What do the colorful braids on the heads of Yunnan people mean?

1. This kind of colorful braid is called "widow braid" locally. It is worn to commemorate the husband who unfortunately lost his husband (especially accidental death). It is similar to the Han people's linen mourning belt. After a few years of widowhood, a few colorful braids are worn.

2. Method/steps:

1. Curl the hair with a curling iron, as shown in the picture below.

2. Take a small bunch of hair on each side and dye it purple and green respectively with disposable hair dye balls.

3. Braid two bunches of colored hair into a three-strand braid, as shown in the picture below.

4. Use black hairpins to fix the ends of the colored braids and you are done.

Extended information

Citations and explanations

1. A woman without a husband. Later, it mostly refers to a woman whose husband has died.

"Poetry·Xiaoya·Datian": "He has a legacy, and this one has stagnant ears, which is the benefit of the widow."

"Hanshu·Huozhizhuan": "Ba Widow Qing, he first got the elixir point, and he has been good at it for several generations, and the family is not happy."

"Warning to the World: Gui Yuan's Confession for Traveling Abroad": "My sister-in-law said: 'The slave family can't bear to leave my mother. Mum. But it is neither a relative nor a friend, and the widow’s farm is being used for nothing, and people are talking about it.'"

Lao She's "Four Generations Under One House" 49: "She never expected that a child who looked like a joyful dragon would suddenly appear. Die, leaving the young woman as a widow."

2. Refers to a woman who lives alone to wait for her husband or who is divorced from her husband.

Han Yuan Kang's "Yue Jueshu·Yue Jue Wai Biography": "In Dufu Mountain, General Gou Jian attacked Wu and moved the widow to Dushan Mountain, thinking that she was a dead soldier and showing her single-mindedness." Han Chen Lin's "Drinking Horses in the Great Wall Grottoes": "There are many border towns but few healthy ones, and there are many widows in the inner houses. If you write books and inner houses, just marry and don't keep them!"

Types

1. Ponytail

(1) It is a short braided hairstyle, which means that most of the hair is gathered back, and a leather case or other elastic decoration is used to tie the braids upright. The shape in mid-air.

(2) This hairstyle is named after it looks like a horse’s tail. The ponytail style looks lively and cute. Strictly speaking, a ponytail is not a braid. A common braid is a hairstyle in which the hair is divided into small bundles and then intertwined with each other. It is different from a ponytail that simply ties the hair up.

2. Twist type

It is the kind of braid in which the hair is divided into three bundles and tied crosswise to look like a twist. Twist braids give people an extremely pure feeling. Today in the 21st century, Korean braids are still popular. Celebrities often use braids in their photos.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - Widow

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - Braids