Noble's Headdress (Wedding Hat of a Groom in the Zhou Dynasty)

The juebian was a type of ancient ceremonial headdress.

It was a headdress worn during the three-part crowning ceremony. A rank below the mian crown in status, its form resembled the mian, yet lacked the downward sloping front and the pendants. Its color resembled a sparrow's head, reddish-black. It was eight cun wide and sixteen cun long, wider at the back than in the front. It was crafted from extremely fine ramie or silk. The dimensions here refer to the length and width of the flat top piece of the juebian.

The Zhou Dynasty was a time of culmination for the rites and rituals of the Han Chinese. The Zhou Li (Records of Rites of Zhou) stipulated that weddings should take place at dusk, when heaven and earth intertwine. The ‘dusk attire’ (hunfu) used in the ‘dusk ceremony’ (hunli) emphasized uprightness and solemnity. The colors followed the Xuan-Xuan system, a combination of black and red. The groom wore a juebian (similar to an emperor’s crown) atop his head, a dark blue-black (xuan) upper garment representing heaven, and a light red (xuan) lower garment representing earth with black piping, symbolizing the harmony of yin and yang. The knee-length apron was reddish-brown, the belt black, and the footwear red-soled. The bride wore a decorative wig interwoven with her real hair, her attire being similar in style to the groom’s, save that her upper and lower garments were black, symbolizing 'monogamy'. “The host wears the juebian and light red lower garment with dark-colored edges…The bride, in plain clothing and light red lower garment, stands in the room facing south. Her attendant, wearing night clothes, braids her hair, and stands to her right. The bride’s other attendants, clad in dark blue, with braided hair and covered with patterned garments, stand behind her.” (Yi Li: Shi Hun Li Er).