Hanfu

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Hanfu
The mianfu of Emperor Wu of Jin dynasty, 7th-century painting by court artist Yan Liben
Traditional Chinese	漢服
Hanyu Pinyin	Hànfú
Literal meaning	Han clothing
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin  Hànfú IPA [xân.fǔ] Yue: Cantonese Jyutping hon3 fuk6 Southern Min Hokkien POJ hànho̍k

Hanfu (Chinese: 漢服; pinyin:  Hànfú; literally: "Han clothing") is a term associated with the Hanfu movement used to refer to the historical traditional dress sensibilities of the Han Chinese.^[1][2][3][4] Although the Book of Han contains reference to '漢衣服' (read Han Yifu in modern Standard Mandarin),^[5] the word 'Hanfu' (漢服) does not appear in A Dictionary of Current Chinese, Cihai or other important dictionaries of Standard Mandarin Chinese.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]}

Ancient Chinese clothing was influential to other traditional clothing such as the Japanese kimono, yukata^[13][14] and the Vietnamese Áo giao lĩnh.^[15][16]

History[edit]

A Tang dynasty portrait of Confucius showing the Chinese clothing of the Spring and Autumn period

Traditional Han clothing comprises all traditional clothing classifications of the Han Chinese with a recorded history of more than three millennia until the end of the Ming Dynasty.^[17] From the beginning of its history, Han clothing (especially in elite circles) was inseparable from silk, supposedly discovered by the Yellow Emperor's consort, Leizu. The Shang dynasty (c. 1600 BC – 1000 BC), developed the rudiments of Hanfu; it consisted of a yi, a narrow-cuffed, knee-length tunic tied with a sash, and a narrow, ankle-length skirt, called chang, worn with a bixi, a length of fabric that reached the knees. Vivid primary colors and green were used, due to the degree of technology at the time.

12th-century Chinese painting of The Night Revels of Han Xizai (韓熙載夜宴圖) showing musicians' dress

The dynasty to follow the Shang, the Western Zhou dynasty, established a strict hierarchical society that used clothing as a status meridian, and inevitably, the height of one’s rank influenced the ornateness of a costume. Such markers included the length of a skirt, the wideness of a sleeve and the degree of ornamentation. In addition to these class-oriented developments, Han Chinese clothing became looser, with the introduction of wide sleeves and jade decorations hung from the sash which served to keep the yi closed. The yi was essentially wrapped over, in a style known as jiaoling youren, or wrapping the right side over before the left, because of the initially greater challenge to the right-handed wearer (people of Zhongyuan discouraged left-handedness like many other historical cultures, considering it unnatural, barbarian, uncivilized, and unfortunate).

Several styles[edit]

Garments[edit]

The style of historical Han clothing can be summarized as containing garment elements that are arranged in distinctive and sometimes specific ways. This is different from the traditional garment of other ethnic groups in China, most notably the Manchu-influenced clothes, the qipao, which is popularly assumed to be the de facto traditional Han Chinese garb. A comparison of the two styles can be seen as the following provides^{[original research?]}:

A complete Hanfu garment is assembled from several pieces of clothing into an attire:

• Yi (衣): Any open cross-collar garment, and worn by both sexes
• Pao (袍): Any closed full-body garment, worn only by men in Hanfu
• Ru (襦): Open cross-collar shirt
• Shan (衫): Open cross-collar shirt or jacket that is worn over the yi
• Qun (裙) or chang (裳): Skirt for women and men
• Ku (褲): Trousers or pants

Hats, headwear and hairstyles[edit]

Children playing on a winter day (冬日嬰戲圖), Song dynasty, by court painter Su, Hanchen (蘇漢臣). National Palace Museum in Taiwan.

Poet Li Bai in Stroll (李白行吟圖). A "減筆畫" (lit. minimalist painting) by Liang Kai (梁楷) of Southern Song dynasty. Note that Li Bai is depicted with his bun exposed, possibly due to the poet's heavy Taoist influence. The painting is currently kept in Tokyo National Museum.

