The sacred meaning of the beard in Rus'. Real bearded man: Russian beard, full, thick

The strength of Rus' is in its people. The strength of a people, at least of the male sex, is in its beard. So why did a Russian person need good vegetation on his chin?

In Rus', men were met not by their clothes, but by their beard. Its density and salinity. Dense vegetation was considered an external reflection of a good breed of man, and his masculine strength. People with poorly growing beards were considered almost degenerates. The beardless, as a rule, remained in the bobs.

The honor of the Russian man was in the beard. The damage caused to the vegetation on the chin was the gravest crime against the person. Even Yaroslav the Wise established a fine for torn out hair in a beard. The offender had to pay the state 12 hryvnias for the torn out shred. Under Ivan the Terrible, disgraced boyars were subjected to a shameful civil execution: their hair was plucked from their beards. To wash away such a shame could only be in a monastery or a feat in the war.

The beard was our national treasure, which was protected, among other things, by unspoken charters not to marry foreigners. Especially with those whom nature has not endowed with dense facial hair. Those who sinned with the "basurmans" were easily recognized by their offspring, or rather, by their "goat", rare beards. The unfortunate were "rewarded" with the status of "bastard" (from the word fornication), and a lot of effort had to be made to become a full member of society.

A beard for a Russian person was not only an honor and conscience, but also a balance in life. The loss of hair on a beard certainly affected the fate of a person. Tufts that were accidentally torn out and chin hairs that fell out were taken very seriously. People who voluntarily got rid of their beards were considered possessed. Ordinary people shunned them so as not to be infected with demons. But the most terrible thing for a Russian person was when the tsar “scraped off”. This was perceived by the people as a national catastrophe ...

In the 19th century, a beard was perceived as a sign of freethinking. The beards did not arouse suspicion among priests, Old Believers, and merchants. Raznochintsy, who let go of their beards, were regarded as a potentially dangerous, unreliable element. In the Soviet era, a beard was an attribute of a wealthy peasant, priest or academic scientist, and later also of fans of suspicious intellectuals like Hemingway or the unformatted Vysotsky. Thus, it can be argued that wearing a beard is a kind of non-conformism, showing the independence of the views of its "owner" and even his revolutionary spirit. Suffice it to recall the bearded leaders of world revolutions.

At all times, a beard has been a sign of masculinity and maturity. A beardless man was even denied a blessing and was not allowed on the battlefield. Today, in a time of blurring gender boundaries, wearing a beard can serve as an additional indicator of masculinity.

7 Russian rulers who raised their hand to their beard

On September 5, 1698, a "cultural revolution" began in Rus': Peter I introduced a tax on beards. The pride of the Russian man was dealt a terrible blow. Peter was not the first and not the last Russian ruler who did not like bearded subjects. We remember all the accursed warriors of the Russian Land.

If a Great Russian living in the 17th century were lucky enough to get into our time, then the first diva for him would not be the presence of televisions, iPads and mobile phones, but the absence of bearded men. Rest assured that the "guest from the past" would have thought he was in hell. And, probably, it would not be so far from the truth. It so happened that the vague and bloody pages of Russian history are closely connected with the absence of vegetation on the chins of its rulers...

VASILY III.

Vasily III was the first Russian monarch to free himself from chin hair. According to legend, he cut his beard to look younger in the eyes of his second wife, Elena Glinskaya. In a beardless state, he did not last long, but this almost cost Rus' independence. While the Grand Duke was flaunting his smooth-shaven youth, the Crimean Khan Islyam I Gerey came to visit, complete with armed, red-bearded fellow countrymen. The case threatened to turn into a new Tatar yoke. But God saved. Immediately after the victory, Vasily again let go of his beard. In order not to wake up dashing.

BORIS GODUNOV.

