General description: From her headdress (Liangbatou), this doll appears to represent a noble Manchu lady of the Qing dynasty from the early 20th century. However, the rest of her clothing is not Manchu, but the clothing of Han Chinese nobility (Hanfu). The styles of the tunic (Shan) and skirt (Liu Xian Qun) come from various earlier dynasties. Due to the main colour of the tunic being light green, this could indicate that it is a costume for the spring. The butterflies and peonies on the costume also have important symbolic meanings, too.
Dimensions 32 x 11 x 8.5 cm on a base 12.5 x 12.5 x 1 cm.
Date when acquired 2024
Original Date Unknown
Source Flea market, Göttingen, Germany
Body
Up to her waist she is made of a cylindrical structure, which is hidden by her clothing. Above this she has a plastic head and hands. Her arms seem to be made of padded material over a wire base. I am not too certain what her upper torso is made of as it is hidden by her clothing, too.
She has Chinese features, with the details painted on. Her eyes do not move. Her black silky hair is drawn back from her face and formed into a bun on top of her head to which her headdress is fixed. The fine hairs around her face are painted on. The lower cylinder and the hem of her skirt are stuck to a square board, made of black plastic laminate on top of a piece of chipboard. The plastic is white underneath.
Clothing
Her noble clothes are a mixture of styles that belong to two ruling ethnicities: Manchu and Han. Her headdress is the youngest part of her costume, being from the early part of the 20th century when the Manchu or Qing were the ruling elite in China. Han Chinese clothing (Hanfu) has a very long history (more than 3,000 years) and this woman’s skirt and tunic seem to reflect different epochs.
Her long-sleeved silken tunic has a round collar (yuanling or panling) closed on the right. It has slits at the bottom on each side. Originally, such tunics would have been embroidered but this doll’s tunic has been printed in a design consisting of butterflies and peonies. The main colours are lime green and pink, with the green possibly indicating the spring season. Butterflies are symbols of love, freedom, romance, and beauty, while the peony is a symbol of wealth and prosperity and is considered one of the most beautiful flowers in China. A high collar is typical of 20th century Qing. However, the tunic does not have a high collar attached to it, but a separate collar formed by piece of pink ribbon held in place by a golden brooch with a red jewel in the centre.
Her long skirt (Liu Xian Qun) is made of pink silk and has narrow knife pleats. The hem is in a trumpet shape, which was typical of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE — 9 CE) and served to hide the woman’s shoes/feet while she was walking.
Her tall headdress (Liangbatou) is a symbol of the Manchu. Such Manchu headdresses had different forms and this one is typical of the Qing dynasty in the early 20th century. Its parts are made of both thick and thin pieces of black felt, with gold braid around the base. Its winged style is called Dalachi. Typical for court ladies, the liangbatou is decorated with a long red tassel hanging from each of the “wings” of the headdress. Each tassel is held in place by a golden brooch consisting of five flower-like circles surrounding a central circle. A huge artificial red peony is stuck to the top of the headdress. The size and complexity of this Liangbatou shows how rich and important the lady is.
Accessories
She has a typical round Chinese fan (Tuanshan) in her right hand, with a design of peonies on it. It does not have a handle, though the original ones do. It is also made of paper instead of silk. I do not know what the Chinese characters mean, but they were often quotes from famous poems, etc.
Background information
TheLiangbatou or Erbatou is a hairstyle/headdress worn by Manchu women and became a symbol of this ethnicity in China. In its original form, it was a tall headdress that featured two handfuls of hair, parted to each side of the head, sometimes with the addition of wire frames, extensions and ornamentation. The Liangbatou was originally created by twisting the wearer’s hair up and around a flat strip known as the Bianfang. The Bianfang was usually made of ivory, wood or precious metal. Eventually, the Liangbatou evolved from a hairstyle into a headpiece with added structural components. The hair was held together by silk cording. The headdress frame was wrapped with stiffened black satin, which gave it a defined angle and sharp edges. A wire-mesh base was placed on top of the wearer’s head for support. This wire-based frame enabled the styles to become more decorative and elaborate. The bianfang began to evolve from function to fashion, allowing higher and wider headpieces that demonstrated social status. The Liangbatou had two basic styles: a simpler one called Yizitou and a more elaborate one with “wings” called Dalachi. However, the Liangbatou was distinctly different depending on group, class and region within the multi-ethnic Qing society. In many ways, the liangbatou is similar to Mongol headdresses, but those used by the Mongol women did not have flowery accessories (see Mongolia: General information — headdresses).
