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122-578: The term changshan is composed of two Chinese characters: chang 《 長 》which can literally be translated as "long" in length and shan 《 衫 》, which literally means " shirt ". The term changpao is also composed of the Chinese character chang and the Chinese pao 《 袍 》, which is literally means " robe ". As general terms used in the broad sense, the changshan and changpao can refer to any form of long shirt and long robes respectively. The Mandarin Chinese word changshan

244-491: A pianjin collar (a collar which curved like the alphabet《S》), and the sleeve cuffs known as matixiu ( Chinese : 马蹄袖 ; pinyin : mǎtíxiù ; lit. 'horse hoof cuff'). The Han Chinese thus adopted certain Manchu elements when modifying their Ming dynasty changshan , such as by slimming their changshan , by adopting the pianjin collar of the Manchu, and by using buttons and loops at

366-522: A belt or with other forms of closure. The shangjian xiafeng ( Chinese : 上俭下丰 ; lit. 'top is frugal', 'bottom is rich'; similar to A-line silhouette) style was also a trend in the Wei, Jin, Northern, Southern dynasties, where skirts large and loose giving an elegant and unrestrained effect. During the Wei and Jin dynasties , women also wore the shanqun , which consisted of

488-616: A fundamental rule for all Chinese men. Over time, the commoner Han men adopted the changshan while Han women continued to the wear the hanfu predominantly in the style of aoqun . The traditional Chinese Hanfu -style of clothing for men was gradually replaced. Over time, the Manchu-style of male dress gained popularity among Han men. Changshan was considered formal dress for Chinese men before Western-style suits were widely adopted in China. The male changshan could be worn under

610-535: A general term referring to an "upper garment with a single layer". The Jin dynasty book Gujinzhu 《 古今注 》states that women had been wearing one-piece clothing that has the upper and lower garments connected together since the time of the Yellow Emperor , until the Qin dynasty , when shan was invented. Historically, the shan comes in as varying styles, shapes and lengths, and is usually worn outside of

732-683: A lined jacket, and a long-length qun was worn by the Han Chinese women as winter clothing ; typically the jia ao would be worn over the skirt. In terms of appearance, the Ming dynasty ruqun (i.e. the short jacket and skirt) was similar to the Song dynasty 's ruqun . Compared to the ruqun worn in the Tang dynasty , the Ming dynasty ruqun was more gentle and elegant in style; it

854-454: A lined upper garment. The term ao was sometimes used to refer to thicker forms of jacket which could be used as winter clothing. A jia ao ( 夹袄 ), for example, was a lined jacket which was used by Han Chinese women as winter clothing; the jia ao was typically worn on top of a long-length qun underneath. The term xi ( Chinese : 褶 ; lit. ' coat '), sometimes pronounced zhe ( 褶 ), also exists and

976-417: A long qun and a shan , an unlined upper garment. The shanqun found in this period were typically large and loose; the shan had a duijin front and was tied at the waist. A weichang ( simplified Chinese : 围裳 ; traditional Chinese : 圍裳 ; pinyin : wéicháng ), which looked similar to an apron , was tied between the shan and qun in order to fasten

1098-547: A long-sleeved, outer jacket with ample sleeves which could cropped or waist-length, was tied with sash in a bow below the breasts to create an empire silhouette . The outer jacket could also be worn over floor-length dress which was worn a yaoqun , a short over-skirt which looked like an apron, on top. In Northern Liao mural tomb depictions, women who are dressed in Han style clothing are depicted in Tang dynasty fashion whereas in

1220-417: A narrow, ankle length skirt called chang ( 裳 ) and the upper garment called yi ( 衣 ), in shape of a knee-length tunic with narrow cuffs; the yi was tied with a sash and could be jiaoling youren . The yichang as a set of attire featured the wearing of yi over the chang . The Zhou dynasty , people continued to wear the yichang as a set of attire. The yichang