Tsar Boris, the first "Neryurikovich" on the Moscow throne, dreamed of reforming the Russian state. He decided to start with himself, finishing with the vegetation on his chin. The boyars and the patriarch tried with all their might to persuade the tsar to return the beard, but Boris was adamant. The trouble was not long in coming. In 1600, weather anomalies began in Rus': it snowed in summer, and trees blossomed in winter. Following the country hit the greatest famine in history, which lasted 3 years. The price of bread has jumped 100 times. Popular uprisings began, and an impostor appeared on the border with Poland ...

Interestingly, Boris Godunov is depicted with a beard in all the portraits. This is due to late censorship - Russian chroniclers could not allow the tsar to look like a "basurman".

FYODOR GODUNOV.

After the death of Boris, his fifteen-year-old son Fedor Godunov became king. Either due to age, or due to education, which historians talk about, Fedor Borisovich also did not differ in stormy facial hair. For this reason, some boyars did not want to take the oath to the second beardless sovereign in a row. The only true people for Fedor were the German mercenaries. Of course, beardless. In this position, the young tsar had to either shave all the boyars, or grow a beard himself. He did not have time to do either, having fallen at the hands of bearded courtiers.

FALSE DMITRY I.

False Dmitry, who replaced the Godunovs, also went wrong with a beard. The vegetation that he tried to let go on his chin was expressed in a couple of dozen thin hairs and treacherously betrayed an impostor in him. According to legend, False Dmitry tried hundreds of recipes on his own face that stimulate hair growth, but everything turned out to be in vain. With a glued beard, it was somehow not easy to walk, so the Pretender forced all his entourage to shave. Having reigned in the Kremlin, he wanted to extend the "beardlessness" to the boyars, but that was not the case. The boyars did not want to part with the beard, and soon False Dmitry I was finished.

Under Peter I, beard fighting was organized into a system. Pyotr Alekseevich visited "smooth-shaven" Europe, and realized that all the troubles in Rus' are associated with vegetation on the chin. In 1705, the tsar issued a decree on obligatory barbering. Now aristocrats had to pay from 50 to 100 rubles for the right to wear a beard. "Bearded men" received the so-called beard signs, a kind of passport for a beard. Illegal wearing of hair was severely punished. The royal jester Yakov Turgenev, on the orders of Peter, shaved the guilty even during balls, removing the skin and meat with a sharp blade from the cheeks along with the hair. The beard tax was abolished only by Emperor Alexander II.

Emperor Paul I, due to illness, did not have facial hair. Apparently, therefore, the bearded ones did not particularly complain. Having begun reforms in the army, he set out not only to build it according to the Prussian model, but also to rid it of the last bearded officers. He managed to carry out his plan, but the same beardless guardsmen killed him.

JOSEPH STALIN.

The "Red Dictator" was distinguished by pathological "beardophobia". This was probably due to the fact that Stalin's main enemy - Leon Trotsky - wore a beard. By the end of the reign of Joseph Vissarionovich, there were almost no bearded men left either in the army or in the government. The exception was, perhaps, the "people's headman" Mikhail Kalinin. In the Soviet personnel departments there was an unspoken order - not to hire people with a beard. This did not concern only the intelligentsia, despised by the proletarians, who inhabited research institutes and university departments. "Stalin's" distrust of the bearded has survived to this day.

