Zhang Ruying’s Notes: From《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》Accessories (Five Dynasties and Southern Tang, Lady Tang 汤氏)
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- About《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》
- Five Dynasties and Southern Tang: The Mystery of the Painting “Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers”
- Lady Tang (汤氏)
- Restoration Basis of the Image
Introduction
Hello,
I’m 张儒英 Zhang Ruying, and I am a traditional Chinese clothing enthusiast.
Recently, I had the opportunity to read a book about traditional Chinese attire, especially for the Tang dynasty (618-907), written in Chinese, titled《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》by 左丘萌 and 末春. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and to better understand parts of it, I translated sections that I found challenging. I also made notes (written in English) along the way to help deepen my understanding.
Now, I’m thrilled to share these notes with you! I aim to help us all gain a deeper appreciation for the elegance and historical significance of traditional Chinese attire, which is so rich in history and beauty.
All the information in these notes comes from the book 《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》.
About《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》
《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》(Zhōng Guó Zhuāng Shù: Dà Táng Nǚ’ér Xíng) by 左丘萌 (Zuǒ Qiūméng) and 末春 (Mò Chūn) attempts to reinterpret the true fashion of women’s makeup and attire during the Tang dynasty, based on archaeological findings of Tang artifacts.
It contrasts these findings with historical records and unearthed documents to reframe how the Tang people themselves might have viewed fashion in their time.
The book covers from the Sui dynasty to the Five Dynasties, and is divided into four sections: Qi Luo 绮罗 (clothing), Lin Lang 琳琅 (accessories), Fen Dai 粉黛 (makeup), and Ji Huan 髻鬟 (hairstyles).
Each section carefully examines and details the names, styles, and combinations of different makeup and attire from that period.
The book selects well-known historical figures, such as Yang Guifei, Wu Zetian, Shangguan Wan’er, Nie Yinniang, Princess Tongchang, and others, based on existing archaeological findings, makes informed speculations to restore the possible makeup and attire of these figures. The book reconstructs their clothing, accessories, hairstyles, makeup, and scenes, all supported by historical sources.
五代南唐：簪花仕女图之谜
Five Dynasties and Southern Tang: The Mystery of the Painting “Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers”
Lady Tang (汤氏 ; Tāng shì)
In 1956, a tomb from the period of the Five Dynasties and Southern Tang was discovered on the western outskirts of Hefei City, Anhui Province. Based on an ink inscription on a wooden land purchase deed found within the tomb, it was determined that the tomb belonged to a noblewoman of the Tang family from the Southern Tang, who held the title “Xianjun 县君 (xiàn jūn, a title granted to the mother or wife of a fifth-rank official)”. She was buried in the fourth year of the Baoda era (946). Although the tomb of Lady Tang was very small, with few valuable objects unearthed and the land deed recording nothing of her life story, the ornaments in her hair are closely linked to the issue of the period and authorship of the famous painting “Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers (《簪花仕女图》zān huā shì nǚ tú)”.
For a long time, people have regarded Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers as a work by Zhou Fang (周昉 ; Zhōu Fǎng), a painter from the Tang dynasty. Even today, in exhibitions of Tang dynasty relics in museums, figures from this painting are often displayed for illustrative comparison. It seems that such an extraordinary work, if not associated with a renowned figure and the grand flourishing of the Tang dynasty, would somehow seem less valuable—this essentially reflects a deep affection for preserving the life of the artwork.
However, when compared with sculptures and wall paintings that have been discovered, the makeup and hairstyles of Tang dynasty women appear very different from those in Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers.
In the 20th century, the master of painting and calligraphy, Mr. Xie Zhiliu (谢稚柳 ; Xiè Zhìliǔ), proposed that this painting was created during the period of the Five Dynasties and Southern Tang, based on the makeup features and other details of the noblewomen depicted. One of his arguments was that, according to《南唐书》(nán táng shū) by Lu You (陆游 ; Lù Yóu), Empress Zhou (大周后 ; Dà zhōu hòu), the empress of the last ruler of Southern Tang, Li Yu (李煜 ; Lǐ Yù), once popularized a fashion style of “high buns, sheer clothing, and short hair adorned with flowers,” which matched the figures in the painting very well. Another argument was the discovery of clay figurines of women from Southern Tang tombs whose hairstyles and clothing closely resembled those depicted in the painting.
