Hairpiece Character

髢 means a hairpiece or extra hair added to make a hairstyle longer or fuller.

A commentary in the Shuowen Jiezi, an early Chinese dictionary, links the word to a story in the Zuo Zhuan, an old Chinese chronicle: hair is cut to make a hairpiece for Lü Jiang. The anecdote shows an old hairpiece use; it does not date the character's origin.

False hair appears in archaeological evidence from pre-Qin China; by the Han period, rules tied hairstyles to rank. Japanese かもじ developed from long hair and court hairstyling into partial hairpieces for added length or volume during the ancient, medieval, and early modern periods. In Korea's Joseon period, the term 加髢 named added-hair styles that could display wealth and status.

What does 髢 mean when sent alone?

Read it as a word or character reference to added hair. If it appears in a sentence, it names added hair; by itself, it can simply identify the written character. The message around it supplies the reason for mentioning it.