“花钗”的名实之辨

Defining the Term"Hua Chai"

古代典籍中屡屡出现的“花钗”一名,学界长期未有定论,工具书也多举其一端,罕有全面解释。典籍中的“花钗”一名而二物,一指装饰性发钗,士庶女子都可使用,以增加仪容之美,没有品级限制;一指礼制性头饰,状如花树,仅限于后妃、命妇、新娘在隆重场合佩戴,以数量多少彰显妇女身份差异。礼制性花钗又叫花树、花株,在中国历史上影响深远。它源于商周的副笄六珈制度,承自汉代的步摇形制,后又由发饰发展为冠饰,成为唐以后花钗冠、花株冠上的重要部件。

Academic circles are still failing to agree on a satisfactory definition of the term"hua chai"(花钗),often cited in ancient records,reference books,and dictionaries,however without a comprehensive explanation.It has been found that"hua chai"may stand for two different things in ancient texts.One is a decorative hairpin that could be worn by ordinary women to enhance their beauty without regard to their social standing.The other refers to ceremonial headwear,shaped like a flower tree,and only worn by empresses,noblewomen,and brides on grand occasions.The number of flowers on the headwear allowed to identify the wearer's social rank.This kind of ceremonial headwear,also called flower tree,or flower plant,has exerted a profound influence throughout Chinese history.It originated from the jade hairpin with six pearls(fu ji liu jia副笄六珈)of the Shang and Zhou dynasties,inherited the design of the buyao(步摇)head ornament of the Han dynasty,and later developed from hair ornament to headwear ornament,thus becoming an important part of the flower diadem after the Tang dynasty.