Mural painting of a male figure, discovered in a Western Han dynasty (206 B.C. – 8 A.D.) tomb in Chin-hsiang County

On top of the garments, hats (for men) or hairpieces (for women) may be worn. One can often tell the profession or social rank of someone by what they wear on their heads. The typical types of male headwear are called jin (巾) for soft caps, mao (帽) for stiff hats and guan (冠) for formal headdress. Officials and academics have a separate set of hats, typically the putou (幞頭), the wushamao (烏紗帽), the si-fang pingding jin (四方平定巾; or simply, fangjin: 方巾) and the Zhuangzi jin (莊子巾). A typical hairpiece for women is the ji (笄) but there are more elaborate hairpieces.

In addition, managing hair was also a crucial part of ancient Han people's daily life. Commonly, males and females would stop cutting their hair once they reached adulthood. This was marked by the Chinese coming of age ceremony Guan Li, usually performed between ages 15 to 20. They allowed their hair to grow long naturally until death, including facial hair. This was due to Confucius' teaching "身體髮膚，受諸父母，不敢毀傷，孝之始也" – which can be roughly translated as 'My body, hair and skin are given by my father and mother, I dare not damage any of them, as this is the least I can do to honor and respect my parents'. In fact, cutting one's hair off in ancient China was considered a legal punishment called '髡', designed to humiliate criminals, as well as applying a character as a facial tattoo to notify one's criminality, the punishment is referred to as '黥', since regular people wouldn't have tattoos on their skin attributed to the same philosophy.

Children were exempt from the above commandment; they could cut their hair short, make different kinds of knots or braids, or simply just let them hang without any care, especially because such the decision was usually made by the parents rather than the children themselves, therefore, parental respect was not violated. However, once they entered adulthood, every male was obliged to tie his long hair into a bun called ji (髻) either on or behind his head and always cover the bun up with different kinds of headdresses (except Buddhist monks, who would always keep their heads completely shaved to show that they're "cut off from the earthly bonds of the mortal world"; and Taoist monks, who would usually just use hair sticks called '簪' (zān) to hold the buns in place without concealing them). Thus the 'disheveled hair', a common but erring depiction of ancient Chinese male figures seen in most modern Chinese period dramas or movies with hair (excluding facial hair) hanging down from both sides and/or in the back are historically inaccurate. Females on the other hand, had more choices in terms of decorating their hair as adults. They could still arrange their hair into as various kinds of hairstyles as they pleased. There were different fashions for women in various dynastic periods.

Such strict "no-cutting" hair tradition was implemented all throughout Han Chinese history since Confucius' time up until the end of Ming dynasty (1644 CE), when the Qing Prince Dorgon forced the male Han people to adopt the hairstyle of Manchu men, which was shave their foreheads bald and gather the rest of the hair into ponytails in the back (See Queue) in order to show that they submitted to Qing authority, the so-called "Queue Order" (薙髮令). Han children and females were spared from this order, also Taoist monks were allowed to keep their hair and Buddhist monks were allowed to keep all their hair shaven. Han defectors to the Qing like Li Chengdong and Liu Liangzuo and their Han troops carried out the queue order to force it on the general population. Han Chinese soldiers in 1645 under Han General Hong Chengchou forced the queue on the people of Jiangnan while Han people were initially paid silver to wear the queue in Fuzhou when it was first implemented.^[18]

• 

  A lacquerware painting from the Jingmen Tomb (Chinese: 荊門楚墓; Pinyin: Jīngmén chǔ mù) of the State of Chu (704–223 BC), depicting women and men wearing precursors to traditional silk dress) and riding in a two-horsed chariot

• 

  A Taoist soothsayer advising a woman. Note that his hair is tightened into a bun on his head, a surviving example of the previous commonly adopted male hairstyle of Han people. Photo taken in 2008 outside the Changchun Temple (長春觀) in Wuhan, China.

• 

  Fresco of a woman from a Western Han dynasty (206 B.C. – 8 A.D.) tomb in Xi'an

• 

  Mural of a woman from the Dahuting Tomb of the late Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 AD), in Zhengzhou, Henan

• 

  Mural of two women with Han hairstyles, Dahuting Tomb

• 

  Mural of a woman, Dahuting Tomb

• 

  Mural of a woman, Dahuting Tomb

• 

  A Northern Qi dynasty mural of a gate guard from the tomb of Lou Rui (婁叡).

• 

  A Song dynasty mural reflecting a scene of the daily life of the occupant, found in a tomb unearthed in Dengfeng.

