Origins

There are varying opinions on the origins of the futou in the literature. According to Chinese scholar Sun Ji in From Futou to Turban (從幞頭到頭巾; Cóng fútóu dào tóujīn), the futou first appeared in the 3rd century AD and was based on the headdress of a northern tribe.^[3]: 319

Guzel Maitdinova proposed in 1990 that the futou may have been developed from hats worn in ancient Central Asia and was brought in by the Turks from Sogdiana to Tokharistan to China, based on information provided by Hsen Kuo, an 11th century Chinese annalist:^{[11]: 54–55}

The Chinese clothes and hats, starting from the time of Northern Qi dynasty represents a barbarian costume".

It is also proposed by Yatsenko that the futou was part of the Chinese male costume.^[11]: 54

Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties

The origins of the futou in China can be traced back to the reign of Emperor Wu in Northern Zhou,^[2] who had wrapped his head with a futou with four ribbons, called sijiao (四腳; sìjiǎo; 'four feet') or zheshangjing (折上巾; zhéshàngjīn; 'folding-up scarf'); two of those ribbons were tied at the back and left hanging down, while the other two were tied inversely at the top of the head.^[10]: 10 According to the Tongdian, Emperor Wu created the sijiao by cutting the fujin.^[12] According to ancient texts, Emperor Wu created the futou to protect the hair of his generals and soldiers in battles.^[9]

The futou first appeared a type of kerchief made by cutting a piece of muslin fabric into the proper size and by attaching four long and wide ribbons at each corner of the fabric like four feet.^{[10]: 10 [2]} This futou was large enough to cover all the hair of its wearer,^[10]: 10 and when it was worn, a kerchief had to be placed on the top of its wearer's head.^[2] Two of these ribbons were tied on the forehead while the other two were tied at the back of the wearer's head and was left hanging down.^{[2][10]: 10} Prior to the Sui dynasty, the futou was a black piece of cloth.^[9]

Sui, Tang dynasty, and Five dynasties and ten kingdoms period

Song dynasty

The futou was popular in the Song dynasty,^[5] and it was commonly worn all classes of people ranging from commoners to emperors wore futou.^[10]: 11 During the Song dynasty, the black muslin, which was mainly used to make the futou, was replaced by other materials, such as muslin or lacquered muslin.^[10]: 11 The futou could also be found with supports made out of wood, and therefore they could look like hats and caps of various styles.^[5] Hard ribbons were also used;^[10]: 10 and all the futou in this period had hard feet.^[9] There were 5 main types of futou in this period: the zhijiaofutou (also called pingjiaofutou (Chinese: 平脚幞头; pinyin: píngjiǎofútóu; lit. 'flat-feet futou')) which was worn by people of all social classes (including both the upper and lower classes^[9]); the "bent-feet" futou, the jiaojiaofutou (Chinese: 交脚幞頭; pinyin: Jiāojiǎofútóu; lit. 'cross-feet futou'), the "upward" futou, and the "downwind" futou.^[10]: 11

According to the Song Shi, the zhijiaofutou became the national standard form of futou in the Song dynasty for the emperor and the officials on any occasion, except when they had to take a carriage.^[9] The futou worn by the Song dynasty officials had an extended reclined feet; it was developed by having two hard ribbons made out with iron wire or bamboo strips attached at the back of the futou.^[10]: 11 According to the Pedantic Remarks of the Confucians by Yu Yan, this form of futou might have been developed to prevent the officials from whispering to each other during court audience with the Emperor.^[10]: 11 On some special occasions (e.g. the imperial court banquets, or the longevity ceremonies held for the royal family), Song court officials would put flowers on their futou; this was referred as Flower pinning.^[10]: 11 The Song emperors would sometimes send fresh flowers or man-made flowers which were exclusive to the use of the imperial court to his courtier; this later become a form of etiquette in the Song dynasty court.^[10]: 11It is also recorded in the Song Shi that the upward futou was used by people (including the Emperor and the officials) when they found themselves in narrow spaces, such as in a carriage.^[9]

According to the first volume of the History Narrated at Ease in the section The Etiquette by Wang Dechen (1036 –1116), in the early Song dynasty, a type futou, called front-folded scarf, was worn by some people.^[10]: 11 The front-folded scarf was folded and tied at the front region of the head was worn by some people.^[10]: 11 The back-folded scarf was a type futou which would be bent backward; it started to be worn after the Shaosheng period (i.e. after 1098 AD).^[10]: 11 Following the Shaosheng period, there were many changes in the styles of futou.^[10]: 11

There were also other forms of futou, such as the colourful flower-shaped futou embedded with gold lines which were sold in market of Dongjing; the curved-feet futou or the flower-like futou with feet curved backwards were also worn by some warriors; the long feet futou was favoured by the musical instrument plays of the imperial music office; the lustreless futou, and the white crêpe futou which was worn during funerals.^[10]: 11

Liao dynasty

In the Khitan-led Liao dynasty, the Khitans shaved their hair in a style called kunfa and wore light hats made of felt or helmets which were more suitable for their horse riding activities instead of wearing the lacquered futou; however the futou did not disappear in this period and continued to be depicted in the Liao dynasty tomb murals, including the curved leg futou.^[9]

Yuan dynasty

In the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, the futou continued to be worn since the Yuan dynasty court followed the Song dynasty standards regarding official costumes:^[9]

(All officials’ work clothes should wear) straight tails painted hemp futou.

Ming dynasty / "Wushamao" (乌纱帽)

During the Ming dynasty, a type of futou was to be worn by government officials as part of the court uniform, called wushamao (乌纱帽).^[14] Wushamao resembled the futou used in the early Tang dynasty, but followed the crafting methods of the Song dynasty by using lacquered muslin and wooden or metal frames to cast its shape. The shape of the feet varies depending on the era, with some resembling the curved leaf appearance of the prior dynasties or the straight wing-like feet in the late Ming dynasty.^[15][16] The Ming dynasty also kept the tradition of using straight-feet futou; however, by the shape of the futou worn in the Ming dynasty diverted from that worn in the Song dynasty: the feet became shorter with time and some of these futou became less than forty centimetres.^[9] The forty centimetre long straight-feet, painted linen futou was worn by both the military and civil officials for official business according to the Ming Shi.^[9] The feet of the Ming dynasty straight-feet futou were not completely straight and had a curved tip which would bend upwards.^[9]