Chinese dai4 lü4-tou2-jin1, meaning to be
cuckolded, to wear horns. Also
dai4 lü4-mao4-zi literally "to wear a green hat".
During the Mongol and Ming dynasties, it was the custom for the men employed as bouncers in brothels to wear green head-cloths. From the practice of these non-takers of the brothel's pleasures, the green turban came to be the token of the cuckolded husband. The expression is still current.
Other Chinese literary allusions