[6] They were also used as every day hair ornaments in ancient China;[3] all Chinese women would wear a hairpin, regardless of their social rank.

[1][6] Hairpins could be made out of various materials, such as jade, gold, silver, ivory, bronze, bamboo, carved wood, tortoiseshell and bone, as well as others.

[3] There were many varieties of hairpin, many having their own names to denote specific styles, such as zan, ji, chai, buyao and tiaoxin.

[14] By the Bronze Age, hairpins which were made out of gold had been introduced into China by people living on the country's Northern borders.

[13] Some ancient Chinese hairpins dating back to 300 BC were made from bone, horn, wood, and metal.

[15] In the Ming dynasty, the hairpins became more elaborate, and the carvings were made on silver, ivory, and jade, with pearl being used often as a setting.

[16] The Fenghuang is an auspicious bird in Chinese tradition and is believed to represent the empress or the bride in a wedding.

[10][9] The double-pin chai evolved from the zan; it was frequently found in Chinese poetry and literature as it played an important symbol and as a love token.

[3] It was generally made of gold and was often decorated with jewels (such as pearls and jade) and carved designs (such as in the shape of dragons or phoenix).

[3][13] It looked similar to a zan,[12] but one of its main characteristics is its dangling features, which gave it its name 'buyao' (lit.