In the traditional Han culture in China, the ring was originally worn by concubines in the court as a symbol of distinction and recognition. At the same time, because of the homonym of "warning" and "returning", as a gift, the ring also has the meaning of "returning home as soon as possible", and because of its "endless" attribute, it has placed endless love between lovers. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, with the great ethnic integration and frequent foreign exchanges, wearing a ring as a Hu custom gradually became familiar to the Han people. However, in the Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, rings were often associated with ghosts and supernatural beings. At the same time, because rings are mostly made of gold, silver or precious stones, they are often used as gifts or rewards. In the Song Dynasty, the ring began to be used as one of the three gold medals in the marriage dowry among the people. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the ring officially appeared in the court wedding dowry, and it was accepted by the Han people at the time of the west wind spreading eastward in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, becoming a souvenir of public engagement.
Qing palace ring
Rings, also known as rings, notes, proxy fingers, contract fingers and fingers, have a long history in China, and many of them were unearthed in primitive society. Bone rings have been unearthed in tombs during Dawenkou-Longshan culture period, and some rings are embedded with turquoise. In contemporary times, rings are not only used for decoration, but also have the function of keepsake of love and marriage, so they have become the most popular category among all jewelry categories. But in China's ancient Chinese cultural tradition, rings have more special cultural connotations.
1. The symbol worn by concubines in the palace to distinguish and identify them.
"Huan" didn't have its name until the Yuan Dynasty. Its original name is "Huan", and the reason why it is called "Huan", also called "note" and "Zhi Dai" all comes from its use. Zheng Xuan's "Poetry Talk" said: "In ancient times, concubines entered the imperial court with courtesy, and the secretary of women's history gave a warning to advance and retreat every month. Be born for a month and return it with a gold ring; When the coachman walked in with a silver ring, he held it in his left hand; Because the ruler holds it in his right hand, it is called handwriting, also known as ring. " There are countless concubines in ancient harem. According to the regulations, when concubines accept the imperial luck, they must go through the female history registration. Female history gave them two kinds of rings in advance, one is a gold ring and the other is a silver ring. Usually concubines wear silver rings in two ways: those who serve the emperor wear them on their left hand, because the left hand belongs to Yang, and those who serve the emperor wear them on their right hand, because the right hand belongs to Yin. (1) once the concubines on a whim or pregnant, can't serve the emperor, wearing a gold ring, female history. Because "regardless of the size, remember it to become a law" (2), it was named "Notes". Simply put, "handwritten note" is a symbol worn on the hand to distinguish and identify. In the Song Dynasty, Gao Cheng wrote in Ji Yuan Wu Shi: "The Essence of the Five Classics says:' The concubines of the ancients were unified in the monarch. When imperial officials entered with silver rings, they left with gold rings. People who come in use their right hand, and those who go out use their left hand. There are precepts today, and this legacy is also a system of three generations. "The Old Instrument of Hanshu written by Wei Hong in the Eastern Han Dynasty also contains:" People in the Han Palace are lucky and give silver rings. Shi Hua was written by Zheng Xuan in Han Dynasty, and Mao Shi was written in pre-Qin Dynasty, indicating that at least in the historical stage from pre-Qin to Han Dynasty, the main purpose of the ring was to be worn by palace concubines as a symbol to distinguish and identify concubines.
(1) Taiping Yulan quoted Women's History as saying: "Give it a retreat. If you are pregnant, the gold ring will be returned, and if you are in charge, the silver ring will enter. The contestant holds his left hand, and Yang also holds his left hand. The right hand, Yin also, is both imperial and complex, so. The position of women's history. "
2 "Poetry? Hurricane? Jingnv: "Jingnv is a beautiful woman, and I am in charge. "History of Han Mao Heng Biography": "After the ancients, their wives must have the logic of women's history. After their crimes and murders were not recorded in history, concubines ... treated you with courtesy, and female history books warned them to advance and retreat. If you have a child, return it with a gold ring; When the coachman walked in with a silver ring, he held it in his left hand; It's all in the right hand. Regardless of the size, it is recorded as a law. "
As for the name "ring", it actually comes from the role of "note", because all the women who wear the note are empresses, women who belong to themselves, and even pregnant women. Therefore, it is necessary to prohibit not only the pursuit of other men, but also sexual intercourse, hence the name "quit" and write "quit". Looking back on Zhang Si's "Local Records" for five years: "abstinence is a blessing for women, and ... customs also require attention." Fortunately, in ancient China, women usually referred to married women. Therefore, wearing a ring also shows her married status, which is somewhat similar to modern wedding rings. Ling Mengchu's "The Second Moment of Surprise" in Ming Dynasty has a similar plot. In the book, the woman wrote in a letter to her lover: "The apprentice reciprocates and the center is unexpected. The plan is to talk at night, and each has his own wishes. ..... First, it depends on one thing. Words are like gold, but love and quit! That's all. " It can be seen that the meaning of the word "quit" also implies a meaning, that is, the mentality of quitting-staying in the morning and evening.
