The History of Earrings

Multi angle version
Earrings have a long history. From divination and protection to the pursuit of disease and evil, from the pursuit of wisdom to the pursuit of fashion, from controlling "lowly slaves" to trendy women and then to fashionable men, earrings have gone through the ages, spanning time and space, constantly emitting eternal and shining light.
Primitive humans already had the habit of piercing their ears and wearing earrings. The earliest person with perforations on their ears was a pottery figurine with ear holes unearthed from the Yangshao Culture Site during the Neolithic period in Chaijiaping, Tianshui, Gansu, dating back 5000 years. [1]
The origin of earrings mainly includes the following statements:
1. Wearing earrings is related to ancient superstitions. Legend has it that demons, ghosts, and other spirits always want to enter and occupy the human body, so all possible orifices on the human body must be specially guarded. And earrings are lucky talismans worn on the ears.
2. In ancient China, wearing earrings was once a symbol of the "lowly". In the book "Lingqing Rizha" of the Ming Dynasty, it was said: "Women wear earrings to cover their ears, which have existed since ancient times. It is the business of the lowly." Originally, the original meaning of ear piercing was not for decoration, but for the purpose of serving as a warning. Because some women are too active and unwilling to stay behind, some people come up with the idea of putting a hole in their ear and hanging ear beads to remind them to live a good life and be cautious in their actions. But at that time, women were not as enthusiastic about ear piercing as they are today, but were in a forced position. During the Song and Ming dynasties, due to the rise of ethical ideas, the trend of women piercing the ears became unprecedentedly popular; Not to mention ordinary women, even empresses and concubines are no exception. Over time, wearing earrings through the ears creates a trend.
3. In some tribes around the world, long earlobes are a symbol of beauty. Girls have been wearing ear holes since childhood, and as they age, they wear increasingly heavy earrings. Make the earlobe longer and longer. If the earlobe unfortunately breaks due to not being able to bear the heavy burden for a long time, all her beauty will also be immediately shattered. For men, the ears are the center of wisdom. Smart people must have big ears, and heavy earrings will pull down the earlobes to make them longer, making them more intelligent.
4. The men who initially wore earrings were sailors. They believe that ear piercing can protect them from drowning. Later on, men wearing earrings were not just sailors, as wearing earrings was considered a symbol of same-sex love and also gave rise to many hidden phrases, such as wearing earrings on the left ear representing same-sex love, and wearing earrings on the right ear indicating bisexuality. With the popularity of rock singers, wearing earrings for men has completely lost its sexual significance, but most of them are still men from the bottom of society, or trendy people who hang safety blades, light bulbs, and so on on on their ear holes, and "earrings are not surprising, but they never stop".
5. Upper class society has gradually accepted men wearing earrings, such as super professional athletes who openly adorn their earlobes with a shiny diamond when signing high paying contracts. This seems to confirm that men have the right to put in as much effort to dress up as women do.