笄是古人用来簪发和连冠的饰物，是簪、钗的鼻祖。古代男女均留长发，笄为古代男女用来插定绾起的头发或弁冕的。“弁”为古代冠名。“冕”即皇冠。固定冠帽的笄称为“衡笄”，周代设“追师”的官来进行管理。用来固定发髻的笄称为“鬠笄”。从周代起，女子年满十五岁便算成人，可以许嫁，谓之及笄。如果没有许嫁，到二十岁时也要举行笄礼，由一个妇人给适龄女子梳一个发髻，插上一支笄，礼后再取下（图3-20、图3-21）。

Ji is the accessories for hair bum and hat,the original form of hair pin,hair clasp.Men and women all grew long hair in ancient time.Ji is for holding and inserting into the hair bum.Bian’ is for the ancient crown while ‘Mian’ is for royal crown.The hair pin for fastening the crown is called ‘Heng Ji’.In Zhou dynasty,certain officers were arranged to manage that.From Zhou dynasty,women aged 15 years were legal to marry,it was called ‘Ji reach’.If she was not married,the Ji ceremony would be held at her 20 year age:an appropriately aged woman combed a hair bum for her,inserting a Ji,and took off Ji after the ceremony (Figure 3-20、Figure 3-21).

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图3-20　商代骨笄
Figure 3-20　The Ji of bones in Shang dynasty

图3-21　笄的佩戴
Figure 3-21　The wearring of Ji