2. a gift certificate symbolizing "coming home soon" or "love forever"
In ancient China, artifacts often carried certain cultural significance, which was a self-evident expression, that is, "using utensils to hide gifts", which was widespread in the pre-Qin period. Xunzi? The outline says: "hire people as guides, ask scholars as guides, call people as guides, refuse people as guides, and refuse to quit." Yang Xu's note: "The ancients, ministers were guilty and stayed in the country for three years, but dared not go. If they are in harmony with it, they will return it. If they conflict with it, they will die, so they all agree. " It can be seen that because "Huan" and "Huan" are homophonic, the emperor gave Yuhuan to the exiled minister of punishments as a sign that he could return to his hometown. He Jingming's Miscellaneous Words in Ming Dynasty also said: "The ancients rewarded virtue by admiration, rewarded goodness by abstinence, and rewarded goodness by sighing." That's what I'm saying. "Once"? The Biography of Yuan Tan also said: "I would like to be familiar with good and bad luck in order to give a warning." Visible "ring" and auspicious meaning. But it is not clear whether the "ring" here is a ring, and it may be a ring. However, there is another record in the History of the North: "When the (Yuan) tree first came out, love her, distinguish it with gold rings, and the tree always keeps it. Send it back to the beam and the watch will be returned. " It is clearly written here that she gave it with a ring in order to return to China as soon as possible. In addition, the book History of Rain by Wang Chutong in Qing Dynasty quoted the book Love Collection by Zhang Junfang in Song Dynasty, saying: "Cui Niang sent Zhang Sheng a new jade ring cloud: those who ring it will also return to it." That's what I'm saying. Therefore, in the traditional culture of China, both rings and rings, as gifts, can show the meaning of going home.
In addition, the ring also has the meaning of "circulation" because of its annular characteristics. In the legendary novel Biography of Li Zhangwu written by Li in the Tang Dynasty, there is such a love story: "Li Zhangwu reported to Chang 'an, diligently resigned (Wang's son-in-law), and Zhang Wu left a pair of white jade rings and presented a poem: I miss my son, and I think of him when I see the ring. May you live forever and go on and on. "Here, because of its' endless cycle' attribute, the ring expresses endless love between lovers.
3, related to ghosts and paranormal.
Under the background of China's ancient culture, the stories of Dachuan ghosts and supernatural beings involved in ancient books are related, which is the biggest difference from other kinds of jewelry. The mainstream culture represented by the ring seems to be not only the elements of love and beauty, but also full of some mysterious and strange elements. This cultural tendency began in the Han Dynasty and was widely popular from Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to Tang and Five Dynasties. This may be related to the great integration of the northern and southern ethnic groups in China at this stage and the unusually frequent foreign exchanges, because rings, like earrings, were mainly popular in Hu cultural areas and western countries before the Song Dynasty, while the Han people in the Central Plains did not have the tradition of wearing rings, or because they were infected with a strong exotic atmosphere and were full of exotic mystery.
In the Spring and Autumn Story written by the philosopher Dong Zhongshu in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, there is an early record that directly links the ring with the ghost: "Punish the ghost and treat the woman, and take the ring five." There is such a record in the first volume of Ge Hong's Miscellanies of Xijing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty: "Miracle took a hundred trials as a warning, looked at his finger bones and made him evil, so as to give his servants four jade, four jade and four jade." We don't know what material this ring that made the emperor sick is made of, but even with such advanced technology, this phenomenon is still unbelievable, which shows that this record itself contains strange ingredients. In the Tang Dynasty, when Liu Yuxi recited the dead Yang Guifei in the poem "A Tour of Flowers", he also had a similar description: "All thoughts are gray, the fragrance is endless, the ring shines brightly, and the enemy meets at first." Linking the ring with the deceased also reflects a mysterious color of the ring in the eyes of contemporary people. During the Wei, Jin, Tang and Five Dynasties, the records of rings in Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio surged at this time, and more than 80% of them were related to ghosts or dead people. The following excerpt is part of it.
