Hanfu
Hanfu, also known as Hanzhuang or traditional Chinese clothing, are the traditional styles of Han Chinese clothing worn since the 2nd millennium BCE. There are several representative styles of hanfu, such as the , the , the and the, and the .
Traditionally, hanfu consists of a robe named paofu, or the pair of an upper garment named ru and a lower garment named qun. In addition to clothing, hanfu also includes several forms of accessories, such as headwear, footwear, belts, jewellery, and Hand fans. Recently, hanfu is gaining recognition as the traditional clothing of the Han ethnic group, and has experienced a growing fashion revival among young Han Chinese people in China and in the overseas Chinese diaspora.
After the Han dynasty, hanfu developed into a variety of styles using fabrics that encompassed a number of complex textile production techniques, particularly with rapid advancements in sericulture. Hanfu has influenced the traditional clothing of many neighbouring cultures in the Chinese cultural sphere, including the Korean Hanbok, the Japanese kimono, the Ryukyuan ryusou, and the Vietnamese áo giao lĩnh. Elements of hanfu design have also influenced Western fashion, especially through Chinoiserie fashion, due to the popularity of Chinoiserie since the 17th century in Europe and the United States.
History
Hanfu comprises all traditional clothing classifications of the Han Chinese with a recorded history of more than three millennia. Each succeeding dynasty produced their own distinctive dress codes, reflecting the socio-cultural environment of the times. Clothing made of silk was initially used for decorative and ceremonial purposes. The cultivation of silk, however, ushered the development of weaving, and by the time of the Han dynasty, brocade, damask, satin, and gauze had been developed.From the beginning of its history, hanfu was inseparable from silk and the art of sericulture, supposedly discovered by the Yellow Emperor's consort Leizu, who was also revered as the Goddess of sericulture. There is even a saying in the Book of Change, which says that:
Hanfu 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 simpler in cut than later examples. 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.
From ancient times, the ru upper garments of hanfu were typically worn wrapped over the front, in a style known as ; the left side covering the right side and extend to the wearer's right waist. Initially, the style was used because of the habit of the right-handed wearer to wrap the right side first. Later, the people of the Central Chinese Plain discouraged left-handedness, considering it unnatural, barbarian, uncivilized, and unfortunate. The collar follows the yin and yang theory, wherein the left lapel represents the yang suppresses the yin ; therefore, is the clothing of the living while if it is worn in the opposite way in a style called, the clothing then becomes burial clothing and is therefore considered a taboo. is also used by some minority ethnic groups in China.
Many factors have contributed to the fashion of ancient China: beliefs, religions, wars, and the emperor's personal liking. Following the Qin dynasty, colours used in the sumptuary laws of the Han Chinese held symbolic meaning, based on the Taoist Five Elements Theory and the yin and yang theory; each dynasty favoured certain colours. Some elements of Hanfu have also been influenced by neighbouring cultural clothing, especially by the nomadic peoples to the north, and Central Asian cultures to the west by way of the Silk Road.
Shang dynasty, 2nd millennium BCE
In China, a systemic structure of clothing was first developed during the Shang dynasty, where colours, designs, and rules governing use was implemented across the social strata. Only primary colours and green were used due to the degree of technology at the time.The rudiments of hanfu was developed in this period; the combination of upper and lower garments, called, was usually worn with a. The a style of upper garment, started to be worn during this period. In winter, padded jackets were worn. The or , which were knee-high trousers tied onto the calves but left the thighs exposed, were worn under the. During this period, this clothing style was unisex. Only rich people wore silk; poor people continued to wear loose shirts and made of hemp or ramie. An example of a Shang dynasty attire can be seen on an anthropomorphic jade figurine excavated from the Tomb of Fu Hao in Anyang, which shows a person wearing a long narrow-sleeved with a wide band covering around waist, and a skirt underneath. This attire appears to have been designed for the aristocratic class.
