Chinese Customs

[FayChee]

So someone mentioned how my dad's two Chinese wives look like the hair on top had been shaved......was it a Chinese custom to shave the hair on top to denote that you were married rather than single???

When I was a baby, my dad had shaved my head because it was a custom....but did wives do that too?

[jasonwu]

Hi Fay Chee,

I believe it might have been common for women to have receding hairlines to due to prolonged periods of styling their hair in tight buns or pigtails, putting the most strain at the front of the head. This is because they did not cut their hair, and in order to farm and do chores, they had to put their hair up or braided.

Here's an image from around 1958 of my great-great-grandmother (approx. 70-years-old, seated in the middle) and great-grandmother (the Soo Hoo one, approx. 50-years old, seated on the left) who both seem to have had similar issues:

In today's world, women often do not wear their hair tied back, so that might explain why it is less of an issue in the present-day.

In regards to shaving babies' head, it is thought to promote faster and more even hair growth; here is a South China Morning Post article critiquing the practice: "Why shaving your baby's head will not promote hair growth."

Jason

[FayChee]

Hi Jason,

Thank you for your insight into my question......so they did not cut their hair back then. As I look harder at my family photo, it seems that all of the women have wide-square foreheads and your Soo Hoo great-grandma too!.....hmmmm.... maybe a Seto genetic trait or the angle of the camera. Oh no, can't be a Seto genetic thing because the women were from non-Seto households......my 1st step-mom was a 'Leung' and the 2nd was a 'Chan'.....

I saved the article on 'Shaving your baby's head'......Thanks again! Fay Chee