《Palace Words》
Tang Dynasty Wang Jian
The jade cicada gorse is three-layered, and the emerald bun is high and green sideburns.

The spring breeze blows to the ground at the dance place, and don't give a comb when you return.

Tang Dynasty women had towering buns, diverse shapes, and thus colorful headdresses, as can be seen from the poet Wang Jian's poem "Palace Words" that in the court, combs can be used as gifts or even gifts.
In the collection of Jingchuan County Museum, there is a Tang Dynasty gilded flower and bird pattern copper comb donated by Mr. Liu Yulin, 13.5cm long and 9.2cm wide, gilded throughout, the comb teeth are neatly and tightly arranged, basically no comb teeth are broken, the back of the comb is carved with flower and bird patterns, neatly arranged with raised dots, and made in a circle around the back of the comb for decoration, exquisite craftsmanship and complete preservation.
In the collection of Jingchuan County Museum, there is a Tang Dynasty gilded flower and bird pattern copper comb donated by Mr. Liu Yulin, 13.5cm long and 9.2cm wide, gilded throughout, the comb teeth are neatly and tightly arranged, basically no comb teeth are broken, the back of the comb is carved with flower and bird patterns, neatly arranged with raised dots, and made in a circle around the back of the comb for decoration, exquisite craftsmanship and complete preservation.
The history of combs is very long. In order to tidy up the hair, different styles of combs were made from each era, and this is still the case today. So, what kind of rich cultural connotation does a comb carry?
Regarding the origin of combs, Mr. Wang Renxiang pointed out in the article "A Brief Introduction to the Development of Ancient Chinese Combs": "The era of the origin of combs can be at least as early as the middle and late Neolithic period. If people have begun to tidy their hair before this, it is only to prevent loose hair from hindering their production activities, and the comb should be the five fingers of the person. When people had a certain pursuit of their own hairstyle, the comb as a special haircutting tool was invented, and the original comb was made by imitating human hands. "According to legend, the Yellow Emperor's princess Fang Lei used her fingers to help the women in the tribe straighten their hair, making it smoother, and often broke her fingers. One day, inspired by fish bones, she cut fish bones into small pieces to comb her hair instead of her fingers, and later asked craftsmen to make the first comb out of wood to follow the shape of fish bones.
The earliest comb was unearthed at the site of Liu Lin, 6,000 years ago in Pi County, Jiangsu Province. At that time, two bone combs were unearthed in the tomb, both of which were early Dawenkou culture, and these two bone combs are also the earliest combs found in the lower reaches of the Yellow River.
In early tombs, the combs found by archaeologists were basically placed at the head of the tomb owner, and most of the combs were bone or ivory, and some were jade. The comb back of the comb in this period is very high, but the comb teeth are made rougher, the shape is relatively single, mainly vertical and long. In 1959, in the Dawenkou tomb in Tai'an City, Shandong Province, experts found through the restoration of the tomb owner's clothing and head that after the comb was produced, in addition to being used as a tool for sorting out hair, it was also inserted into the hair by women at that time to decorate, which was an important part of the costume etiquette at that time, mainly popular among clans, which was related to the religion and sacrifice at that time. It is speculated that the earliest germination of the custom of combing should have begun at this time.