The strength of Rus' is in its people. The strength of a people, at least the male sex, is in its beard. So why did a Russian person need good vegetation on his chin? On the anniversary of the introduction of the tax on beards by Peter I, we answer this question.
1. To enter the kingdom of heaven
Patriarch Adrian wrote at the end of the 17th century: "God created man with a beard: only cats and dogs do not have it." All "scraped" adult men were indiscriminately excommunicated from the church. This was due to the fact that, according to legend, an Orthodox person had to correspond in appearance to the image of Christ. So clean-shaven men were barred from entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
2. To show your strength
In Rus', men were met not by their clothes, but by their beard. Its density and salinity. Dense vegetation was considered an external reflection of a good breed of a person and his masculine strength. People with poorly growing beards were considered almost degenerates. The beardless, as a rule, remained in the bobs.
3. To keep your dignity
The honor of the Russian man was in the beard. The damage caused to the vegetation on the chin was the gravest crime against the person. Even Yaroslav the Wise established a fine for torn out hair in a beard. The offender had to pay the state 12 hryvnias for the torn out shred. Under Ivan the Terrible, disgraced boyars were subjected to a shameful civil execution: their hair was plucked from their beards. To wash away such a shame could only be in a monastery or a feat in the war.
4. To emphasize your Russianness
The beard was considered a gift from the Lord. And the Russian people were very gifted in this regard. The beard was our national treasure, which was protected, among other things, by unspoken charters not to marry foreigners. Especially with those whom nature has not endowed with dense facial hair. Those who sinned with the "basurmans" were easily recognized by their offspring, or rather, by their "goat", sparse beards. The unfortunate were "rewarded" with the status of "bastard" (from the word fornication), and a lot of effort had to be made to become a full member of society.
5. To have harmony in life
A beard for a Russian person was not only an honor and conscience, but also a balance in life. The loss of hair on a beard certainly affected the fate of a person. The randomly torn out tufts and fallen hair on the chin were taken very seriously: the “bald” man, as a rule, went to confession, and then sat down on a strict post. People who voluntarily got rid of their beards were considered possessed. Ordinary people shunned them so as not to be infected with demons. But the most terrible thing for a Russian person was when the tsar “scraped off”. This was perceived by the people as a national catastrophe ...
6. To show your independence
In the 19th century, a beard was perceived as a sign of freethinking. The beards did not arouse suspicion among priests, Old Believers, and merchants. Raznochintsy, who let go of their beards, were regarded as a potentially dangerous, unreliable element. In the Soviet era, a beard was an attribute of a wealthy peasant, priest or academic scientist, and later also of fans of suspicious intellectuals like Hemingway or the unformatted Vysotsky. Thus, it can be argued that wearing a beard is a kind of non-conformism, showing the independence of the views of its "owner" and even his revolutionary spirit. Suffice it to recall the bearded leaders of world revolutions.
7. To emphasize your masculinity
At all times, a beard has been a sign of masculinity and maturity. A beardless man was even denied a blessing and was not allowed on the battlefield. Today, in a time of blurring gender boundaries, wearing a beard can serve as an additional indicator of masculinity.

When it comes to Slavic girls, we represent beauties with long thick braids. When it comes to Russian men, the beard remains an invariable attribute. In ancient times, it was considered shameful to appear in public without facial hair, because the church and social mores did not allow such stupidity. To date, the beard is back in fashion - who knows, maybe ancient customs are returning to modern life in this form. Do you know why Russians have not shaved their facial hair for centuries? The beard has a special meaning. We invite you to get acquainted with the main reasons for the "shaggy" male half of the Slavic population.

Ticket to Paradise

Christianity was extremely strict about the appearance of the stronger sex. Men were supposed to look like Jesus Christ, which meant a strict ban on razor blades. If an adult with smooth cheeks came across the eyes of the ministers, the unfortunate person immediately moved away from the church. Expulsion from religion was tantamount to a death sentence. According to the priests, the beard helps the dead to get into the Kingdom of Heaven without any problems. Otherwise, it will be a difficult task to pass through the gates of Paradise.

Dignity

Today, the dignity of men is evaluated by several other parameters, but in the time of Yaroslav the Wise, it was concentrated exclusively on the beard. It was considered a serious crime to pull out a tuft of hair from the general vegetation on the opponent's face during a fight. For their deeds, they could be sentenced to a fine or a shameful execution. The latter represented the public plucking of the hair from the beard. After such a shameful execution, a person was ridiculed by society for a long time until he redeemed his debt in the war.

sign of strength

As they say, a person is always greeted by clothes. In the old days, men were judged not by their general appearance, but by the size of their beard. A thick and voluminous mop was considered a sign of incredible strength, aroused universal admiration and respect. If sparse fluffy hair grew on the face, the unfortunate person could be openly mocked. As a rule, beardless men were sentenced to a lonely life - women did not see them as future spouses.

