User:Gordontaiwan/The Hairpin Museum

The Hairpin Museum is a virtual museum or cyber museum featuring real objects but which nevertheless has no physical premises. It was established on Chinese New Year's Eve in 2011 by a private collector in Taiwan and has thematic galleries that feature selected items from the thousands of objects in its collections. The Hairpin Museum's goals are to undertake scientific, technical and historical research on hairpins and hair ornaments, and to promote understanding and appreciation for this ephemeral cultural heritage. The collections in the Hairpin Museum focus mainly on hairpins from the later Qing (清) Dynasty and early Republic of China but also include early Republic bridal crowns, vintage postcards and prints and some Japanese hairpins and combs.

In Chinese culture hairpins played an important role, not just as functional and decorative objects but also symbolically and ritually. Hairpins denoted social status, signified when a girl became of age and were also used in betrothal rituals. Elaborately decorated hats were used in Chinese opera and also during wedding ceremonies where the bride wore a headdress of crown that typically contained multiple design elements signifying good luck, prosperity and fertility (dragons and phoenixes were especially propitious).