Weimao () is a type of wide-brimmed hat with a shoulder-length veil hanging. The weimao was a popular form of head covering during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. It was invented during either the Sui or the early Tang dynasty, according to

Liu Zhiji Liu Zhiji (; 661–721), courtesy name Zixuan (), was a Chinese historian and politician of the Tang dynasty. Well known as the author of '' Shitong'', he was born in present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Liu's father Liu Zangqi and elder brother Liu Zhiro ...

and Zhang Yanyuan.

History

Sui and Tang dynasty

By the end of the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

, the mili, which was previously worn, became less conservative and evolved into the weimao as it was no longer required to conceal the entire body and instead only the face had to be concealed. In the early and middle Tang dynasty period, it was fashionable for aristocratic women to wear weimao when they went on excursions, a practice which these women borrowed from the northwestern nomadic men. By the time of Wu Zetian's ascendancy, the weimao was in fashion while the mili had gradually disappeared. The fashion of wearing weimao eventually declined and disappeared in the 8th century before being revived in the 10th century in the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

Song dynasty

In the

, some scholar officials, such as

Sima Guang Sima Guang (17 November 1019 – 11 October 1086), courtesy name Junshi, was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer. He was a high-ranking Song dynasty scholar-official who authored the ''Zizhi Tongjian'', a monumental work of history. B ...

, advocated that women should cover their faces when going out. The weimao-style hat was revived in the 10th century when women started to wear mianyi (), which was also known as gaitou () by the common people. It is likely that the practice of wearing veiled hats, which was continued by these Song dynasty women, was due to them being unaware of its foreign and masculine origins.

Derivatives and influences

Humao

A variation of the weimao is a hat lacking the necessary holes to attach a veil. Instead of a veil, the rider would wear a black balaclava under the hat. Song_dynasty_Gaitou_Hat_2

Song dynasty gaitou hat

The

gaitou (蓋頭), also known as mianyi (面衣; veils or "facial clothes"), follows the style of the Tang dynasty weimao; the gaitou was worn by women when riding donkeys and horses or when they would walk on the streets. The gaitou was a veil hat where a whole piece of purple gauze would hang from the hat from the front to the back sides with 4 ribbons of different colours hanging down the shoulders.

Similar items

* Liangmao * Damao (hat) * Humao * Mili * Honggaitou

References

Chinese traditional clothing Chinese headgear {{clothing-stub