With the continuous progress of human civilization, combs as a practical tool and a decorative art have been carried forward and continued. In Eastern civilization, the status of the comb is particularly important. In the Han Dynasty's "Say Wen Jie Zi", it is said: "栉" comb the general name of the grate. The sparser comb teeth are called "combs", and the finer comb teeth are called "grates". In ancient times, comb was called the eight major hair accessories along with hairpins, yun, sheng, bu shake, jindian, baht flower, and lezi, and was an indispensable accessory on women's hair.
During the Xia Shang and Zhou Dynasties, women with status used jade combs or bone combs to comb their hair. The comb back protrudes and is carved with elaborate patterns. In the tomb of the Yin Wu woman in Henan, two jade combs engraved with parrot patterns and gluttonous patterns have been unearthed. The Book of Poetry records that the "揥" in "Jade no Yuya, Elephant no Kaiye" is jewelry similar to a comb. During the Warring States period, the comb grate appeared in the decoration of wire engraving and other crafts, the workmanship became more and more elaborate, and the shape also changed accordingly, and a comb similar to the form of a ladder appeared.
During the Qin and Han dynasties, the style of the comb was mainly based on the horseshoe shape below the upper circle that was easy to access, and the combs unearthed in the Mawangdui site in Changsha, Hunan Province, were mostly semi-circular, with neat and fine comb teeth, and the shape was very simple. In the "Book of Rites", it is said: "The first song of the chicken, the salty gargle, the ctenophore, the general of the fence, the gentry of clothes." "During this period, combs were an indispensable tool in people's daily lives. For grooming, it is also very particular, different hair states, with different combs. It is recorded in the "Liji Yuzao": "Mu Ji and Jing Liang, Ctenus with Tang, and Xi with Elephant Crow". This means washing your hair with water that has washed your grain grass, washing your face with water from sorghum, using a wood-made comb when your hair is wet, and using an ivory comb when your hair is dry. It can be seen that the exquisite life of ancient women is no less than that of today's beautiful women.

The manufacturing process of combs developed rapidly in the Wei and Jin dynasties, because in the previous dynasties, women mostly wore hair, and combs were mainly used to comb hair and maintain health care. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, women began to have hair styles such as braided hair and coiled hair, and at this time, in addition to combing hair, combs also became a decoration inserted in the hair. In Gu Kaizhi's "Female History Monitor" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, you can see the scene of women sticking combs in their hair, and a comb style began to form.
The style of women's combing in the Tang Dynasty was very popular. Judging from the combs found in many Tang Dynasty tombs, its teeth are very long, not suitable for combing hair, and more are inserted into the hair as decorations. In the middle and late Tang dynasties, women often inserted grates on their heads, and the grates worn by women at that time were rich in materials and complicated to make. The materials of combs include not only gold combs, silver combs, but also jade combs and ivory combs. From the Middle Tang to the late Tang Dynasty, women loved to comb very much, because women liked to comb very high buns, which was also the reason for the popularity of the comb fashion.
Tang dynasty women's hair bun combing, quite unique, the most typical illustrations are located on the top of the head bun directly in front of the root of the hair and forehead hair. There are three types of accessories: one is to insert a comb into the bun; The second is that the two combs are inserted in a set of up and down, with the comb teeth facing each other or the back of the comb facing each other; The third is that two combs are stacked in the same direction. In the late Tang Dynasty, when women were dressed, there were three sets inserted in front of the bun and on both sides. In "Pounding Diagram" and the late Tang Dynasty's "Palace Le Tu", there are pictures of women with many hair combs inserted into their buns. Zhou Fang's "Picture of the Handmaid with a Fan" and the murals of Tang Dynasty patrons in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang both show Tang Dynasty women combing through. In the poem "Hate Makeup" by the great poet Yuan Shu: "Full of small combs, apply round in the face." "Vividly depicts the delicate and intricate combing of women's buns in the Tang Dynasty.
Tang Dynasty women spent all kinds of thoughts combing delicate and beautiful hairstyles, how could they not decorate them. In addition to the comb, it is often used in combination with step shake and flower dun to make the already chic hairstyle look more stunning. It can be said that the comb has become a fashion standard for women in the Tang Dynasty.
Not only was the style of combs widely popular in the Tang Dynasty, but the comb patterns of this period were also rich, Shen Congwen said in "Research on Ancient Chinese Costumes": "Tang Dynasty women liked to insert a few small combs into their hair buns as decorations, and paid attention to the use of gold, silver, rhino, jade or ivory and other materials, revealing the crescent-shaped comb back, there are more than a dozen." "The height of the comb has also decreased, the banner has widened, and over time, the half-moon-shaped horizontal comb has gradually become popular. Tang Dynasty women with developed economy, open mind, prosperous politics, love romance and rich imagination of Tang Dynasty women put a lot of effort into the pattern decoration of combs, including parrot peony ornaments, gilded flowers and birds, gold and silver combs of luang birds, etc., most of which express auspicious wishes, and yearning for a better life.

