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09-21-2000, 09:30 AM
You know the hair style....you see it a lot in old kung fu movies. Super long, braided all the way down the back and wrapped around the neck during combat. Is there a history behind this hair style or any particular reason for it?

I don't particularly think this was 'the' reason, but wrapping their hair around their neck during battle seems like it would be decent protection against attacks to the throat and neck. It would act like a thick padding.

Any thoughts?

(I've also seen it used as a whip for slashing an opponent. Most likely with something metal on the tip. That seems like a rather dangerous use for your hair, but it made for a good story.)

grasshopper
09-21-2000, 09:37 AM
I can't remember what they called that "ponytail" off hand,but it was a sign of thier status.it was grown from birth and if it was cut off a person lost thier honor. I'd imagine it was wrapped around thier necks so no one could snatch'em up by it .lol /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

give it your best ,then give it more.

Je Lei Sifu
09-21-2000, 04:05 PM
I believe the ponytail was call a que. However, I don't believe it had anything to do with honor like the Japanese top-knot. But then again a may be wrong.

Peace

Je Lei Sifu /infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif

DragonStudios
09-21-2000, 04:31 PM
The point of honor is possible, but I haven't read anything about it... I know that hair style lasted into the beginning of the 20th century. Maybe they just got barbers?

It's interesting to think of the hair as a point of honor and then consider the haircut of the Shaolin monks, if it was a point of honor that brings a lot more symbolism into the shaved head.

I agree with Grasshopper that they probably just wrapped it around their necks to keep people from grabbing it. I had long hair during my student days and my ponytail (which was the easiest style to keep it in) was definately a target. I finally cut it after nearly getting flipped by my opponent grabbing it in a spar. Although, I bet some guy back in the day figured out that if he wore his hair around his neck it did protect it slightly.

As often as my ponytail used to whip me in the eyes when I would snap my head, I would hate to have had a piece of metal tied on to the end. I commend anyone who has that much control over their hair. /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif


Without going outside,
you may know the whole world.
Without looking through the window,
you may see the ways of heaven.
The ****her you go, the less you know.
--Lao Tsu

ddh
09-21-2000, 04:46 PM
If you are referring to the braid, it was a condition imposed on the Han by the Manchurians. In earlier times, warriors wore a topknot. I'm not sure what that signified.

GLW
09-21-2000, 07:00 PM
the que was traditional and it was not a good thing to lose it. This is why in many of the old Kung Fu movies, the bad guy at the end is fighting the good guy or maybe two or three good guys and in the fight, the bad guy's que gets cut off. this was a symbol that would not be lost on Chinese people.

There was an emperor who lost in a coup due to being a bad emperor. Before the opposing army could capture him (which would mean a very hideous death), he hung himself and made sure that his hair covered his face since hanging and having the hair cover his face was symbolic of the loss of face for an emperor to be overthrown.

As for the monks shaving their heads, the shaving was part of the renouncing of ties to the outside world of man. It was symbolic of becoming something other than a part of the kingdom of the emperor. The dots on the head were traditionally burned in with incense and each one represented one of the vows that a monk would take such as not eating meat, abstinence, etc... There are a minimum number of them for a person to be a monk and the maximum number was 9 if memory serves.... Which is a curious question for the nouveau monks...OK...so they no longer burn them on but they have done tatoos...so where are the dots?

Sung
09-21-2000, 07:52 PM
i've heard story of an old kung fu (pa kau?) master who had a coin attached to the tip of his que. he spin his head around and the coin would catch people in the temple.

-"Maaan, you come right out of a comic book." Enter the Dragon

origenx
09-21-2000, 08:26 PM
Actually, I believe one of the reasons Buddhists shaved their heads originally was because it eliminated one of the most obvious racial/gender differences between followers - hair - thus engendering greater unity.

Hygiene is why the military does it - maybe that was a reason too...

NorthernMantis
08-23-2001, 11:48 PM
Wasn't it a mullet in the 80's? :D

"Always be ready"

dunbarj01
08-26-2001, 01:44 AM
Northern Mantis,

...The mullet still lives! :o

dhyana
08-26-2001, 02:49 AM
Didn't you ever see "Shanghai Noon" with Jackie Chan?

"Don't touch my queue!"

-----------------
"You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They KNOW it's going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt."
- Robert M. Pirsig in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"

Fish of Fury
08-26-2001, 10:58 AM
2 points have been raised here that have always confused me...
1) the que was imposed on the han chinese by the manchurians
2) it was considered that the que "contained" (?) the soul, and if it was cut off you wouldn't "go to heaven" (or equivalent)

i've heard both of these points but they seem incongruous to me (ie. that such value would be placed on something imposed), any light shed would be great

__________________________________________________ _________________________ "I'm just trying to lull you into a genuine sense of security!"

cho
08-26-2001, 10:24 PM
the two reasons I've heard are similar:

-imposed by the Manchurians. The shaved front symbolized loyalty to the Qing.

-I read or heard somewhere that when they die, they're carried to heaven by the hair(??).

TofuMaster
08-27-2001, 01:16 AM
It was a condition forced on the Han Chinese by the Invading Manchus in 1644. It was symbol of subjugation of the Chinese populace. Either do it or die, it was the law.

Stranger
09-09-2001, 04:10 AM
But the Qing wore them too. At least in the LAST EMPEROR, they had a whole scene and made a big stink when Emperor Pu-Yi cut his off against the wishes of his elders and court officials. This may have just been Hollywood in action, but it is a almost two big of a historical oversight to be likely.

I don't get mad.
I get stabby.

Stranger
09-09-2001, 05:58 AM
two big??? Way to go. :rolleyes:
too big :)

I don't get mad.
I get stabby.