[4] The futou was originally turban-like headwear which was tied at the back of its wearer's head, with the two corners going to opposite directions and acting as decorations.

[3]: 71–72 The futou was also introduced in both Unified Silla and Balhae[6]: 135  and continued to be worn by government officials until the late Joseon.

[2] Đại Cồ Việt was introduced to the futou in the late 10th century and adapted various iterations from the Early Lê to the Nguyễn dynasty.

[3]: 319  According to the Mufuyanxianlu by Bi Zhongxun, the original meaning of futou was to "cover one's head with a black cloth" before the Sui dynasty.

[11]: 54 The origins of the futou in China can be traced back to the reign of Emperor Wu in Northern Zhou,[2] who had wrapped his head with a futou with four ribbons, called sijiao (四腳; sìjiǎo; 'four feet') or zheshangjing (折上巾; zhéshàngjīn; 'folding-up scarf'); two of those ribbons were tied at the back and left hanging down, while the other two were tied inversely at the top of the head.

[10]: 11  In the early Tang, the futou was a sijiaoruanjin (四腳軟巾; 'Four-feet soft scarf'),[13] where all four ribbons were allowed to hang down after being tied.

[2] The jinzi was made with soft and light tung wood and with other materials such as bamboo strips, timbo, miscanthus, silk, and leather.

[2] It was also possible to line the futou with a mount-shaped item made out of paulownia (Chinese: 桐木为冠; pinyin: Tóngmù wéi guān; lit.

[2] During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, the neiyang (Chinese: 内样), a futou with a small and round top jinzi became popular around the year 726 AD.

[9] During the Later Jin, Emperor Liu Min used a zhijiaofutou with long and straight feet which were more than one foot in length; the Song dynasty later kept the tradition of using this style of futou as a standard.

[9] There were 5 main types of futou in this period: the zhijiaofutou (also called pingjiaofutou (Chinese: 平腳幞頭; pinyin: píngjiǎofútóu; lit.

[10]: 11  According to the Pedantic Remarks of the Confucians by Yu Yan, this form of futou might have been developed to prevent the officials from whispering to each other during court audience with the Emperor.

[10]: 11 It is also recorded in the Song Shi that the upward futou was used by people (including the Emperor and the officials) when they found themselves in narrow spaces, such as in a carriage.

[9] According to the first volume of the History Narrated at Ease in the section The Etiquette by Wang Dechen (1036 –1116), in the early Song dynasty, a type futou, called front-folded scarf, was worn by some people.

[10]: 11  The back-folded scarf was a type futou which would be bent backward; it started to be worn after the Shaosheng period (i.e. after 1098 AD).