In the Qing Dynasty, why could Taoist priests still keep their clothes and hairstyles?

In the Qing Dynasty, the general environment of ordinary shaving and braiding, Taoist priests are the last clear stream, they retain the Han people's clothing and hairstyle, as for why Taoist priests do not need to keep that ugly "money rattail braid", the reason for this, the biggest possibility is naturally the emperor's consent, is that Emperor Shunzhi agreed that Taoist priests can grow their hair, do not need to shave their heads and keep braids. But this history is rather vague, and there are roughly three ways to say it:

Saying 1: The folk "ten from ten do not follow".

In the Qing Dynasty, there was a saying among the people: Confucianism does not follow the Tao. This means that in order to obey the emperor's edicts, Confucians must shave their hair, wear ugly pigtails of money, and wear Manchu costumes to show their allegiance to the Manchus.

Buddhist and Taoist monks, on the other hand, do not have to follow secular rules, but can continue to keep their bald heads and long hair, and wear their original monk's robes and robes.

Argument 2: Take gentle measures to win over religion

After the Qing army entered the customs, the opposition of the people was very fierce, especially the order of shaving hair and making it easy to obey, and the Han people "The body is hairy and skinny, and the parents who receive it dare not destroy it, and the beginning of filial piety is also." The idea of wanting to go against it aroused the dissatisfaction and resistance of many people. As a result, various civil resistance organizations began to act, threatening the position of the Manchus.

Therefore, in order to fundamentally quell the trouble, the emperor began to adopt a gentle and tolerant strategy, co-opting Taoism and Buddhism, while also allowing them to retain their clothes.

Claim 3: Taoist Zhang Tianshi met Emperor Shunzhi

When the Qing army first entered the customs, Taoist priests also needed to shave their hair. In order to preserve the tradition of Taoist priests, Zhang Tianshi deliberately went to meet Emperor Shunzhi at that time, and proposed to improve Taoist robes, integrate some Manchu styles, and transform mixed yuan scarves and Sanqing collars. And the young and rebellious Emperor Shunzhi, in order to get the support of the local Taoism in the Central Plains, it was normal for him to agree to this request.

Because at that time, although the head shaving order was implemented, but that order was a saying that did not exist for Taoist priests, at that time more attention was paid to the status of Taoist priests, and because there was a Taoist priest who went to intercede before, and Emperor Shunzhi agreed, so that's it.

Although the Qing Dynasty implemented the shaving order, it did not last long, and some orders of the imperial court sometimes did not play a great role in dealing with Taoist priests.

Judging from the portraits of Taoist priests in the Qing Dynasty, Taoist priests in some places in the early Qing Dynasty also shaved their hair, indicating that the objects of shaving their hair and changing clothes at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty included Taoist priests, but later abolished this policy for Taoist priests.

Because the Qing Dynasty had just begun to establish **, what was needed was to appease the people. If you stretch your hand to Taoism and forcibly change. There is a high probability that it will lead to revolt.

Personally, I think the closest to reality should be the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Tianshi did not want to shave his hair and change clothes, so he improved the Taoist robe, and begged the Taoist priest as a monk not to shave his hair after meeting Emperor Shunzhi, when the young Shunzhi Emperor happily agreed, the emperor Chrysostom Yuyan, since then the Taoist priest does not have to shave his hair and become a tradition.

It may be that the Taoist priests at that time did not need to obey orders, or it may be that the status of the Taoist priests at that time was relatively high, so the Taoist priests could also keep their clothes and hairstyles.

Because people were still relatively superstitious at that time, the status of Taoist priests was also very high at that time, and they were very sought after by everyone, so they naturally had their own privileges.

Because the Taoist priest was our local religion at that time, the Taoist priest had a high status and decided his own hair.

Because Taoist monks were originally "outsiders", the Manchu Dynasty did not use the "shaving order" to restrain them. When it comes to the Manchu Dynasty, this can be described as the most "mixed" dynasty in the history of Chinese civilization for 4,000 years and the change of dynasties. Some people say that the quality of the emperors of the Manchu Qing Dynasty is the highest among all dynasties, and national shames such as the "Opium War" are because the trend of modernization is unstoppable; But some people say that the establishment of the Manchu Dynasty completely crushed thousands of years of Chinese culture into dust.