Yan Zhitui, a scholar who lived between the Northern Qi Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty, recorded a story in The Tales of Wonders: "After Wang Yi's death, his wife was poor in food and clothing. When she met Xing Zhao's wife, she said, If I get the property, I will send it as a gift, and my daughter will get a pair of gold rings next month."
In the Southern Song Dynasty, Liu wrote a collection of strange stories, Strange Garden, which said: "Jin has scholars, buys Xianbei women, and has a good reputation. She said that her aunt was fascinated by amaranth. At first, I saw a husband in red, handsome and clean, in the toilet. He came from Jia Yun. The woman is so proud of her constant singing that she goes to the back of the house every night. His family waited on him and saw only a red amaranth with a female finger hanging on it. When she won, she cried. After nightfall, I died. "
According to the southern dynasty's book Shuo Wen Jie Zi, "Zhou's servant girl went into the mountains to collect firewood, but suddenly she dreamed that a woman said,' There is a thorn in my eye. I should pull it out if I'm bored, so I should reward it well.' The maid pulled out the grass when she saw the rotten coffin growing in her eyes, and she got a pair of gold rings somewhere. "
In the mid-Tang Dynasty, "Youyang Miscellaneous Notes" contained: "Cui Luo's family passed through the west of Changbai Mountain at night and suddenly saw the balconies with powder walls facing each other. Russia said in Tsing Yi:' A girl must see Cuilang.' He suddenly dismounted and walked into the double doors ... two maids in the room were holding candles and told one maid to put the jade on his knee. Then he asked,' Your husband Liu is willing to tell his name, and the woman said,' Liu Kongcai's second son, named Yao Zi, has still not been found, although he was convicted. Why did you get out of bed and say goodbye? The woman said,' See you in ten years.' So he left a tortoise shell hairpin, and the woman pointed to Yuhuan as a gift and got on the horse for ten steps. Looking back, I saw a big tomb and died ten years later. "
In the late Tang Dynasty, Fan Yi wrote a collection of notes and novels, Yunxi Friendship, which included: "Wei Gao traveled less in Jiangxia and stopped at Jiang Zhijun Museum. Jiang's lovely son said: There is a little Tsing Yi named, only ten years old. He often serves Wei and is diligent in serving, so he is very affectionate. Wei Hou returned to pilgrimage and made an appointment with Xiao Yu; At least five years, at most seven years. I left a jade ring and a poem. Less than five years later, Xiao Yu prayed on Nautilus Island. More than two years later, Xiao Yu sighed:' Wei Jialang Jun, after seven years, he will not come. So I starved to death. Jiang's family noticed his moral integrity and tied five jade rings on his middle finger to mourn with him. "Later, Wei was promoted to a higher position. When he learned that Xiao Yu died of double suicide, he felt deeply missed and asked the warlock to practice in order to meet him." In "Yu Di on a Clear Night", even Xie Yue said,' I owe my slave the credit for writing classics, and I will take care of it for ten days, and then I will be a concubine for the last thirteen years to show my gratitude.' After Wei took the merits of Longyou to rule Shu, he was tired of not moving the book. Because his birthdays, festivals and towns are dedicated and rare, he sent geisha to Balu alone in Dongchuan. The year when the melon broke, it was also named after Yu Di. At that time, the view was that it was the real Yu Di of the Chiang family, with a meat ring hidden in his middle finger and no jade ring left. "
Sun Guangxian of the Five Dynasties wrote in The Story of the North Dream: "There was a girl named plain clothes who lived in Wu for a long time, blushing. She was very beautiful, so she was given a jade ring. One day when she saw Bai Lianhua at the threshold, she bent down to play with it. She saw something in the wreath and gave her a jade ring. " "Shan Zhi in Iraq" said: "A guest visited Yishan Temple in summer and suddenly met a beautiful woman in white, fifteen or sixteen years old, with a unique appearance. Because I was lured to the secret room, my feelings were very close. And go, with a white jade ring, that is, go to the temple building and watch it invisibly. Dress in white, I didn't see it, but I know where I found a lily. The white flower is absolutely magnificent. Its root is like an arch. If you do, you will get a white jade ring. "
After five generations, this kind of supernatural story about rings gradually decreased, but it did not disappear. Until the Qing dynasty, there were many stories. For example, in Qiu Guang written by Wang Yi in Qing Dynasty, there is a mysterious purple woman and a man who are "very charming and give a ring, crystal clear as jade, and clouds can cure heartache." Sleep dimly and listen to my ears; I can get up. Zhang jumped up. The purple man had lost everything. All the buildings and cities were lost, but the given ring was still there. The effect of drinking water before heartache. "
Looking at the above supernatural stories, most of them are related to sex between men and women, or men give it to women, or women give it to men. There is no fixed number and it has nothing to do with marriage. Most of them are lingering one-night stands. It can be seen that the ring was not worn by a good woman under the cultural background of China in this period. Looking back at the role of the ring as a note from the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, it only shows whether the king is suitable for good or ill luck, and has little to do with marriage and love itself.
