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— CH. 1 · ORIGINS AND PREDECESSORS —

Queue (hairstyle)

~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
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  • The word bian meant plaited hair or a cord in ancient Chinese texts. Han dynasty records applied this term to the Xiongnu tribes of northern China. These nomadic groups wore braids that differed from the later Manchu style. The Tuoba people of the Western Wei period also wore braided hair according to Southern Qi history. A braid was discovered inside a Tuoba grave at Zhalairuoer. This archaeological find confirmed written accounts about their hairstyle. The Xianbei and Wuhuan tribes shaved parts of their heads while leaving other sections long. Khitan men grew hair from their temples but shaved the crown of their heads completely. Tomb murals in Inner Mongolia show Khitan officials wearing gold ornamented ribbons around their foreheads. They covered their heads with felt hats during daily life. The Liu Song dynasty called these groups braided caitiffs due to their distinctive appearance. Han Chinese rulers sometimes forced conquered peoples to undo their queues as a sign of submission. Turfan people undid their queues when submitting to the Sui dynasty. Göktürks did the same upon surrendering to the Tang dynasty. Hairstyles served as markers of tribal affiliation throughout Central Asian history.

  • Regent Dorgon issued an edict on the 21st of July 1645 ordering all Han men to shave their foreheads. The decree required them to braid the remaining hair into a queue identical to Manchu style. Han officials Sun Zhixie and Li Ruolin voluntarily shaved their foreheads first. They demanded that Prince Dorgon impose the hairstyle on the entire population. The Qing government gave Han Chinese only ten days to comply or face execution. Dorgon initially canceled the order for all men south of the Great Wall after Ming territories fell. This reversal occurred because some Han officials cited the Ming dynasty's traditional System of Rites and Music as grounds for resistance. Dorgon questioned their motives by asking if they intended to follow Ming customs instead of Qing ones. The slogan adopted by the Qing was cut the hair and keep the head or keep the hair and cut the head. People who resisted the order were met with deadly force immediately. Han rebels in Shandong tortured the Qing official who suggested the queue order to death. His relatives were killed during the uprising against the new policy. The imposition took up to ten years of martial enforcement across China. Han Chinese defectors carried out massacres against people refusing to wear the queue.

  • Li Chengdong ordered troops to carry out three separate massacres in Jiading within one month. Tens of thousands died during these events according to historical records. The third massacre left few survivors among the city's population. Jiangyin held out against about 10,000 Qing troops for eighty-three days. The city wall finally breached on the 9th of October 1645 when Qing forces arrived. Liu Liangzuo led the Qing army into the breach that day. He had been ordered to fill the city with corpses before sheathing his swords. Between 74,000 and 100,000 people died during the siege of Jiangyin. Han Chinese soldiers under General Hong Chengchou forced the queue on people of Jiangnan region. Han people were initially paid silver to wear the queue in Fuzhou when it was first implemented there. The shaving policy was not enforced in Tusi autonomous chiefdoms where many minorities lived. One Han Chinese Tusi called the Chiefdom of Kokang populated by Han Kokang people existed without enforcement. Han rebels like the Taiping retained their queue braids but rebelled by growing hair on their foreheads instead. Koxinga criticized the Qing hairstyle by referring to the shaven pate looking like a fly. His men and Ming prince Zhu Shugui fiercely objected to shaving requirements. The Qing demanded that Zheng Jing and his men shave to receive recognition as a fiefdom.

  • The queue became a symbol of revolutionary ideals during the White Lotus Rebellion. Members of the Taiping Rebellion were sometimes called Long hairs or Hair rebels because they grew all their hair long. Intellectual Lu Xun summed up the Chinese reaction by stating that people revolted because they had to wear queues. Revolutionary supporters of the Hundred Days' Reform cut their braids voluntarily. Students who studied abroad also cut their braids to show defiance against Qing rule. Cantonese outlaw bandit pirates wore their hair long in defiance of Qing laws throughout the 17th century. Some Chinese chose to wear the queue but refused to shave their crown completely. Those who cut the queue off and did not shave were considered revolutionaries immediately. Han women continued wearing traditional Han clothing while men adopted Manchu styles. The queue was the only aspect of Manchu culture forced upon common Han population. Qing required officials to wear Manchu clothing but allowed other civilians to continue wearing Hanfu. Most Han civilian men voluntarily adopted Manchu clothing like Changshan of their own free will. The purpose of the Queue Order was to demonstrate loyalty to the Qing dynasty explicitly. Refusing to shave one's hair came to symbolize revolutionary ideals over time.