Zhou dynasty, 1046–256 BCE
Following the Shang dynasty, the Western Zhou dynasty established new system of etiquette and rites on clothing, placing new ceremonial, political and cultural significance on clothing. This tied fashion to the rites and culture of its people, which became the basis for the Li orthodoxy of Confucianism that dominated East Asian culture for 2000 years. In reference to this, Ruist writings such as Kong Yingda's "True Meaning of Chunqiu- Zuo zhuan" suggest that the term huaxia referred to both the ceremonial etiquettes of the central states and the clothing that those states' denizens wore.Principle of this practice was the standardization of a garment style called . Though the fashion gradually evolved and was replaced by styles such as shenyi, the still maintained as the basis for formal and ceremonial wear such as the mianfu and chaofu. This created 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. Costumes would also be distinguished by their ceremonial usage. This became the antecedent for the complex system of clothing for all succeeding eras and dynasties. Importance were hence placed on items such as the and, as recorded in Rites of Zhou and Book of Rites. The was used to distinguish social ranks; the use of was one of the distinctive features of the Hanfu system, and men could only wear it after the Adulthood ceremony known as. Other markers of status included the fabric materials, the shape, size, colour of the clothing, the decorative pattern, the length of a skirt, the wideness of a sleeve, and the degree of ornamentation. There were strict regulations on the clothing of the emperor, feudal dukes, senior officials, soldiers, ancestor worshippers, brides, and mourners.
The was the most distinguished type of formal dress, worn for worshipping and memorial ceremonies; it had a complex structure and there were various decorations which bore symbolic meaning; there were six ranked types of which were worn by emperors, princes and officials according to their titles. The emperors also wore when meeting with officials or if they had to work on official business. When the emperor were not at court, they wore the. could also worn by princes during sacrificial occasions and by scholars who would go pay respect to their parents in the morning. The,, and all consisted of four separate parts: a skirt underneath, a robe in the middle, a on top, and a long cloth belt . Similarly to the Western Zhou dynasty, the dress code of the early Eastern Zhou dynasty was governed by strict rules which was used maintain social order and to distinguish social class.
In addition to these class-oriented developments, the daily hanfu in this period became slightly looser while maintaining the basic form the Shang dynasty in the wearing of. Broad and narrow sleeves both co-existed. The was closed with a sash which was tied around the waist; jade decorations were sometimes hung from the sash. The length of the skirts and could vary from knee-length to ground-length. Common people in the Zhou dynasty, including the minority groups in Southwest China, wore hemp-based clothing.
The Zhou dynasty also formalized women's wearing of with a coming-of-age ceremony called, which was performed after a girl was engaged and the wearing of showed a girl was already promised to a marriage. Men could also wear alone, however more commonly men wore with the to fix the headwear.
Spring and Autumn period, Warring States period
During the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, numerous schools of thought emerged in China, including Confucianism; those different schools of thoughts naturally influenced the development of the clothing. Moreover, due to the frequent wars occurring during the Warring States period, various etiquette were slowly revoked. Eastern Zhou dynasty dress code started to erode by the middle of Warring States period. Later, many regions decided not to follow the system of Zhou dynasty; the clothing during this period were differentiated among the seven major states. Moreover, the year 307 B.C. also marked an important year with the first reform of the military uniform implemented by King Wuling of Zhao. This reform, commonly referred to as, required all Zhao soldiers to wear the -style uniforms of the Donghu, Linhu and Loufan people in battle to facilitate fighting capability. The with a loose rise was then introduced.Based on the archaeological artifacts dating from the Eastern Zhou dynasty, ordinary men, peasants and labourers, were wearing a long with narrow-sleeves, with a narrow silk band called being knotted at the waist over the top. The was also worn with ' to allow greater ease of movement, but was made of plain cloth instead of silk cloth. The ' of this period also influenced the. Aristocratic figures did not wear those kind of clothing however, they were wearing wider-sleeved long ' which was belted at the waist; one example can be seen from the wooden figures from a Xingyang Warring States period tomb. The closures could be found in different shapes, such as and '.
Skirts also appear to have been worn during the Warring States period based on archaeological artifacts and sculpted bronze figures, and was worn in the or. An archeological example of a bronze figure wearing is the bronze armed warrior holding up chime bells from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. A dark yellow-skirt, dating from the late Warring States period, was also found in the Chu Tomb at the Mashan site in Jiangling County, Hubei province.
During the Warring States period, the was also developed. The, a type of which wrapped in a spiral effect and had fuller sleeves, was found to be worn by tomb figurines of the same period. Unearthed clothing from tombs show that the was worn by aristocrats in the state of Chu. The increased popularity of the may have been partially due to the influence of Confucianism. The remained the dominant form of Hanfu from the Zhou dynasty to the Qin dynasty and further to the Han dynasty.