Man's Headwear	view	Woman's Headwear	view
Mianguan		Fengguan (鳳冠), lit. "phoenix crown".
Tongtianguan		Huasheng
Pibian		Bian
Jinxianguan		Hairpin
Longguan
Putou (襆頭), lit. "head cover" or "head wrap". An early form of informal headwear dates back as early as Jin dynasty that later developed into several variations for wear in different occasions.
Zhangokfutou (展角幞頭), lit. "spread-horn head cover", designed by the founder of Song dynasty, with elongated horns on both sides in order to keep the distance between his officials so they couldn't whisper to each other during court assemblies. It was also later adapted by the Ming dynasty, authorized for court wear.
Zhan Chi Fu Tou (展翅幞頭), lit. "spread-wing head cover", more commonly known by its nickname Wu Sha Mao (烏紗帽), lit. "black-cloth hat", was the standard headwear of officials during the Ming dynasty. The term "Wu Sha Mao" is still frequently used in modern Chinese slang when referring to a government position.
Yishanguan (翼善冠), lit. "winged crown of philanthropy", worn by emperors and princes of the Ming dynasty, as well as kings of many of its tributaries such as Korea and Ryukyu. The version worn by emperors was elaborately decorated with jewels and dragons, while the others looked like Wu Sha Mao but with wings folded upwards.
Pashou
Patou
Zhuzi jin
Zhouzi jin
Zhuangzi jin
Fujin
Li
Zi
Wangjing

Style[edit]

Another type of Han Chinese Shenyi (深衣) commonly worn from the pre-Shang periods to the Ming dynasty. This form is known as the zhiju (直裾) and worn primarily by men

Han Chinese clothing had changed and evolved with the fashion of the days since its commonly assumed beginnings in the Shang dynasty. Many of the earlier designs are more gender-neutral and simple in cuttings. Later garments incorporate multiple pieces with men commonly wearing pants and women commonly wearing skirts. Clothing for women usually accentuates the body's natural curves through wrapping of upper garment lapels or binding with sashes at the waist.

Informal wear[edit]

Types include tops (yi) and bottoms (divided further into pants and skirts for both genders, with terminologies chang or qun), and one-piece robes that wrap around the body once or several times (shenyi).

• Zhongyi (中衣) or zhongdan (中單): inner garments, mostly white cotton or silk
• Shanqun (衫裙): a short coat with a long skirt
• Ruqun (襦裙): a top garment with a separate lower garment or skirt
• Kuzhe (褲褶): a short coat with trousers
• Zhiduo/zhishen (直裰/直身): a Ming dynasty style robe, similar to a zhiju shenyi but with vents at the side and 'stitched sleeves' (i.e. the sleeve cuff is closed save a small opening for the hand to go through)
• Daopao/Fusha (道袍/彿裟): Taoist/Buddhist priests' full dress ceremonial robes. Note: Daopao doesn't necessarily means Taoist's robe, it actually is a style of robe for scholars. And the Taoist version of Daopao is called De Luo (得罗), and Buddhist version is called Hai Qing (海青).

Two traditional forms of ruqun (襦裙), a type of Han Chinese clothing worn primarily by women. Cuffs and sleeves on the upper garment may be tighter or looser depending on style. A short skirt or weighted braid (with weight provided by a jade or gold pendant) is sometimes worn to improve aesthetics or comfort of the basic ruqun.

A typical set of Hanfu can consist of two or three layers. The first layer of clothing is mostly the zhongyi (中衣) which is typically the inner garment much like a Western T-shirt and pants. The next layer is the main layer of clothing which is mostly closed at the front. There can be an optional third layer which is often an overcoat called a zhaoshan which is open at the front. More complicated sets of Hanfu can have many more layers.

For footwear, white socks and black cloth shoes (with white soles) are the norm, but in the past, shoes may have a front face panel attached to the tip of the shoes. Daoists, Buddhists and Confucians may have white stripe chevrons.

Semi-formal wear[edit]

A piece of Hanfu can be "made semi-formal" by the addition of the following appropriate items:

• Chang (裳): a pleated skirt
• Bixi (蔽膝): long front cloth panel attached from the waist belt
• Zhaoshan (罩衫): long open fronted coat
• Guan (冠) or any formal hats

Generally, this form of wear is suitable for meeting guests or going to meetings and other special cultural days. This form of dress is often worn by the nobility or the upper-class as they are often expensive pieces of clothing, usually made of silks and damasks. The coat sleeves are often deeper than the shenyi to create a more voluminous appearance.