God's gift

A long and thick beard is a feature of the Russian people. It was believed that such a gift was presented by the Almighty himself. That is why the Slavs showed open racism, condemning international marriages. They say that foreigners are not allowed to wear beautiful beards, which means they are not worthy of communication with Russians. If a woman had a son from a foreigner, the boy was very much ridiculed in society. By youth, when the rest of the guys began to grow beards, the young man had only a small "fluff" on his chin.

good luck charm

The fashion for facial hair was due not only to church rules, but also to the desire to attract good luck. In the old days, there was a belief that a beard helps protect against various troubles and set fate on the right path. Hair loss from a common head meant a complete disaster. In this case, the man went to church for confession, after which he sat down on the strictest post. Hair loss was then explained by sinful deeds, so people sought to atone for their guilt before God as soon as possible. Men who voluntarily shaved their beards were considered demon-possessed. People were afraid of them and tried to avoid them so as not to “get infected”. A real nightmare was the decision of the king himself to get rid of the beard. If the ruler ordered the servants to take up the razor, the population fell into a panic.

Independence

Throughout the existence of mankind, people have strived for independence. By the 19th century, Russians began to perceive the beard as a symbol of freethinking and leadership. Priests, great leaders and rulers, wealthy peasants had rich vegetation. A man growing a beard tried to show the society his own individuality and wisdom, the desire to be a respected person. The upper strata of society did not part with facial hair because of the status, ordinary peasants wanted to look more solid. Compliance with the rules of such a fashion gave a person the right to vote, the opportunity to express their own opinion.

Patriarch Adrian wrote at the end of the 17th century: "God created man with a beard: only cats and dogs do not have it." All "scraped" adult men were indiscriminately excommunicated from the church. This was due to the fact that according to legend an Orthodox person was supposed to correspond in appearance to the image of Christ. So clean-shaven men were barred from entering the Kingdom of Heaven.

2 To show your strength

In Rus', men were met not by their clothes, but by their beard. Its density and salinity. dense vegetation was considered an external reflection of a good breed man and his male power. People with poorly growing beards were considered almost degenerates. The beardless, as a rule, remained in the bobs.

3 To Maintain Your Dignity

The honor of the Russian man was in the beard. The damage caused to the vegetation on the chin was the gravest crime against the person. More Yaroslav the Wise set a fine for the plucked hair in the beard. The offender had to pay the state 12 hryvnias for the torn out shred. Under Ivan the Terrible, disgraced boyars were subjected to a shameful civil execution: their hair was plucked from their beards. To wash away such a shame could only be in a monastery or a feat in the war.

4 To emphasize their Russianness

The beard was considered a gift from the Lord. And the Russian people were very gifted in this regard. The beard was our national treasure, which was guarded, among other things, by unspoken statutes do not marry foreigners. Especially with those whom nature has not endowed with dense facial hair. Those who sinned with the "basurmans" were easily recognized by their offspring, or rather, by "goat", rare beards. The unfortunate were "rewarded" with the status of "bastard" (from the word fornication), and a lot of effort had to be made to become a full member of society.

5 To have harmony in life

A beard for a Russian person was not only an honor and conscience, but also a balance in life. The loss of hair on a beard certainly affected the fate of a person. The randomly torn out tufts and fallen hair on the chin were taken very seriously: the “bald” man, as a rule, went to confession, and then sat down on a strict post. People who voluntarily got rid of the beard, were considered obsessed. Ordinary people shunned them so as not to be infected with demons. But the most terrible thing for a Russian person was when the tsar “scraped off”. This was perceived by the people as a national catastrophe ...

6 To show your independence

In the 19th century, a beard was perceived as a sign of freethinking. The beards did not arouse suspicion among priests, Old Believers, and merchants. Raznochintsy, who let go of their beards, were regarded as a potentially dangerous, unreliable element. During the Soviet era a beard was an attribute of a wealthy peasant, a priest or an academic scientist, and later also fans of suspicious intellectuals like Hemingway or the unformatted Vysotsky. Thus, it can be argued that wearing a beard is a kind of non-conformism, showing the independence of the views of her "master" and even his revolutionary spirit. Suffice it to recall the bearded leaders of world revolutions.

