The White Qia 帢 in the Wei-Jin Period

Abstract

The qia hat has a complex history in medieval China. Since its emergence in the early third century CE, the hat appeared in various contexts and was imbued with a range of symbolic meanings. The white qia especially garnered associations relating to its color, including its participation in new aesthetic paradigms, its condemnation as an inauspicious political portent, its adoption as mourning dress, and its appearance as a narrative symbol connoting death, loss of privileged status, or non-human identity. An investigation into the hat’s history in the Wei-Jin period (220–420) indicates that attitudes towards and uses of the hat were influenced by changing aesthetic, philosophical, and political frameworks. Narrative depictions of the hat were also informed by the genre and provenance of the sources in question. In its literary transmutation as the hat of non-human figures, including ghosts and animal deities or spirits, the white qia’s narrative associations suggest fascinating points of similarity and divergence with respect to its continued usage as a human article of mourning dress. This symbolically rich piece of clothing, whose usages and meanings sometimes seem contradictory, or at the very least various, has not been adequately explored and contextualized. This article aims to provide such a study to contribute to the on-going work of deciphering the messages and meanings of dress in the early medieval period.

「帢」帽子在中世紀的中國有著很複雜的歷史。自從公元三世紀初出現以來，它具有不同的社會，美學，和政治角色，並被賦予了一系列象徵意義。尤其是「白帢」豐富的歷史，美學，和象徵意義經常與它的顏色有關。通過對魏晉時期帢的歷史的調查，發現人們對帢的態度受到不斷變化的美學和哲學範式的影響。帢的敘述性描述也受到有關資料來源的類型和出處的影響。在白帢作為非人類（鬼魂和動物神靈）的帽子的文學資料中，白帢的用法和內涵上存在著相似之處和分歧与多样性。本文旨在提供這样一項研究，為正在進行的解讀中世纪早期服飾的信息和含義的工作做出貢獻。

Keywords:

• Qia hat
• Cao Cao
• medieval Chinese dress
• mourning dress

關鍵詞:

• 帢
• 中國古代服飾
• 魏晉時期
• 曹操

Notes

1 As described in Fu Xuan’s 傅玄 (217–278) Fuzi 傅子 (Master Fu), which is preserved in quotations in the commentary to Sanguo zhi 三國志 (Record of the Three Kingdoms) by Pei Songzhi 裴松之 (372–451). See Sanguo zhi 1.53.

2 Many scholars have discussed Cao Cao’s creation of the qia and its relation to the pibian 皮弁. See, for example, Dai Zheng 1992, pp. 109–110; Doran 2019, pp. 29–30; Gao Chunming 2001, p. 233; Li Tingzhi 1992, p. 279; and Zhou – Gao 1995, p. 18.

3 See discussion of this issue in relation to Tang mourning ritual in Yi Yang 2019, pp. 2–7. For a discussion of similar issues relating to mourning ritual in the Han and late imperial periods, respectively, see Brown 2007, pp. 10–17 and Sutton 2007, pp. 125–153.

4 See Doran 2019, p. 27, note 68. For further discussion, see also Yu Zuosheng 2008, pp. 80–83.

5 Kangxi zidian 康熙字典, p. 14b.

6 Gao Chunming 2001, p. 233.

7 The Fuzi passage is quoted in Pei Songzhi’s commentary to Sanguo zhi as part of a lengthy note on the notice of Cao Cao’s death in his annals in Sanguo zhi. Sanguozhi 1.53. For pibian, see Dai Zheng 1992, pp. 88–89 and Gao Chunming 2001, pp. 201–203. The Tangyun definition of qia, quoted above, seems to be drawing on this description of the hat’s genesis.

8 See discussion in Doran 2019, 9, pp. 21–22. For more on the importance of guan as a status marker for upper-class men, see Hardy 1993, pp. 69–90. For more on social/court hierarchy and ceremonial dress, see Ge Chengyong 1992, pp. 62–63.

9 于今施行，可謂軍容，非國容也. Sanguo zhi 1.53.

10 Sanguo zhi 1.53.

11 ，魏武帝所制。初以軍中服之輕便，又作五色，以表方面也. Some editions have zhangshen 章身 (clothing) instead of junzhong 軍中 (military/army). See Gujin zhu jiao jian 古今注校箋, p. 20, including discussion of this issue in note 2.

12 Dai Zheng 1992, p. 110.

13 Da Tang xinyu 大唐新語 10.148.

14 欲悉呼外兵入，人賜白㡊，拜為散將，以次棓殺坑中. Sanguo zhi 28.792.