1342-423: A pair of upper and lower garments. The term yichang is composed of the Chinese characters:《 衣 》 and 《 裳 》, where yi ( Chinese : 衣 ) refers to the upper garment while the chang ( 裳 ; cháng ) refers to the lower garment, which can be either the Chinese skirt, qun , or the Chinese trousers, ku and kun . The character yi is also a generic word for " clothing ". Therefore,

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1464-452: A separate skirt and upper garment which show low décolletage. This trend continued in the early decades of the Tang dynasty when women continued the tend of the Sui and would also wear long, high-waist skirts, low-cut upper garment. During the Sui and Tang dynasty, women wore the traditional ruqun in the qixiong ruqun -style; a style where the skirts were tied higher and higher up

1586-553: A set of attire consisting of a jacket and skirt. The ruqun as a set of attire was also worn by men and women during the Warring States period . Elites women in the Warring States period also wore a blouse or a jacket, which was fastened to the right to form a V-shaped collar and was waist-length, along with a long full skirt. The women's blouse tended to have relatively straight and narrow sleeves. During

1708-603: A set of attired consisting of an upper garment and a skirt; the ruqun is the eldest type of hanfu . According to the chapter Xi Ci Xia 《 系辞下 》of the Yi Jing , the ruqun was worn in Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period by the legendary Yellow Emperor , Emperor Shun , and Emperor Yao who wore it in the form of the yichang ( 衣裳 ): Hence it was that these (sovereigns) were helped by Heaven; they had good fortune, and their every movement

1830-399: A short jacket with either short or long sleeves. In addition, the term changru ( Chinese : 长襦 ; lit. 'long ru ') also appear in texts and has been described as the precursor of the long jackets chang ao ( lit. 'long jacket') by scholars. The term aoqun ( 袄裙 ; 襖裙 ; ǎoqún ) typically refers to a specific way of wearing the ao on over

1952-482: A synonym word for the clothing items shan ( 衫 ) and ao ( 袄 ; 襖 ). The ru can refer to both a long or short jacket. The ru also had different names depending on its characteristics, such as its length and the presence or absence of lining. The ru ( 襦 ), when referring to a short jacket, can be found with either short or long sleeves. A short ru is also known as duanru ( Chinese : 短襦 ; lit. 'short jacket');

2074-490: A tight jacket or a cotton-padded jacket, which could have embroidered golden line as embellishment at the collar and sleeves or could sometimes be decorated with silk damask . Duijin shan were also worn by women in this period; a form of duijin shan was the daxiushan which became popular when the Hufu -style declined in popularity. In the Song dynasty , the daxiushan (shirt with large/broad sleeves)

2196-495: A type of duanru is the yaoru ( Chinese : 腰襦 ; lit. 'waist jacket') which is waist-length. In the Mawangdui Silk Manuscripts , the character ru 《 襦 》refers to a 'short coat'. The Shuowen also described the ru as being a form of duanyi ( Chinese : 短衣 ; lit. 'short clothing'. It is also described as a common form of duanyi in

2318-549: A western overcoat, and topped with a fedora and scarf. This combination expressed an East Asian modernity in the early 20th century. The 1949 Communist Revolution ended the wearing of changshan and other traditional clothing in Shanghai . Shanghainese emigrants and refugees carried the fashion to Hong Kong , where it remained popular. Recently in Shanghai and elsewhere in mainland China , many people have revived wearing

2440-537: Is a form of traditional Chinese upper garment , or coat, or jacket, which typically has a right closure; however, they may also have a front central opening. It is traditional everyday wear for women of the Han Chinese ethnic group. It can be worn in combination with a skirt in a style called ruqun , or a pair of trousers in a style called shanku . The shape and structure of Chinese upper garments, generally referred as yi ( 衣 ), varied depending on

2562-449: Is a general term with negative connotation which is employed for what is considered as being strange clothing style, or for deviant dressing styles, or for aberrance in clothing. Clothing which were considered as fuyao typically (i) violates ritual norms and clothing regulations, (ii) are extravagant and luxurious form of clothing, (iii) violates the yin and yang principle, and (iv) are strange and inauspicious form of clothing. As