Formal wear[edit]

Yuanlingshan

In addition to informal and semi-formal wear, there is a form of dress that is worn only at confucian rituals (like important sacrifices or religious activities) or by special people who are entitled to wear them (such as officials and emperors). Formal wear are usually long wear with long sleeves except Xuanduan.

Formal garments may include:

• Xuanduan (玄端): a very formal dark robe; equivalent to the Western white tie
• Shenyi (深衣): a long full body garment

• Quju (曲裾): diagonal body wrapping
• Zhiju (直裾): straight lapels

• Yuanlingshan (圓領衫), lanshan (襴衫) or panlingpao (盤領袍): closed, round-collared robe; mostly used for official or academical dress

Carved reliefs on stone tomb doors showing a man holding a shield, the other a broom, Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 AD), from Lanjia Yard, Pi County, Sichuan province, Sichuan Provincial Museum of Chengdu

A late Eastern Han (25–220 AD) Chinese tomb mural showing lively scenes of a banquet (yanyin 宴饮), dance and music (wuyue 舞乐), acrobatics (baixi 百戏), and wrestling (xiangbu 相扑), from the Dahuting tombs in Zhengzhou, Henan, China

Style	Views
Xuanduan
Shenyi
Yuanlingshan

The most formal dress civilians can wear is the xuanduan (sometimes called yuanduan 元端^[19]), which consists of a black or dark blue top garment that runs to the knees with long sleeve (often with white piping), a bottom red chang, a red bixi (which can have a motif and/or be edged in black), an optional white belt with two white streamers hanging from the side or slightly to the front called peishou (佩綬), and a long black guan. Additionally, wearers may carry a long jade gui (圭) or wooden hu (笏) tablet (used when greeting royalty). This form of dress is mostly used in sacrificial ceremonies such as Ji Tian (祭天) and Ji Zu (祭祖), etc., but is also appropriate for state occasions. The xuanduan is basically a simplified version of full court dress of the officials and the nobility.

Men and women in xuanduan formal wear at a Confucian ceremony in China

Those in the religious orders wear a plain middle layer garment followed by a highly decorated cloak or coat. Taoists have a 'scarlet gown' (絳袍)^[20] which is made of a large cloak sewn at the hem to create very long deep sleeves used in very formal rituals. They are often scarlet or crimson in color with wide edging and embroidered with intricate symbols and motifs such as the eight trigrams and the yin and yang Taiji symbol. Buddhist have a cloak with gold lines on a scarlet background creating a brickwork pattern which is wrapped around over the left shoulder and secured at the right side of the body with cords. There may be further decorations, especially for high priests.^[21]

Those in academia or officialdom have distinctive gowns (known as changfu 常服 in court dress terms). This varies over the ages but they are typically round collared gowns closed at the front. The most distinct feature is the headwear which has 'wings' attached. Only those who passed the civil examinations are entitled to wear them, but a variation of it can be worn by ordinary scholars and laymen and even for a groom at a wedding (but with no hat).

Court dress[edit]

Court dress is the dress worn at very formal occasions and ceremonies that are in the presence of a monarch (such as an enthronement ceremony). The entire ensemble of clothing can consist of many complex layers and look very elaborate. Court dress is similar to the xuanduan in components but have additional adornments and elaborate headwear. They are often brightly colored with vermillion and blue. There are various versions of court dress that are worn for certain occasions.

Court dress refers to:

Tang dynasty sancai statue showing an official's dress

The practical use of court dress is now obsolete in the modern age since there is no reigning monarch in China anymore.

Specific styles[edit]

Historically, Han Chinese clothing has influenced many of its neighbouring cultural costumes, such as the Japanese kimono and yukata,^[13][14] and the Vietnamese Áo giao lĩnh.^[22][23] Elements of Han Chinese clothing have also been influenced by neighbouring cultural costumes, especially by the nomadic peoples to the north, and Central Asian cultures to the west by way of the Silk Road.^[24][25]

Tang dynasty[edit]