15 Some materials preserved in Jinshu about the Former Liang (Qian Liang 前涼, 320–376) regime suggest a different official or public use of white qia. Since the Former Liang was a different political and cultural context than the Wei and Jin, it is not possible to group together their attitudes to the hat, but it is interesting to note different uses of the white qia in different regimes during roughly the same time period. An episode described in the “Biography of Zhang Chonghua” indicates that, in the mid-fourth century Former Liang context, white qia were considered civilian clothing and were not a general’s typical military hat. When Xie Ai 謝艾 (301–354) was sent by the ruler Zhang Chonghua 張重華 (327–353) to engage in battle with the Later Zhao (Hou Zhao 後趙, 319–351) army, Xie rode an everyday civilian carriage and wore a white qia when commanding the army in order to trick the enemy general Ma Qiu 麻秋 (d. 350). Ma became enraged because he thought that Xie’s lack of proper military regalia was a sign of disrespect, enabling Xie to throw Ma off balance and ensnare the Later Zhao forces in a preplanned trap. See Jinshu 晉書 86.2242. Also, according to the biography of Zhang Mao 張茂 (277–324), an earlier ruler of Former Liang, Zhang Mao made a deathbed request to be buried wearing his white qia, instead of his formal court dress (that is, to not be buried as a prince), to show his allegiance as a vassal of the Jin state. See Jinshu 86.2233.

16 簡易隨時之義. Sanguo zhi 1.53. In Fuzi Cao Cao’s penchant for casualness is portrayed neutrally or positively (given the hat’s connection with frugality), but the note’s further quotation from the fictional source Cao Man zhuan 曹瞞傳 (Biography of Cao Cao or Cao the Concealer) describes his preference for casual clothing (including qia) as part of his overall lack of dignified demeanor and explains how his seeming casualness in interpersonal interactions was belied by his harshness and pettiness in applying unjust punishments. See Sanguo zhi 1.53.

17 As mentioned above, Gao Chunming suggests that the qia was foreign in origin, not created by Cao Cao or modeled on pibian. See Gao Chunming 2001, pp. 231–232.

18 被身輕綃，身自佩小鞶囊，以盛手巾細物，時冠帢帽以見賓客. Sanguo zhi 1.53. Cao Man zhuan was a work of historical fiction about known historical figures. Based on this passage, Gao Chunming argues that qia and mao became interchangeable terms for the same type of hat. See Gao Chunming 2001, pp. 233–234. Another possibility is that the phrase qia mao 帢帽 was meant to designate a “qia hat,” with mao being the general category and qia being the specific type of hat.

19 Songshu 宋書 18.520.

20 Xu Yuan was a prominent minister, historian, and writer during the Liu-Song dynasty. His historical writings were a major source for the Songshu. For his official biography, see Songshu 94.2306–2312.

21 Songshu 18.520.

22 形如. Songshu 18.520.

23 See discussion in Zhu Dawei et al. 2005, p. 57 and Zhou –Gao 1995, pp. 26–30.

24 聽尚書八座丞郎，門下三省侍郎乘車白帢低幘出入掖門。又二宮直官著烏紗帢。然則士人宴居，皆著帢矣. Songshu 18.520. See also Jinshu 25.771 where the alternate character qia 㡊 is used.

25 Jinshu 25.771.

26 建安中，魏武帝造白帢. See Bowu zhi 6.29.

27 Bowu zhi 6.29.

28 Zhou Tian 2010, pp. 43–44, 46. Other scholars have also posited a connection between a new Wei-Jin fashion aesthetic and the decline in Confucian ritualism. See, for example, Ning Jiayu 2008, pp. 12–18 and Li Jie 2010, pp. 98–103.

29 See Doran 2021, pp. 3–23 and Chen 2018, pp. 68–77. On the authorship of Shishuo xinyu, see, among others, Xiao Hong 1981, pp. 8–24 and Fan Ziye 1998, pp. 36–98.

30 Gao Chunming 2001, pp. 231–232.

31 For a discussion of how Buddhist ideas and artifacts influenced, and were influenced by, Chinese material culture, see Kieschnick 2003.

32 For example, according to a well-known episode in Gautama Buddha’s biography, upon his conception, his mother Queen Maya dreamt of a white elephant. The white elephant was thus a symbol of the Buddha and his miraculous conception. See discussion in Kieschnick 2003, pp. 83–84.

33 著衣帢具如平生; and 天上有冠不著此也。後乃著天冠. Fayuan zhulin 5.10b–11b.

34 Shishuo xinyu jiao jian 世說新語校箋, pp. 852–853 (26.21). See detailed discussion of the passage in Doran 2021, pp. 16-17 and Ning Jiayu 2008, p. 14.

