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Buyao (l=step-shake) is a type of Chinese women's hair ornament. It is a type of Chinese hairpin which was oftentimes decorated with carved designs and jewelries that dangles when the wearer walks, hence the name, which literally means "shake as you go". The buyao is similar to a zan hairpin, except for the presence of its dangling ornaments, which are its primary featured characteristics. The buyao appeared as early as in the Han dynasty, where only noble women in the royal family could wear it. In ancient times, the use of buyao denoted noble status. Some noble women also put buyaos on their , making their hair decoration more luxurious than simple buyao. Common material used in making the buyao was gold; the ornaments were typically jade and pearls. Other valuable materials could be used, such as silver, agate, etc. Many centuries after the fall of the Han dynasty, the buyao was introduced to ordinary civilians; and when all women were allowed to wear to it, more variety of materials were used to produce them. Buyao was passed down over generations; buyao decorated with pendants are still popular in modern-day China.
In ancient Chinese texts, the buyao is largely defined in terms of their structure. For examples, according to the Shiming in the section Shi toushi (c=釋頭飾), it is written that:
"The top of a buyao has hanging beads, and when one takes a step, they swayThe Hanshu mention the buyao guan worn by an official in the Jiang Chong zhuan (l=Biography of Jiang Chong):(c=步搖，上有垂珠，步則搖 也)."
"Chong wore gauzy diaphanous robe, and the overlapping curved panels of his robes hung down in back. He wore on his head a sheer head covering and a buyao cap also, and fluttering feather tassels.During this period, the buyao was not only worn by the Han Chinese but also by the Wuhuan women who would grow their hair long, divide it into buns and decorate their hair with hairpins and buyao. The buyao were worn also by the Han dynasty empresses; according to the Yufu zhi (c=輿服誌) of the Hou Han shu:(c=充衣紗縠襌衣, 曲裾後垂交輸，冠禪纚步搖冠，飛翮之纓)"
"When empresses dressed to visit the ancestral shrine, they wore dark purple on the top and black on the bottom, silkworms, and greenish black on the top and pure white on the bottom. The dress code was all dark clothing, and silk ribbons were used to hide the edges of the collar and sleeves. They fake chignons, buyao, hairpins, and ear ornaments. Their buyao used gold for the mountain-shaped frontal piece, and white pearls were strung on the intertwining cassia branches. They a sparrow and nine flowers, and the six beasts: the bear, tiger, red bear, heavenly deer, Pixiu, and the grand cow from Nanshan.At the time of the Eastern Han dynasty, the buyao was introduced to Japan.(c=皇后謁廟服，紺上皁下，蠶，青上縹下，皆深衣制，隱領袖緣以絛。首飾有假結、步搖、簪、珥。步搖以黃金為山題，貫白珠為桂枝相繆，一爵九華，熊、虎、赤羆、天鹿、避邪、南山豐大特六獸)".
Buyao made of gold appear to be representative head ornaments of the early elite culture of the Murong. The Murong, similarly to the people of Buyeo, wore gold ornaments which had dangling leaves called buyao guan (l=buyao crown); they looked like golden-leaf and tree-like head ornaments and were worn by both men and women; they were however different from the Chinese buyao which were only worn by women.
According to the Murong Hui zaiji (c=慕容廆載記; lit. 'Chronicles of Murong Hui') of the Jin Shu, Mohuba, the Murong Xianbei leader, introduced the buyao ornaments to his people by copying it from the Chinese. Initially, the Murong lived in the Liaodong regions, but during the Cao Wei, they migrated to the Liaoxi. When Mohuba saw the people of Yan and Dai wearing the buyao guan, he ordered all his people to tie their hair and wear the buyao guan. The buyao crown largely disappeared when the Tuoba conquered Northern China.
File:花树状金步摇06323.jpg|Tree-shaped gold shimmering buyao crown ( buyao guan) of Jin dynasty (266–420). File:Court Ladies Wearing Flowered Headdresses - cropped - woman wearing buyao crown.jpg|Tang Court Lady wearing flower buyao crown
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