As wealth, it is used as a reward, tribute or gift.
Because rings were often associated with supernatural and ghostly events before the Song Dynasty, at least before the Song Dynasty, it was not popular for Han people in China to wear rings. Although rings have been unearthed from tombs in different periods in the Central Plains, some are worn on fingers, some are buried with other funerary objects, and some are held in the palm of your hand, but they should be used as funerary objects symbolizing wealth or merit, rather than daily first ornaments. This is the significance of the Ji and Ji stories mentioned earlier.
In Fan Qin's "Love Poems" in the Han Dynasty, the chanting of things is often interpreted as the token of love. In fact, we can understand from the context that the meaning of the ring here is not special compared with other jewelry accessories. It is just one of many gifts used to give gifts: "I am charming and pleasing to the eye. Why are you punching? The double gold ring on Wan's arm. Why be diligent? About a pair of silver. Why is it just a small area? Two pearls on the ear. Why are you knocking? The sachet is tied behind the elbow. Why is the contract broad? Double jump around the wrist. Why are you grateful? Meiyu adorns Luo Ying. Why is the knot center? Double needle plain silk. Why did you get married? Scratch your head with a thin gold painting. Why comfort parting? The tortoise shell behind the ear ..... "And then linked to the Ten Poems written by Ding six niang in Sui Dynasty, the significance of the ring as one of many gifts is even more obvious:" A gentleman who is thick and thin knows that he wants clothes and follows lang. Can't bear to sleep, ask Lang for flowers and candles. If you want to make flowers and win makeup, you can use Longsuo's red powder. If you want to be a delicate hand, take Longsuo's ring. If you want to prevent too many eyes, you can avoid obstacles. If you want to have sex together, you can use Longsuo's pillow … "If we interpret the ring here as a token of love, then there is nothing that can't be used as a token of love.
As wealth, rings can also be used as gifts between superiors and subordinates. For example, the aforementioned Miscellaneous Notes on Xijing said: "In the Han Dynasty, Miracle took a hundred trials as a warning, cared for his phalanges, and did evil deeds to give his servants four jade and four honors." Zhao Hede also presented Zhao with a "four-fingered pure gold ring" for Mei Dingzuo's "Shining Miji in the Middle of Sichuan" (Volume 5) in the Ming Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, Taiping Yulan quoted the Book of the Later Han Dynasty as saying: "Nineteen people, including Sun Cheng, made contributions to the establishment of Emperor Shun, and each was given a gold ring." "New Tang Book" contains: "Princess Ding 'an began to seal Taihe. Marry the Uighur Chongde Khan. Huichang came back three years ago, and ... ordered Lao Wen to tie his coat and give it to him with white mink and Yuhuan. "Rebuilding Yangzhou Prefecture Records" Volume 56: "Tian Shiying's wife Zhou, in the forty-sixth year of Kangxi, was Renmiaofeng, the empress dowager's southern tour, passing through Liuxiang, and Tian Shiying's wife Zhou Ruren, 90 years old, took care of her children and grandchildren, and once knelt down to receive two rewards for Yuhuan. "
When a ring is used as a symbol of wealth, it doesn't have to be worn on your finger. There is a story in A True Story written by Dai Zuo in the Southern Song Dynasty: "Qin Shu went to bend, lost his way at dusk, and looked at the fire and went to stay. The woman who lives alone prepared food for the tree, so she went to sleep and stopped at the tree in the morning. The woman cried and said,' There is no life behind you. Give it a pair of rings, tie it with a belt and send it out. The number of trees is ten steps. Look at its place of residence. It's a grave. It's been dead for a few days, and the ring and tie are still there. "Here, a woman doesn't wear a ring on a man's finger, but wears it on his belt. A gold ring was unearthed at YD 1902 Tang Tomb in Xingyuan Village, yanshi city City, Henan Province. According to the excavation report, the owner of the tomb "held a gold ring in his right hand" and did not wear it on his finger. This gold ring is used as a seal, and the words engraved on the lapis lazuli ring face are reversed, and the words are Pahlavi (medieval Persia) in the Middle Ages. This custom of using rings as seals comes from the west. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Yi's "Examination of Things" contained: "The old port, the ancient three buddhas, and the state of Qi. Formerly known as Gandoli, also known as Bolin, in the southeast sea ... people are scattered outside the city ... with the king's ring as the seal. "According to Blanche? Penny's book "History of World Clothing" points out that rings were first used as seals or badges in ancient Greece, and later played a role in indicating rank and status. During the Roman Empire, the gold ring "became a symbol of national honor, as a reward for officials who made meritorious deeds in battle", and the use of the ring as a reward was likely to be gradually adopted by the northern court with the integration of eastern and western cultures in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Some scholars believe that the gold ring in Li Xian's tomb in the Northern Zhou Dynasty "may be a reward from the royal family of the Northern Zhou Dynasty to Li Xian".