The hair ornaments of Lady Tang (the Xianjun from the Tang family) further support Mr. Xie Zhiliu’s hypothesis. Among them were a jade-inlaid floral ornament mounted on gold in the shape of a Buyao, a Buyao featuring four butterflies made from silver wire, a double butterfly hairpin made of silver wire with amber beads, as well as several U-shaped long ornaments used to press down the hair. Not only were the styles similar to those illustrated in Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers, but their positions upon discovery had not shifted, and their placements were strikingly similar to those in the painting. With the comparison of real ornaments, female figurines, and records in literature, it can be confirmed that Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers was painted during the period of the Five Dynasties and Southern Tang.
Restoration Basis of the Image
Unlike the symmetrical placement of hairpins during the Tang dynasty, in the Jiangnan region during the Five Dynasties period, it was popular to decorate high buns with asymmetrically placed hairpins.
This trend had already emerged during the Yang Wu (杨吴 ; Yáng Wú) period of the Five Dynasties, as evidenced by the discovery of wooden female figurines adorned with copper flower hairpins from the fourth year of Wu Shunyi’s tomb (924) in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, and the tomb of Princess Xunyang from the third year of Wu Qianzhen (929) in Caizhuang, Hanjiang. Although the flower hairpin styles still resembled those of the late Tang dynasty, the method of placement had changed: one hairpin was inserted diagonally upward, while the hairpin on the opposite side was inserted diagonally downward. Therefore, in the painting, the jade-inlaid gold flower hairpin and the double butterfly silver wire hairpin with amber beads are also inserted in opposite slanting directions, and a Buyao hairpin shaped like four butterflies made of silver wire is placed at the front of the high bun atop the head.
This combination of ornaments is the same as that found in Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers, thus the entire attire, facial makeup, and hairstyle were reconstructed based on the forms seen in the painting.
Silver Buyao Hairpin Inlaid with Jade (银镶玉步摇钗)
The body of the hairpin is made of silver coated with gold. The tip of the hairpin uses silver wire to assemble three segments of floral ornaments engraved with leaf patterns, each connecting the hairpin shaft to an attached silver flower-shaped plate.
There are two silver flower plates, carved from silver sheets with floral and leaf motifs, with a central inlay of a female flower-shaped jade piece.
Beneath the floral ornament, silver wire is used to suspend a Buyao (步摇 ; bù yáo) ornament consisting of engraved silver flower plates and small diamond-shaped silver pendants. Each decorative part at the end of the hairpin can be detached and reassembled.
Introduction to Jewelry: Jietiao Hairpin (结条钗)
Among the ornaments of Lady Tang (the Xianjun from the Tang family), the one that most reflects the style of earlier dynasties is the double butterfly hairpin made of silver wire inlaid with amber beads, which is inserted diagonally on the upper part of the bun.
The tip of this hairpin is connected to a spring twisted from silver wire. On this spring are two diamond-shaped silver flower plates welded at the front and back, with butterflies woven from silver wire perched atop them. The entire body of the butterflies is decorated with tiny amber beads. This design is exactly like the one described in Wen Tingyun’s (温庭筠 ; Wēn Tíngyún)《菩萨蛮》(pú sà mán): “钗上蝶双舞 Upon the hairpin, a pair of butterflies dance.”
The technique of assembling ornaments with fine metal wires during the Tang dynasty was known as Jietiao (结条 ; jié tiáo). This is evidenced by the record of a “Jietiao Basket (结条笼子 ; jié tiáo lóng zǐ)” in《衣物帐》(yī wù zhàng) discovered in the underground chamber of Famen Temple, along with the actual artifact. This technique was also frequently used in crafting women’s jewelry.
A moth-shaped gold wire ornament found in the tomb of Li Jingxun (李静训 ; Lǐ Jìngxùn) from the Sui dynasty shows that the Jietiao weaving technique at that time was still carefully crafted and sturdy. However, by the mid to late Tang dynasty, the gold and silver wires used for jewelry weaving had become increasingly delicate, soft, and thin—just as described by the mid-Tang poet Wang Jian (王建 ; Wáng Jiàn) in his poem《宫词》(gōng cí):
蜂须蝉翅薄松松，浮动搔头似有风。
一度出时抛一遍，金条零落满函中。
Bee hairs and dragonfly wings—thin and fragile—quiver lightly on the head as if stirred by a breeze.
Each time she steps out (to greet), the ornaments fall one by one, golden fragments scattering across the box.