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2684-559: Is a set of attire in Hanfu which consists of a short jacket typically called ru ( Chinese : 襦 ; pinyin : rú ) worn under a long Chinese skirt called qun ( Chinese : 裙 ; pinyin : qún ). However, when use as a general term, ruqun can broadly describe a set of attire which consists of a separated upper garment and a wrap-around lower skirt, or yichang ( Chinese : 衣裳 ; pinyin : yīcháng ), in which yi ( Chinese : 衣 ) means

2806-513: Is also the term changru ( simplified Chinese : 长襦 ; traditional Chinese : 長襦 ; pinyin : chángrú ; lit. 'long jacket') which appear in texts and has been described as the precursor of the chang ao by scholars. According to the Guangyun , however, the changru can also be a form of paofu . In the Zhou dynasty , a long ru was referred as

2928-532: Is called qungua ( Chinese : 裙褂 ), which is composed of gua (褂; a jacket with central closure which closes with buttons) worn with a qun (裙) skirt. The gua jacket was a popular form of jacket in Qing and was worn as a summer jacket instead of the ao which was usually worn in winter. The qungua also referred to one style of Qing dynasty wedding dress. In the early 1910s and 1920s, young women wore aoqun called Wenming xinzhuang (文明新裝) , also known as

3050-619: Is cognate with the Cantonese term Cheongsam ( 長衫 ) . This was then borrowed into English as "cheongsam." Unlike the Mandarin term, however, the chèuhngsàam can refer to both male and female garments. In Hong Kong the term is frequently used to refer to the female garment, cheongsam , rather than the male garment changshan . Because of the long British presence in Hong Kong , that local usage has become reflected in

3172-450: Is confusion between male and female. The silhouette of yichang can also be made into shangjian xiafeng ( Chinese : 上俭下丰 ; pinyin : shàngjiǎn xiàfēng ; lit. 'top is frugal', 'bottom is rich'), which looks like an A-line silhouette. The shangjian xiafeng was a trend in the Wei, Jin, Northern, Southern dynasties. However, during the Ming dynasty, shangjian xiafeng silhouette created with

3294-435: Is cross-collared closing on the right side, dajin or xiejin when it has an overlapping big oblique lapel, pianjin when it has a slanted, big lapel, fangling when it is squared collared, and yuanling when it is round collared. It can also be found with or without a standing collar , which is referred as liling or shuling . The standing collars started to be incorporated in upper garments by

3416-517: Is the traditional Hanfu for the Han Chinese women . The aoqun and/or ruqun is the most basic set of clothing of Han Chinese women in China and has been an established tradition for thousands of years. Various forms and style of Chinese trousers , referred broadly under the generic term ku , can also be worn under the ruqun . The generic term yichang ( 衣裳 ; yīcháng ) can be applied to any style of clothing consisted of

3538-421: Is typically associated with the upper garment worn in military clothing called kuzhe/kuxi . The ru is a form of jacket or coat, which typically closes to the right and is described as being youren . However, some styles can be found with a front central opening which can be referred as duijin ( 对领 ) or zhiling ( 直领 ). The ru can also be classified as jiaolingyouren when it

3660-502: The Guangyun . In the Han dynasty , the ru could be unlined, lined or padded. According to the Shiming , a ru is a padded jacket, which is soft and warm; a danru ( simplified Chinese : 襌(单)襦 ; traditional Chinese : 襌(單)襦 ; lit. 'unlined jacket') is described as being similar to a ru which does not have cotton wadding. There

3782-463: The Zhiguzi 《 炙轂子 》by Wang Rui, the hanshan used to called zhongdan ( 中單 ), an inner unlined garment; it changed name when the zhongdan of King Han was seeped with sweat when the latter fought with Xiang yu . The term ao ( 袄 ; 襖 ) appears in a Sui dynasty rime dictionary called Qieyun , published in 601 AD and can be translated as "padded coat", but it can also refer to

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3904-492: The ao is worn outside of the lower garment, which is often a skirt , especially the mamianqun . The term shanqun ( Chinese : 衫裙 ; pinyin : shānqún ), sometimes literally translated as "unlined upper garment and skirt" in English, is also type of clothing style where the upper garment called shan is generally worn over the lower garment, qun . The Xinhua Dictionary defines shan as

