中國精英的黑髮情結
中
國政界和商界精英們在阻止頭髮變白方面似乎有著不同尋常的能力。China's political and business elites seem to have an uncanny ability to avoid going gray.
這或許可以歸結為有一流的基因﹐或許是因為運氣好。但更有可能是受惠於他們樂此不疲的做法﹕染髮。實際上﹐這在中國有權勢的男性中間已是一種很正統的方式。
中國新一屆領導核心──中央政治局的9名常委年齡從52歲到67歲不等﹐但每個人都是滿頭烏發。
國家主席胡錦濤已64歲﹐但出現在公開場合時他始終是一頭黑髮。81歲高齡的前國家主席江澤民在出席重要活動時依然是以烏黑的頭髮示人。
在一家國有農藥廠擔任副總經理的王正潤說﹕領導人要上電視或在公共場合露面﹐他們要向國民展示自己健康狀況很好”。這位經理本人用一種中草藥製劑染過髮。
實際上﹐日本、印度等國家的男性也有染髮的習慣。但很少有像大陸的中國人這樣對白髮這麼不能接受。
與此同時﹐中國政界人士對黑髮的偏好也在逐漸向競爭日益激烈的商界蔓延﹐年輕的外貌在中國商界是件很值得驕傲的事情。
專家認為﹐中國人的美髮情結一定程度上要歸根於現代化的社會環境。目前接近五分之三的中國公民年齡不到39歲﹐因而﹐年長的員工很容易被年輕人取代。
中國社會科學院(Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)社會學所研究員、性別學專家李銀河說﹐在中國﹐年齡是決定升遷的重要因素。專家們認為﹐這或許可以解釋為何中國男性如此熱衷於將頭髮染黑。
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然而﹐按照中國古代的行為準則﹐染發或許是件很忌諱的事。孔子雲﹕“身體發膚﹐受之父母﹐不敢毀傷﹐孝之始也”。可見中國古人是崇尚順其自然的﹐包括頭髮。
經濟史學家趙峰稱﹐歷史上中國人從不妄動頭髮﹐除非在特殊環境下才會這樣做。例如滿人入關建立清王朝後﹐要求所有漢人男子剃髮留辮。更久遠的三國時代﹐霸主曹操曾有“割髮代首”之舉。而皈依彿門者則以剃度來表明自己斷絕塵緣。
古代中國帝王是否染髮無從考證。不過曹操的兒子、同樣曾身為魏國之主的曹丕在寫給友人的一封信中曾欣慰地感嘆﹐“已成老翁﹐但未白頭耳”。
然 而﹐隨著崇尚我行我素的消費文化在中國流行開來﹐古人的教誨被置之腦後。中國的男人們越來越隨心所欲﹐他們不但開始染髮﹐為保護頭髮還服用藥物或是使用特 殊的洗發品。藥劑師們指出﹐各種養髮產品中最流行的養髮成份是首烏。根據中醫原理﹐首烏能補肝腎﹐有養髮之功效。洗髮水廠家廣東霸王國際集團 (Guangdong B&W International Group)甚至請到香港功夫明星成龍(Jackie Chan)為其“霸王”洗髮水拍電視廣告。據稱這種洗髮水能保持頭髮烏黑柔順。
MJ Hairdressing Salon駐北京首席髮型師尤元健（音）稱﹐亞洲人的頭髮通常比高加索人更粗更直﹐也更容易變白。一定程度上這也是中國男性熱衷染發的原因。而專家表示﹐ 亞洲人頭上某些部位的頭髮不像高加索人那樣容易脫落﹐而是會比較均勻地逐漸稀疏。所以﹐有時候看上去中國人中間脫髮並不是大問題。
在眾多“黑髮”人之外也有一些特例。例如﹐大型基礎建設企業中信泰富(Citic Pacific Ltd.)的董事長榮智健(Larry Yung)在照片上就是一頭白髮。
此外還有中國國務院副總理吳儀。她頭上有大片的白髮﹐不過吳儀在政治局的任期剛在不久前結束。
黑髮情結折射出中國人對年齡增長所帶來的身體狀況變化的不安。美容外科醫生陳煥然發現﹐過去兩年來男性就診者的人數在急劇增長。
不過有一樣東西是男人們願意驕傲地保留下來的﹐那就是他們的啤酒肚。陳煥然稱﹐啤酒肚被視為一種地位的象徵。
Hair Apparent: China's Elites Dye Their Gray Away
China's political and business elites seem to have an uncanny ability to avoid going gray.
