the Daurs

Tea

During the Kangxi era, postal service in the Amur region relied on the Daurs: from the Songhua to Qiqihar, from Qiqihar to Aigun and on to Hulunbuir, thirty relay stations 驿站 yìzhàn were set up, built and maintained by the Daurs, who also founded Aigun, Mergen, and Qiqihar. Government supplies moved north along these stations, and return cargo came back the same way. The Daurs drink their tea with milk, with 稷子米 jìzimǐ — millet groats, and with 炒米 chǎomǐ, toasted grain soaked directly in the cup.

Growth on the crown

A foxtail-millet fountain: a straight stalk rises from the saddle, and a head of fine, golden-brown toasted grain hangs from the top EVENLY ON ALL SIDES as a short weeping brush; some grains have shed and cling to the stalk, with no awns at all. At 6 mm — a column with a rounded, drooping symmetrical brush: the hook and curl are Yanka’s, here the stalk is straight with no bend; the Jing mushroom dome covers the whole head, whereas here it is a small corolla on a thin stalk rising from the saddle.

Headdress

元宝帽 yuánbǎomào — “ingot cap,” described in accounts of Daur men’s dress as saddle-shaped (马鞍型): two raised fur rolls, one at the front and one at the back, with a dip between them in the middle. That dip is the slot: the brush emerges through the saddle, and the cap sits around it.

Silhouette at 6 mm. Saddle: two rolls and a trough between them; at 6 mm — a profile with two humps and a gap in the center. No other headdress has a double crown: the Tujia tower has a single stepped peak, the She roll has one forward-leaning ridge.

Clothing

A quilted traveling robe with a high overlapping closure and leather-trimmed sleeves, a wide belt with a plain brass buckle, and a rolled canvas saddlebag for the relay route slung across the back.

Palette

Dark gray and tobacco brown in the clothing, reddish buff leather side of the fur rolls, golden-brown grain of the brush, dull brass of the buckle.