Tang dynasty woman

The Tang dynasty represents a golden age in China's history, where the arts, sciences and economy were thriving. Female dress and personal adornments in particular reflected the new visions of this era, which saw unprecedented trade and interaction with cultures and philosophies alien to Chinese borders. Although it still continues the clothing of its predecessors such as Han and Sui dynasties, fashion during the Tang was also influenced by its cosmopolitan culture and arts. Where previously Chinese women had been restricted by the old Confucian code to closely wrapped, concealing outfits, female dress in the Tang dynasty gradually became more relaxed, less constricting and even more revealing.^[26] The Tang dynasty also saw the ready acceptance and syncretisation with Chinese practice, of elements of foreign culture by the Han Chinese. The foreign influences prevalent during Tang China included cultures from Gandhara, Turkistan, Persia and Greece. The stylistic influences of these cultures were fused into Tang-style clothing without any one particular culture having especial prominence.^[27]

Song and Yuan dynasty[edit]

Han Clothing in Yuan dynasty

Some features of Tang clothing carried into the Song dynasty such as court customs. Song court customs often use red color for their garments with black leather shoe and hats. Collar edges and sleeve edges of all clothes that have been excavated were decorated with laces or embroidered patterns. Such clothes were decorated with patterns of peony, camellia, plum blossom, and lily, etc. Song Empresses often had three to five distinctive jewelry-like marks on their face (two side of the cheek, other two next to the eyebrows and one on the forehead). Although some of Song clothing have similarities with previous dynasties, some unique characteristics separate it from the rest. Many of Song Clothing goes into Yuan and Ming.^[28] One of the common clothing styles for woman during the Song dynasty was Beizi (褙子), which were usually regarded as shirt or jacket and could be matched with Ru or Ku. There are two size of Beizi: the short one is crown rump length and the long one extended to the knees.^[29]

Ming dynasty[edit]

• 

  Female's Ao Qun (袄裙, lit. coat-and-skirt), historical artifact kept in Kong Family Mansion.

• 

  Commoner's clothing

• 

  Nicolas Trigault, a Flemish Jesuit in Ming style Confucian-scholar costume (Rufu 儒服).
  Drawing by Peter Paul Rubens, 1617.

• 

  A portrait painting of Nicolas Trigault believed to be wearing the same costume as shown in the drawing. By Rubens' workshop.

According to the Veritable Records of Hongwu Emperor (太祖實錄, a detailed official account written by court historians recording the daily activities of Hongwu Emperor during his reign.), shortly after the founding of Ming dynasty, "on the Renzi day in the second month of the first year of Hongwu era (Feb 29th, 1368 CE), Hongwu emperor decreed that all fashions of clothing and headwear shall be restored to the standard of Tang, all citizens shall gather their hairs on top of their heads, and officials shall wear the Wu Sha Mao (black-cloth hats), round-collar robes, belts, and black boots." ("洪武元年二月壬子...至是，悉命復衣冠如唐制，士民皆束髮於頂，官則烏紗帽，圓領袍，束帶，黑靴。") This attempt to restore the entire clothing system back to the way it was during the Tang dynasty was a gesture from the founding emperor that signified the restoration of Han tradition and cultural identity after defeating the Yuan dynasty. However, fashionable Mongol attire, items and hats were still sometimes worn by early Ming royals such as Emperors Hongwu and Zhengde.^[25][30]

The Ming dynasty also brought many changes to its clothing, as many dynasties do. They implemented metal buttons and the collar changed from the symmetrical type of the Song dynasty (960-1279) to the main circular type. Compared with the costume of the Tang dynasty (618-907), the proportion of the upper outer garment to lower skirt in the Ming dynasty was significantly inverted. Since the upper outer garment was shorter and the lower garment was longer, the jacket gradually became longer to shorten the length of the exposed skirt. Young ladies in the mid-Ming dynasty usually preferred to dress in these waistcoats. The waistcoats in the Qing dynasty were transformed from those of the Yuan dynasty. During the Ming dynasty, Confucian codes and ideals were popularized and it had a significant effect on clothing.^[31]

Ten Officials Who Passed The Imperial Exam In The Same Year of 1464 (甲申十同年圖), painted in 1503 during one of their reunions. The presence of yapai (牙牌, lit. 'Tusk Card' or 'Ivory Plaque')—the rectangular device hanging from each official's left waist, made from ivory, engraved with the wearer's department, position, rank and instructions, worn by officials who were granted passage into the Forbidden City to have an audience with the emperor, similar to a visitor's badge—implies that this scene was painted shortly after such a meeting had taken place. During the Ming dynasty, both civil and military officials were divided into nine Ranks (品), each Rank was further subdivided into Primary (正) and Secondary (從) so there were technically eighteen Ranks, with First Rank Primary (正一品) being the highest and the Ninth Rank Secondary (從九品) the lowest. Officials of the upper four Ranks (from First Rank Primary to Fourth Rank Secondary) were entitled to wear the red robes; mid-Ranks (Fifth Rank Primary to Seventh Rank Secondary) to wear blue robes and the lower Ranks (Eighth Rank Primary to Ninth Rank Secondary) to wear green robes. In addition, each exact Rank was indicated by a picture of unique animal (either real or legendary) sewn on a square-shaped patch in both the front and back of the robe, so fellow officials could identify someone's Rank from afar. (Use the chart below for comprehensive facts; for more information see Mandarin square)