Particularly during the Qing dynasty, the headpiece spread into a fan shape that sat on the wearer’s head like a flat crown. It featured flowers like the peony and chrysanthemum and had silk tassels (as in this doll). Court ladies usually preferred intricate floral arrangements with jade, pearl, coral and other semi-precious stones. Common women preferred a less ornate look that featured inlaid metals and velvet flowers. Hairpins used to attach the headdress often emphasised wealth and beauty. Jade and stone hairpins were usually worn by the wealthy, while commoners used pins made of silver and bone. After the Qing dynasty was overthrown in 1911, Manchu women adopted Han-style clothing and adopted the Chinese chignon.
Historically, the Chinese tunic (Shan) has had various styles, shapes and lengths. It was worn by both women and men. The Shan was usually worn outside of the lower garment, but some fashions led to the Shan being worn under the other garments. As in this doll, Hanfu tunics tended to be closed on the right unless the person was in mourning and then the clothing was closed on the left.
This doll’s Shan has a round collar (Yuanling or Panling). Interestingly, in ancient China, clothing with round collars were typically introduced and/or influenced by foreign ethnicities (e.g. Donghu, Mongols, Sogdians, or Wuhu) at different times in Chinese history. For Han Chinese women, the stand-up collar became a defining feature of their long tunic. During the Qing Dynasty, the high collar continued to be used but it was not a common feature in clothing before the 20th century. In the late Qing, the high collar become more popular and was integrated in the tunic and robe of both the Han Chinese and the Manchu, becoming a regular garment feature instead of an occasional feature.
Pleated skirts were worn in the Han Dynasty of China more than 2,000 years ago. The name of such skirts is Liu Xian Qun (Liuxian skirt; lit., the skirt that makes the fairy stay) and is based on a legend from that time. However, this doll’s skirt has also characteristics of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE — 9 CE): it reaches to the ground and the hem is trumpet-shaped, making it difficult to expose the shoes/feet whilst walking.
The rigid circular hand fan carried by this doll originated in China. It has three different names: tuanshan (lit. circular fan), gongshan (lit. palace fan), bian mian (lit. fan of reunion). Such fans were/are made of silk or rice paper and usually have a handle. They are typically circular or oval in shape.
The choice of colour and design was important in Chinese clothing as they had symbolic meanings. Clothing was made in different colours to denote the seasons: spring green, summer red, seasonal summer yellow, autumn white, and winter black. Butterflies have long been considered in Chinese culture as symbols of love, freedom, romance, and beauty. The image of butterflies lingering over flowers often suggests the felicitous union between a man and a woman as women are often likened to blossoms. The peony is a symbol of wealth and prosperity and is considered one of the most beautiful flowers in China. The colour of a peony also conveys different meanings. The ones on this dress are pink (affection and romance), red (true passion), and yellow/gold (wishing luck and prosperity). White peonies mean you are thinking of someone. Nowadays, bouquets of peonies are presented in China according to the sentiment of the giver; a bouquet of red peonies is the ultimate, “I love you”. So, this doll’s clothing is not only pretty but its decoration has an intrinsic meaning.
The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China (1644—1912) and the last imperial dynasty in Chinese history. It is often called the Manchu dynasty in English. It was founded by the Manchu, descendants of a sedentary farming people known as the Jurchens, a Tungusic people who lived in NE China (now the Chinese provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang). The Manchu are still a recognized minority in China.
The Manchu had a different traditional clothing style (Manfu or Qizhuang) to that of the Han Chinese, the majority ethnicity in China. The Manfu included a whole system of attire used for different occasions with varying degrees of formality. The development of women’s clothing in the Qing Dynasty varied between the Han and Manchu ethnic groups.
The Han Chinese (aka Han people) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. They are not only the largest ethnic group in China (90%), but in the whole world (ca. 17.5% of the global population). The Han Chinese originated in Northern China and trace their ancestry back to the Huaxia, a confederation of agricultural tribes that lived along the Yellow River. The Huaxia identity developed during a period known as the Warring States (475–221 BCE). Traditional Han clothing (Hanfu) has a recorded history of more than three millennia until the end of the Ming dynasty (1368 — 1644). As such, it is highly varied and complex and sadly, I do not have room here to discuss it any further.
Source(s) of information
Chinese Flowers: Their Cultural Significance and Symbolism (
(4.2.2)