Liangmao (Chinese: 涼帽; lit. 'cool hat'), also known as Hakka hat[1][2] and Hakka bamboo hat,[3] is a traditional bamboo and/or straw hat worn by the Hakka people who perform manual work, such as farming and fishing.[1][4][5] Hakka women wore it when working in the fields.[6][7] The liangmao is made and is most commonly worn by the Hakka people who were originally from Northern China.[4] The liangmao is a typical symbol of Hakka culture[7] and is a "unique feature of Hakka culture";[8] it is also the "most public symbol associated with the Hakka".[2] Some Hakka women still wear the liangmao when working outdoors nowadays.[5] It also worn by non-Hakka women who work outdoors.[2]
History
Popularity and decline
Gankeng town is the home of Liangmao village.[8] The people of Gankeng have been making liangmao for more than 200 years.[3] After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Gankeng town was the biggest producer of liangmao.[7] In the 1970s and 1980s, every household in Liangmao Village would produce liangmao which would then be exported to Southeast Asia, Britain, and France.[7][8] In the late 1970s, the liangmao lost its market appeal and the demand for the hat shrank.[7] In 2002, the last Hakka hat maker died; and no more residents of Gankeng town made the hats anymore.[7]
Intangible cultural heritage
In 2006, the Gankeng bamboo hat was included on the Shenzhen Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage list.[3]
Zhang Guanxian and Zhang Hangyan, who are both veterans liangmao craftsmen, were named as the inheritors of the Hakka liangmao.[3]
Monuments
Liangmao Baby - a statue of an ethnic Hakka girl wearing liangmao was erected on 29 September 2016 in Gankeng New Town, Longgang district of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, as a new mascot.[7]
The design of the liangmao reflects its functions as a hat designed for farming and fishing:[4]
The liangmao is made of a flat disc of woven bamboo and/or straw.[4][1][5]
There is a hole in the centre of the hat which is trimmed with black embroidered cotton.[4] The lack of crown on top of the hat allows the head to remain cool.[4]
Around the outside edge of the hat, there is a fringe or veil of black (sometimes blue[5]) pleated cotton fabric hanging down.[4][1] The cotton fringe around the edge of the hat is about 15 cm deep.[5] The cotton fringe covers the shoulders and give protection from insects.[4] It also keep the sun off from the face of its wearer, and in winter, the cotton fringe would offer some warmth.[4]
In summer, the cotton cloth could be removed, and the hat would be secured by attaching ties through the loops that were attached to the central hole.[4]