7 To emphasize your masculinity

At all times, a beard has been a sign of masculinity and maturity. A beardless man was even denied a blessing and was not allowed on the battlefield. Today, during the blurring of gender boundaries, wearing a beard can serve as an additional indicator of masculinity.

Today, the male full beard remains at the peak of popularity and is considered the most daring and manly option. There are many solutions for a stylish haircut on the face, so that everyone can choose the most suitable image for their style and appearance.

At least once in a man's life there comes a moment when he decides to change his image and thinks about growing a beard. Sometimes such a decision hides a desire to veil the flaws in appearance, and sometimes a man just wants to pay tribute to fashion and keep up with the times.

The Russian beard is full and wide, it looks as natural and masculine as possible. It can only be formed if there is dense facial hair, because this form suggests that the sideburns merge with the hair on the jaw, connect with the mustache and go down to the neck. That is why not every lucky person can become the owner of such a bright distinctive gender. If genetics has deprived a man of a sufficient amount of hormones, then no matter how hard he tries, he will not be able to achieve the desired result.

You can appreciate the greatness of a full beard by reviewing a selection of photos on the topic.

History of appearance

There are numerous suggestions as to why the beard regularly gains immense popularity and becomes an integral part of the male image. It has long been called upon to protect its owner from winds and colds, but no one really thought about the fact that you can get rid of facial hair.

At the time of the great conquerors and rulers in all the paintings, they were depicted formidable with a lush large beard. During these times, dense facial hair was a sign not only of courage, but also of male maturity. If a man did not grow a thick beard, then everyone pitied him and considered him weak.

It's important to know! In the modern world, a full Russian beard, according to psychologists, is gaining popularity due to the fact that women are trying to take all the male dominant positions. Thus, the strong half of humanity shows its protest and wants to remind who the man is in the house!

Who suits a full beard?

It may sound strange, but a Russian beard can do wonders for a man's appearance. You can hide your flaws and emphasize your dignity, make facial features more masculine.

To be specific, for a thin face with a narrow sharp chin, voluminous facial hair in any case will look advantageous! It will add volume in the desired area and hide fine facial features. The main thing is that the beard is as full as possible.

Large faces with large cheekbones can also be corrected as much as possible, but here only a specialist will be able to choose the necessary shape based on the structural features of the head of the jaw.

For chubby men, a neat shape with clear lines will suit, which will visually lengthen the face. A sloppy but solid beard will emphasize the strong jaw that every man dreams of.

The correct oval face shape will look perfect with any form of vegetation. These men can choose the shape, size and volume of their hair.

To abandon the idea of ​​wearing a massive beard is recommended for representatives of the stronger sex with a small head size. Otherwise, they risk visually making it even smaller.

How to grow and cut

In general, a classic beard suits almost all men, the main thing is to gain strength in order to grow it, because at the first stage, a face that is unevenly overgrown with hair will not have a very spectacular look.

In addition, after a couple of weeks of growing, an unpleasant itch may appear, which indicates that the hairs have grown to a sufficient length and now, bending, can pierce the skin, causing discomfort. Often already at this stage, men give up and shave off their hair without waiting for the required length. And in vain, after a week, another discomfort will pass.

Important! Before cutting facial hair, you should decide on the shape of the beard. It is recommended to trim the length of the hair and mustache above the upper lip, but leave everything that nature has given in its original form on the cheeks.

Proper Care

The process of caring for a full beard consists of two points:

• general hygiene;
• appearance.

Men are advised to take facial hair cleansing seriously. They need to be washed and combed daily to avoid peeling on the skin of the face, the unpleasant smell of food and tobacco, and also to add neatness.

In order for the hair not to split or break, you can use balms and special oils. Naturally, there is a male representative whose beard keeps its shape, but there are very few such cases. Mostly bearded Russian men use wax or oil to style unruly coarse facial hair.