4026-476: The furu was similar to the paofu in form. In the Han dynasty , short waist-length ru could be worn with trousers or skirts by men and women respectively. In the Han and Wei dynasties, the sleeves of the ru could be wide or narrow; the ru was closed to the right. A form of shan which appeared in the Han and Wei period was a new type of gown which had equal front pieces which were straight instead of being jiaolingyouren and

4148-399: The gua while the furu referred to ru with lining and which was similar to the paofu in terms of form. According to the Guangyun , a gua ( Chinese : 袿 ) is also a form of changru . Other forms of changru included the shuhe ( Chinese : 裋褐 ; lit. 'coarse clothing') which jiaolingyouren and could reach the knee- or

4270-467: The jiaolingyouren yi ( 交領右衽 衣 ; jiāolǐngyòurèn yī ) may have some differences and variations in terms of features depending on time period and styles of upper garment. For example, a style of Ming dynasty jiaolingyouren yi have the following features: The traditional way to distinguish between Hufu and Hanfu is by looking at the direction of the collar. In Ancient China, some ethnic minorities had clothing which generally closed on

4392-425: The ruqun (short jacket under skirt); and the ao became longer in length. By the late Ming dynasty, jackets with high collars started to appear. The stand-up collar were closed with interlocking buttons made of gold and silver, called zimukou ( Chinese : 子母扣 ). The appearance of interlocking buckle promoted the emergence and the popularity of the stand-up collar and the Chinese jacket with buttons at

4514-402: The ruqun and the shanqun co-existed. The ruqun was popular among women during the Wei , Jin , Southern and Northern dynasties . In the early Six dynasties period, women wore a style of ruqun composed of a jiaoling youren ru and a long qun . The jacket worn by commoner women was longer than commoner's men. Elite women in the Wei and Jin dynasty wore

4636-406: The ruqun became the most common form of attire for women. The sleeves of the blouse were mostly curved with a narrow sleeve cuff in a style known as pipaxiu (Chinese: 琵琶袖 ; lit. ' pipa sleeve'). The collar was of the same colour as the clothing. Often, there was an optional detachable protective huling (Chinese: 護領 ; lit. 'protect collar') sewn to

4758-498: The ruqun , aoqun , shanqun , as well as the wedding dress called qungua , all belong to the category of yichang as a broad term. The term ruqun ( 襦裙 ; rúqún ) is composed of two Chinese characters:《 襦 》and《 裙 》; when these characters are combined, ruqun can literally be translated as "jacket skirt". However, the term ruqun is relatively unstable in both original texts and in secondary sources as different regions may use different terms to describe

4880-545: The Eastern Han , the ru was the most common form of short robe for both men and women; however, the ru was preferred by women afterwards. The long ru could reach the knee-level whereas the short ru was waist-length. The ru could be found unlined, lined or padded. The jiaolingyouren yi ( 交領右衽 衣 ) started to be worn in the Shang dynasty . According to historical documents and archaeological findings,

5002-618: The Liao dynasty . The only moment Han Chinese is supposed to use zuoren is when they dressed their deceased. This is due to ancient Chinese beliefs in the Yin and Yang theory, where it is believed that the left is the Yang aspect and stands for life whereas the right is the Yin which stands for death. Based on this belief, the left lapel needs to be outside (i.e. youren -style) to indicate that

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5124-507: The Liao dynasty ; these jackets were waist-length. Both the jiaolingyouren and the jiaolingzuoren jackets for women coexisted in the Yuan dynasty . The wearing of zuoren (instead of youren ) was common in the Yuan dynasty. Han Chinese women also wore jia ao ( 夹袄 ), a form of lined jacket, typically over a long-length qun underneath as winter clothing . Following

5246-677: The Northern and Southern dynasties . In the Sui dynasty , ordinary men did not wear skirts anymore. In the late sixth century, women's skirts in the Sui dynasty were characterized with high waistline; this kind of high waistline skirt created a silhouette which looked similar to the Empire dresses of Napoleonic France ; however, the construction of the assemble differed from the ones worn in Western countries as Han Chinese women assemble consisted of