That might come down to having superior genes or simple good luck. More likely, though, they are indulging in a vanity that in modern China has become virtually orthodox for aging men of influence: the dye job.
China's new lineup of the country's most senior leaders in the Politburo Standing Committee includes nine men who have nary a white strand of hair -- even though they range in age from 52 to 67.
Current President and party chief Hu Jintao, 64, still sports an ebony coiffure. Even his retired predecessor, 81-year-old Jiang Zemin, still turns up at major political events with a shiny black top.
'Political leaders need to go on television and are seen by the public. They need to show that they are in good health,' says Wang Zhengrun, deputy chief executive of a state-owned insecticide-manufacturing plant, who colors his hair with an herbal concoction.
Many men in other societies like Japan and India dye their hair, too. But few places seem as averse to gray as mainland China.
The penchant for black hair also extends beyond politics to China's increasingly cutthroat business world, where a youthful appearance is highly prized.
Experts say hair-fretting among the Chinese could be rooted in part in modern-day social conditions. Nearly three in five Chinese citizens are under 39 years old, making aging workers easy to replace.
'In China, age is a very big factor for promotions,' says Li Yinhe, a gender sociologist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. That may explain Chinese men's compulsion to blacken hair, experts say.
Driven by the desire for youthfulness, the Chinese are powering hair-dye sales. Some $148 million of hair colorants were sold in China in 2006, up 75% since 2001, according to Euromonitor International. L'Oreal SA and Hong Kong-based Youngrace Cosmetic Group International Ltd. were among the leading providers. More Chinese also are using hair conditioners. Their sales have soared by 80% since 2001, to almost $275 million in China last year, according to Euromonitor. Still, barbers of influential politicians and businessmen insist that most dye their hair at home, for fear of being seen dyeing in public.
Some in ancient China might have found the practice taboo -- there is a Chinese proverb that exhorts people to leave things be, including graying hair, presumably. Confucius, the social thinker also known as Kong Fuzi, once compared hair and skin to inheritances 'from our parents, and we must not presume to injure or wound them.'
The Chinese never used to mess with their locks, and when they did, it was in exceptional circumstances, says Zhao Feng, an economic historian. When the Manchus conquered the Hans and established the Qing dynasty, the emperor ordered the front of Han men's heads shaved as a reminder of their subjugation. Earlier in Chinese history, Cao Cao, a poet and emperor, had made a strategic military error when he planned to commit suicide. But he was persuaded to settle for hair-cutting as a lesser -- but no less symbolic -- act of penance. Buddhist converts shave their heads as an act of renouncing worldly affairs.
It is unclear if emperors ever dyed their hair. Emperor and poet Cao Pi, Cao Cao's son who ruled the Wei kingdom, was said to have expressed relief in a letter to his friend about having still-ebony hair despite being old.
Yet China's growing consumer culture -- one that tells people they can have what they want -- has left those wise sayings behind. Instead, men are taking control, turning to pills and special shampoos on top of hair dyes. Pharmacists point to shou wu, an herbal formula that claims to cleanse the liver and kidney that are responsible for keeping hair healthy, as among the most popular solutions. Jackie Chan, a Hong Kong movie star, is seen on television peddling Bawang Shampoo concocted by Guangdong B&W International Group. It claims to keep hair black and intact.
Asians typically have thicker and straighter hair than do Caucasians. Asian hair type is actually more prone to hair-whitening, says You Yuanjian, chief hairstylist at MJ Hairdressing Salon in Beijing, which partly explains Chinese men's coloring obsessions. Yet unlike Caucasians, their hair is less likely to fall off in specific places. Instead, it will thin out evenly, sometimes making them look as if they don't have a balding problem, experts say.
There are a few exceptions to the sea of black. One exception is Larry Yung, 65, chairman of CITIC Pacific, an infrastructure-related conglomerate. In photographs, he is seen with a full head of white.
Another is Wu Yi, a vice premier who also happened to be, until recently, China's only top-level female official. She spots a shock of white, but her tenure in the Politburo just ended.
The antigray orthodoxy in China mirrors a growing anxiety about other features that accompany aging. Chen Huanran, a cosmetic surgeon, has seen the numbers of male patients pick up considerably in the past two years.
But there is one thing men will proudly keep: their beer bellies. 'They see them as status symbols,' Dr. Chen says.
Jason Leow
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