A yapai (牙牌) from the Ming dynasty as mentioned in the painting above, this is the side engraved with instructions: the smaller text on the right reads "Officials who come to pay tribute [to the emperor] shall wear this card, those found without one will be prosecuted by law. Those who borrow or lend this card will be punished equally." The larger text on the left reads "Not required [to be checked] when outside the capital [Beijing]."

Qing dynasty[edit]

Han and Manchu clothing coexisted during Qing dynasty

Han Chinese clothing in early Qing

When the Manchus established the Qing dynasty, the authorities issued decrees having Han Chinese men to wear Manchurian attire and shave their hair into pigtails. The resistances against the hair shaving policy were suppressed.^[32] Some Han civilian men also voluntarily adopted Manchu clothing like Changshan on their own free will. By the late Qing, not only officials and scholars, but a great many commoners as well, started to wear Manchu attire.^[33][1] As a result, Ming dynasty style clothing was even retained in some places in China during the Xinhai Revolution.^[34]

During the Qing dynasty, Manchu style clothing was only required for scholar-official elite such as the Eight Banners members and Han men serving as government officials. For women's clothing, Manchu and Han fashions of clothing coexisted.^[35] Throughout the Qing dynasty, Han women continued to wear clothing from Ming dynasty.^[36] Neither Taoist priests nor Buddhist monks were required to wear the queue by the Qing; they continued to wear their traditional hairstyles, completely shaved heads for Buddhist monks, and long hair in the traditional Chinese topknot for Taoist priests.^{[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46]}

It was Han Chinese defectors who carried out massacres against people refusing to wear the queue. Li Chengdong, a Han Chinese general who had served the Ming but defected to the Qing,^[47] ordered troops to carry out three separate massacres in the city of Jiading within a month, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths. The third massacre left few survivors.^[48] The three massacres at Jiading District are some of the most infamous, with estimated death tolls in the tens or even hundreds of thousands.^[49] Jiangyin also held out against about 10,000 Qing troops for 83 days. When the city wall was finally breached on October 9, 1645, the Qing army, led by the Han Chinese Ming defector Liu Liangzuo (劉良佐), who had been ordered to "fill the city with corpses before you sheathe your swords," massacred the entire population, killing between 74,000 and 100,000 people.^[50]

Han Chinese soldiers in 1645 under Han General Hong Chengchou forced the queue on the people of Jiangnan while Han people were initially paid silver to wear the queue in Fuzhou when it was first implemented.^[18][51]

During the late Qing dynasty, the Vietnamese envoy to Qing China were still wearing the official attire in Ming dynasty style. Some of the locals recognised their clothing, yet the envoy received both amusement and ridicules from those who didn’t.^[52]

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  Han female custom in Qing dynasty (1)

• 

  Han female custom in Qing dynasty (2)

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  Children in Qing dynasty

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  Taoist Clothing in Qing dynasty

• 

  People in rain

Republic of China and modern China[edit]

Graduates of FJU in 1947

During the Republic of China period, the styles and forms of traditional Qing costumes gradually changed, influenced by European and American fashion culture. Men wore Sun Yat-sen uniforms, western-style cloths, leather shoes and bowler hats as well as long robes, mandarin jackets, cotton cloth shoes and skullcaps; women wore cheong-sams and western style skirts.^[53]

• 

  Yuan Shikai

• 

  An official of the Republic of China from Fujian

• 

  Zhang Taiyan

• 

  Chen Huanzhang

• 

  Sai Jinhua

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  A graduate of Yanjing University in 1930

Term, Usage, and Controversy[edit]

The modern definition of "Hanfu" colloquially used to describe the traditional Han clothing did not arise until the year 2003, coined by internet users.^[12][11]

