In ancient times officials wore the bian cap with their ceremonial robes.
Tips
history
弁 is not used independently in modern Chinese. In classical texts it named a formal cap worn with ceremonial dress, then extended to a junior military officer; it now survives chiefly in the bookish word 弁言 (a foreword).
register
Archaic and literary; seen in classical ritual texts and as a learned word for a preface, not in speech.
