There are three kinds of beards we can see now, one is goatee, the other is moustache and the third is beard.
From the perspective of film and television dramas, goatees are mostly elderly people with certain wisdom, such as some civil servants. Moustache has a certain treacherous effect, which is the standard of touts and profiteers. The rest of the beards are basically close-ups of soldiers, and almost a costume drama will inevitably have several beards.
Kangxi Dictionary in Qing Dynasty also made a clear definition of the names of various beards. The beard of the upper lip is called moustache, the beard of the lower lip is called moustache, the beard next to the cheek is called moustache, and the beard on the chin is called moustache. Each part has a different name, and a handsome man can also be said to be an aesthetic of the ancients for beards.
As for why the ancients grew beards, we can temporarily define them as three explanations.
First of all, the existence of beard can be considered as a habit left over from prehistoric times. In primitive society, a thick beard has many advantages, which can keep warm and provide some cushioning protection during exercise.
In addition, the beard can also appear as a huge face, which plays a deterrent role.
If it is more practical, growing a beard is just for convenience. The living conditions in primitive society were harsh. For the ancestors at that time, no shaving equipment was made at all, so growing a beard may be just a helpless choice.
After human beings have established a certain civilization, religion has played a huge role, which has been rendered by Confucianism. The beard can be trimmed, but it can't be shaved. In addition, it was similar in the ancient west. In this social concept, many interesting ideas are derived. For example, in many ancient areas, shaving was regarded as a very serious punishment. There is torture in China, and there are similar punishments in Greece and Arabia. Simply put, people will avoid having too many similarities with criminals. For example, the tattoo on the face in the Northern Song Dynasty was used to distinguish the good from the bad.
But in the final analysis, the beard is a symbol of men. On the one hand, it is the standard of whether a person is an adult or not, and it also represents the masculinity of male animals. For example, the Pharaoh Tutankhamun of the 18th dynasty in Egypt is the most controversial Pharaoh. After 3000 years, people are still arguing about the cause of his mysterious death. Although he was only a teenager when he died, he had grown a long and neat fake beard to show his dignity as a king. Britain and France, known as the Beard War in history, fought for a piece of land where the princess got married for 300 years.
There are countless absurd things like this in history. Beard is a symbol of the king's nobility and dignity. It is said that when King menes of Egypt personally led a great army to conquer Egypt, he accidentally lost his fake beard on the battlefield during the battle. In order to recapture the imperial beard, more than 600 soldiers died by the enemy's sword.
But beards have also changed with history. The recorded shaving action in China began in Liang in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, which was mainly influenced by Buddhist thought.
If viewed from ancient times, this level is like the history of the world, full of unimaginable unknown and serious historical records, so we can't know the answer to the question of beards of ancient people in China.
During the Zhou and Jin Dynasties, people attached great importance to beards, and thought that body protection and hair care were the foundation of filial piety and could not be damaged. Therefore, the hair is generally washed and not combed, and it is allowed to break naturally, and both men and women pile it into a bun on their heads. "The Book of Filial Piety" says: If the body and skin are damaged, the parents who suffer from it dare not damage it, and filial piety begins; Standing on the street, making a name for yourself in later generations to show your parents, is also the end of filial piety. The earliest historical records began in Zhou Gongdan. From the Han Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty, due to the popularity of Confucianism, the concern for the body and skin was raised to a very high moral level.
After Buddhism flourished, monks appeared in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, so many Han people began to shave their hair, and everything was empty, especially in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. What prompted the emergence of the so-called 480 temples in the Southern Dynasties? A powerful barber industry finally appeared, and in the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were even more specialized people to build beards and hair.
When the last feudal dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, came to power, Manchu rulers forced Han men to shave their heads and braid their hair, and their beards began to decline. In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, young people rarely grew beards, and it is generally considered impolite for younger generations to grow beards to meet their elders.
In some dynasties, there were many styles of beards, which can reflect their experience characteristics. For example, a bearded person is a married person. A moustache indicates that he has entered the society. Someone's children with beards can prove that they run in the family or have children and nephews.
If we make a slight distinction, the styles of beards can also be divided into three types: big cheeks, big horns, naturally drooping horns, small sagittal moustaches, small plate moustaches and so on.
Historically, Europeans and Americans like to tilt the end of their beards, but our country does not have this style. But in the Sui Dynasty, people trimmed their beards into different braids according to their different identities.
Ancient scholars all like goatee, like Zhuge Liang in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, who often fanned his hand and touched his beard with one hand, and then gave birth to that classic line: "There is something you can do, master, don't worry!"
Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, beards have been the standard for men. For example, in the Book of Continued Han Dynasty, when the Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty was the Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the ruler of Julu County was Sima Zhi, white and beautiful, with a full face of beard and dreamlike appearance. Furthermore, Huo Guang, the minister of the Western Han Dynasty who experienced three dynasties, became a famous handsome man at that time because of his beautiful beard.
At this time, people all define the facial features of men with beards, and metaphors are mostly on their faces. Because of this, Cao Cao was chased by Ma Chao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and abandoned his robe to describe the critical situation at that time.
It can be understood that the beard is not only long, but also long. Guan Yu is called a beard, which is also long and straight. A beard like Zhang Fei's in romance novels is not enough, and there is no room for appreciation. At most, it is surrounded by black cotton candy, so there is not much ink, only steel needles.
There are too many people with beards in history. For example, Cui Yan, Cao Cao's counselor, had to grow to four feet, Xie Lingyun, a scholar in the Southern Dynasties, had to hang down to the ground, and Zhang Huiji in the Ming Dynasty had to grow to the abdomen. We have a joke now, treating me like waist-length hair. Can you marry me as a teenager? In fact, there are many versions of the original poem, one of which is just right. Let's have a look. Will the general come back when my hair is waist-length? The next sentence is that when your hair is waist-high, I will return to Korea triumphantly.
Perhaps it can be understood that women's hair and men's beards are the most important things in ancient times.
Han Shu said that Gaozu had a beard, but if we go back in time, the beard may have originated from the worship of dragons. It is said that when the Yellow Emperor rose, the dragon who came to take the lead pulled out some beards with the Yellow Emperor and landed as a bow. Sima Qian's Records of the Historian: A Book of Enchanting Zen describes this scene. There was a dragon with a beard hanging down to greet the Yellow Emperor ... Yu Xiaochen was not allowed to go up, but he knew that he had a dragon beard in his hand. The dragon must pull, drop and drop the bow of the Yellow Emperor.
Nowadays, many men have no beards. Compared with the aesthetics of ancient people, modern people think that beards give people a sloppy and gaunt image. Even literati, only a few old scholars in China still have beards, and others can be seen, that is, some people in the literary and art circles and film and television circles.
With the change of civilization, people's own clothes have also changed in different periods. In modern history, there are many celebrities with beards. For example, Premier Zhou Enlai grew a beard during the Republic of China and vowed never to shave before the Japanese invaders were expelled. At the same time, Mei Lanfang, Mr. Lu Xun, etc. With a beard.
Beard is a manifestation of human growth. At a certain period, some women will grow beards because of hormonal instability, which is an innate growth system. But in its special historical environment, it is also the birth of a culture for men to grow beards. Beards are actually more important than some so-called small fresh meat. Otherwise, who knows if they are men or women?