Futou (t=襆頭/幞頭; also , and ,
The was also introduced in both Unified Silla and Balhae
Terminology
The term (or means "head scarf" or "head-cloth".
According to the by Bi Zhongxun, the original meaning of was to "cover one's head with a black cloth" before the
Sui dynasty.
The English term "feet", which is used to describe the hard ribbons used in the , is called ).
The refers to a lining used inside the ; it began to be used in 614 AD, and its purpose was to make the look more straight and beautiful in terms of appearance.
History
Origins
There are varying opinions on the origins of the in the literature. According to Chinese scholar Sun Ji in
From Futou to Turban (), the first appeared in the 3rd century AD and was based on the headdress of a northern tribe.
Guzel Maitdinova proposed in 1990 that the may have been developed from hats worn in ancient Central Asia and was brought in by the Turkic peoples from to Tokharistan to China, based on information provided by Hsen Kuo, an 11th-century Chinese annalist:
It is also proposed by Yatsenko that the was part of the Chinese male costume.
Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties
The origins of the in China can be traced back to the reign of Emperor Wu in
Northern Zhou,
who had wrapped his head with a with four ribbons, called ) or ); two of those ribbons were tied at the back and left hanging down, while the other two were tied inversely at the top of the head.
According to the , Emperor Wu created the by cutting the .
According to ancient texts, Emperor Wu created the to protect the hair of his generals and soldiers in battles.
The first appeared a type of kerchief made by cutting a piece of muslin fabric into the proper size and by attaching four long and wide ribbons at each corner of the fabric like four feet.
Sui, Tang dynasty, and Five dynasties and ten kingdoms period
Tang dynasty
Prior to the
Song dynasty, the was mostly made of black muslin.
In the early Tang, the was a ,
where all four ribbons were allowed to hang down after being tied.
Later on, the early Tang dynasty minister,
Ma Zhou, was the first person to use a square kerchief in order to tie a and was also the person who added a lining to shape his making it more beautiful.
The lining which was added to the inside of the from the year 614 AD was called ; the was used to make the look more straight and beautiful in terms of appearance.
After being cut into the desired shape, the was painted black with lacquer and would then be covered by the .
The was made with soft and light
Vernicia fordii and with other materials such as bamboo strips, timbo,
miscanthus, silk, and leather.
It was also possible to line the with a mount-shaped item made out of
paulownia () in the front.
The step-by-step process to wear the with was to tie the hair up in a topknot, followed by covering the topknot with the as hard lining, then wrapping the head and the with a black, square-shaped piece of cloth, and finally tying the cloth in the desired style.
The with then became the standard form of in the early Tang dynasty.
A form of with was a kerchief with two corners attached with two ribbons in opposite directions of each other; the ribbons would then be tied at the back of the wearer's head, allowing the two back ribbons to hang down freely as a form of decoration.
With time, the with was further developed, and a ribbon was attached to each corner of the turban to make it more decorative; two ribbons were tied on the top of the head while the back ribbons were tied and were allowed to hang down freely.
The with could also have all four ribbons tied at the back of the head and allowed to hang down freely.
The , a with a big and forward top , was created by Emperor Zhongzong and became prevalent during his reign when he awarded this type of to his officials.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, the , a with a small and round top jinzi became popular around the year 726 AD.
Moreover, by adding wire or silk strings inside the added ribbons, the could take different shapes and styles depending on its wearer's liking.
However, in the Tang dynasty, only the Emperors could use these hard ribbons; these hard ribbons would be bent upward.
The Tang dynasties emperor wore a with two upturned tails until the Five dynasties period.
The Tang dynasty emperors also wore the .
| +Types of futou in the Tang dynasty
!Types of futou
!Description
! colspan="2" | Pictures |
| Ruanjiao putou
(labels=no) | A typical type of headwear in the Tang dynasty and was an important precursor to the developed in the succeeding dynasties. Sometimes, 2 or 4 narrow and long ribbons were tied to the back of the and were allowed to hang down freely down the back of its wearer | | |
| Zheshang jin (labels=no), | A type of form of ruanjiao putou which consisted of square-piece of cloth wrap around the head; the two ends of the fabric were then tied at the back at either side of the neck and were then wrapped around the head before being together above the forehead. | | |
| Chuijiao Putou (labels=no) | A black hat with two drooped down wing-like flaps. | | |
Five dynasties and ten kingdoms period
In the Five dynasties period, more styles of were created including the with wide feet which looked like fans or banana leaves which surrounded the front of the head; and the with curved feet which turned upwards before bending downward.
