Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/68

 women wearing the dress of the Ming dynasty while the men had to adopt the Manchu style of dressing, as well as the head-shaving. The living had to conform, but the funeral rites remained as before the occupation,, shêng ts‘ung, ssŭ pu ts‘ung. The people had to conform but not the priests; min ts‘ung chiao pu ts‘ung. Hence we have the clean-shaven Buddhist priest, and the coiled locks of the Taoist sect; this is believed to be the original Chinese mode of hair dressing. Moreover the style of garments now worn by the Taoist priests would appear to be the style of ancient China.

When the queue was forced upon the Chinese people it was hateful to them as a sign of subjection to a stronger branch of the Mongolian race. This loathing gradually gave place to pride, and the queue became a national badge, and a sign of loyalty to the reigning dynasty. Hence every rebellion against the Manchus has made the cutting off of the queue of first importance.

The queue, when worn properly, was used to indicate reverence for superiors, respect to equals, and decorum in worship. No inferior would dare to enter the presence of a superior with his queue hanging in front, or coiled round the head; and when worshipping at the temples its position was carefully noted. The following are a few of the kinds of queues spoken of by the Chinese and were indicative of character:

To leave the hair unplaited for three handwidths from the skull in order that the hair might fall loose on the neck;  sung san pa. This was for protection against sword cuts, and also in fights, when the queue was largely used to pull with. Its looseness kept the strain from falling on one part of the head.

The big queue made up of false hair and silk. Those who wear this are known as wu êrh shên, and are those who have just entered a secret society. They are neither men nor boys.

The dandy of the secret society wears a queue that is dressed up with silk tassels, têng lung t‘iao pien tzŭ.