Zhang Ruying’s Notes: From《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》Accessories (Tang Dynasty Tianbao Era, Lady Song 宋氏)
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- About《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》
- Tang Dynasty Tianbao Era: The Peaceful People in Chang’an
- Lady Song (宋氏)
- Restoration Basis of the Image
Introduction
你好 Hello!
I’m 张儒英 Zhang Ruying, and I have a deep passion for traditional Chinese fashion.
Recently, I had the opportunity to read a book about traditional Chinese attire, especially for the Tang dynasty (618-907), written in Chinese, titled《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》by 左丘萌 and 末春. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and to better understand parts of it, I translated sections that I found challenging. I also made notes (written in English) along the way to help deepen my understanding.
Now, I’m thrilled to share these notes with you! I aim to help us all gain a deeper appreciation for the elegance and historical significance of traditional Chinese attire, which is so rich in history and beauty.
All the information in these notes comes from the book 《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》.
About《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》
《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》(Zhōng Guó Zhuāng Shù: Dà Táng Nǚ’ér Xíng) by 左丘萌 (Zuǒ Qiūméng) and 末春 (Mò Chūn) attempts to reinterpret the true fashion of women’s makeup and attire during the Tang dynasty, based on archaeological findings of Tang artifacts.
It contrasts these findings with historical records and unearthed documents to reframe how the Tang people themselves might have viewed fashion in their time.
The book covers from the Sui dynasty to the Five Dynasties, and is divided into four sections: Qi Luo 绮罗 (clothing), Lin Lang 琳琅 (accessories), Fen Dai 粉黛 (makeup), and Ji Huan 髻鬟 (hairstyles).
Each section carefully examines and details the names, styles, and combinations of different makeup and attire from that period.
The book selects well-known historical figures, such as Yang Guifei, Wu Zetian, Shangguan Wan’er, Nie Yinniang, Princess Tongchang, and others, based on existing archaeological findings, makes informed speculations to restore the possible makeup and attire of these figures. The book reconstructs their clothing, accessories, hairstyles, makeup, and scenes, all supported by historical sources.
盛唐天宝：长安城里的太平人
Tang Dynasty Tianbao Era: The Peaceful People in Chang’an
Lady Song (宋氏 ; Sòng shì)
In 1955, archaeologists from Shaanxi Province discovered a Tang dynasty tomb near Hansenzhai (韩森寨 ; hán sēn zhài), on the eastern outskirts of Xi’an.
Based on the tomb inscription, it was determined that the tomb belonged to Lady Song, a woman with the title “Le Shou Junjun (乐寿郡君 ; lè shòu jùn jūn, Noble Lady of Le Shou)”, the wife of a high-ranking official in Chang’an during the mid-8th century.
After her husband’s passing, Lady Song embraced Buddhism and took the title “Gongde Shanju Zhang (功德山居长 ; gōng dé shān jū zhǎng)”. In the fourth year of the Tianbao era (745), near the end of her life, she instructed her devoted children to build a pagoda in her honor.
From this perspective, it seems that Lady Song lived in a golden age, enjoying prosperity, having devoted children, and leading a seemingly stable and happy life. However, if we strip away the embellishments of the tomb inscription, which may be exaggerated, we find that reality is not entirely so.
Lady Song came from generations of commoners in Jingzhao and had no official status or background in a noble family. However, she was known for her gentle, intelligent, and wise nature. At the age of fifteen, she happened to catch the attention of a powerful eunuch named Lord Lei (雷府君 Léi Fǔjūn).
Lord Lei wanted to marry her. To make the marriage appear more fitting, Song was adopted by an aristocratic family before the wedding. Although her husband was a eunuch, he held great power and served as the head of the imperial palace. With this status, his wife was also entitled to receive a noblewoman’s title, no different from the wives of officials and royalty of earlier times.
After their marriage, Song was granted the title “Noble Lady of Le Shou 乐寿郡君” and, alongside her husband, managed both their household and state affairs, achieving prosperity and success. She also had adopted sons and daughters who loyally served her. On the surface, her life appeared to be full of glory and wealth.