According to "Dictionary of Old Chinese Clothing" (Chinese: 中國衣冠服飾大辭典), the term "hanfu" means "dress of the Han people."^[54] It is a concept to distinguish Han people's dress from ethnic minority clothing.^[55] The term/concept of "hanfu" which is not commonly used in ancient times can be found in some historical records from Han, Tang, Song, Ming dynasties and the Republican era in China,^{[56][57][58][59][60]} yet there is no clear history indicating that there was any such apparel in existence under the name "hanfu".^[61][3]

In 2003, supporters of Han revivalism launched the website Hanwang (Chinese: 漢網, Han Network) to promote "traditional" Han clothing and the Han supermacist agenda.^[62] The advocates of the movement believe that the term "hanfu" refers to the vanished, pre-17th century historical clothing worn by the Han people, and the meaning of Hanfu in the movement is the same from what it was in the historical records,^[63][3] yet scholarly research indicates that the "modern definition of Hanfu" was created on Chinese-language, collaborative, web-based encyclopedia Baidu Baike and Chinese online platform “hanwang” by internet users.^[55][64][11] Some pioneers of the movement who promote Han clothing and Han supremacist agenda admitted that the issue of Han clothing cannot be separted from the larger issue of racial identity and political power in China.^[65]

Professor of China Youth University of Political Studies Zhang Xian (Chinese: 張跣) mentioned the "modern definition of Hanfu" is a concept publicized by advocates of hanfu movement. Those advocates are mostly students, who created a non-academic, non-official standard of Hanfu that refers to the historical dress of the Han Chinese before the Qing dynasty and published it on Baidu Baike. He also argue that the promotion of Han clothing is a hollow "totem" which serves to mislead and deceive people about the underlining racist and regressive nature of the movement. By stressing the purity and superiority of Han culture, the Hanists are denigrating rather than reviving national consciousness, and thus represent a deviation and distortion from the mainstream of cultural nationalism in modern China.^[64][65]

Professor of Aichi University Zhou Xing (Chinese: 周星) said that the so-called "hanfu", which is not commonly used in ancient times, refers to the traditional dress imagined by participants of hanfu movement. Xing also pointed out that the academic meaning of "hanfu" and the meaning of "hanfu" in "hanfu Movement" are not the same.^[3]

Lecturer of Macquarie University Kevin Carrico said: "in reality, modern hanfu is an invented style of dress that features broad sleeves, flowing robes, belted waists and vibrant colours. Its modern-day proponents claim it was the invention of the mythical Yellow Emperor and was worn for millennia by the Chinese people... Han Clothing made the transition from a fantastic invented tradition to a distant image on a screen to a physical reality in the streets of China, in which one could wrap and recognise oneself."^[11]

Gallery[edit]

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  Detail of a lacquerware painting from the Ching-mên Tomb (Chinese: 荊門楚墓; pinyin: Jīng mén chǔ mù) of the State of Ch'u (704–223 BC)

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  A female servant and male advisor in Chinese silk robes, ceramic figurines from the Western Han period (202 BCE – 9 CE)

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  A Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) pottery statuette of a female dancer

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  A Han dynasty fresco of a man in blue hunting dress

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  A Han dynasty fresco of a horseman in red hunting dress

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  A late Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD) painting from a tomb of Dongping County, Shandong province, showing women and men wearing Hanfu

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  A Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD) fresco depicting Confucius and Laozi, from a tomb of Dongping County, Shandong province, China

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  A man dressing in the Han dynasty style Shên-i

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  Fresco of a Western Han dynasty woman

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  Lively musicians playing a bamboo flute and a plucked instrument, Chinese ceramic statues from the Eastern Han period (25-220 AD), Shanghai Museum

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  A Chinese ceramic statue of a woman holding a bronze mirror, Eastern Han period (25-220 AD), Sichuan Museum, Chengdu

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  Mural from Dahuting tombs of the late Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD), in Zhengzhou, Henan, China

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  Mural from Dahuting tombs

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  An Eastern Han lacquerware basket from the Lelang Commandery (modern North Korea) showing people wearing Hanfu robes, 108 BC – 133 AD, National Museum of Seoul

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  Painted lacquerware dish from the tomb of Zhu Ran (182-249 AD) in Anhui province, showing figures wearing Hanfu, Eastern Wu period