5368-570: The Shang dynasty . Since then the jiaolingyouren yi has been one of the major symbols of the Sino Kingdom and eventually spread throughout Asia . The structure of the jackets worn in the late Qing shared some features of those worn by the ethnic Han during the Ming dynasty . They continued to evolve and be worn in some form during the Republic of China . Since the 1930s, the popularity of traditional Han fashion declined in favor of

5490-418: The Song dynasty . In the Song dynasty , the women's skirts were also lowered from the breast level back to the normal waistline. Pleated skirts were introduced and became the main feature of the upper-class women. Song-style ruqun for women consisted of long narrow skirts and jackets which closes to the right . These jackets could be worn over the narrow skirts; this form of ruqun existed in both

5612-543: The Wenming xinzhuang was typically cyan and blue in colour while the long skirt was dark in colour, mostly in black; the ao had no complex ornaments as bindings and embroidery was rejected in this period. There was a narrow trim which would bind the hem and the side vents were rectangular in shape. The ao typically had a standing collar and long in shape with its hemline typically reaching below hip height and sometimes even at knee-height. The sleeves were short and left

5734-517: The changshan and the qipao were introduced to China during the Qing dynasty (17th–20th centuries). The Manchus in 1636 ordered that all Han Chinese should adopt the Manchu's hairstyle as well as their attire of dress or face harsh punishment including death penalty. However, by the time of the Qianlong Emperor , however, the adoption of Manchu clothing dressing code was only required to

5856-676: The qipao and Western dress. It has regained prominence in the 21st century following the Hanfu movement . The term yi ( 衣 ) generally refers to clothing. In ancient times, the term yi referred to an upper outer garment. The term yi appeared in ancient texts to refer to upper garments, such as in the Luyi , in the Mao Commentary , in the Analects , and in the I Ching . The term ru ( 襦 ) has sometimes been used as

5978-419: The "civilized costume" or "civilized attire". It originated from the traditional yishang (衣裳) and the basic style of this clothing is clearly inherited from ancient Han Chinese clothing although the details have changed over time. The Wenming xinzhuang continued the unbroken tradition of Han Chinese women's matching a jacket with a skirt which has been established for thousand of years. The ao of

6100-404: The "upper garment" and the chang ( Chinese : 裳 ) means the "lower garment". In a broad sense, ruqun can include the shanqun ( Chinese : 衫裙 ) and aoqun ( simplified Chinese : 袄裙 ; traditional Chinese : 襖裙 ) in its definition. As a set of attire, the ruqun was worn by both men and women; it was however primarily worn by women. It

6222-441: The Han Chinese women, the stand-up collar became a defining feature of their long jacket; this long jacket with high collar could be worn over their trousers ( shanku ) but also over their skirts. In The Chinese and Japanese repository published in 1863 by James Summers , Summers described Chinese women wearing a knee-length upper garment which fits closely at the neck; they wore it together with loose trousers with border around

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6344-660: The Joseon women's clothing trend which he claimed to be taking more after Mongolian in style, an influence which he attributed to the close relationship between Goryeo and the Yuan dynasty and continued to exist in Joseon during his lifetime. After the Mid-Qing dynasty, Manchu clothing, called qizhuang , started to influence the women's hanfu. In the late 18th and 19th century, there was a dramatic shift in fashion aesthetics. New silhouettes were recorded in various pictorial and written sources, which were different from those worn in

6466-596: The Liao dynasty and Song. Cross-collared jackets with narrow sleeves could also be worn under a waist-length skirt or under high-waist skirt. In Liao dynasty , the Song-style and the Tang-style clothing (including the qixiong ruqun ) coexisted together; both Khitan women and Han Chinese women in the Liao wore the Han Chinese style Tang-Song dress. Tang-Song style clothing women clothing in Liao also included

6588-405: The Ming dynasty (i.e. loose and long layered jackets and skirts which were more unstructured ), with the appearance of wider and more structured forms of Han Chinese women's jackets (including shan , ao , and gua ). The trend in this period was characterized on the emphasis on decorative trims and accessories which were modular and could be easily produced, purchased and then applied on

