Hairpins are an important symbol in Chinese culture. In ancient China, hairpins were worn by all genders, and they were essential items for everyday hairstyling, mainly for securing and decorating a hair bun. Furthermore, hairpins worn by women could also represent their social status.
While hairpins can symbolize the transition from childhood to adulthood, they were closely connected to the concept of marriage as well. At the time of an engagement, the fiance may take a hairpin from her hair and give it to her fiancé as a pledge: this can be seen as a reversal of the Western tradition, such as the future groom presents an engagement ring to his betrothed. After the wedding ceremony, the husband should put the hairpin back into his spouse’s hair.
Hair has always carried many psychological, philosophical, romantic, and cultural meanings in Chinese culture. In Han ethnicity, people call the union between two people “jie-fa” literally means “tying hair”. During the wedding ceremony, some Chinese couples exchange a lock of hair as a pledge, while others break a hairpin into two parts, and then, each of the betrothed take one part with them for keeping. If this couple ever get separated in the future, when they reunite, they can piece the two halves together, and this completed hairpin will serve as a proof of their identities as well as a symbol of their reunion. In addition, a married heterosexual couple is sometimes referred to as “jie-fa fu-qi” an idiom which implies the relationship between the pair is very intimate and happy, just like how their hair has been tied together.