Gold hairpin with Xianbei features in museum collection

The dangling hairpin called buyao was widely used by the women from the time of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).

Here is a gold buyao in the shape of an antler with a horse head, dating to the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-581). Different from the common buyao with phoenix, bird and floral patterns popular in the Central Plain of China, it reflects the unique artistry of the nomadic Xianbei people. The peach-shaped leaves on the buyao sway as its wearer walks or moves.

Unearthed in Inner Mongolia in 1981, the gold buyao with inlaid red and white gems is of high historical and artistic value. It is now in the permanent collection of the National Museum of China.