6710-465: The Ming dynasty (i.e. the average temperature was low in China). During the Qing dynasty , the aoqun was the most prominent clothing of Han Chinese women. The ruqun (i.e. short jacket under skirt) continued to be worn in early Qing dynasty, but the later Qing dynasty depictions of ruqun in arts were mostly based on earlier paintings rather than the lived clothing worn by women in this period. In

6832-401: The Ming dynasty customs were gradually forgotten. The clothing of the Han and the Manchu eventually influenced each other. However, Manchu women and Han Chinese women never emulated each other's clothing; and as a result, by the end of the nineteenth century, Manchu and Han Chinese women had maintained distinctive clothing. In the early Qing, Han women continued wearing Ming dynasty hanfu; in

6954-536: The Ming dynasty, the ao as a long jacket became more prevalent at the expense of the short ru . According to the Discourse of Northern Learning ( Pukhak ŭi; 北學議: 완역정본) by Pak Chega (1750–1805) who visited the Qing dynasty in 1778, in the Ming dynasty, Chinese women's upper garment barely covered the waist during the Hongzhi era (1488–1505); their upper garments then gradually became longer and reached below

7076-528: The River by Zhang Zeduan. This painting depicts the clothing worn by people holding different social status, ranks, and occupation: the jackets worn as outer garments were all short, about knee-length or shorter, when worn by coolies, pedlars, peasants, and boat people and children who peddled dried fruits wore short white shan. Song dynasty-style fashion, including jiaolingyouren jackets, continued to be worn by both Han Chinese and non-elite Khitan women in

7198-508: The Shanghainese changshan. It is made of silk. Changshan are traditionally worn for formal pictures, weddings, and other formal Chinese events. A black changshan, along with a rounded black hat, was, and sometimes still is, the burial attire for Chinese men. Changshan are not often worn today in mainland China, except during traditional Chinese celebrations but, with the revival of some traditional clothing in urban mainland China,

7320-403: The Shanghainese style functions as a stylish party dress ( cf. Mao suit ). Ru (upper garment) Ru ( Chinese : 襦 ; pinyin : rú ), sometimes referred to as shan ( Chinese : 衫 ; pinyin : shān ), ao ( simplified Chinese : 袄 ; traditional Chinese : 襖 ; pinyin : ǎo ), and yi ( Chinese : 衣 ; pinyin : yī ),

7442-614: The South, the jiaoling ao and shan continued to be worn with long skirts by most women while in the North, trousers were more common. In the mid-Qing clothing, fashionable styles were associated to those worn in the late 16th and early 17th century. According to the Discourse of Northern Learning ( Pukhak ŭi; 北學議: 완역정본) by Pak Chega (1750–1805) who visited the Qing dynasty in 1778, Chinese women wore upper and lower garments which were similar to those worn in ancient paintings. Pak described

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7564-671: The Southern Liao murals, women dressed in Han style clothing are wearing Song-style clothing. In the Yuan dynasty , the Mongols never imposed Mongol customs on the ethnic Han , and they did not force the Han Chinese to wear Mongol clothing. Many Han Chinese and other ethnicity readily adopted Mongol clothing in Northern China to show their allegiance to the Yuan rulers; however, in Southern China, Mongol clothing

7686-557: The Warring States period and the Spring and Autumn period, the clothing known as shenyi , which combined the upper and lower garment into a one-piece robe was also developed. Even though the clothing of the Warring states period were old, they continued to be worn in Qin and Han dynasties, this included the wearing of cross-collared blouse and skirts. The ruqun as a set of attire

7808-428: The ankles under a skirt, which opens at the front and has large plaits over the hips . Summers also observed that the sleeves of the women's garment are generally long enough to conceal the hands in cold weather; the sleeves were sometimes very wide and were decorated beautifully with embroidered satin lining which would be turned back to form a border. In Mesny's Chinese Miscellany written in 1897 by William Mesny, it

