Question 1

What are the names of Chinese hairstyles?

Accepted Answer

A hairstyle is a 发型 (fàxíng). The everyday ones: a ponytail, 马尾辫 (mǎwěibiàn), twin ponytails, 双马尾 (shuāng mǎwěi), a braid, 辫子 (biànzi), a bun on top, 丸子头 (wánzitóu), bangs, 刘海 (liúhǎi), a centre parting, 中分 (zhōngfēn), and shoulder-length hair, 披肩发 (pījiānfà). For men: a crew cut, 寸头 (cùntóu) or 平头 (píngtóu), slicked-back hair, 背头 (bēitóu), and a shaved head, 光头 (guāngtóu). Long hair is 长发 (chángfà), short hair 短发 (duǎnfà) and curly hair 卷发 (juǎnfà).

Question 2

What were ancient Chinese hairstyles like?

Accepted Answer

Almost nobody cut their hair: the Classic of Filial Piety says your body, hair and skin come from your parents, 身体发肤，受之父母 (shēntǐ fàfū, shòu zhī fùmǔ), so you must not harm them. Small children wore it loose or in two tufts, 总角 (zǒngjiǎo). Growing up meant putting it up: a girl’s hair was pinned up with a hairpin at fifteen, 及笄 (jíjī), and a young man’s tied in a topknot under a cap at twenty, 冠礼 (guànlǐ). Women of the Tang dynasty piled their hair into tall buns, 高髻 (gāojì), set with gold hairpins and flowers.

Question 3

What are Chinese hair sticks called?

Accepted Answer

簪子 (zānzi), or 发簪 (fàzān): a single long pin pushed through a bun to hold it, in wood, jade, silver or gold. They are not chopsticks, though people often call them that in English. A hairpin with two prongs is a 钗 (chāi), and one hung with beads that sway as you walk is a 步摇 (bùyáo). A hairpin was a classic love token, and a broken one meant a couple parting.

Question 4

Why did Chinese men wear a long braid?

Accepted Answer

Because the Manchu rulers of the Qing dynasty ordered it. From 1645, every Han Chinese man had to shave the front of his head and wear the rest in one long braid, the queue, 辫子 (biànzi), as a sign of loyalty: “keep your hair and lose your head”, 留发不留头 (liú fà bù liú tóu). Before then Chinese men wore their hair long and tied up in a topknot, 发髻 (fàjì). After the 1911 revolution ended the empire, men cut their queues off.

Question 5

What is the hair-combing ceremony at a Chinese wedding?

Accepted Answer

上头 (shàngtóu), putting the hair up: on the night before the wedding, a woman of good fortune, with her husband, children and parents all living, combs the bride’s hair four times, saying a blessing with each stroke. One common version starts 一梳梳到尾 (yī shū shū dào wěi), the first comb to the end: together to the end of your lives; 二梳白发齐眉 (èr shū báifà qí méi), grow old together; 三梳儿孙满地 (sān shū érsūn mǎn dì), children and grandchildren everywhere. It is a Cantonese custom, kept in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Chinese families overseas.

Question 6

How do you ask for a haircut in Chinese?

Accepted Answer

Say 我想剪头发 (wǒ xiǎng jiǎn tóufa), I’d like a haircut, at the hair salon, 理发店 (lǐfàdiàn). Then: 剪短一点 (jiǎn duǎn yìdiǎn), a bit shorter; 修一下 (xiū yíxià), just a trim; 剪刘海 (jiǎn liúhǎi), cut the bangs. The menu on the wall says 洗剪吹 (xǐ jiǎn chuī), wash, cut and blow-dry; 染发 (rǎnfà) is to dye your hair and 烫发 (tàngfà) is a perm. The hairdresser is the 理发师 (lǐfàshī), and the stylist is often called 老师 (lǎoshī).

Question 7

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Accepted Answer

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	In Chinese	What it is
Topknot or bun	发髻 fàjì	Hair coiled up and pinned: how grown men and women wore their hair for two thousand years
Bun on top	丸子头 wánzitóu	The round “meatball” bun worn high on the head today
Twin buns	双丫髻 shuāngyājì	Two buns on top of the head, the girl’s style in old paintings and costume dramas
Queue	辫子 biànzi	The Qing dynasty men’s braid: the front shaved, the rest in one long plait down the back
Ponytail	马尾辫 mǎwěibiàn	A horse’s tail; twin ponytails are 双马尾 (shuāng mǎwěi)
Bangs	刘海 liúhǎi	Named after 刘海, a boy immortal in folk pictures, always drawn with a fringe
Hair stick	簪子 zānzi	One long pin through a bun; the “chopsticks” in Chinese hair
Two-pronged hairpin	钗 chāi	A pin with two prongs, often in gold or silver: a love token
Swaying hairpin	步摇 bùyáo	A hairpin hung with beads or leaves that sway with every step, 步 step and 摇 sway

Chinese hairstyles