fate-magical-girls:

ziseviolet:

jhameia:

ziseviolet:

Hi, thanks for the question!

These two looped hairstyles, worn by Fan Bing Bing as Wu Zetian in the Chinese drama “The Empress of China”, are unique styles with individual names. The first style is called 双环望仙髻/Shuang Huan Wang Xian Ji (Double Hooped Immortal-Seeking Ji), and the second style is called 飞仙髻/Fei Xian Ji (Flying Immortal Ji). “Ji/髻” refers to any hairstyle involving pulling hair on top of the head. Let’s take a look at each one:

1. 双环望仙髻/Shuang Huan Wang Xian Ji (Double Hooped Immortal-Seeking Ji):

For this hairstyle, the hair is split into two parts, and black yarn or ribbons are used to form hoops above the head. For the finishing touch, a small Buyao (hairpin with decorations that swing as you walk) is added to the front. The hairstyle originally developed from an earlier style called 双环髻/Shuang Huan Ji (Double Hooped Ji), which was popular among single women and court ladies during the Wei/Jin and Northern & Southern dynasties. The Double Hooped Immortal-Seeking Ji was fashionable during the Tang - Song dynasties:

2. 飞仙髻/Fei Xian Ji (Flying Immortal Ji):

This hairstyle, which consists of two tall twin loops on either side of the head, first appeared during the Han dynasty. Legend has it that during that time, the Heavenly Mother of the Jade Palace visited Emperor Wu Di. He was so astounded by the visit that he recorded the flying immortals’ hairstyle, and asked his court maidens to imitate it. The Flying Immortal Ji is thus commonly used in depictions of immortals. It was also worn by young girls, as well as being a popular hairstyle for traditional dances and performances:   

To create the hairstyle, start with a high ponytail atop the head. Next, split the hair into two segments and form each into a loop, and then wrap the ends around the base of the ponytail. Use hairpins to keep the coils of hair in place, and reinforce with another hair tie as needed. Finally, decorate generously with hair accessories. Semiprecious stone pins, jade combs, and delicate ornaments of metal were popular choices of the past.

For a visual depiction of how the Flying Immortal Ji is created, there’s a helpful video tutorial here:

The back is just as beautiful as the front!

Hope this helps!

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The video shows a generous helping of hair accessories made presumably with modern materials (as in, there’s no way to achieve this look solely with the hair on one’s head). Is there any discussion on what historically women would have used?

Historically Chinese women kept their hair very, very long (Confucianism forbade the cutting of hair), so I don’t think it’s completely inconceivable that women could’ve created such gravity-defying styles using just their natural hair, along with the help of hair ornaments to hold the hair in place. 

Nevertheless, they most likely did use wigs/fake hair/hair extensions to create these styles. Wigs became prevalent in China starting from the Spring and Autumn period (771 - 476 BC) when they were popularized by upper-class women, and were widely used by women until the 20th century, when hairstyles became simpler (sources: 1, 2). Fake hair (假发/Jia Fa) could be made from real human hair (typically that of the lower class). Fake hair made from artificial materials such as horsetail, filigree, or yarn was called 假髻/Jia Ji. 

Nowadays, you can find all sorts of wigs/fake hair/hair extensions for traditional Chinese hairstyles on Taobao :P

