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Today, when the Qing opera is popular, we see that the ladies in the palace not only have gorgeous court clothes and headdresses, you will find that they also like to wear nail covers, even one is longer than one, then in ancient times, concubines would really be allowed Do you wear such a long nail cover? The answer is yes, even when you meet the emperor, you won't pick it up!
In ancient times, civilian women and servants were not allowed to keep their nails. After all, they needed to work every day, it was inconvenient to wear a nail cover, and it was easy to break their nails. But the women in the palace are different. Even the last concubine can wear nail sleeves. This is not only to make the fingers look more slender, but more importantly, it is a status symbol! In fact, this kind of long nails existed in various dynasties, but it was most popular in the Qing Dynasty.
According to the records of "Guo Dynasty Official History", the hierarchy of Qing Dynasty concubines and concubines was roughly finalized during the Kangxi period. From top to bottom, they were: Queen, Royal Concubine, Royal Concubine, Concubine, Concubine, Noble Person, Permanent, Promise, In fact, there are the last official women, but the official women not only serve the emperor, but also need to do the same physical work as the palace maids, so they are not nominally "masters."
And those concubines with position, in order to distinguish the difference in status, honor and pet, according to the Qing law, the concubines' court attire and the number of court ladies, palace distribution, etc. are strictly classified according to rank.
Although the emperor’s harem may not be three thousand beautiful, but the emperor cannot face the same concubine every day. Even if he is very pet, he still has to return to the queen on very important festivals. Sometimes the government affairs are busy and may be very continuous. For a long time not recruiting people to wait for the bed, this caused the emperor to be particularly strange to the concubine who is less fortunate, but the emperor seldom admits the wrong person, because the general family background and status of this concubine can be known from the combination of their clothes and makeup. The length of the nail cover has become the most intuitive sign.
For some concubines, long nail sets are not only a symbol of power, but also a weapon for self-defense. For example, the Empress Dowager Cixi, who covered the sky with one hand in the late Qing Dynasty, took "nail art" to the extreme!
, as an incomparably distinguished Lafayette, has the best natural food and wear. It is said that Cixi spends a huge amount of silver on nail care every year. Every day, she soaks her nails with the secret potion made by the palace. After all, the nails will become especially fragile after they grow. The nails of the ring finger and little finger can reach seven inches in length, and they will easily break and split if you don't pay attention. In order to protect the large nails that take time to grow, the corresponding armor sleeves are also long and sharp. The material is high-quality inlaid with pearls and agates. The carved patterns are either dragon or phoenix. They are made according to the size of Cixi's fingers. , Extremely expensive, manicure tools are all from Germany.
is not only to show his supreme imperial power, but also for self-defense. Cixi once applied anesthetic on his nail sleeves to prevent others from close attacks because of their sharpness. It's easy to hurt others. It can be seen that a small and exquisite armor sleeve has many uses.
Since the "nail sleeves" are long and sharp, it stands to reason that they should be taken off when facing the emperor, otherwise, wouldn't it be easy to damage the dragon's body? But this is not the case. Concubines seldom take off their armor sleeves even when they are lucky. The emperors do not avoid them, because they will apply a layer of protective oil on them to reduce damage. Not only did ancient women use nails for their beauty, but ancient men also liked nails. According to the Secretary of History, the scholar-officials in the Warring States Period had already popularized nails. In addition to hard work, ordinary people had to worry about food, clothing and clothing. A small armor set is a luxury item, and it also reflects the ancient abnormal wealth comparison from the side.
Let’s talk about the varieties of nail covers. The nail covers made in the Qing Dynasty are divided into metal or tortoise shells. There are also a few jade ones. They are carved by hollowing, engraving, inlay and other decorative techniques plus the skilled craftsmanship of the workers. These exquisite and recognizable nail sets. In addition to their types and styles are restricted according to their position, they also depend on how the concubine wears that day. Moreover, there are many armor sleeves in the Qing Dynasty that have been passed down to the present, so they are very valuable for collection. The longest armor sleeves seen in real objects can reach 15cm or more in length.But no matter how long it is, it cannot exceed the length of the queen. When encountering emperor rewards or ministers paying tribute, the nail cover is usually a set of two rewards, of which the ring finger and little finger are mostly worn. In fact, it is inconvenient to wear it too much or wear it on other fingers.
With the demise of the Qing government and the progress of the times, this custom of wearing long nail sleeves to show status is rarely seen. However, the "nail art" industry is enduring and popular every day. It can be seen that beauty is the eternal theme of different times.
