What's with the Qing hair style?

[Tom]

I've been wondering about this for some while now, but only now did I feel like asking. So the question is: Why did Qing citizens have to shave their head and wear a pigtail? Is it to distinguish themselves from previous dynasties?

[Ren Ying Ying]

manchu rule perhaps? i read somewhere they were forced into the hairstyle.

[linger]

To the best of my knowledge:
when the Manchurians gained power, they forced the Han Chinese to shave their heads and adopt their pigtail hairstyle and clothing. The resistance at the start caused massacres of Han Chinese by the Manchus to enforce their law.

[sarakoth]

It was to identify those "disloyal" to the Manchu regime (they had normal hair) and to act as a symbol of submission (for the Han, who had to follow the Manchus' rules)

[expression]

Yup. And to add salt to the wound, unsympathetic Hollywood started identifying Chinese with that awful hairstyle in all their movies.