Manchus not out of patriotism but because they rebelled at having to grow queues.
"Stubborn peasants were put to the sword, ministers from the former dynasty died comfortably in their beds, and the queue became an established institution—but then came the T'ai P'ing Rebellion. My grandmother used to tell me that it was most difficult to be a law-abiding citizen in those days: those who let their hair grow like the Longhairs were executed by the Government troops; those who grew queues like the Manchus were executed by the Longhairs.[1]
"I don't know how many Chinese suffered because of the hair which neither ached nor itched; suffered, were persecuted and destroyed."
N looked at the rafters thoughtfully and continued:
"And this unnecessary suffering eventually fell on my head . . . I cut off my queue when I went abroad to study; I had no other reason than that it was less of a bother to be without one. But I immediately became an object of hate to my fellow students, who wound up their queues and concealed them under their hats. The director of the educational mission was wroth and threatened to suspend my scholarship and to have me deported.
"But a few days later the director's own queue was forcibly cut off by a group of students, among whom was Tsou Jung, author of the Revolutionary Vanguard. He lost his scholarship because of this, returned to Shanghai and died in a Settlement prison. I suppose you have forgotten about this long ago.
- ↑ The Manchu queue called for the shaving of a strip of about an inch all around the head, whereas the Chinese style of hair dressing before the Manchu conquest permitted the entire head of hair to grow long.
