Guan (headwear)

Guan (Chinese: 冠; pinyin: guān), literally translated as hat or cap or crown in English,[1] is a general term which refers to a type of headwear in Hanfu which covers a small area of the upper part of the head instead of the entire head.

[2]: 16  The guan was typically a formal form of headwear which was worn together with its corresponding court dress attire.

[2]: 16 In ancient China, there were various forms of headwear, which included guan (Chinese: 冠; pinyin: guān; lit.

'clothes'), a guan can form a set of attire called guanfu (Chinese: 冠服; pinyin: guānfú; lit.

'hat and clothes'); this set of attire could be used as an indicator of its wearer's social status, age, occupation, and educational background.

[11] Many years later, the zhaohuiwenguan evolved into the military cap called wuguan (Chinese: 武冠; pinyin: wǔguān; lit.

[note 1][11] A wuguan decorated with pheasant feathers became known as heguan (Chinese: 鶡冠; pinyin: héguān; lit.

[13]: 293  The heguan was possibly derived from the hufu-style guan adopted by King Wuling through hufuqishe policy.

[2]: 16  The heguan was decorated with two pheasant feathers on either sides and was worn by specialized member of the Han dynasty military.

[14]: 134  He also wore another kind of guan called wubian (武弁), which was lighter and simpler in terms of designs when compared to the mianguan.

[14]: 133  The wubian became the favourite guan of the Emperor Yangdi when he went on cuttings; such as hunting trips, military expeditions, and other related ceremonies.

[5]: 8–9  Under the reign of Emperor Huizong, all Confucian temples were ordered to upgrade their images of Confucius by adding a mianguan with 12 beaded-tassels on its depictions.

[16]: 807 In the Ming dynasty, the guan was only reserved to the Emperor and the members of the royal family; they were only suitable on formal occasions.