⑥ Henan Second Team, Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Excavation of Tang Tomb in Xingyuan Village, yanshi city City, Henan Province [J]. Archaeology, 1996( 12). The inscription on the torus is listed as "pd" from right to left, meaning "Great!" "Great!" Wait, in the later era of * * *, "commendable!" Has been added. The meaning of.
In addition, rings are also one of the common foreign tributes. For example, in the Qing Dynasty, it was compiled into a draft of the Song Dynasty, which read: "Only in the fifth year of Yuanjia in Song Wendi, the King of Tianzhu sent envoys to present watches, a diamond ring, a Moller gold ring, a treasure and a red and white parrot." The same book "Fan Yi qi? The chapter "Tribute in Past Dynasties" quotes "Textual Research of Shantang": "It was the first month of the year, and the three Buddhas paid tribute ... the cat's eye ring, the green agate ring and the big pearl ring, totaling thirteen kinds."
5. As a dowry of marriage or a symbol of love.
In ancient China, associating rings with marriage and love was an imitation of Hu's custom, that is, the custom of northwest minorities or westerners. Related records began in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, such as the Book of Jin and the Biography of Xirong: "When Dawan marries a woman, he first takes the agreement of concentric fingers." The "concentric" ring here refers to a "copper core" ring, which is gold-plated or silver-plated. Another example is "Taiping Yulan" quoting "Foreign Customs": "Please marry women, put down the whole concentric ring, and ensure that comrades remain unchanged." He also quoted a cloud from Hu Custom Biography: "Hu Hu began to get married, and when he agreed, he put on a golden concentric ring." "Historical Records" quoted a cloud in Fan Jing Addendum: "A cow scolds Fan for marriage, and a man is determined by silver and tin." Wait a minute. As we know, rings have a fixed relationship with marriage in the west at the latest in the Roman Republic. The aforementioned "World Fashion History" points out that the gold ring has replaced the iron ring as an ornament worn by the newlyweds at the wedding. This custom was introduced into China through Central Asia (Dawanguo, etc.) and became a "Hu custom". ) and gradually understood by Chinese people. The above-mentioned stories of ghosts and gods, such as Youyang Miscellaneous Notes, Yunxi Youyi and North Dream Suoyan, are all examples of taking rings as tokens of love. A love affair between a man and a woman in the vernacular version of "Three Wrongs in the Clouds" in the Ming Dynasty is also based on a pair of "gem rings inlaid with gold", which has helped several times.
Pet-name ruby The word "capital" here should be "gold", and the following is a biography of Hu's customs.
Of course, this function of the ring is still influenced by Buddhism. In fact, Buddhism is also a religion from the western regions, and its Buddhist stories naturally retain a lot of Hu customs. Among the existing Dunhuang documents, there is a variant article called "The Classic of the Prince", which tells the story of the Buddha-forming process of Prince Sudan. The article says that when the prince grows up, Sudoku King wants to marry him and make him attached to the world. "The prince heard that he was going to play the king. If (and) his son married his bride, the craftsman would make a gold ring and (and) wear it on his hand. His parents and children would know, but no one else would know. If you have a relationship with your child, knowing that your child has a gold ring is a husband and wife. " Later, the Mahabharata (yaodharā) said, so "the prince took off his ring at that time" and married Jarlas. The classic "The Enlightenment of the Prince" is based on a collection of Buddhist scriptures. Dunhuang literature has eight volumes, which shows that it was widely circulated at that time. Coupled with the way of speaking and singing, I believe this story will be more popular with the public and may have a certain impact on the fashion world. A gold ring was found in the "gift box" in the tomb of King Liangzhuang in the Ming Dynasty.
