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Diji and Tiaopai are two magnificent pieces of traditional Chinese hair jewelry, often paired with Ming-style Hanfu.
The Ming dynasty was one of the most commercialized periods in ancient Chinese history, particularly in the Jiangnan
region.
From the point of view of hair jewelry, the most significant change shown in gold and silver jewelry during the Ming
dynasty, compared to the Song and Yuan dynasties, was an increase in the number of types and styles, and a more
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detailed distinction in names. Various types of traditional Chinese hair jewelry, have different names, depending on where
they are worn, or on their decoration, style, and even their length.
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01/01/2021 Traditional Chinese Hair Jewelry - Ming Style Diji & Tiaopai
The Ming Diji was a formal dress for married women and was worn at home, out, or when meeting friends and relatives.
Normally, gold Diji is only worn by women of a certain status and position. Most of the Diji excavated from Ming dynasty
tombs are made of gold and silver wire. A small gold Diji was unearthed in Jiangxi province, made of fine gold wire like hair,
on which more than 40 jewels were set, and a gold hairpin was inserted in the hole on each side of the bottom, making it
exquisite and magnificent.
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Tiaoxin (挑心)
worn in the middle of the Diji’s front, it is a long hairpin, inserted from the bottom up. The head of the hairpin is often
styled as statue of the Buddha, Sanskrit characters, pagoda, and immortals.
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01/01/2021 Traditional Chinese Hair Jewelry - Ming Style Diji & Tiaopai
Fenxin (分心)
worn in front and behind the Diji, located below the Tiaoxin, the style mainly includes statues of the Buddha, Guanyin,
Sanskrit characters, dragons & phoenixes, flowers, and immortals.
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01/01/2021 Traditional Chinese Hair Jewelry - Ming Style Diji & Tiaopai
Huadian (花钿)
worn at the base of the front of the Diji, has an overall curved looped band with a hairpin foot that runs vertically
backwards, or with ties at both ends. The shapes were mostly flowers, clouds, dragons & phoenixes, immortals, etc. Some
were also inlaid with pearls and jade.
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01/01/2021 Traditional Chinese Hair Jewelry - Ming Style Diji & Tiaopai
Yanbin (掩鬓)
Manguan (满贯)
The shape resembles that of a group of peaks standing side by side, with one peak being the highest and the two sides
symmetrical, and is usually worn at the bottom of the back of the Diji.
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01/01/2021 Traditional Chinese Hair Jewelry - Ming Style Diji & Tiaopai
Yabinchai (压鬓钗)
A pair of hairpins with longer feet and a slight backward bend is generally inserted on the left and right sides of the bottom
of the Diji to act as anchors.
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01/01/2021 Traditional Chinese Hair Jewelry - Ming Style Diji & Tiaopai
Of course, in addition to the hair jewelry mentioned above, there are also short hairpins with the same decorative theme to
pairing with Diji.
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01/01/2021 Traditional Chinese Hair Jewelry - Ming Style Diji & Tiaopai
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01/01/2021 Traditional Chinese Hair Jewelry - Ming Style Diji & Tiaopai
In the course of time, by the mid to late Ming period, the Diji had undergone radical changes and gradually became a
whole, with the emergence of the luxury version of the Diji – Jinbao Ji (金宝髻). The other was gradually simplified to a
Guan, which was similar in shape to the Zhongjing Guan (忠静冠) worn by officials.
Jinbao Ji
Tiaopai was one of the hair jewelry worn by noblewomen during the Ming dynasty. It is a symbol of status and identity.
It consisted of two parts: a gold hairpin (usually in the form of a phoenix, dragon, lotus flower, etc.) and a long tassel,
often woven with pearls in the shape of a square or hollowed-out tassel, which in some cases was studded with precious
stones. At the time, ordinary people were not allowed to wear them.
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01/01/2021 Traditional Chinese Hair Jewelry - Ming Style Diji & Tiaopai
This is all about traditional Chinese hair jewelry: Diji and Tiaopai. If you want to know more about traditional Chinese hair
jewelry & Chinese clothing history, you can click here.
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April
Fond of hanfu and traditional Chinese culture, I hope to make more people love hanfu through the articles on traditional dress introduce, makeup,
and clothes matching.
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