Marriages between eunuchs and women were not uncommon at that time. For example, during the reign of Emperor Tang Xuanzong, the influential eunuch Gao Lishi (高力士 ; Gāo Lìshì) also married a woman named Lady Lü (吕氏 ; Lǚ shì). Because of this marriage, Lady Lü’s father, Lü Xianwu (吕玄晤 ; Lǚ Xuánwù), who was initially just a minor official, rose in rank to become a deputy minister. Moreover, the entire Lü family benefited, with her sons and relatives securing positions in the government. When Lady Lü’s mother passed away, Gao Lishi’s influence ensured that her funeral was grand, with a continuous stream of carriages and mourners from the house to the tomb.
However, for young women of that era, spending their lives with a eunuch was far from an ideal fate. Some chose to shave their heads and become Buddhist nuns, while others fiercely resisted—even to the point of ending their own lives as an act of defiance.
With no other choice, Song eventually accepted her fate and placed all her hopes in Buddhism, seeking inner peace. After her husband, Lord Lei passed away, she delved deeper into Buddhist teachings, hoping to attain freedom in her next life.
Near the end of her life, she left a final request, stating that she had “lived a pure and virtuous life” and wished to “build a separate pagoda and tomb” so that she would not be buried with her eunuch husband.
When Lady Song was buried, her hair was adorned with a gold sparrow-shaped hairpin and a gemstone-encrusted headdress, while her neck bore a gold necklace with crystal beads—all luxurious accessories fashionable during the peak of the Tang dynasty in the Tianbao era. Today, historians and artifact researchers often use her jewelry as representative examples of the period’s accessory styles.
Yet, few realize that behind the grandeur of a Tang noblewoman’s attire and ornaments, Lady Song once walked alone, hidden in the crevices of history, in a silence that was barely heard.
Restoration Basis of the Image
Since Lady Song’s tomb was discovered during the early stages of archaeological research, the original position of her jewelry could not be confirmed. Therefore, this reconstruction is based only on the makeup and fashion styles popular during the Tianbao era.
The way of wearing the headdress refers to the figure of a noblewoman carved on the tomb of Consort Wu Hui (武惠妃 ; wǔ huì fēi). Her long hair was left flowing down to her shoulders, then loosely gathered and lifted upwards, forming a small bun at the front of the head, decorated with Huadian.
Introduction to Jewelry: Hua Dian and Gold Hairpins (花钿金钗 ; huā diàn jīn chāi)
In Bai Juyi’s poem《长恨歌》(cháng hèn gē), which describes the death of Yang Guifei at Mawei Po, the following lines appear:
六军不发无奈何，宛转蛾眉马前死。
花钿委地无人收，翠翘金雀玉搔头。
Six armies did not move, nothing could be done,
With arched brows, she perished before the horse.
Huadian scattered on the ground, no one to collect them,
Jade sparrows on gold hairpins and green-gemmed combs left without an owner.
The jewelry mentioned in this poem had real historical counterparts. The Huadian (花钿) paired with silver was one of the most distinctive accessories of the Tang dynasty at its peak. A notable example is the silver hairpin discovered in the tomb of Lady Yuan (袁氏夫人 ; Yuánshì fūrén) from the 17th year of Emperor Kaiyuan’s reign (729) in Anyang, Henan. This hairpin features a flower-shaped gold head with a mechanism at the back to attach the pin’s legs.
Lady Song’s Huadian closely resembles the jewelry described in Bai Juyi’s poem as “golden sparrows with green wings (翠翘金雀 ; cuì qiào jīn què)”. This ornament has a flower-shaped base surrounded by fine gold granules and is adorned with red and green gemstones. At its center, there is a small golden sparrow or phoenix standing with its wings spread, crafted from delicate gold filaments.
After the peak of the Tang dynasty, many poets from the middle Tang period often reminisced about the grandeur of the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras by referencing such jewelry in their verses.
