What does a "black hat" look like? Why did the black hat become the symbol of officials?

What does “their job” look like? Why did the black hat become the symbol of officials? Interested readers can follow the editor.

The removal of officials in ancient times was generally called "throwing a hat", which is still applicable even in modern times. What is the origin of this hat? Black and white hats were originally commonly used by people, and later gradually developed into official hats. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, some officials wore black hats, but it was not until the Sui Dynasty that they officially became part of the official uniform. It became very popular during the Tang and Song Dynasties. After the Ming Dynasty, black hat officially became synonymous with officials. Therefore, if the official position is gone, there is naturally no need to wear official uniforms.

In costume TV series and dramas, we often see officials wearing hats with two wings. This kind of hat is called a "tourist hat". Nowadays, in people's colloquial language, there is a proverb called "Be careful with your black hat". In other words, the "black hats" will be taken off at any time for those officials who deceive others. So, where does the term "black hat" come from?

Usha is the name of the ancient official hat. According to literature, the black gauze hat first appeared in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. After the Eastern Jin Dynasty became emperor, everyone working in the palace wore hats made of black gauze. But at that time, there was no name "Hat", only "Usha". This kind of "Usha" was only worn by servants at that time. The nobles of the Jin Dynasty all wore tall white gauze. Later, in the Southern Song Dynasty, an official named Wang tied a piece of black gauze around it and made a distinctive hat to set a new standard. When Wang walked down the street wearing his homemade hat, he aroused everyone's interest. Because the materials are cheap, the production is simple, and the style is elegant, people began to imitate this kind of hat.

By the time of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, the term "Wishaomao" began to appear. According to "Tongdian", "When Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty came to the throne, he tasted his black gauze hat and went from the palace to the court as an official." In other words, because Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty liked to wear hats, both nobles and petty officials liked to wear hats. The same was true in the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty even issued an imperial edict saying: "Since ancient times, the emperor has worn a hat, and all officials have worn it." However, the emperor and the common people all wore the same hat, and their status was not good. Therefore, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty established a rule: use the number of jade ornaments on the black hat to distinguish the size of the official position. There are first-level jade ornaments such as nine, two, eight, three, seven, four and six. Jade ornaments are not allowed to be decorated with five or six items or ordinary people's black hats.

In the Song Dynasty, "Their Rice Bowl" was finally confirmed as an official patent. After Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, in order to prevent courtiers from whispering during discussions, the next imperial edict changed the style of the black hat: officials added a pair of wings on each side of the black hat. As long as the head moves, the soft wings will flash. Of course, the emperor would see clearly from his commanding position. In addition, Zhao Kuangyin also required that their tourist hats be decorated with different decorative patterns to distinguish high-level and low-level positions, so as not to make high-level ministers feel uncomfortable because they are no different from low-level officials. Zhao Kuangyin's originality achieved good results. In the court, everything was in order.

After Zhu Yuanzhang established the capital in Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty, Yu Hongwu formulated a rule within three years: all civil and military officials must wear hats, T-shirts and belts when performing Hajj and doing business, but the emperor does not need to wear them. In addition, top scholars and scholars who have become famous but have not been awarded official positions can also continue to work. Since then, "professional work" has become the unique symbol of officials.

When Emperor Shunzhi entered the customs in the early Qing Dynasty, he absorbed many ministers of the Ming Dynasty. In order to win the hearts and minds of the people, the Qing government allowed local officials to continue to wear Ming Dynasty robes and their black hats. After the Qing government was reorganized, the Qing court ordered that the black gauze hats worn by officials be changed to red tassel hats, but people still used to use the term "wu gauze hats". Over time, the "black gauze hat" became a substitute for official positions.

To this day we still refer to this firing as “they lost their job.

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