China has been a multi-ethnic country since ancient times. Why did the Manchus and Qing Dynasties have to shave their heads when they entered the customs?

In 1875, Mori Yurei, the Japanese Minister to China, pointed out in front of the conservative Li Hongzhang: "Your country has long hanging hair and big and thick shoes, which are not suitable for our people. Diligence is the foundation of wealth, and neglect is poverty. However, our country does not want to be poor due to neglect, but wants to get rich through hard work, so it abandons the old and replaces it with the new."

Li Hongzhang, who never thought of being the reform leader of the Qing Dynasty, said stubbornly: "The old system of clothes. It embodies the legacy of our ancestors and should be cherished and preserved by our descendants for generations to come. Our country will never carry out such changes. It is only necessary for weapons, railways, telecommunications and other equipment to be imported from foreign countries."

The Qing Dynasty was even more frightened because the government students who had been sent to the United States had their pigtails cut off due to the influence of Western education and culture. They pointed out that they had changed their minds and deviated from the tradition. In order to avoid destroying the ancestral system, they mercilessly moved away from home in 1881. In 2008, all students studying in the United States were withdrawn, which allowed China to have more sparks with modern civilization, but it was abandoned halfway. So what is the purpose of the Manchu Qing Dynasty requiring Chinese people to wear braids?

First of all, we all know that shaving and braiding hair was a policy enforced by the Qing Dynasty after it took over the Central Plains. "Since the announcement of the order, all provinces inside and outside the capital, directly under the Central Government, must be shaved within ten days. If you avoid borrowing hair and argue with clever words, you will never lend lightly." This is the so-called "keep your head but not your hair" as we know it. "Keep your hair but not your head." Regarding shaving and braiding, not only would ordinary people be beheaded if they did not shave their heads, but even officials in the Qing Dynasty who dared to make false comments on this matter would be killed without mercy.

Shaving and braiding represent the Manchus’ conquest of the Han people. Therefore, this bad habit has been resisted to varying degrees by the Han people during the 200 years of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. It was even enforced with high pressure, with the heads of countless Han people falling to the ground. of. At the same time, having braids makes it much more convenient when beheading. Pulling on the braids, the criminal to be sentenced can only obediently lead his neck to be beheaded. After cutting it, it is very convenient to show the braid to the public.

Mr. Lu Xun actually saw another use of braiding required by the Qing Dynasty. "When the government arrests people, they can pull them to save the need for ropes. If there are many people being arrested, just hold the ends of the braids and one person can lead a large number of them."

That's why Mr. Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of the revolution, would He believed that "this braid is just one of the many humiliations suffered by China." After the success of the Revolution of 1911, Lu Xun's greatest feeling about the revolution was: "On Double Ten in 1911, the white flag was also hoisted in Shaoxing, which was regarded as a revolution. Now, I feel that the biggest and most unforgettable benefit of the revolution is that I can walk slowly down the street with my head held high, without hearing any ridicule.

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