When the Qing conquered China, the order went out that their male subjects would lose either their hair or their heads. While a potent tool for demonstrating social control, a Jesuit reported that more Chinese fought and died for their hair than for their kingdom. To them, shaving the forehead was a violation of Confucian filial piety, or simple tonsorial castration for the less literate.
Would the Qing have an easier time controlling China without the order? Hair as a symbol of defiance or loyalty keeps cropping up in the rhetoric of rebellion; without this basic affront to their culture, would the Han have rallied to leaders like Hong Xiuquan in such numbers?
Would the Qing have an easier time controlling China without the order? Hair as a symbol of defiance or loyalty keeps cropping up in the rhetoric of rebellion; without this basic affront to their culture, would the Han have rallied to leaders like Hong Xiuquan in such numbers?