However, the most "notorious" political move of the Qing Dynasty was the "Hair Shaving Order". The rulers of the Qing Dynasty demanded that all Han Chinese must "change their flags", grow braids, and dress up as full people, otherwise they would "keep their hair but not their heads". However, those Taoist priests can "survive".

Why is that? When we open the "Qing History Manuscript", we can find thisIn fact, there are four "exceptions" to the "shaving order": women, children, monks, and Taoist priests.

We can understand women and children, while Taoist priests and monks are because they are "outsiders" and are not bound by secular rituals. Although the rule of the Manchu Dynasty was high-handed, there was still a certain degree of tolerance for the ideas of these "religious people".

However, if we analyze the historical situation at that time, it is actually "logical" that the Manchu Qing Dynasty did not provoke Taoist priests. First of all, the shaving order had already received great resistance at that time, and it had provoked a popular uprising in the south of the Yangtze River, which deeply shook the ruling foundation of the Qing Dynasty. Secondly, we must understand that the Taoist priests were full of "leading the way" at that time, and the leaders of all factions, such as Quan Zhen and Zhengyi, were very "happy" to see the fall of the Ming Dynasty and showed favor to the Manchus.

With such "political consciousness" and conforming to the Taoist priests of the time, the Manchurians are naturally unwilling to "repay virtue with grievances", forcing them to shave their hair and make it easy to obey.

Because for Taoist priests who are different from ordinary people, they are given a kind of awe-inspiring mentality, so they can be allowed to keep.

Because the Manchu court knew that for Han culture and traditional Buddhism, the requirements of Taoism could not be included in the compulsory scope, otherwise it would cause the entire Chinese nation to revolt and not conform to cultural laws.

Because people generally put Taoist priests and monks together, they are all monastic people, and they don't have to be bound by secular rules, so this shaving order has no effect on Taoist priests.

The Qing army entered the Central Plains and established its own feudal regime. Their arrival was met with fierce resistance from many Han Chinese, and the contradictions in the social stage at that time were very serious, and various anti-Qing organizations sprang up everywhere. In order to suppress the Han people and hit national self-confidence, the Qing Dynasty forced the Han people to shave their hair and change their clothes.

However, Taoist priests were not required to do so, because of the influence of folk customs, and because the ruler needed to use the influence of religion to win people's hearts and consolidate his power.

1. Influenced by folk customsIn the Qing Dynasty, there was a saying that "ten from ten do not follow" in the folk. And one of the sayings that has been circulated by everyone for many years is "Confucianism does not follow the Tao". The meaning of this phrase is:

Han Chinese, if they were not monks, had to wear Manchu costumes and shave their hair and tie it in long braids. And if he is a monk, then he can not change and still keep his original clothes and hair accessories. Because of this custom, the costumes of the Taoist and the Taoist priests could keep their hair up, while the monks could still keep their heads bald.

2. Influenced by Buddhism, there is also a theory that it has a lot to do with the beliefs of the Qing monarchs. Therefore, before the Qing army arrived in the Central Plains, they attached much less importance to the Han religion than after entering the customs, but when the rulers established centralized power, they also felt that the influence of religion on the people was very huge. Nurhachi had already been deeply influenced by Buddhism, so when the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty entered the city, they also began to manage Buddhism and Taoism.

This was because the feudal rulers of the Qing Dynasty needed to rely on these influential religions to serve themselves, so they did not resort to coercion, but treated them with courtesy and adopted a policy of tolerance.

We can see from the above points that the Qing ** did not ask the Taoists to change their clothing and hair accessories, because they were influenced by folk customs, and the most important thing is that they wanted to work for themselves and win people's hearts through the influence of religion. It was also a means taken by the feudal rulers to consolidate their position. The Han people's system of shaving their hair and changing clothes did not show great importance later, and the coexistence of Manchu and Han costumes can be seen in many paintings of the Kangxi period.

During the Qing Dynasty, Taoist priests were allowed to keep Han people's clothes and hair ornaments. That's because no matter which dynasty it is, it won't interfere too much with Taoism and Buddhism, because they think that Taoist priests are not ordinary people, so they can't be the same.

First, Taoist priests were allowed to wear Han Chinese clothes and hairstyles.

