Storytime

  • Manchu women’s coiffure: an invented tradition

    story by Koen van der Lijn.

    In sharp contrast with the queue, the Manchurian female coiffure continued to stand tall after the years of the fall of the Qing dynasty. This is the story of the liangbatou and its rapid growth of about thirty centimetres to become the famous dalachi, an invention that became a symbol of Manchu femininity - the hairstyle worn by this barbie.

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