35 See Doran 2021, p. 18, note 52 and Doran 2019, p. 43.

36 See discussions in Dai Zheng 1992, pp. 107–108, Zhu Dawei et al. 2005, pp. 55–56, and Zhou – Gao 1995, pp. 19–20.

37 See discussion in Zhu Dawei et al. 2005, p. 57. Some later southern and northern dynastic regimes continued to use qia of unspecified color as part of required official dress for certain occasions. During the Chen 陳 (557–589) dynasty, danyi 單衣 and qia were requisite wear for court officials visiting commoners – the informal nature of qia underscoring the status differential between minister and commoner. See Suishu 隋書 11.236. At some point during Northern Zhou (Bei Zhou 北周, 557–581), both civil and military officials were required to wear, as court dress, their regular dress paired with “guan [cap] shaped like the Wei qia” (冠形如魏帢). Suishu 11.247. Another interesting ritual use of qia involved the appeasement of Heaven following an eclipse, which seems to have been practiced in both the north and south. According to Nanshi 南史 (History of the Southern Dynasties), Southern Qi (Nan Qi 南齊, 479–502) Emperor Ming 明 (r. 494–498) wore danyi qia 單衣帢 (unlined robes and qia), along with other ritual purification and appeasement measures, when an eclipse occurred in 494 soon after he took the throne by deposing the Prince of Hailing 海陵. Nanshi 南史 5.141. Suishu 隋書 (History of the Sui) states that the Northern Qi (Bei Qi 北齊, 550–577) emperors wore baiqia danyi 白袷單衣, with 袷 possibly functioning as a loan for 帢, as part of a complex sequence of rituals undertaken in the event of an eclipse. Suishu 8.170.

38 Songshu 18.520.

39 蓋自魏始也。梁令，天子為朝臣等舉哀則服之。今亦準此。其服，白紗單衣，承以裙襦，烏皮履。舉哀臨喪則服之. Suishu 12.267.

40 I am indebted to one of the anonymous reviewers of this article for this important point.

41 See, for example, the discussion in Gao Chunming 2001, p. 232.

42 The mourning dress is given in Jinshu as 白㡊單衣 and in Songshu as 白單衣, with 㡊 and both being alternate characters for 帢. See Jinshu 25.766 and Songshu 18.502.

43 Jinshu 25.766 and Songshu 18.502.

44 Songshu 18.520.

45 今白帢深衣，當古吊服. Taiping yulan 688.6a.

46 Yiwen leiju 藝文類聚, “Libu xia” 禮部下, “Diao” 弔 9, p. 40.

47 Nan Qishu 南齊書 10.162 and 17.341; Suishu 8.156 (on Sui), 11.216 (on Liang), 11.239–240 (on Northern Wei and Northern Qi), and 11.256–258 (on Sui); Jiu Tangshu 舊唐書 45.1936; and Xin Tangshu 新唐書 24.516. See also Tongdian 通典 61.1717 (on Southern Qi and Liang).

48 Zhu Dawei et al. 2005, p. 57.

49 釋戎服，著白帢，與秀相見，神色自若. Jinshu 54.1480. The same episode was incorporated into Taiping yulan, in which baiqia is written as 白袷. See Taiping yulan, “Xingfa bu” 刑法部 11 (誅).

50 Jinshu 8.214. Several examples from later periods and different political contexts also imply the continued association between qia, loss of privileged status, and impending death. In these cases, the color of the qia is not specified. According to Nan Qishu, Xiao Yaoguang 蕭遙光 (468–499), a cousin and close confidante of Emperor Ming of Qi (Qi Mingdi 齊明帝, r. 494–498), retreated to his study and donned yiqia to await his fate when his headquarters were besieged in the course of his failed rebellion against Ming’s successor Marquis Donghun 東昏侯 (Xiao Baojuan 蕭寶卷, 483–501). Nan Qishu 45.791. Additionally, the Jinshu and Weishu biographies of Li Shiye 李士業 (Li Xin 李歆, r. 417–420), the ruler of Western Liang 涼 state (400–421), describe how, prior to a disastrous battle with the rival kingdom Northern Liang (397–420), in which Li Shiye was killed, an elder of Dunhuang named Linghu Chi 令狐熾 dreamt of a white-haired man wearing yiqia (robes and qia), who recited a song predicting Li Shiye’s defeat and death, and then disappeared. Jinshu 87.2270 and Weishu 魏書 99.2203. This passage suggests an additional dimension of ominous predictive power and uncanny beings or figures (the man wearing the qia).

51 Please see the section “Sources and Approach” above for a discussion of the overlap between these sources.

52 For fuyao in the pre-Tang period, see Hu Xiangqin 2014, pp. 89–96; Li – Meng 2006, pp. 427–433; Doran 2019, pp. 10–18; and Milburn 2023.

