Why Period Dramas Can't Resist Nanjing Velvet Flowers
The 2018 hit Story of Yanxi Palace dragged a near-forgotten craft back into the spotlight — and it hasn't left the screen since.
When Story of Yanxi Palace became a phenomenon in 2018, it rescued an endangered intangible heritage craft from obscurity. According to the styling team, of the 128 hair ornaments worn by the consorts in the series, nearly half were Nanjing velvet flowers. As a Jiangsu provincial intangible cultural heritage, ronghua is deceptively complex: light as air, yet able to read as both regal opulence and fresh playfulness.
Today, mention ronghua and period dramas in the same breath and people think of Yanxi's breakout looks — some have even called velvet flowers "Nanjing on a hairpin." But the partnership goes far beyond that one show. Producer Yu Zheng is a known devotee and deploys ronghua across his other works too.
In Blossom (Moyu Yunjian), velvet flowers meet pearl makeup to quietly radiant effect. In Lovesick (Linjiangxian), the blossoms catch the light and glow; the show's grand wedding crown — a bold red base built from flattened velvet — reproduces the layered, vigorous life of real flowers in full, majestic bloom.
NOT THE FIRST TIMEThe crown that started it all
But this was hardly the first collision of velvet and crown. That honor goes to the 1986 Journey to the West, where the Queen of the Women's Kingdom wore an all-red velvet phoenix crown — a bold, vivid, almost defiant beauty, made by senior master Zhou Jiahong. She had a blue phoenix crown too, velvet through and through.
And it wasn't only women. Men loved the look too. In Lost You Forever (Changxiangsi), the character Tushan Jing wears a bamboo-leaf velvet hairpin that speaks of a gentleman's quiet composure. In Blossom again, the brave Duke of Su pins on velvet and becomes a dashing young lord.
Many more dramas reached for Nanjing ronghua to crown their leads: the lively girl in Follow the Moon (Yongye Xinghe), the dignified lady in The Legend of Anle (Lige Xing) — the material flatters the character every time.
FROM COURT TO STREETWhy a royal flower came home
You may have noticed a pattern: in the past, velvet flowers seemed reserved for royalty and nobility. And so they were. A homophone for "glory and splendor," made of silk, absurdly labor-intensive and impossible to mass-produce, ronghua was a symbol of status in imperial China — an art forged of artisans' sweat and devotion.
But history rolled on, and the dazzling flower nearly vanished. It was the persistence of craftspeople and the reach of the internet that gave ronghua its new identity as intangible heritage — carrying it from the halls of the court to a finishing touch in ordinary people's hair.
Yunqing chose Nanjing ronghua for two reasons. First, love of home: we wanted to show Nanjing's beauty with our own hands. Second, a feeling unique to the Chinese: we could not bear to watch something this beautiful disappear, and felt a duty to carry the tradition forward — hoping ronghua and other heritage crafts might become a bridge to meet more fellow travelers.
This story was adapted from our Chinese-language journal 云青非遗造趣社 (Yunqing Intangible Heritage Club) on WeChat · Photos: studio stills and costume-drama productions.