One of the clearest depictions of this is found in《旧宫人》(jiù gōng rén) by Wang Jian from the middle Tang period:
先帝旧宫宫女在，乱丝犹挂凤凰钗。
霓裳法曲浑抛却，独自花间扫玉阶。
Old Palace Attendants/Concubines from the Former Emperor remain,
Entangled threads still hang from the phoenix hairpin.
The melody of the Nichang dance has long been abandoned,
Alone, she sweeps the jade steps among the flowers.
There is also a poem titled《开池得古钗》(kāi chí dé gǔ chāi), in which the phoenix hairpin discovered by the woman remains in the same style—a fusion of silver floral designs and gold hairpins—from the golden age of the Tang dynasty:
美人开池北堂下，拾得宝钗金未化。
凤凰半在双股齐，钿花落处生黄泥。
当时堕地觅不得，暗想窗中还夜啼。
可知将来对夫婿，镜前学梳古时髻。
莫言至死亦不遗，还似前人初得时。
The beautiful woman opened the pool under the north hall,
She finds a gold hairpin that has not yet melted.
Half of the phoenix remains intact, with two parallel stems,
The floral ornament falls to the ground, covered in yellow mud.
Once, it fell to the ground, never to be found,
Only sobs could be heard behind the window at night.
Who knew that one day, before her husband,
She would learn to comb her hair into the old-fashioned bun before the mirror.
Do not say it will never disappear, even to the end of her life,
It remains as it was when first discovered by its owner.
Introduction to Jewelry: Crystal Bead Necklaces (水精珠缨 ; shuǐ jīng zhū yīng)
The Tang people often referred to necklaces as Xiangying (项璎 ; xiàng yīng) or Zhuying (珠缨 ; zhū yīng), which involved stringing various types of beads with silk thread to form Ying Luo (璎珞 ; yīng luò), a type of decorative necklace.
During that time, the common beads used in these necklaces included: one type was pearls (珍珠 / 真珠). In the Dunhuang Sutra Caves (敦煌藏经洞), in the song《云谣集杂曲子 · 天仙子》(yún yáo jí zá qǔzǐ · tiān xiān zǐ), the Tang people described women’s tears as pearls:
负妾一双偷泪眼。泪珠若得似真珠，拈不散。知何限。串向红丝应百万。
Betrayed by the maidservant, a pair of eyes silently crying.
If the tears were like real pearls,
Pinched but not unraveled,
Who knows how many,
Strung together with red thread, surely a million.
Another type of bead was crystal (水晶 / 水精). From the Dunhuang manuscripts, a lost poem by Bai Juyi titled《禅月大师悬水精念珠诗》(chán yuè dà shī xuán shuǐ jīng niàn zhū shī) reads:
磨琢春冰一样成，更将红线贯珠缨。
似垂秋露连连滴，不湿禅衣点点清。
弃抛乍看帘外雨，散罗如睹雾中星。
要知奉福明王处，常念观音水月名。
Polished and shaped like spring ice,
Then strung together with red thread to form a bead necklace.
It looks like autumn dew that drips continuously,
Not wetting the monk’s robe, its droplets so clear.
If discarded, it briefly appears like rain outside the curtain,
If scattered, it seems like stars in the mist.
Wonder where this was offered to the King of Virtuous Light,
Always remembering the name of Guanyin Shuiyue.
In a tomb buried just before the outbreak of the An Lushan Rebellion, in the 14th year of Tianbao (755), a well-preserved necklace was discovered. This necklace consisted of 92 crystal beads, three blue stone beads, four gold flower mounts, two amethyst pendants, and two turquoise pendants. The tomb’s owner, Lady Mi (米氏 ; Mǐ shì), the wife of an eunuch—Yun’an Junjun (云安郡君 ; yún ān jùn jūn), had a life story similar to that of Lady Song.
And that’s a wrap—
I hope these notes have been insightful and encourage you to dive deeper into the world of traditional Chinese fashion, particularly from the Tang dynasty. If you come across any incorrect word / translation, or you have suggestions for improvement, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me via email.
Thank you so much for your time, and I’ll do my best to keep these updated for the next part. #ZhangRuying’sNotes
See you in the next notes. And thank you 谢谢!
张儒英 Zhang Ruying