Wikipedia
Fengguan is a Chinese traditional headgear for women. It was worn by noblewomen in the Ming Dynasty on ceremonies or official occasions. It is also the traditional headgear for brides. It is adorned with gold dragons, phoenixes made with kingfisher feathers, beaded pheasants, pearls and gemstones. The number of pearls used range from 3426 to 5449, while the number of gemstones used range from 95 to 128. These pearls, gemstones and more kingfisher feathers are made into ornamental flowers, leaves, clouds, and bobin (博鬢, the 'wings' at the side/back of the crown). The weight of the entire crown range from . Fengguan was first developed in Tang Dynasty and were worn through the Ming Dynasty, with many changes made with time.
There are different varieties of fengguan, depending on the number of dragons, phoenixes and pheasants adorned, and the presence or absence of certain ornaments. Fengguan of empresses includes 12-dragons-9-phoenixes crown , 9-dragons-9-phoenixes crown , 6-dragons-3-phoenixes crown , and the 3-dragons-2-phoenixes crown . 9-pheasants crown , 7-pheasants crown and 5-pheasants crown , adorned with beaded pheasants and gold phoenixes, are worn by royal concubines and princesses (includes wives of princes), with the number of pheasants representing the wearer's royal rank. All other noblewomen/wives and daughters of officials wear the pearl-and-emerald crown , where the crown is just adorned with pearls and gemstones (in various ornamental shapes). Fengguan worn with diyi have no dangling string of pearls by the sides. Only the fengguan of empresses and crown princesses (wife of crown prince) can have bobin adorned, with the empress's crown having 6 blades of bobin (3 on each side), while the crown princess can only have 4 blades of bobin (2 on each side). All other noblewomen cannot have bobin on their Fengguan.
Image:A Tang Dynasty Empress Wu Zetian.JPG|Fengguan of Tang Dynasty worn by empresses Image:China's_Ming_Dynasty_Empress_XiaoKe.jpg| Ming Dynasty empress's fengguan worn with diyi, with no dangling string of pearls by the sides. Image:Chinese Ming Dynasty Empress XiaoZhuangRui.PNG| Ming Dynasty empress's fengguan worn with dashan, with dangling string of pearls by the sides Image:noblewoman5.jpg| Ming Dynasty noblewoman wearing 9-pheasants crown (with no bobin) and yuanlingshan Image:noblewoman4.jpg| Ming Dynasty noblewoman wearing 5-pheasants crown (with no bobin) and yuanlingshan Image:Empress phoenix crown.jpg|Artifact of Ming Dynasty empress's 6-dragons-3-phoenixes crown (3 of the dragons are at the back of the crown) Image:Ming_Dynasty_phoenix_crown.jpg|Artifact of Ming Dynasty empress's 6-dragons-3-phoenixes crown (3 of the dragons are at the back of the crown) Image:Empress crown.jpg|Artifact of Ming Dynasty empress's 9-dragons-9-phoenixes crown (bobin unseen at the back of the crown) Image:QueensHeaddress.jpg|Artifact of Ming Dynasty empress's 3-dragons-2-phoenixes crown Image:Phoenix crown back.jpg|Artifact of Ming Dynasty empress's 3-dragons-2-phoenixes crown, back view Image:Traditional chinese wedding.jpg|Bride wearing fengguan for wedding