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  A mural painting showing a leisurely life scene 384-441 A.D., from the Dingjiazha Tomb No. 5 in Jiuquan, Later Liang - Northern Liang

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  A man wearing Hanfu robes and a woman dressing in Tsa-chü-ch'ui-shao-fu, from a lacquerware painting over wood, Northern Wei period, 5th century AD

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  Male figure wearing Hanfu robes, from a lacquerware painting over wood, Northern Wei period, 5th century AD

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  Admonitions of the Court Instructress (detail) by Ku K'ai-chih

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  Admonitions of the Court Instructress (detail) by Ku K'ai-chih

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  Admonitions of the Court Instructress (detail) by Ku K'ai-chih

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  Duke Yi of Wey (衞懿公) from Wise and Benevolent Women by Gu Kaizhi

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  Yuanlingshan robes of a Tang emperor Li Yuan

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  Court ladies of the Tang from Li Xianhui's tomb, Qianling Mausoleum, dated 706.

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  A painting of Tang dynasty women playing with a dog, by artist Zhou Fang, 8th century.

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  Tang dynasty styled hanfu

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  Buddhist donors of late Tang dynasty.

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  A lady playing the pipa, Tang dynasty.

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  A noble lady from the painting Bodhisattva Who Leads the Way, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

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  Buddhist donatress Chang, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

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  Pao-shan tomb wall-painting of Liao dynasty.

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  A Buddhist donor from early Northern Song dynasty.

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  A male Buddhist donor from early Northern Song dynasty.

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  A Sung dynasty mural reflecting a scene of the daily life of the occupant, found in a tomb unearthed in Tengfeng city.

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  A Song Dynasty empress, wife of Emperor Zhenzong of Song

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  Imperial Portrait of the empress and wife to Emperor Qinzong of (1100–1161) of the Song dynasty.

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  A female figure from Vimalakirti and the Doctrine of Nonduality, Yuan dynasty.

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  A Ming Dynasty portrait of an Empress

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  A Ming dynasty portrait of a noblewoman wearing yuanlingshan, xiapei and fengguan

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  Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi dressed in Ming dynasty Hanfu.

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  A Taoist priest in red colored gown

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  A 1940s embroidered Han infant hat (繡帽; xiùmào) with double tigers, in the collection of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

Gallery of Classic Han Clothing in Modern Times[edit]

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  Aoqun (袄裙)

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  Banbi (半臂)

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  Bijia (比甲)

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  Modern Hanfu

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  Jess Sum at 2005 Hong Kong Flower Show

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  Coming of age ritual for a Chinese girl (笄禮)

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  Daopao (道袍)

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  Panling Lanshan (盤領襴衫)

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  Shenyi (深衣)

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  Zhiduo (直裰)

See also[edit]

• Chinese academic dress
• Chinese clothing
• Cosplay
• Culture of China
• Guan Li
• Hanfu movement
• List of Hanfu
• Mandarin square

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Zhou Xibao (1984), 【中國古代服飾史】 Zhongguo Gudai Fushi Shi (History of Ancient Chinese Costume), Beijing: Zhongguo Xiju.
• Zhou, Xun; Gao, Chunming; The Chinese Costumes Research Group (1984), 5000 Years of Chinese Costume, Hong Kong: The Commercial Press. ISBN 962-07-5021-7
• 許嘉璐 Xu Jialu (1991), 【中國古代禮俗辭典】 Zhongguo Gudai Lisu Cidian (Dictionary of Rituals and Customs of Ancient China).
• Shen Congwen (1999, 2006), 【中國古代服飾研究】 Zhongguo Gudai Fushi Yanjiu (Researches on Ancient Chinese Costumes), Shanghai: Shanghai Century Publishing Group. ISBN 7-80678-329-6
• 黃能馥, 陳娟娟 Huang Nengfu and Chen Juanjuan (1999), 【中華歷代服飾藝術】 Zhonghua Lidai Fushi Yishu (The Art of Chinese Clothing Through the Ages), Beijing.
• 華梅 Hua, Mei (2004), 【古代服飾】 Gudai Fushi (Ancient Costume), Beijing: Wenmu Chubanshe. ISBN 7-5010-1472-8
• Zhou, Xun; Gao, Chunming (1988). 5000 years of Chinese costumes. San Francisco: China Books & Periodicals. ISBN 978-0-8351-1822-4.

External links[edit]

• Media related to Hanfu at Wikimedia Commons