In the Ma Chu, painted silk was used in the .
During the Later Jin, Liu Chong used a with long and straight feet which were more than one foot in length; the Song dynasty later kept the tradition of using this style of as a standard.
Song dynasty
The was popular in the
Song dynasty,
and it was commonly worn by all classes of people ranging from commoners to emperors. During the Song dynasty, the black muslin, which was mainly used to make the , was replaced by other materials, such as muslin or lacquered muslin.
The could also be found with supports made out of wood, and therefore they could look like hats and caps of various styles.
Hard ribbons were also used;
and all the in this period had hard feet.
There were 5 main types of in this period: the (also called which was worn by people of all social classes (including both the upper and lower classes
); the "bent-feet" , the , the "upward" , and the "downwind" .
According to the Song Shi, the became the national standard form of in the Song dynasty for the emperor and the officials on any occasion, except when they had to take a carriage.
According to the first volume of the History Narrated at Ease in the section The Etiquette by Wang Dechen (1036 –1116), in the early Song dynasty, a type , called front-folded scarf, was worn by some people.
There were also other forms of , such as the colourful flower-shaped embedded with gold lines which were sold in market of Kaifeng; the curved-feet or the flower-like with feet curved backwards were also worn by some warriors; the long feet was favoured by the musical instrument plays of the imperial music office; the lustreless , and the white crêpe which was worn during funerals.
| +Types of futou in the Song dynasty
!Types of futou
!Description
! colspan="3" | Pictures |
| Zhanjiao Putou labels=no | It consisted of a black hat with two wing-like flaps which extends outward. The thin flaps were stiff and straight, and could extend up to almost a meter each. | | | |
Liao dynasty
In the
Khitan people-led
Liao dynasty, the Khitans shaved their hair in a style called kunfa and wore light hats made of felt or helmets which were more suitable for their horse riding activities instead of wearing the lacquered ; however the did not disappear in this period and continued to be depicted in the Liao dynasty tomb murals, including the curved leg .
Yuan dynasty
In the
Mongols Yuan dynasty, the continued to be worn since the Yuan dynasty court followed the Song dynasty standards regarding official costumes:
Ming dynasty / "Wushamao" (烏紗帽)
During the Ming dynasty, a type of was to be worn by government officials as part of the court uniform, called .
resembled the
futou used in the early Tang dynasty, but followed the crafting methods of the Song dynasty by using lacquered muslin and wooden or metal frames to cast its shape. The shape of the feet varies depending on the era, with some resembling the curved leaf appearance of the prior dynasties or the straight wing-like feet in the late Ming dynasty.
[薛天纬，"乌纱帽"小考，《学林漫录》六集] The Ming dynasty also kept the tradition of using straight-feet ; however, by the shape of the worn in the Ming dynasty diverted from that worn in the Song dynasty: the feet became shorter with time and some of these became less than forty centimetres.
The forty centimetre long straight-feet, painted linen was worn by both the military and civil officials for official business according to the Ming Shi.
The feet of the Ming dynasty straight-feet were not completely straight and had a curved tip which would bend upwards.
| +Types of Futou in the Ming dynasty
!Types of futou
!Description
! colspan="3" | Pictures |
| , also known as the | It is a headwear of Ming dynasty officials, consisting of a black hat with two wing-like flaps of thin, oval shaped boards on each side. According to the Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty (大明會典), ordinary citizens are not allowed to wear this headdress unless attending wedding ceremonies or events involving any noble families/officials. In modern China, wushamao is commonly used as a metaphor for officials and government posts. The Zhanchi Futou was also adopted by neighbouring countries. | |
| | It was based on the Song dynasty's zhanjiao putou; in the Ming dynasty, it was worn by Ming civil officials at court assemblies when they would present memorials or retirement notices to the Ming rulers. | |
| |
| | A type of futou made of lacquered silk which is formed on a wooden frame. At the back of the hat, there is a tall extension which is molded into 2 symmetrical bulbous shapes; there are 2 ribbons which are fastened to the hat's lower back and straight up extending just beyond the top protrusion. | |
| | | |
Derivatives and influences
See also
-
Hanfu
-
Hanfu headgear
-
List of hats and headgear
-
Qing official headwear