Insect-shaped ornaments like bees and other tiny creatures, made from gold and silver wire, hung delicately from long hairpins, quivering softly. Before a beautiful woman stepped out adorned in full makeup, she would inspect and select these ornaments one by one, and the delicate, fragile pieces made from fine gold wire would fall, scattering across the jewelry box.
Moreover, during the Five Dynasties period, hair ornaments made with the Jietiao technique were also immensely popular. For example, there were Buyao-style hairpins featuring four silver-wire butterflies. The tip of this hairpin was connected to two silver flowers and two silver-wire springs, on top of which perched finely woven silver-wire butterflies. Beneath each butterfly hung an elegant Buyao pendant.
Similar silver ornaments were also found in the tomb of Lady Tian (田氏 ; Tián shì) from the first year of the Shengyuan era (937) in Yangzhou, Jiangsu—dating to the Southern Tang period.
The Five Dynasties poet He Ning (和凝 ; Hé Níng), in《宫词》(gōng cí), captured a quiet corner of the palace where Jietiao-style ornaments were still seen—On a clear spring day, behind a red silk window curtain, a weary palace lady, tired from needlework, leaned idly against a warming basket. Even the talkative parrot had fallen asleep. Only the gentle breeze stirred the Jietiao hairpin atop her head into a faint, trembling motion. (春晴的一日，隔着红罗窗纱看去，倦绣的宫人斜倚熏笼，连多嘴的鹦鹉都睡了，唯有轻风带起她头上结条钗的一阵微微颤动):
红罗窗里绣偏慵，亸袖闲隈碧玉笼。
兰殿春晴鹦鹉睡，结条钗飐落花风。
Behind the red silk window, embroidery is neglected out of laziness; arms slacken, resting idly on a blue jade basket.
In the orchid palace, on a clear spring day, the parrot sleeps soundly, while the Jietiao hairpin sways in the breeze carrying fallen flower petals.
Introduction to Jewelry: The Jade-Carved Phoenix Hairpin About to Fly (玉凤雕钗袅欲飞)
The floral hairpin styles of the Five Dynasties period appear to continue the symbolic meanings of the Tang dynasty, yet in terms of craftsmanship, they differ significantly from those of the earlier era.
During that time, two types of hairpins were especially popular. The first was a combination of gold or silver floral hairpins inlaid with jade, known as “gold inlaid with jade (金镶玉 ; jīn xiāng yù)” or “silver inlaid with jade (银镶玉 ; yín xiāng yù)”, such as the silver jade-inlaid hairpin unearthed from the Tang family tomb. The second involved crafting entire hairpins from thin, delicate jade—jade that could previously be hammered and carved freely like metal—into full ornaments.
With exquisite jade-carving techniques, artisans sculpted these delicate jades with high precision, even hollowing them out like intricate paper cuttings, forming complex floral patterns. For instance, in a Five Dynasties tomb from the Wuyue Kingdom (吴越国 ; wú yuè guó) in Lin’an, Zhejiang, several jade hairpins were discovered. These featured carvings only two millimeters thick, depicting swirling wind patterns among vines and fluttering ribbons. The hairpins were mounted on petal-shaped bases plated with silver and gold.
In the poem《阳台梦》(yáng tái mèng) by Zhuangzong of Later Tang, the line “亸金翘玉凤 golden curves and jade phoenix” appears; and in《宫词》(gōng cí) by Lady Hua Rui of Former Shu, the phrase “玉凤雕钗袅欲飞 jade-carved phoenix hairpin about to fly” describes the fashionable hairpins of that time.
Beneath these floral hairpins, the Jietiao technique was also employed—using fine metal wires to suspend delicate, lightweight ornaments shaped like ribbons, flowers, or leaves. As the woman walked, the small jade pieces dangling from the jade hairpin atop her head would sway and flutter with her steps, as if stirred by a gentle breeze.
Lady Tang’s (Xianjun of the Tang family) silver Buyao hairpin inlaid with jade is one of the best-preserved examples today. However, the Kang Mausoleum (康陵 ; kāng líng) where it was found once suffered damage, and many small jade pieces and dangling ornaments became scattered and separated, making it difficult to reconstruct the original arrangement.
And there you have it—
I hope these notes have been insightful and encourage you to dive deeper into the world of traditional Chinese fashion, particularly from the Tang dynasty. If you come across any incorrect word / translation, or you have suggestions for improvement, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me via email.
Thank you so much for your time, and see you in the next notes #ZhangRuying’sNotes !
张儒英 Zhang Ruying