Hanfu (simplified Chinese: ??; traditional Chinese: ??; pinyin: Hànfú; literally: "Han clothing") is one of the historical/traditional clothing of the Han people. The term Hanfu was originally recorded by the Book of Han, which refers to the Han dynasty's dresses: "then many came to the Court to pay homage and were delighted at the clothing style of [the] Han [dynasty]."
Han Chinese clothing is influential to the clothing of East Asia such as the Japanese kimono and Korean hanbok.
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Term and modern usage
Some research claim that historical records in Tang, Song and Ming dynasties also used this term "Hanfu" to refer the traditional dress of Han people, yet some scholars' research mention that the modern definition of "Hanfu", which was published on Baidu Baike and other Chinese website, was created by internet user, and the Han clothing during the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties were referred to by their own names during their time periods.
According to Zhang Xian (??), a professor of China Youth University of Political Studies, the modern definition of "Hanfu" is a problematic concept publicized by advocates of Hanfu movement. Those advocates who are mostly students created a non-academic, non-official standard of Hanfu refers to the historical dress of the Han Chinese people before the Qing dynasty and published it on Baidu Baike.
Lecturer of Macquarie University Kevin Carrico pointed out that: "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."
During an interview, an advocate of Hanfu movement admitted that: "The word 'hanfu' is not included in the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary. The [current] definition of 'hanfu' is in fact created by internet user."
History
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.
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
Garments
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:
A complete Hanfu garment is assembled from several pieces of clothing into an attire:
- Yi (?): Any open cross-collar garment, and worn by both sexes
- Pao (?): Any closed full-body garment, worn only by men in Hanfu
- Ru (?): Open cross-collar shirt
- Shan (?): Open cross-collar shirt or jacket that is worn over the yi
- Qun (?) or chang (?): Skirt for women and men
- Ku (?): Trousers or pants
Hats, headwear and hairstyles
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 (?) for soft caps, mao (?) for stiff hats and guan (?) for formal headdress. Officials and academics have a separate set of hats, typically the putou (??), the wushamao (???), the si-fang pingding jin (?????; or simply, fangjin: ??) and the Zhuangzi jin (???). A typical hairpiece for women is the ji (?) 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 "????,????,????,????" - 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 '?', designed to humiliate criminals, as well as tattooing '?', since regular people wouldn't have tattoos on their skin due to the same teaching.
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. However, once they entered adulthood, every male was obliged to tie his long hair into a bun called ji (?) 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 '?' (z?n) 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" (???). 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.
Style
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
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 (??) or zhongdan (??): inner garments, mostly white cotton or silk
- Shanqun (??): a short coat with a long skirt
- Ruqun (??): a top garment with a separate lower garment or skirt
- Kuzhe (??): a short coat with trousers
- Zhiduo/zhishen (??/??): 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 (??/??): 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 (??), and Buddhist version is called Hai Qing (??).
A typical set of Hanfu can consist of two or three layers. The first layer of clothing is mostly the zhongyi (??) 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
A piece of Hanfu can be "made semi-formal" by the addition of the following appropriate items:
- Chang (?): a pleated skirt
- Bixi (??): long front cloth panel attached from the waist belt
- Zhaoshan (??): long open fronted coat
- Guan (?) 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
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 (??): a very formal dark robe; equivalent to the Western white tie
- Shenyi (??): a long full body garment
- Yuanlingshan (???), lanshan (??) or panlingpao (???): closed, round-collared robe; mostly used for official or academical dress
The most formal Hanfu that a civilian can wear is the xuanduan (sometimes called yuanduan ??), 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 (??), and a long black guan. Additionally, wearers may carry a long jade gui (?) or wooden hu (?) tablet (used when greeting royalty). This form of dress is mostly used in sacrificial ceremonies such as Ji Tian (??) and Ji Zu (??), 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.
Those in the religious orders wear a plain middle layer garment followed by a highly decorated cloak or coat. Taoists have a 'scarlet gown' (??) 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.
Those in academia or officialdom have distinctive gowns (known as changfu ?? 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
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:
The practical use of court dress is now obsolete in the modern age since there is no reigning monarch in China anymore.
Specific styles
Historically, Han Chinese clothing has influenced many of its neighbouring cultural costumes, such as Japanese kimono, yukata, and the Vietnamese Áo giao l?nh. 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.
Tang dynasty
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. 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.
Song and 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 Empress 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. One of the common clothing style for the woman in Song Dynasty is Beizi(??), which were usually regard as shirt or jacket and could be matched with Ru or Ku. There are two size of Beizi: short one is crown rump length and long one means the length cover to knees.
Ming dynasty
According to the Veritable Records of Hongwu Emperor (????, 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." ("????????...??,????????,???????,?????,???,??,???") This attempt to restore the entire clothing system back to the way it was during 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 attires, items and hats were still sometimes worn by early Ming royalties such as Emperors Hongwu and Zhengde.
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.
Qing dynasty
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.
When the Manchurians 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. 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. As a result, Ming dynasty style clothing was even retained in some places in China during the Xinhai Revolution.
Throughout the Qing dynasty, Han women continued to wear clothing from Ming dynasty. 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.
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, 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. The three massacres at Jiading District are some of the most infamous, with estimated death tolls in the tens or even hundreds of thousands. 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 (???), 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.
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.
Republic of China and modern China
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.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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