What's with the Hair thing?

[AchtungAffen]

Do you remember when (sorry I don't remember the names) the guy who got the desease from the giant hog decides to leave, that he cuts his hair? I remember watching this Jackie Chan movie in wich he was some kind of chinese guard in the wild west and he gets his hair cut off and so banned from coming back to China.

So the question is: What does the hair have to do with ostracism? Is it some kind of tradition or something among eastern cultures?

[orochi X]

Im sure its tradition ages ago, your pigtail was kinda like your pride I guess. Note im just assuming from my watching of HK movies :lol:

BTW that Jackie Chan film is Shangai Noon

[Bekkichan]

According to a Japanese American I used to talk with on occasion, cutting your hair in a ritualistic fashion like that is symbolic of 'moving on' - leaving a part of your life behind and moving forward. You see it in several anime and games (FF9 for ex.) and stuff. And it is a pretty ritualistic/traditional thing in East Asia, or Japan at least... goes waaaay back, a few centuries at least.

As for the ostracism part, I think in the examples you mentioned the hair cutting also symbolizes that the person can never return to where they came from. Ashitaka of Mononoke Hime can never return to his homeland, Jackie Chan's character can never go back to China, etc. But that's just a secondary implication... it all goes back to the basic 'moving on' meaning.

Hope that helps. :look:

[AchtungAffen]

yep it does. Thank you.

[dez1982]

no man you got it all wrong, see he was in need of a haircut. but he decided if he did it himself he'd save himself the money

:D

[Hagakure]

From I was told about the Que (the ponytail thing) it was believed that the gods would reach into the graves and pull the dead out by the que and bring them to heaven. So when they lose their Que it brings them shame. Thats all i know, though its only what i was told by my teacher. Interesting side note, the phrase "chop, chop" is a reference to the que, where American Imperalist would order the Chinese people to do more or faster work or they would lose their Que :mad: . Chop Chop scared them into faster work, hence the phrase Chop Chop! :) Hope that helped to clarify the situation!

[raynebc]

Originally posted by Bekkichan
According to a Japanese American I used to talk with on occasion, cutting your hair in a ritualistic fashion like that is symbolic of 'moving on' - leaving a part of your life behind and moving forward. You see it in several anime and games (FF9 for ex.) and stuff. And it is a pretty ritualistic/traditional thing in East Asia, or Japan at least... goes waaaay back, a few centuries at least.

Whoa, that FMV in Final Fantasy 9 has more significance than I thought... Is that why it is fashionable for older women (in Japan) to have a shorter haircut?

Originally posted by Hagakure
Interesting side note, the phrase "chop, chop" is a reference to the que, where American Imperalist would order the Chinese people to do more or faster work or they would lose their Que :mad: . Chop Chop scared them into faster work, hence the phrase Chop Chop! :) Hope that helped to clarify the situation!

That's interesting to know, I'll have to bring this up in a relevant conversation sometime... don't know how long that's going to take though.