  • Eighteenth-century European soldiers styled their traditionally long hair into a queue called soldier's queue. This custom began among hunters as early as 1678 when King Louis XIV hunted with his long hair tied back. By the 1730s the queue spread from military circles to become widespread among civilians. A 1697 depiction shows royal guards sporting this hairstyle during the wedding of Louis Duke of Burgundy. Powdered wigs tied in queues gradually replaced unwieldy big wigs in fashion. Wigs that did not feature queues such as bob wigs were favored by those unable to afford long versions. The type of wig became an indicator of rank occupation and political leanings. The first western army to forbid queues was the Russian Army in the 1780s before French Revolution broke out. Grigory Potemkin abhorred tight uniforms and uncomfortable powdered wigs worn by Russian soldiers. He instigated complete revision introducing short natural hairstyles without wigs or queues. Soldiers of all other western armies adopted short hairstyles only after French Revolutionary Wars began. Napoleon Bonarte changed his hairstyle and cut his hair short while in Egypt in 1798. Short hair became mandated at end of First Empire with ordinance of the 25th of September 1815. Marshal Jean Lannes stood out due to refusal to cut his queue until later.

  • The Xinhai Revolution in 1911 led to complete change in hairstyle almost overnight across China. The queue became unpopular as it became associated with a fallen government immediately. Chinese citizens in Hong Kong collectively changed to short haircuts following the revolution. Lao Lu documented the story of queue cutting in early Republic period thoroughly. Most people abandoned the style after last Emperor Puyi cut his queue in 1922. Some individuals like Zhang Xun still wore queues as tradition despite widespread rejection. Han Chinese men living in Liaodong Peninsula rebelled in 1622 and 1625 against mandatory hairstyle implementation. Manchus responded swiftly by killing educated elite and instituting stricter separation between groups. In 1683 Zheng Keshuang surrendered and wore a queue voluntarily. The queue became a custom except among Buddhist monastics who kept shaved heads completely. Taoist priests continued wearing long hair in traditional topknot without shaving requirements. High ranking Lê loyalists fled Vietnam for asylum in Qing China after Nguyễn Huệ defeated Later Lê dynasty. They adopted Qing clothing and queue hairstyle effectively becoming naturalized subjects of Qing dynasty. Modern descendants of Lê monarch can be traced to southern Vietnam and Urumqi Xinjiang today.

Common questions

What is the Queue hairstyle and who wore it?

The Queue was a hairstyle worn by the Jurchen and Manchu peoples of Manchuria. Han dynasty records applied the term to Xiongnu tribes, while Tuoba people of the Western Wei period also wore braided hair.

When did Regent Dorgon issue the edict requiring Han men to shave their foreheads?

Regent Dorgon issued an edict on the 21st of July 1645 ordering all Han men to shave their foreheads. The decree required them to braid the remaining hair into a queue identical to Manchu style within ten days or face execution.

How many people died during the siege of Jiangyin in 1645?

Between 74,000 and 100,000 people died during the siege of Jiangyin when Qing forces breached the city wall on the 9th of October 1645. Liu Liangzuo led the Qing army into the breach that day after the city held out for eighty-three days against about 10,000 troops.

Why did the queue become a symbol of revolutionary ideals during the White Lotus Rebellion?

Refusing to shave one's hair came to symbolize revolutionary ideals over time because members of the Taiping Rebellion were sometimes called Long hairs or Hair rebels. They grew all their hair long to defy the Qing hairstyle requirements imposed by the government.

When was short hair mandated at the end of the First Empire in France?

Short hair became mandated at the end of the First Empire with an ordinance of the 25th of September 1815. Napoleon Bonarte changed his hairstyle and cut his hair short while in Egypt in 1798 before this final mandate.

What happened to the Queue hairstyle after the Xinhai Revolution in 1911?

The Xinhai Revolution in 1911 led to complete change in hairstyle almost overnight across China as citizens collectively changed to short haircuts. Most people abandoned the style after last Emperor Puyi cut his queue in 1922.

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All sources

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