Second, because Taoist priests are "outsiders". Third, because of the Taoist Wang Changyue. Wang Changyue was a very famous Taoist priest at that time, known as the master of Zhongxing in the sect, it is precisely because of his existence that Taoism is carried forward, and the reason why he can have such an achievement, in addition to his attainments in Taoism, there is also a reason because he will seize the opportunity, the king of the Qing Dynasty does not believe in Taoism, but Wang Changyue can maintain a good relationship with them, because in fact, the Qing Dynasty also wants to use Taoism to show their Longen.

They used each other, so Qing ** did not target Taoist priests.

During the Qing Douyue period, Taoist priests made great contributions to the Qing Dynasty, so Taoist priests were allowed to retain the Han people's clothes and hairstyles in the Qing Dynasty.

Because the Qing Dynasty was dominated by the Manchus, one of them showed the benevolence of the court, and the second was to tell the living Han people that they were once a vanquished, and the third was to show the different status of the Manchus and Hans.

For this reason, just like not allowing a monk to comb his braids, he must have some tolerance for religion, and if he also intervenes in religion, it will be even more difficult to settle down.

Because Taoism itself was invented by the Han people, no matter what kind of clothing and clothing he is, it is all Han nationality, so he still maintains the Han nationality clothing.

Normally, the Taoist priests of the Qing Dynasty were based on the hair ornaments of previous dynasties, and this was the case in ancient times.

Because they need to encircle these Taoist priests and use the religious ideas mastered by the Taoist priests to better rule the people.

Because the Manchus looked down on Taoist priests, in the society of the Qing Dynasty, they did not recognize the profession of Taoist priests, so Taoist priests could be mavericks.

This is the Qing Dynasty's respect for religious beliefs, and the Qing Dynasty people still respect Taoist priests and want to get along with the Han people.

The Qing Dynasty not only allowed Han clothes and hair accessories to be retained, but also monks were retained. Because after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, in order to maintain better colleagues, they allowed the national religion to retain its original form.

The Qing Dynasty was a regime established by the Manchus, and in order for the Han Chinese to accept their rule and obey them from the bottom of their hearts, their customs, including their clothing, had to be changed. <>

When the Qing army had not yet entered the customs, they actually had similar ideas. In November 1636, the first year of Chongde, the leader at that time, Huang Taiji, summoned the Manchurian nobles and important leaders of the imperial court, and proposed the idea of changing customs.

Later, after the Qing army entered the city of Beijing, Dolgon, as regent at that time, tried to carry out the order to shave his hair and change clothes. However, because the Qing Dynasty had not yet established stability at that time, there were many voices of opposition from the people, and rebel armies in various places were surging, so the plan was declared bankrupt before it was implemented.

But this did not mean that they gave up on this plan, and during the period when the rule of the Qing ** was basically stable, they began to use the power in their hands to force the Han people to shave their hair and change clothes.

In the second year of Shunzhi, Dolgon once again issued an order to shave his hair and make it easy to wear, this time the act was mandatory, and caused countless people to bleed.

There were many people who believed that this policy of shaving hair and making it easy to wear was useless for Taoist priests at that time, and found a lot of evidence to prove that Taoist priests did not have to follow this iron decree at that time.

But in fact, according to the early Qing Dynasty, most Taoist priests were initially shaved and dressed like all Han Chinese.

Although there was a policy at that time that "ten from ten do not follow", one of which was "Confucianism from Buddhism and Taoism", that is, Confucian students must wear Manchu clothes and shave their hair and keep braids. However, if it is a Taoist monk, you can keep the original Han clothing and hair accessories without making any changes. <>

However, in fact, the tolerant hand of Taoist monks began after Kangxi became pro-government. You must know that in the early Qing Dynasty, the Manchu people's acceptance of Han culture was relatively low, so they did not give much respect to religious culture, and the famous iron-blooded policy of keeping one's head and not leaving the law was also aimed at all Han people, whether they were monks or ordinary Han people.

It was not until later, when this iron policy was almost implemented, that the Qing ** relaxed the restrictions, and after cultural integration, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty had identified with Han culture, and the status of religious belief was also improved, and the Taoist priests at this time were a little tolerant.

However, if we take a closer look at the costumes of Taoist priests during the Qing Dynasty, we can find that they are still more inclined to Manchu costumes. In other words, perhaps the Qing Dynasty had a little tolerance for Taoist priests when they shaved their hair and changed clothes, but they were definitely not allowed to keep their original hairstyles and clothing. <>