7930-482: The basic form of clothing during Shang was yichang . In the Shang dynasty, the yi was long reaching the knee-level and would be worn over a skirt called chang ; the yi worn by slaveholders had tight sleeves and were also closed on the right side following the youren -style. In the Zhou dynasty , there were various forms of yi as a generic term of upper garments. A typical form of yi

8052-408: The climate changes during the Ming dynasty (i.e. the average temperature was low in China). There were at least two types of high collar jackets in the Ming dynasty: liling duijin shan ( Chinese : 立领对襟衫 ) which is jacket with high collar and closes at the front centrally, and liling dajin changshan ( Chinese : 立领大襟长衫 ) which is a long jacket with stand-up collar, it overlaps from

8174-540: The clothing (including robes, jackets, and skirts); those forms of modular features included collars, sleeve-bands and border decorations. The borders decoration in contrasting colours were used throughout the clothing history of China and were recorded early on in history (e.g. in the Liji ). During this period, auspicious symbols and narrative scenery were especially made into embroidered roundels and borders and became fashionable in Han Chinese women's clothing; this new trend

8296-416: The collar. The huling can be white or any dark colour, and is used to protect the collar from being rotten by sweat, therefore to extend the life of the clothing. Towards the start of the Qing dynasty , the skirt was mostly baizhequn (Chinese: 百摺裙 ; lit. 'hundred pleat skirt') or mamianqun . By the late Ming dynasty, the aoqun (jacket over skirt) became more prevalent than

8418-513: The combination of wide-cuffed, V-shaped, unlined blouse which was made of pattern fabric and was lined at the neck with a decorative strip of cloth, a long skirt which came in different styles, and apron. However, in the early Six dynasties, most ordinary men did not wear ruqun anymore; men, instead wore a set of attire referred as shanku consisting of ku , trousers, under their cross-collared jacket (i.e. ). The men's jacket were either hip-length or knee-length. The jackets can be tied with

8540-399: The dress code of the Han people and they wore banbi as a casual clothing item while ordinary women clothing consisted of banbi and ruqun . Chinese women also wore cross-collar upper garment which had elbow length sleeves (i.e. cross-collar banbi ) over a long-sleeved blouse under a skirt; the abbreviated wrap skirts were also popular in Yuan. Women jackets closing to

8662-455: The early Republic of China , the dajin youren ao were found with narrow sleeves; the length of the sleeves could be found wrist-length, and higher standing collar (e.g. saddle/ingot collar or ear-length collar). These high collars were gradually lowered. After the May 4th Movement , these high collars were abandoned due to their inconvenience. In the 1920s, the jackets had curved lower hem at

8784-482: The emergence and the popularity of the standup collar and the Chinese jacket with buttons at the front, and laid the foundation of the use of Chinese knot buckles . In women garments of the Ming dynasty, the standup collar with gold and silver zimukou became one of the most distinctive and popular form of clothing structure; it became commonly used in women's clothing reflecting the conservative concept of Ming women's chastity by keeping their bodies covered and due to

8906-406: The end of the Yuan dynasty , the wearing of zuoren in women's clothing persisted in the Ming dynasty for at least Chinese women who lived in the province of Shanxi . Ming dynasty portrait paintings showing Chinese women dressing in zuoren jackets appeared to be characteristic of ancestral portraits from the province of Shanxi and most likely in the areas neighbouring the province. In

9028-435: The front and back panels are connected by the shoulder, and the left and right pieces are more or less symmetrical. It has a front centre closure and then curves crossover to the right before secured with frog buttons in a style called pianjin . The front closing, collar, hem, and sleeves cuff have edging of contrasting pipings and side slits. The jackets could also be decorated with yunjian appliqué . There

9150-424: The front, and laid the foundation of the use of Chinese knot buckles . In women garments of the Ming dynasty, the stand-up collar with gold and silver interlocking buckles became one of the most distinctive and popular form of clothing structure; it became commonly used in women's clothing reflecting the conservative concept of Ming women's chastity by keeping their bodies covered and due to the climate changes during

