Wow ! That's some really long hair ! More on this bloody hairstyle below. But first.... * Old Soba recently spent a day driving around Okinawa with two "Manchu" Chinese who didn't think too highly of the "Han" Chinese. They also thought that Okinawa was formerly a 100% part of China, and that Taiwan is still a part of China, belongng 100% to the "motherland". Fortunately, my two Manchu Chinese companions-for-a-day were in no position to impose their opinions on the numerous Han Chinese who were also visiting Okinawa, (Chinese make up over 20% of the tourists here), nor hassle the Taiwanese who also visit Okinawa by the boatload. I did my best to straighten them out on matters relating to Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands, but all we could finally agree on was that the seas around Okinawa are beautiful, the food is great, the Okinawan people are nice, and that Okinawa a great place to visit ! Now, about that hair.... SPILLING BLOOD AND GUTS OVER A PIGTAIL China is, in some ways, a nation like the USA, that has within its borders many old tribes and "nations" that still know who they are, and want to maintain certain aspects of their ancestors language and culture that might not mesh with others in the land. For better or worse, specific hairstyles were (and in many places still are), a sign of membership in particular groups, tribes, nations, and religions. However, the braided "queue" in China was one of these social markers that certain folks got carried away with, and the hair-do wound up staining the land with a long and bloody history : ".....The Manchu requirement that people living in areas under their rule, specifically Han Chinese, give up their traditional hairstyles and wear the queue was met with considerable resistance... The Manchu hairstyle was forcefully introduced to Han Chinese in the early 17th century.... The Manchu hairstyle was significant because it was a symbol of Han submission to Qing rule... The hairstyle was compulsory for all males and the penalty for not complying was execution for treason.... Han Chinese resistance to adopting the queue was widespread and bloody. The Chinese in the Liaodong Peninsula rebelled in 1622 and 1625 in response to the implementation of the mandatory hairstyle. The Manchus responded swiftly by killing the educated elite and instituting a stricter separation between Han Chinese and Manchus... In 1645, the enforcement of the queue order was taken a step further by the ruling Manchus when it was decreed that any man who did not adopt the Manchu hairstyle within ten days would be executed. The intellectual Lu Xun summed up the Chinese reaction to the implementation of the mandatory Manchu hairstyle by stating, 'In fact, the Chinese people in those days revolted not because the country was on the verge of ruin, but because they had to wear queues'..... [Under the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty] People resisted the order [to wear the queue], and the Qing struck back with deadly force, massacring all who refused to obey. Han rebels in Shandong tortured to death the Qing official who suggested the queue order to Dorgon, and killed his relatives....." OKINAWA WAS OFF THE HOOK ".....The Queue Order (simplified Chinese: 剃发令; traditional Chinese: 剃髮令) was violently imposed by the Qing (Manchu) dynasty in the seventeenth century. It was also imposed on Taiwanese aborigines in 1753, and Koreans who settled in northeast China in the late 19th century. However, the Okinawans, whose Ryukyuan Kingdom was a tributary of China, requested and were granted an exemption from the mandate to wear a queue......" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queue_(hairstyle) Old Soba is only too familiar with these hair-related problems. At the age of 16, I decided to abandon my perpetual buzz cut, and grow my hair out in full-fledged Hippie style. When my father quickly noticed the longer-than-normal rug growing on my head, I was told quite clearly to either cut my hair, or get the hell of the house. These days, the problem is moot. I don't have any hair ! Cheers ! ♥ A DISCUSSION on REDDIT : www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1g0ult/where_hair... * Circa 1880-1900 Lantern-Slide. Uncolored image on glass.