Why do most of the characters in Hong Kong films and TV dramas about the Qing Dynasty not shave their hair but wear braids?

Most of the films and TV dramas about the Qing Dynasty filmed in Hong Kong did not shave their heads, but directly tied their hair in braids. There are two main reasons for this.

Market reasons

The initial popularity of Hong Kong movies and TV shows was due to their export to Southeast Asia. Therefore, most of Hong Kong's movies and TV series are designed to cater to consumers in Southeast Asia.

At that time, these Chinese in Southeast Asia were mainly descendants of immigrants from the Qing Dynasty, and the reason their ancestors immigrated was because of the tyranny of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, these Chinese could be said to hate the Qing government deeply. In addition, when these Chinese refugees first arrived in Southeast Asia, they were bullied and insulted by many foreigners because they had long braids, so they were very repelled by these yin and yang braids.

In the end, in order to cater to the audiences in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong filmmakers came up with the method of keeping braids without shaving their heads. This method was eventually accepted by the general audience, so it continued.

Reason for the actor

As we all know, the 1980s and 1990s can be said to be the golden age of Hong Kong movies. At that time, Hong Kong was known as the Hollywood of the East. Because it has a huge market, there is no need to worry about the movie being difficult to sell. Therefore, in order to increase production, most films do not strive for excellence. Instead, they adopt a rough development route and strive to complete production in a few months or even a few weeks.

At that time, actors were also rising due to the market, and their salaries were very high. Therefore, when a film is produced in just a few weeks, or a month or two, they will consider the needs of the next film and will not choose to shave their heads at all.