53 Soushen ji 搜神記 7.104; Songshu 30.886; and Jinshu 27.822 and 825. Whereas Soushen ji and Songshu discuss the two qia together in the same passage, Jinshu splits them into two separate entries in the fuyao section.

54 魏武軍中無故作白帢，昔此縞素凶喪之徵也. Soushen ji 7.104.

55 See Gao Chunming 2001, p. 232.

56 裁縑帛為白帢，以易舊服. Songshu 30.886 and Jinshu 27.822.

57 傅玄曰: 白乃軍容, 非國容也. Songshu 30.886 and Jinshu 27.822.

58 I am indebted to one of the anonymous reviewers of this article for these insights.

59 有一狗，著黃衣，白帢，長五六尺，眾狗共吠之. Soushen houji 搜神後記 9.109. A chi 尺 is approximately one foot.

60 王遽入，偽者亦出。二人交會中庭，俱著白帢，衣服形貌如一. Soushen houji 9.109–110.

61 初見一年少，著黃練單衣，白紗帢，甚可愛，笑語如人. Soushen houji 9.105–106.

62 It is difficult to date when the anecdote was supposed to have taken place based on the name of the prefecture. Jin’an Prefecture was established during the Western Jin, in 282, but was renamed and restructured multiple times in subsequent periods.

63 忽有一人著白帢，黃練單衣，來詣之，即同飲饌. Taiping guangji 太平廣記 469.3863.

64 有人著黃練單衣，白帢，將人持炬火上樓. Taiping yulan 956.5b. Yiwen leiju also contains this anecdote and has de 得 instead of jiang 將, and qia is written as 恰. See Yiwen leiju, “Mubu shang” 木部上, “Tong” 桐 13, p. 88.

65 Changed to xuyu 須臾 based on consultation with Yiwen leiju and the Siku quanshu edition.

66 須臾，有二婢上，使婢迎一女子上，與白帢人入帳中宿。未明，白帢人輒先去。如是四五宿。后向晨，白帢人才去，保因入帳中，持女子問：「向去者誰？」答曰：「桐侯郎，道東廟樹是也。」 Taiping yulan 956.5b.

67 Taiping yulan 956.5b.

68 著白帢，黃練單衣，自稱華林園水池中神，名曰淋涔君. Taiping guangji 294.2343–2344 and Taiping yulan 882.6a–6b. Supposedly, Xiaowu was murdered by a consort whom he had insulted. In Taiping yulan, the character jia 夾 is used for qia.

69 The record is included in the supplementary eleventh chapter of the text, which is included in some editions. In Taiping guangji, baiqia is written as 白袷. In Taiping guangji, the anecdote is attributed to Soushen ji. See Taiping guangji 323.2566–2567 and Taiping yulan 396.6b.

70 忽有一單衣白帢客來，因共言語，遂及鬼神。移日，客辭屈，乃曰：「君辭巧，理不足，僕即是鬼，何以云無？」 Taiping guangji 323.2567.

71 Baopuzi 17.2b.

72 For a discussion of records on tigers in Taiping guangji, see Liu Shuping 2002, pp. 99–104.

73 Dou cun 竇存 3.26b–27a.

74 考魏武帝擬古皮弁，裁縑帛为白帢，齊後主好令宫人以白越布折額，狀如髽幗，又為白蓋。議者以為，皆凶喪之象，所謂“服妖”是也。當事者可鋤其習已. Dou cun 3.26b–27a.

75 Instead of one of the usual graphs for qia, the text inserts the character tao 幍, also a type of hat, but quotes the passage from Songshu, which is about the qia.

76 今人必以為怪。古未以白為忌也. Tongsu bian 通俗編, 215.569.

77 Tongsu bian 215.569.

78 … 知當時固有不自忌者，而審禮君子已隨議其後矣. Tongsu bian, 215.569.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rebecca Doran

Rebecca Doran is an Associate Professor of Chinese and Director of the Chinese Language Program at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. Her monograph Transgressive Typologies: Constructions of Gender and Power in Early Tang China (Cambridge, MA 2016) examined the portrayals of early Tang women powerholders in literary and historical narratives. She has recently published articles including “Romanticizing the Past through Beauty Practices: Reconstructing and Recontextualizing Zhuangtai ji 妝臺記 (Record of the Dressing Table),” Tang Studies 41 (2023), “Clothing and Dress as Narrative Motifs in Shishuo xinyu,” CLEAR 43 (2021), and “Fashion and Historical Imagination: The Case of Sun Shou’s ‘Bewitching and Strange Appearances’,” Early Medieval China 26 (2020). Her recent work explores the sociopolitical, aesthetic, and narrative significance of clothing and dress during the medieval period in China.