Types of Hanfu Headwear: Guan (冠)
In my introductory series, Hanfu Through the Ages, I briefly mentioned the types of headwear found in hanfu. Today, I'll be talking more about them, from the fancy crowns worn by emperors to simple head coverings worn by commoners.
Categories of Headwear
Traditional Han Chinese headwear can be classified into several broad categories: guan (冠), or caps; jin (巾), or cloth head coverings; mao (帽), or hats; and hairpins, which were worn by both men and women and came in a variety of styles.
A liangguan, a type of guan. A painting of men wearing jin. An artist's rendition of damao, a type of mao, from a Qing-era encyclopedia. A type of hairpin known as a zan.
An Introduction to the Guan
When men in Ancient China turned 20, they were considered adults, and had to undergo a coming-of-age ceremony. This was known as the guanli (冠礼), or the capping ceremony. On that day, he would tie his hair into a topknot, instead of the looser hairstyles that characterized his childhood and adolescence. A respected elder in his family would place the guan on his head to signify that he was now an adult and could assume the social responsibilities of one.
Scholars and officials frequently wore the guan, since it represented moral uprightness and a high level of education—both of which were highly valued in Confucianism, the dominant system of thought in China. In turn, since guan is homophonous with the word for ‘official’ (官), it came to symbolize the scholar-bureaucrat elite. The size and shape of these caps were used to signify one’s rank or social standing. Below is a list of commonly seen guan and associated facts about them. Maybe next time you watch a period C-drama, you’ll be able to recognize some!
Xiaoguan (小冠)
The xiaoguan (lit. ‘small cap’) is a guan that only covers the topknot, leaving the rest of the head bare. It originated during the Han Dynasty and was seen as a simple cap for everyday wear. This view can be exemplified by Song-era poet Lu You’s verse “头不加巾但小冠”, roughly translating to “I do not don a jin for my head, but a xiaoguan”.
During the Ming Dynasty, the xiaoguan became known as the shufaguan (束发冠), or ‘hair-tying cap’. Both variants were stabilized by a hairpin that passed through the cap (and therefore the topknot), like other guan.
Lianhuaguan (莲花冠)
A guan designed to resemble lotus flowers that emerged during the Tang Dynasty. Initially, only high-ranking Daoist Masters could wear it, but by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907 – 979 AD), the nobility had started wearing it as well.
Faguan (法冠)
Also known as the xiezhiguan (獬豸冠), named for the xiezhi, a mythical creature symbolizing justice. The faguan was worn by judges, as well as censors and judicial officers later on in history. According to legend, it was invented during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 – 481 BC) after King Wen of Chu captured a xiezhi and modeled a new style of guan after it.
Another name for the faguan is the tieguan (铁冠, lit. ‘metal cap’), due to traditional construction methods utilizing an iron frame to help the cap maintain its shape.
Liangguan (梁冠)
The liangguan was worn by officials on formal occasions, such as when the emperor held court or during state ceremonies. It originated as the jinxianguan (进贤冠) during the Han Dynasty, only coming to be known as the liangguan during the Ming Dynasty. The two angular flaps rising from the back of the head help distinguish it from other types of guan.
The liang, or ridges, on the front of the cap determined an official’s rank. A duke had eight liang; marquesses, earls, and first-rank officials (the highest-ranking ones) had seven liang; second-rank officials had six liang; third-rank officials had five liang; fourth-rank officials had four liang; fifth-rank officials had three liang; sixth- and seventh-rank officials had two liang; and eighth- and ninth-rank officials had one liang.
Mianguan (冕冠)
A mianguan was the most formal possible headwear in Ancient China, and was restricted to special rituals and ceremonies; even then, only the emperor and the nobility could wear a mianguan. It is characterized by the variable number of tassels hanging from the front and back, which signify one’s rank, as well as the round bottom and rectangular top—a common motif in Chinese culture symbolizing the union of heaven and earth. A mianguan could have three, five, seven, nine, or twelve jade bead tassels on each side, with twelve tassels reserved solely for the emperor’s use.
This got really long really fast, so I'll be talking abuot the other types of headwear in separate posts. See you next time!
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