The rise in temperature and blooming of flowers signal the arrival of spring. Women can't wait to take off their layers of winter clothes, put on bright colors and go out to enjoy the spring scene.

During the ancient times, concubines in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) royal court preferred to wear flower hairpins as ornaments. Flower hairpin, in the shape of flower, is often made of tourmaline, with beads as stamen and jadeite slices as leaves. Flower bud, receptacle, butterfly are also delicately engraved on the hairpin. Let's take a look at some flower hairpins from the Palace Museum's collections.

A flower hairpin from the Palace Museum's collection. [Photo/Official Weibo account of the Palace Museum]