Changwu County, Shaaxi Province.Don’t forget hair gel! 头油 or mousse was an essential part of any woman’s cosmetic kit. As early as the Warring States period, the Chu scholar Song Yu mentions in his Ode to a Goddess “her hair awash in orchid essence held the fragrance of pollia flowers.” Mousse at the time was made from orchids and lard and called orchid essence 兰泽 or orchid paste 兰膏. With the opening of the Silk Road during the Han Dynasty, China began importing sesame oil, which became a key ingredient of mousse, which was now called “fragrant essence” 香泽. The Shiming dictionary defines 香泽 as “chronically dry hair is soaked in this for rejuvenation. It is often listed alongside face powder and rouge as a essential part of a woman’s makeup routine. By the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the agricultural encyclopedia  Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People 齐民要术 (Qimin Yaoshu) lists a recipe for hair gel. Wrap cloves, patchouil, medick, and orchids in a gauze kerchief and soak in high grade rice wine (which would have been yellow and been 10-20% alcohol level due to distilling techniques) to form extract, mix extract with one portion lard and two portions sesame oil, cook mixture to boiling in a copper sauce pan, then lower the flames, dip the kerchief-wrapped spices in the pan, and simmer until all water is evaporated (indicated by the lack of bubbling), then mix in some wormwood for a brown or green color before bottling for later use. Emperor Wu of Liang, one of the Southern Dynasties, noted sesame harvested in the eight month (September of Gregorian Calendar) is best suited for making mousse. Hair gels were not limited to women. The Emperor of the Western Wei Dynasty, Yuan Baoju, used an Imperial grade mousse that cost millions of copper yuan to create. Around the Sui and Tang Dynasties, women began favoring osamanthus oil and camellia oil. During the Song Dynasty, osamanthus oil mousse was considered the best type of hair product. A recipe given in the Fragrance Manual 香谱, a must-have guide to all perfumes, incenses, and scents, calls for collecting a dipper (10 liters) of half-opened osamanthus flowers in the early morning, gently mixing it with a pound of sesame oil, boiling the mix in a sealed clay pot for about an hour, and storing it in a dry place for ten days, then filtering the oil and mixing it with wax to form mousse. However, by the Qing Dynasty, it was camellia oil that came out on top. In Qu Dajun’s New Words from Canton 广东新语, he noted that people of all regions and all walks of life all sought camellia oil mousse, because in their opinion it was best at soaking up fragrances. A Qing Dynasty cookbook, Compilation of Cauldron Flavorings 调鼎集, has a recipe for rose hair mousse. Dry out rose petals in a dark area, pickle in potassium alum, grind the roses into paste, and mix with camellia oil. Heartleaf Aptenia Mousse, produced in Canton, even found a place in foreign markets.

Like preceding dynasties, the Tang Dynasty used wigs. They were not called called 假髻 false hair outright but 义髻 adopted hair. They usually came pre-styled. Some were made of human or animal hair, but some were made of painted wood.

Wig made of hair excavated from Astana Tombs site.

Wooden wig painted with white honeysuckle pattern. It was capped over the head like hat, then secured to the actual hair with hairpins.

The Double Immortality-Seeking Hoops are a form of child hair. Like other double buns, it was mostly used for unmarried young women. It was most popular among dancing girls during the early to mid-Tang, as hooped hair made dancers seem extra graceful and ethereal.

Ceramic Tang Dynasty Dancer figurine, displayed in the Shaanxi History Museum, excavated in 1985 from Zaoyuan Village, Changwu County, Shaaxi Province

Dancers, musicians, and serving girls from the tombs of Taizong’s Imperial Consorts Lady Wei and Lady Yan at the Zhaoling Mausoleum in Shaanxi

Mural of Empress Wu Zetian with attendants from Afrāsiāb site in Samarkand. Notably, this is one of the few surviving contemporary depictions of Wu Zetian, though it’s doubtful if the artists working on the mural ever went to China

Other varieties of hooped hair, such as the Flying Fairy Hoops or the single-hooped Cloud-brushing Chignon or the triple-hooped Aspara Hoops, were not so popular, but would be used for depictions of goddesses and asparas.

Northern Zhou Dynasty Aspara from Cave 296 of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang

Sui Dynasty Asparas from Cave 404 of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang

There was also the Startled Swan Chignon, which might haveh had hoops depending on time frame

Clothed wood figurine from the tomb of Zhang Xiong, a Kuchan nobleman of the early Tang Dynasty

Fresco of a serving woman from Imperial Consort Wei’s tomb at Zhaoling, constructed during the reign of Emperor Gaozong

Engravings from the tomb of Princess Yongtai, constructed late into Gaozong’s reign