2．Arm-wrapped gold
In the early days, armlets largely appeared in North China areas, where people had gold bars or silver bars hammered flat, and coiled them in screw loops. The loops might diversify from three circles to five circles and even eight circles. They were separated into the decorated type and plain type. Those engraved with decorative patterns were called decorated bracelets, and those without decorative patterns were called plain bracelets. No matter what angles they are observed, they present several rounds of circular rings, as if the women wear a number of bracelets. In pictograph, the Chinese character for bracelet comprises gold and river.
3. Finger ring
In ancient days, unmarried women would not wear any finger rings, because finger rings were tokens of marital ties or tokens of love. This token, smallest compared with other tokens, was yet the heaviest in the mind of women. This remains true up to these days. Offer your hand, and the man on your opposite will wear the ring for you. After that, you might live happily with it all your life, or weep upon it with broken heart some day.
There is a story in Taiping Era, in which Li Zhangwu, a scholar, fell in love with Wang Zifu, a woman from Huazhou. When they parted, Wang presented Li a white jade finger ring, and inscribed a poem, “Twist the finger ring I am lovesick at heart, How I miss you with the ring at my side. Hope you hold and enjoy it forever, all in an ending cycle never.” Many years later, Li retuned to Huazhou, finding that Wang had died of profound melancholy. The two finally met in Wang’s house in a dream.
Discussions with Friends in Cloud Village presented a love story between Wei Gao and Yuxiao. Distressed at parting, Wei sent a jade finger ring to Yuxiao, pledging to return and marry her in five to seven years. But Wei broke his promise and Yuxiao fasted and died. Later when Wei took the post of Xichuan governor, he heard of the news and lamented. He had a lot of figures of Buddha built to atone for his crime. In the end, Yuxiao was reincarnated as a singing girl and returned to the side of Wei to renew the previous love story.
4. Earrings
Chinese women began to dress themselves with all sorts of earrings long ago. The earliest record of this tradition appeared in the Mountain and Sea Bible, in which “A pleasant maiden from Qingyi Mountain, with thin waist and white teeth, has her ears pierced for earrings.” Zhuge Ke said in The Records of Three Kingdoms that “it is a fashion since ancient times to pierce earlobe for pearl decorations.” It shows wearing earrings was a fashion since the three ancient Chinese dynasties——Hsia, Shang and Chou. Earrings comprise earbob, ear-ornaments, and ear drops. Li Liweng, a scholar of early Qing Dynasty, called small and exquisite earrings “clove”, and heavy and gorgeous earrings Luosuo in his Idle Feelings Randomly Recorded. He said “one hairpin and earrings would accompany women all her life.” It shows how important earrings were in the aesthetic concepts of ancient people.
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