Belt Making

The materials used to make belt hooks are mostly metals, such as gold, silver, copper, and iron. Jade, stone, bone, and wood are also used, but these are less common. The shapes of belt hooks vary significantly due to different eras and regions. Some are made in the shape of a stick, some in the shape of a hoe, some in the shape of an animal, some in the shape of a bird, some in the shape of a human, some in the shape of a dragon, and others in the shape of a zither, spoon, or pipa, among many others. The craftsmanship of belt hooks is also very distinctive; some are made by carving, some by inlaying, some by openwork, and some by cross-cutting, and so on. As recorded in the *Huainanzi*, "Among those seated in a hall, each has a different belt hook." Belt buckles appeared later than belt hooks. The belt buckles seen in recent years are all products of the Warring States period and later. A belt buckle refers to a ring-shaped belt buckle, which may be square or round. More elaborate ones include a buckle pin; to use it, the belt is inserted into the buckle, and then the buckle pin is inserted. Because it was more secure than a belt hook, it was widely popular. After the Three Kingdoms period, the use of belt buckles gradually increased, while the use of hooks decreased, eventually completely replacing belt hooks. Later popular belts such as the hooked belt, the sash belt, and even gold and jade belts all used belt buckles, not belt hooks, thus ending the function of belt hooks.

Although belt buckles were a device on leather belts, they could sometimes be used on silk belts. These silk belts differed from silk tassels; they were wide waistbands woven from silk fabric. Historical records often mention names like "guidai" (ribbons) and "zhichengdai" (woven tape), referring to this type of waistband. For example, the *Shuyi Ji* states, "Zu Xin saw a woven precious ornament belt on the bed of the monk Rong Shen." At the head of such guidai and zhichengdai was a metal belt buckle. The "Treatise on Carriages and Clothing" in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty records the attire of noblewomen: "From princesses and noblewomen upwards, all wore sashes, with colorful silk ribbons as the sash color, each according to its own color. Gold was used to ward off evil spirits, and the top was a belt buckle, decorated with white pearls." This shows that this kind of belt with a buckle could be used not only by men but also by women.