From screen to street: How Pursuit of Jade reimagines Fujian's wearable ICH

The success of the television drama Pursuit of Jade has sparked a renewed interest in Fujian province's traditional headwear, transforming ancient customs into contemporary fashion symbols. The show's depiction of Zanhua, the craft of pinning a colorful floral accessory headdress in Quanzhou, underscores the enduring vitality of the region's wearable cultural heritage.

These traditions, once local customs, are increasingly being integrated into modern lifestyles and tourism. In Quanzhou's Xunpu village, Zanhua, listed as a national intangible cultural heritage item in 2008, features intricate wreaths of seasonal flowers and is often described as a "walking garden". Today, the practice is a major draw for visitors, who dress in traditional attire to pose before the village's oyster shell houses, which are built with a mix of oyster shells and sea mud.

Beyond Quanzhou, Fujian is home to a wide variety of iconic headwear. In Fuzhou, the Santiaozan (three-sword hairpins), a silver ornament dating back to the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316), historically carried an added function of self-defense.

In coastal Hui'an county, Quanzhou, the functional yellow bamboo hats and floral headscarves worn by local women represent a practical yet aesthetic design, used to shield the face from intense sunlight and windborne sand.

Women of the She ethnic group wear the "phoenix bun", an intricate hairstyle of coiled braids and red yarn that symbolizes the community's ancestral veneration of the phoenix.

No longer confined to historical records, these intricate headpieces have moved from village alleys to the forefront of modern culture, ensuring their survival through active wear rather than mere preservation.