Qing official headwear

The Qing official headwear or Qingdai guanmao (Chinese: 清代官帽; pinyin: qīngdài guānmào; lit. 'Qing dynasty official hat'), also referred as the Official hats of the Qing dynasty[1] or Mandarin hat in English,[2] is a generic term which refers to the types of guanmao (Chinese: 官帽; pinyin: guānmào; lit. 'official hat'), a headgear, worn by the officials of the Qing dynasty in China. The Qing official headwear typically forms of part of the qizhuang system as opposed to the hanfu system and were completely different from the types of guanmao used in the previous dynasties.[1] There were various forms of the Qing official headwear, and some were designed to be worn based on the winter or summer seasons;[1] while others used varieties of decorations and adornment, such as the use of peacock feathers which could vary between one and three peacock eyes; these peacock feathers were bestowed by the Emperor to his officials who had accomplished meritorious services and the greatest number of peacock eyes represents the highest honour bestowed.[2]

This article is about Official headgears of the Qing dynasty. For a type of Chinese headwear called guan, see Guan (headwear). For for the Hakka hat also called liangmao, see Liangmao.
Qing official headwear
A form of the Qing official headwear
Chinese name
Chinese清代官帽
Literal meaningQing dynasty official hat
English language name
English languageOfficial hats of the Qing dynasty / Qing official headwear / Mandarin hat

Types of the Qing official headwear

Xiaomao

Xiaomao (Chinese: 小帽; lit. 'little hat') was a type of daily hat worn by the officials of the Qing dynasty; however, it actually dated from the late Ming dynasty and was popular from the late Ming to the end of the Republic of China period.[3]: 13  The xiaomao was mostly black in colour and was made of 6 separate pieces and was therefore also called the "six-in-one hat"; it was made out of gauze in summer and autumn while damask was used in spring and winter seasons.[3]: 13  The inside of the hat however was red in colour; there was a knot on the top of the hat which was typically made of red threads.[3]: 13  When worn by common people, the knot is however black in colour and when there are funerals, the knot is white in colour.[3]: 13 

Nuanmao

Nuanmao (Chinese: 暖帽; lit. 'warm hat') was the official hat worn by civil officials in the Qing dynasty during the winter seasons.[4]

Liangmao

Liangmao (Chinese: 涼帽; lit. 'cool hat') was the official hat worn by the officials in the Qing dynasty during the summer seasons; it was a typical form of Manchu headwear items in qizhuang.[5]

Construction and design

It consisted of a black velvet cap in winter, or a hat woven in rattan or similar materials in summer, both with a button on the top. The button or knob would become a finial during formal court ceremonies held by the Emperor.

Jewelries and accessories

Officials would have to change their tops on the hat, for non-formal ceremonies or daily businesses. Red silk tassels extended down from the finial to cover the hat, and a large peacock feather (with one to three "eyes") could be attached to the back of the hat, should the merit of wearing it have been granted by the emperor.

The colour and shape of the finial depended on the wearer's grade:

  • The royalty and nobility used various numbers of pearls.
  • An officer of the first grade wore a translucent red ball (originally ruby); second grade, solid red ball (originally coral); third grade, translucent blue ball (originally sapphire); fourth grade, solid blue ball; fifth grade, translucent white ball (originally crystal); sixth grade, solid white ball (originally mother of pearl). Officers of the seventh to ninth grade wore gold or clear amber balls of varied designs.

See also

Notes

    References
    1. "Official Hats of the Qing Dynasty". en.chinaculture.org. 2014. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
    2. "Mandarin Hat 20th century". www.metmuseum.org. 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
    3. Yang, Shaorong (2004). Traditional Chinese Clothing Costumes, Adornments & Culture. San Francisco: Long River Press. ISBN 9781592650194. OCLC 52775158.
    4. Welt museum Wien (2017-10-30). "Weltmuseum Wien: Winter hat for a civil servant". www.weltmuseumwien.at. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
    5. Wang, Guojun (2020). Staging Personhood : Costuming in Early Qing Drama. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-54957-8. OCLC 1163778738.
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