Why was the square-hearted curved collar worn by officials in Song Dynasty completely abandoned in Ming Dynasty?

In all kinds of film and television dramas about the Song Dynasty, the image about the Song Dynasty should not be unfamiliar. During the Song Dynasty, officials in the Song Dynasty wore white circles around their necks, which puzzled many people. In fact, this object is called a square-centered curved collar. This is not original in the Song Dynasty. As early as the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the prototype of the square-hearted curved collar appeared. Fang Xin Quling was used until the middle of Ming Dynasty, and it was not abolished until Jiajing period. Then, how did Fang Xin Quling come into being and why was it completely abolished in the Ming Dynasty? Today, we will talk about the story of Quling in Fang Xin.

First of all, we need to talk about the reason why Fang Xin Qu Ling appeared. Seriously speaking, Fang Xin Qu Ling is a part of Hanfu culture in China. With the continuous development of clothing in China, the style of clothing is also undergoing subtle changes. In the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, with the gradual improvement of the imperial court system, in order to make the official uniforms more flat, a round neck, that is, a curved collar, appeared on the collar of the official uniforms in the Han Dynasty. That's Fang Xin's ancestor Qu Ling, but the difference between them is still very big.

According to the Han Dynasty's "Yi Yi", "Qu Ling is included, so it is forbidden to get on the neck and bend." During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to the complicated situation of confrontation between the five lakes and sixteen countries and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the nomadic culture in the north began to integrate into the Central Plains system, and the costumes of the Central Plains dynasty changed greatly. For example, the clothing style in Sui and Tang Dynasties was obviously different from that in Qin and Han Dynasties. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Qu had obvious changes. Because during this period, great changes have taken place in clothing. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, T-neck robes and U-neck clothes began to appear. How to decorate the neck is a big problem.

In the historical documents of Sui and Tang Dynasties, there are frequent records about Qu Ling. According to Sui Shu's record, "all officials wear official uniforms in court, holding hands ... royal robes, a crown, a silk robe, a white gauze robe, a silk robe, a ribbon, a curved collar, a heart, a knee, a white pen and a ribbon." There are similar records in the Book of the New Tang Dynasty: "Jade, rhinoceros guide, crimson gauze robe, scarlet skirt, ... crimson gauze covering the knees, white Luo square heart bent collar, white contempt, black enamel." It can be seen that in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there has been a saying that the heart is curved and the heart is square.

So, how should we use it? In fact, Fang Xin Quling in Sui and Tang Dynasties and Fang Xin Quling in Song Dynasty are totally different things. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the square collar was actually on the top of the middle coat, superimposed with a semi-circular lining, which was somewhat similar to the current shirt collar. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, warlords scuffled and peasants revolted. The vassal towns in various regions attacked each other, resulting in a complicated situation of five dynasties and ten countries. Because war is the mainstream, warlords in various regions have no energy to care too much about clothing culture. In 960 AD, the Song Dynasty was founded, and in more than 10 years, the southern countries gradually unified.

After the Song Dynasty unified the whole country, it began to restore various systems. There is something wrong with the etiquette of the royal dress. Because according to the ancient records left over from the Tang Dynasty, officials above grade seven need to wear square-hearted curved collars when they go to court, while officials below grade seven do not have this problem. However, there is no ready-made style for what a square-heart bent collar looks like. In this case, the Song Dynasty introduced the Song version of Fang Xin Quling according to the description in the literature and its own speculation. Song dynasty's square-centered music collar is very common in film and television dramas. Wearing a white circle around his neck, the lower part of the white circle is square. It's really a genuine square collar.

In fact, the square-heart bent collar is not worn directly around the neck. There are two ropes tied around the back neck of the official in the square heart bend. According to the regulations of the Song Dynasty, officials must wear square-heart curved collars when wearing royal robes, formal dresses and sacrificial clothes. You don't have to wear uniforms, official clothes or auspicious clothes. Therefore, in the portraits left over from the Song Dynasty, both the emperor of the Song Dynasty and officials at all levels have square hearts and curved collars around their necks. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Japan still admired the Central Plains Dynasty. Therefore, for a long time, the square-hearted bent collar also appeared in Japanese clothing.