianbei name Amo (), also known as Emperor Ming of Sui () during the brief reign of his grandson Yang Tong, was the second emperor ...

's tomb in 2013. The crown was made under the order of

Emperor Taizong of Tang Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 59810July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty ...

after the empress's death
The artifact was protect-repaired and studied in Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration
later, a replica was made based on the studies.

Construction and design

Kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

feathers were extremely rare during the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

and were potentially sourced from

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

. The numbers of phoenixes, dragons and precious gems on each crown is different. For example, the phoenix crown of Ming Empress Xiaoduanxian has 6 dragons, 3 phoenixes, 5,449 pearls, 71 rubies, and 57 sapphires. Other phoenix crowns of empresses excavated from the

Ming tombs The Ming tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the Ming dynasty of China. The first Ming emperor's tomb is located near his capital Nanjing. However, the majority of the Ming tombs are located in a cluster near Beijing a ...

have 9 phoenixes, between 12 and 9 dragons, more than 3,500 pearls, and more than 150 gemstones. The pearls, gemstones and kingfisher feathers were made into ornamental flowers, leaves, clouds, and temple ornaments (; the 'wings' at the sides and back of the crown). The weight of the entire crown can range from .

Styles

There are different varieties of '. The number of dragons, phoenixes and pheasants, in addition to the presence of certain ornaments was dictated by rank.

Empresses

' () is the 12-dragons-9-phoenixes crown. ' () is the 9-dragons-9-phoenixes crown. ' () is the 9-dragons-4-phoenixes crown. ' () is the 6-dragons-3-phoenixes crown. ' () is the 3-dragons-2-phoenixes crown. Only the crowns of empresses and crown princesses (wife of crown prince) can have temple ornaments adorned, with the empress's crown having 6 blades of temple ornaments (3 on each side).

Imperial concubines and princesses

' (), ' () and ' (), adorned with beaded pheasants and gold phoenixes, are worn by royal

concubines Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

and princesses (includes wives of princes), with the number of pheasants representing the wearer's royal rank. The crown princess can only have 4 blades of temple ornaments (2 on each side)

Noblewomen

All other noblewomen/wives and daughters of officials wear the ''pearl-and-emerald crown'' (), where the crown is just adorned with pearls and gemstones (in various ornamental shapes). Phoenix crowns worn with ' have no strings of pearls by the sides of the head. Noblewomen cannot have temple ornaments on their headdresses.

Wedding

Coloured hats worn by commoner women on their wedding ceremony during the

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han pe ...

and

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

was also called '. The practice is believed to have started during

Southern Song The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

when the Emperor rewarded a girl for saving his life. Women wearing the ' as part of their set of wedding clothing has been a long tradition in the area of

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...

. The ' was a symbol of good fortune. However, women who were remarrying for a second times and who were to be become a man's concubine were not allowed to wear '.

Gallery

File:A Tang Dynasty Empress Wu Zetian.JPG,

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

phoenix crown worn by Empress Consort Wu File:China's Ming Dynasty Empress XiaoKe.jpg,

phoenix crown worn with

diyi (; ), also called known as () and (), is the historical Chinese attire worn by the empresses of the Song dynasty and by the empresses and crown princesses (wife of crown prince) in the Ming Dynasty. The also had different names based on its co ...

File:Chinese Ming Dynasty Empress XiaoZhuangRui.PNG,

phoenix crown with strings of pearls File:Noblewoman5.jpg,

noblewoman wearing a crown with 9 pheasants and traditional Ming dress, known as

fengguan xiapei () is a type of traditional Chinese wedding set of attire categorized under , which was worn by Han Chinese women in Ming and Qing dynasties. The attire was composed an upper and lower garment following the traditional Chinese clothing syst ...

File:Noblewoman4.jpg,

noblewoman wearing a crown with 5 pheasants and traditional Ming dress File:Phoenix crown back.jpg, View of the reverse of a

empress' phoenix crown with 3 dragons and 3 phoenixes. File:Traditional chinese wedding.jpg, Bride wearing a phoenix crown for a wedding File:O1CN01Yh8thK1PMoGPqjGqX !!1115331827.jpg,

Diyi (; ), also called known as () and (), is the historical Chinese attire worn by the empresses of the Song dynasty and by the empresses and crown princesses (wife of crown prince) in the Ming Dynasty. The also had different names based on its co ...

worn with phoenix crown File:O1CN013Dn1Ku1PMoGVRUOgY !!1115331827.jpg, Dashan (大衫) worn with phoenix crown (side view) File:Ming Empress Crown a.jpg,

phoenix crown with 9 dragons and 9 phoenixes. File:Ming Empress Crown b.jpg,

phoenix crown with 9 dragons and 9 phoenixes. File:China's Ming Dynasty Empress Xiaoding.jpg, The empress of the Ming Dynasty,wearing a crown and wore traditional Ming costume. File:Chinese Ming Dynasty Empress XiaoJie.JPG, The empress of the Ming Dynasty,wearing a crown and wore traditional Ming costume. File:Empress crown, Palace Museum, 2017-05-21 01.jpg, Three dragons and two phoenix crowns in Ming Dynasty． File:Ming Empress Crown, Dingling Museum (9863924404).jpg,

phoenix crown with 6 dragons and 3 phoenixes belonging to

Empress Xiaoduanxian Empress Xiaoduanxian (; 7 November 1564 – 7 May 1620), personal name Wang Xijie (), was empress consort of the Wanli Emperor. She was the longest serving empress consort in Chinese history. Early life Wang was born in Beijing to Wang Wei (� ...

File:B Song Dynasty Empress of Huizong.JPG, Fengguan of empresses in Song Dynasty File:B Song Dynasty Empress of Qinzong.JPG, Fengguan of empresses in Song Dynasty

References

Notes

Cited works

* * * * {{Folk costume Chinese traditional clothing Crowns (headgear) Chinese headgear