The nomadic people in the north, such as Khitan, Turkic, Uighur, Rouran, Koguryo, Xianbei, Jurchen and Mongolia, all like to shave their heads and tie their braids, which is said to be related to a tribal leader.
According to records, the early nomadic Huns did not shave their hair, and the Huns, like the Qiang people, kept their hair. According to legend, in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Xianbei people had a "rope head" hairstyle, that is, braided hair. Among the nomadic people ruled by Xianbei people, there is a man named Lu, which means bald. He was a Xianbei cavalry in his early days. Mu Gulu led 100 people to escape from Xianbei and set up their own tribe.
Because Gumu Lu himself is bald, his men also shaved off the middle hair and braided the hair around him. The descendants of Mugulu established the Rouran khanate, and the ethnic groups were mainly Xianbei people who did not go south and the remnants of Donghu and Xiongnu, and they were basically Mongolians. Rouran ruled the whole northern grassland, and this hairstyle of braiding influenced the whole nomadic people.
In fact, the shaving and braiding of nomadic people are related to their living habits. Ethnic farming in the Central Plains is the mainstay, and it has little impact on life. Long hair can also keep warm in winter. Nomadic life is related to hunting, and the environment is extremely cold, so there are several reasons for shaving:
It's easy to ride because of the way the crotch is braided at the back. The bangs in front of the hair will affect the line of sight. On a bumpy horse, once the hair is scattered, it will affect the battle. Hair has limited warm-keeping effect, so it is necessary to wear a hat to keep warm in winter, and it is also convenient to shave with a hat. Nomads wear skins to keep warm. Nomads are short of water, even drinking milk to replenish water for many years, and not taking a bath for many years. Shaving is good for cleaning, and head injuries are easy to clean up. According to national customs, nomadic people have to have their hair cut and shaved once when they get married to make the shaved place more shiny and shiny.
Many nomadic people and women also have the custom of curly hair.
The Qing Dynasty was founded by Jurchen, and it was also a nomadic hairstyle. 1644, when the Qing army entered the customs, it issued a "haircut order", stipulating that wherever the Qing army went, no matter the government or the people, it was limited to shaving, cutting hair and hanging braids within ten days, and those who did not comply were beheaded. Its implementation slogan is: leave the head without hair, leave the hair headless.
In the early Qing dynasty, the hairstyle was rat tail, pig tail in the middle period and oxtail in the later period. It was not until 19 12 that the Qing Dynasty perished that the braid became history.
The custom of "not shaving your head in the first month, but shaving your head to death" originated in the Qing Dynasty. 1644 After entering the customs, all men were required to shave their foreheads and tie a braid at the back of their heads.
In order to remember the traditional customs, the people agreed not to shave their heads in the first month, which means "thinking about the past" and "remembering the past history". But with the passage of time, "nostalgia" has become a modern "dead uncle".