# What is the why and wherefore of this ancient Chinese hat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2013, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-why-and-wherefore-of-this-ancient-chinese-hat/674608 "2013-11-23T08:45:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-why-and-wherefore-of-this-ancient-chinese-hat/674608/1 "2013-11-23T08:45:28Z")
I have sometimes seen pictures of ancient Chinese Emperors – like [this one](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Qinshihuang.jpg) of the First Emperor, Qin Shih Huangdi – wearing a headdress which is kind of like an academic mortarboard, but with enlongated boards front and back, and a fringe of beads-on-strings before and behind. I wouldn’t want to have to be always looking at the world through a fringe of beads, but I presume the purpose of the front-fringe was to shield the Emperor from the casual glances of common eyes, while the purpose of the back-fringe was to balance the weight of the front-fringe. Is that all, or is there some other cultural explanation? ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-why-and-wherefore-of-this-ancient-chinese-hat/674608/2 "2013-11-23T09:31:17Z")
How can you tell that it’s not side to side? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-why-and-wherefore-of-this-ancient-chinese-hat/674608/3 "2013-11-23T11:13:52Z")
Keeps the flies away, like the australian hat with corks dangling. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/QinShiHuangdi](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/QinShiHuangdi) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-why-and-wherefore-of-this-ancient-chinese-hat/674608/4 "2013-11-23T11:20:38Z")
The traditional Chinese costume is called “Hanfu”. > **[Hanfu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanfu)** > > Hanfu (simplified Chinese: 汉服; traditional Chinese: 漢服; pinyin: Hànfú, lit. "Han clothing") are the traditional styles of clothing worn by the Han Chinese since the 2nd millennium BCE. There are several representative styles of hanfu, such as the ruqun (an upper-body garment with a long outer skirt), the aoqun (an upper-body garment with a long underskirt), the beizi and the shenyi, and the shanku (an upper-body garment with ku trousers).: 24  > Traditionally, hanfu consists of a paofu robe, or... The hat is called Mian Guan > [@](#): > > [A list of Guan, Jin, and other headwear | 瀨谿珡伶散記 Accounts of the "Lutenist" from Beaver Creek](http://torguqin.wordpress.com/hanfu/hanfu-history/list/) > > Official and state rituals of utmost importance (usually involving sacrifices to Heaven) will involve in the usage of the Mian Guan 冕冠 (fig.3.3). The “Mian” refers to the lacquered board placed on top of a Guan (usually is a large Guan that covers the entire head), with a square edge at the back and rounded edge in front. Strands of jade beads called liu 旒 drape from the two ends, with their colours in the respective color order: White (metal), yellow (earth), green (wood), red (fire), black (water). The Emperor’s Mian exclusively uses 12 strands of 12 jade beads front and back, while members of the royalty are entitled to use 9 strands of 9 beads. High and middle-rank officials also can use similar designs with 7 or 5 strands of the same number of beads. There is also a large broad sash that flows to the side, down to the knee, and back up to the other side of the Mian called Tianhe Dai 天河帶 (lit. “Celestial River Band”) that represents the Milky Way. A variation to the Tianhe Dai is a red cord called Shou 綬 which drapes similarly, but does not loop around at the bottom. (See: Sanli Tu, and Book of Han: Li Yi Dian) That’s all I found on a quick search. My Google-Fu is weak! ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-why-and-wherefore-of-this-ancient-chinese-hat/674608/5 "2013-11-23T11:39:47Z")
[http://english.eastday.com/e/cosh/u1a4158079.html](http://english.eastday.com/e/cosh/u1a4158079.html) Over time the fashion for “wu sha” (hat) changed from left -right to be front-back, to act as a sun and rain shade. So thats how they know its not left-right… it comes from the front back period. (many portraits still show a left right bar , as the portraits copied portraits… but they forget it was the hat and drew a contemporary wu sha as well !) And then the tongues got added, apparently to hide the emperors face while he is whispering, so no one can lip read. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-why-and-wherefore-of-this-ancient-chinese-hat/674608/6 "2013-11-23T16:43:08Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > How can you tell that it’s not side to side? Because baseball was unknown in ancient China.