Chinese hat with queue
Object numberP1922
TitleChinese hat with queue
DescriptionBrown felt hat with plaited pigtail or queue of hair attached to rear.
The Chinese queue was a specific hairstyle worn by the Manchus from central Manchuria and later imposed on the Han Chinese in China. The hairstyle consisted of the hair on the front of the head being shaved off above the temples and the rest of the hair braided into a long ponytail, or queue. The ponytail was never to be cut for it would justify execution as treason. The Manchu hairstyle was forcefully introduced to China by Nurhaci in the early 17th century. Nurhaci achieved the creation of a Manchu state in Manchuria, later becoming the Qing Dynasty of China, after having defeated the Ming forces in northern China. Once firmly in power, Nurhaci commanded all men in the areas he had conquered to adopt the Manchu hairstyle. The Manchu hairstyle was significant for it distinguished between the Manchus and the indigenous Chinese. It was a symbol of Han Chinese submission to Manchu rule. The queue also aided the Manchus in identifying those Chinese that refused to accept Manchu domination of the Chinese state. In the early 1910s, although the Chinese no longer had to wear it, many still wore it as a tradition.
Object namehat, Chinese, with queue
Object category3.3371