Date of Award

5-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in History

Department

History

First Reader/Committee Chair

Murray, Jeremy

Abstract

The queue hairstyle that was enforced on all Chinese men for over 260 years in China was, in fact, not a Chinese hairstyle. It can be traced to the Jurchen tribes north of the Great Wall and became a complex political and cultural symbol under the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644-1911). The queue signified many things to different people at different times from its 1645 widespread implementation to its sudden disappearance following the revolution of 1911. It is in this ambiguity that the queue provides a rich analytical window through which curious minds can observe sentiments of Ming loyalism, bodily modification, nationalism, and tradition in late imperial and early republican China.

Included in

Asian History Commons

Share

COinS