I tend to believe this set of photo is staged. Period Qing male hairstyle would have shaved quite a bit more towards, or even a bit beyond one's ears. There are examples from famous people like 粱啟超 (Liang qichao, or Leung Kai Chiu in Cantonese). Mr Liang's photo should give you some idea.
By the way, this guy was involved in a political struggle between the "emperor's gang" and "empress dowager's gang". He belonged to the former. When the empress dowager emerged as the winner, she had the emperor locked up and the gang persecuted. He had to flee to Japan. Photo on the right was taken in 1903 in Japan.
The guy was also a famous chinese literary figure. Many of his works were included in the syllabus of the Hong Kong certificate of education exam. Item number 2 and 10 below are some examples from the 1966 syllabus.
Shaved forehead with queue was the standard throughout the Qing dynasty but the style has changed significantly during its 267 years. First on the left is period at the beginning of Qing dynasty. Last on the right is towards the end of the dynasty.
Comments
Re: 1912 Christmas Cards
Hi there,
I tend to believe this set of photo is staged. Period Qing male hairstyle would have shaved quite a bit more towards, or even a bit beyond one's ears. There are examples from famous people like 粱啟超 (Liang qichao, or Leung Kai Chiu in Cantonese). Mr Liang's photo should give you some idea.
Thanks & Best Regards,
T
Re: 1912 Christmas Cards
Hi Thomas,
I agree. I guess by the time these photos were taken in 1912, the shaved forehead was already out of fashion.
Regards, David
梁启超 before and after
By the way, this guy was involved in a political struggle between the "emperor's gang" and "empress dowager's gang". He belonged to the former. When the empress dowager emerged as the winner, she had the emperor locked up and the gang persecuted. He had to flee to Japan. Photo on the right was taken in 1903 in Japan.
The guy was also a famous chinese literary figure. Many of his works were included in the syllabus of the Hong Kong certificate of education exam. Item number 2 and 10 below are some examples from the 1966 syllabus.
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development of hair style in the Qing dynasty
Shaved forehead with queue was the standard throughout the Qing dynasty but the style has changed significantly during its 267 years. First on the left is period at the beginning of Qing dynasty. Last on the right is towards the end of the dynasty.