But the original Buddhist scriptures are only indirectly related to marriage. According to the original Buddhist scriptures, all the "worry-free devices for miscellaneous treasures" prepared by the prince were taken away by other women. Yaodharā was the last one to come, and later asked the prince for miscellaneous treasures. "At that time, there was a seal ring on the side of the prince's finger, and the price was as high as 1000 yuan, which was taken from yaodharā." But yaodharā is still unhappy. Later, Sudoku King proposed to yaodharā' s father. After some contests, yaodharā' father agreed to marry his daughter to the prince. In fact, the prince here did not take the ring as a token of his engagement to a woman. In the Tang Dynasty, monks (or literati) in northwest China adapted Buddhist scriptures, deleted other treasures and worry-free devices, and judged marriage only by gold rings, which was obviously influenced by the western culture spreading eastward along the Silk Road.
The ring is indeed one of the betrothal gifts of China's marriage, and its custom originated from the folk in the Song Dynasty. In Song Dynasty, Wu's "Dream" volume "Marriage" for twenty years: "On the bride price, a rich family should prepare three gold gifts, then those who fall into gold, gold and gold will also. If you have a padded house or no gold, use silver plating instead. " The "golden ring" here refers to the golden ring. However, in the traditional Han cultural circle in China, rings have not been included in the wedding ceremony system of the court. Although a large number of rings were unearthed in the Ming Dynasty, headdresses, bracelets, earrings, face flowers, Tang dynasty and iron pendants were all found in the list of "Gifts from the Emperor" in the Ming Dynasty, but there was no trace of rings. In the Qing Dynasty, the ring appeared in the official bride price list because Manchu was a nomadic people in power. According to Records of Qing Dynasty and Records of Emperor Shi Zuzhang, in August of the ninth year of Shunzhi, they were engaged to get married. "Prince Heshuo, and no one is separated from the son of Prince Heshuo. When you get married, you will use money as a gift ... a gold collar, a bag, three big hair clips, three small hair clips, a pair of earrings and ten rings. " "The prince, the king of Dorothy County, and the son of the prince and the king of Dorothy County are not separated. Get married, give gifts ... (The number of collars, bags, pins and earrings is the same as above) Eight rings. " "Dorobello, and the son of Dorobello, no one is separated. Get married, give gifts ... (The number of collars, bags, pins and earrings is the same as above) Six rings. " "Taniyama Beizi is not the son of separation. Get married, give gifts ... (The number of collars and earrings is the same as above, with two each) Four rings. " When a man with a different surname gets married, and the son of a man with a different surname is not separated from his family, there is no ring gift. It can be seen that the ring in Manchu dowry is the most distinctive status symbol in gold and silver jewelry, and its number is generally even. It was not until the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China that the custom of ring as an engagement souvenir became popular among the people. There is a clear record in the Qing Dynasty Banknotes edited by Tsui Hark: "Dawan first married a woman with a concentric ring, and now it is a souvenir of engagement, so the European style is gradually flourishing."
6. Conclusion
As can be seen from the above analysis, in the traditional Han culture in China, the ring was originally worn by concubines in the court as a symbol of distinction and recognition. At the same time, because of the homonym of "warning" and "returning", as a gift, the ring also has the meaning of "returning home as soon as possible", and because of its "endless" attribute, it has placed endless love between lovers. With the great integration of North and South nationalities in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, foreign exchanges were extremely frequent. As a custom of Hu people, wearing a ring has gradually become familiar to Han people. However, due to its strong exoticism, rings were often associated with ghosts and supernatural beings in Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, and were full of exotic mystery. Of course, after all, rings are mostly made of gold, silver or other precious stones, and their wealth value is high. Therefore, rings are often used as gifts or rewards. In the Song Dynasty, rings began to be regarded as one of the three major wedding gifts among the people. However, in the traditional Han cultural circle in China, rings were not included in the system of court wedding ceremonies. It was not until the Manchu wedding in the Qing Dynasty that the ring was officially unveiled. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, when the west wind spread eastward, it was accepted by the Han people and became a souvenir of an open engagement.