Wen Tingjun's "Sidi Township": "Back to the common people gossip, the battle grate golden phoenix oblique." Li He's "Qin Palace": "Luan Grate does not return people, drunk sleep full of moon" and so on. The golden grate mentioned by the poet describes a golden comb with a delicate carving image of a phoenix, and the small comb is inserted into the side of the beauty's bun, which is graceful and elegant, light and flexible, and always attracts people's attention. Through the scenes of combing depicted in different verses, it is estimated that the style of combing in the Tang Dynasty was popular for nearly a hundred years, and now it seems to be a century-old classic.
In fact, in the late Tang Dynasty, until the Song Dynasty, the style of combs is still very prevalent, and women in this period have pushed the style of combs to a new "height", although it is no longer full of combs, but it is very popular with a crown comb, which is extremely wide, like a hat, very luxurious. As a result, it is difficult to enter when sitting on a palanquin. Song Renzong, who has always been frugal, couldn't stand it, so he issued a decree to restrict women's behavior of comparing luxury. It stipulates: "The length of the comb shall not exceed four inches, and there shall be no horn for it." "It roughly means that the length of the comb should not exceed four inches, and the material should not be horned. Judging from the Southern Song Dynasty peony-patterned jade combs unearthed from the Song Dynasty tomb in Jianzhong, the luxurious custom of making combs in the Song Dynasty was not effectively restricted because Song Renzong ordered the prohibition. Once again, it shows that the style of combing had a deep influence at that time, and how strong and fanatical women's desire to pursue beauty was.
During the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, combs were no longer wildly sought after by women, and were used as decorations to be inserted in buns. However, most of the combs seen now have been handed down from the Qing Dynasty. During this period, although the comb lost many functions, it was more complete in material and decoration, and combs of various gold, silver, jade, glass, a variety of wood and other materials were very common. According to the use, there is also a more detailed distinction, the flat semicircular comb is used to comb the hair in a large area, the medium-sized crescent-shaped comb is used to comb the hair on both sides, and the small comb similar to the figure eight is used to comb the tail and sideburns, which is similar to the straight hair comb, curling comb, and comb function we use today. The grate with very dense comb teeth is used to comb the dirt on the hair, and which part is divided by which type of comb is quite fine.
The ancients called "hair" "green silk", homonymous "love", and the comb was also given a fixed love thing, with mutual promise, white head to old affection. In the metadrama "Jing Chuchen Heavy on the Jade Comb", Gu Xiangyu divided the jade comb into two and gave half of it to Jing Chuchen as a trust, and the latter two met, and the jade comb was compounded, which well interpreted the meaning of the comb as a token of love.

People's use of combs is not only as simple as combing hair, but also increases the function of health preservation. In Sui Dynasty Yuanfang's "Discussion on the Origin of Diseases and Health Preservation Formula", he said: "Cutting hair, wanting more, flowing blood, dispersing rheumatism, counting easy to use, and using it more." "The main meaning is that combing your hair more every day can unblock the blood veins and strengthen the body. Sun Simiao, a famous doctor of the Tang Dynasty, also proposed: "Hair should be combed often." Lu You, the most health-conscious literary scholar of the Song Dynasty, could hardly comb his body, and he said in the poem "Miscellaneous Fu": "Jue Lai suddenly saw the white skylight, and the short hair Xiao Xiao combed himself." Lu You will also comb his hair when he is in a bad mood: "Every time the door is closed, the intention is to comb it again." The Ming Dynasty's "Regency Record" also recorded: "Hair combs more, dispel wind and eyes, and the way to immortality." "Until today, overwhelming health comb advertisements abound, most of which are that combing hair can relieve brain overuse, improve the scalp, and prevent hair loss. From ancient times to the present, the health function of combs has always been valued by people.
In modern times, the grate is becoming simpler and simpler, people pay more attention to the practicality of comb hair maintenance, with the change of living conditions, the emancipation of thoughts, washing hair and cutting hair has become a daily habit, so the grate used to clean up hair dirt has gradually disappeared, and comb has become an essential life tool for men and women.
Looking at the development and evolution of combing, it is not difficult to find that in ancient society, combing grates were endowed with both high and deep cultural connotations.

(Author's affiliation: Jingchuan County Museum)