Han Chinese clothing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Han Chinese clothing or Hanfu (Traditional Chinese: 漢服; Simplified Chinese: 汉服; pinyin: hànfú) refers to the historical clothing of the Han Chinese people, especially before conquest by the Manchus and the establishment of the Qing Dynasty in 1644. Today, most Han Chinese wear western-style clothing, and Han Chinese clothing is no longer worn in everyday life. Han Chinese clothing is presently worn only as a part of historical reenactment, hobby, or cultural exercise, and can be frequently seen on Chinese television series, films and other forms of media entertainment; however, there is a small but vocal movement in China and overseas to revive Han Chinese clothing in everyday life. Anyway, the vocal movement is notable, if more and more people join this trend, Tradition Hanfu will becaome festival and ritual costume.
Some costumes commonly thought of as typically Chinese (such as the qipao) are the result of Manchu influence. Purist advocates of Han Chinese clothing do not regard these as authentic Han Chinese clothing because they are 'imported' rather than naturally developed from the clothing of the time.
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[edit] Components
The style of Han Chinese clothing can be summarized as containing garment elements that are arranged in distinctive and sometime specific ways. This is different from the traditional garment of other ethnic groups in China, most notably the Manchurian influenced Chinese clothes, the qipao, which is popularily considered to be the sole style of tradition Chinese garb. A comparson of the two styles can be seen as follows:
| Component | Han | Manchu |
|---|---|---|
| Upper Garment | Consist of "yi" (衣), which have loose lapels and are open | Consist of "pao" (袍), which have secured lapels around the neck and no side openings |
| Lower Garment | Consist of skirts called "chang/shang" (裳) | Consist of pants or trousers called "ku" (褲) |
| Collars | Diagonally crossing each other, with the left crossing over the right | Parallel verticle collars with parallel diagonal lapels, which overlap |
| Sleeves | Long and loose | Narrow and tight |
| Buttons | Sparingly used and concealed inside the garment | Numerous and prominently displayed |
| Fittings | Belts and sashes are used to close, secure, and fit the garments around the waist | Flat ornate buttoning systems are typically used to secure the collar and fit the garment around the neck and upper torso |
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 shang (裳): Skirt for women and men, respectively
- Ku (褲): Trousers or pants
[edit] Style
Many of the designs are gender-neutral and simple in cutting, allowing the body's natural curves to accentuate the clothing's features and itself. Types include tops (yi) and bottoms (divided further into pants and skirts for both genders, with different terminologies qun for females and shang for males), and one-piece robes that wrap around the body once or several times (shenyi).
- Shenyi (深衣)
- Quju (曲裾): Long body wrapping lapels
- Zhiju (直裾): Short lapels
- Shanqun (衫裙)
- Ruqun (襦裙)
- Kuzhe (褲褶)
- Yuanlingshan (圓領衫)
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 typical the inner garment much like the Western sense of a 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 (罩衫) which is open at the front. More complicated sets of Hanfu can have many more layers.
[edit] History
Hanfu has a history of more than three millennia, and is said to have been worn by the legendary Yellow Emperor. From the beginning of its history, Hanfu (especially in elite circles) was inseparable from silk, supposedly discovered by the Yellow Emperor’s consort, Leozu. The first solidly historical dynasty known of in China, 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, of Shang, worn with a Bixi, a length of fabric that reached the knees. Vivid primary colours and green were used, due to the degree of technology at the time.
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-orientated developments, the Hanfu 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 (the Chinese discouraged left-handedness like many other historical cultures, considering it unnatural).
In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Deep Robe (Shenyi) appeared a combination of tunic and skirt. The upper and lower halves were cut separately but sewn as a single unit. An additional change was the shaping of the left side of the costume into a corner, fastened on the chest. Perhaps because of Confucian influence, disapproving of a hierarchical society in favour of social mobility based on personal merit, the Shenyi was swiftly adopted. There still existed an elite however, and they monopolised the more ornate fabrics and grandiose details.