9272-417: The high collar continued to be used but it was not a common feature in clothing before the 20th century. In the late Qing, the high collar become more popular and was integrated to the jacket and robe of the Chinese and the Manchu becoming a regular garment feature instead of an occasional feature. The high collar remained a defining feature of their jacket even in the first few years of the republic. For

9394-477: The hip-level. Other terms, such as daru ( Chinese : 大襦 ; lit. 'outerwear'), shangru ( Chinese : 上襦 ; lit. 'jacket'), and yiru ( Chinese : 衣襦 ), also exist. According to the Ben Cang Gang Mu 《 本草綱目 》written by Li Shizhen 's time (1518 – 1593 AD), in ancient times, an unlined short garment, duanru ( 短襦 ; 'short jacket'),

9516-416: The jacket to the left in women's clothing persisted in some geographical areas of the Ming dynasty, or for at least Chinese women who lived in the province of Shanxi . Ming dynasty portrait paintings showing Chinese women dressing in left lapel jackets appeared to be characteristic of ancestral portraits from the province of Shanxi and most likely in the areas neighbouring the province. By the Ming dynasty,

9638-399: The jackets had collars which were round and narrow and were fastened just below the chin; he also described them as being typically long enough to conceal the entire body although in some cases, the jacket would be long enough to be just below the knee-level. Pak also observed that the Chinese women's clothing preserved the old traditions (which were mostly intact) and which he contrasted with

9760-644: The knee-level during the Zhengde era (1506–1521). Pak Chega based his description of Chinese women's clothing by using the Records of Daily Study ( Rizhilu ) by Gu Yanwu (1613–1682), a scholar from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. By the late Ming dynasty, jackets with high collars , known as liling or shuling , started to appear. The standup collar were closed with interlocking buttons made of gold and silver, called zimukou ( Chinese : 子母扣 ). The appearance of interlocking buckle promoted

9882-437: The late Ming dynasty. The length of the bodice may vary; it can be waist-length or knee-length. Slits can also be found at both sides of the lower hems of the bodice. The length of the sleeves can vary in length, such as wrist-length and elbow length. The shapes of the sleeves can also vary, such as big sleeves, narrow sleeves, large cuffs, mandarin sleeves, flared sleeves. Clothing style which overlaps and closes to

10004-410: The late Ming when women clothing was gradually getting longer, Huo Tao, a Ming dynasty Minister of Rites, expressed: Men's and women's styles differ in length. A woman's upper garment is level with her waist, her lower garment meets with the top: earth supports heaven. A man's upper garment covers his lower garments: heaven embraces earth. When a woman's [upper] garment covers her lower garments, there

10126-463: The late Qing, women wore the long jacket ao with the skirt. It was fashionable to wear the ao (袄) with the baizhequn (百摺裙) and the mamianqun . The ao in the Qing dynasty has a front centre closure and then curves crossover to the right before secured with frog buttons. The front closing, collar, hem, and sleeves cuff have edging of contrasting pipings and side slits. The skirts have a flat front and back panels with knife-pleated sides. In Qing,

10248-466: The left side in a way referred as zuoren ( Chinese : 左衽 ; pinyin : zuǒrèn ; lit. 'left lapel'). This can be found in the Analects where Confucius himself praised Guan Zhong for preventing the weakened Zhou dynasty from becoming barbarians: "But for Guan Zhong, we should now be wearing our hair unbound, and the lapels of our coats buttoning on the left side [微管仲，吾其被髮左衽矣]" Unbound hair and coats which were closed on

10370-472: The left side were associated with the clothing customs of the northern nomadic ethnic groups which were considered as barbarians by the Han Chinese. Therefore, the zuoren were used to refer to Hufu and/or refer to the rule of foreign nationalities. However, the youren rule was not always respected: for example, in some areas (such as Northern Hebei ) in the 10th century, some ethnic Han Chinese could also be found wearing zuoren clothing. It

10492-424: The long jacket ( ao ) was about below the hip level or at the knee level but were never as long as the Manchu robes, it was however longer than the waist-length jacket ( yaoru ) which appeared to have fallen from popularity during the 18th century. The dajin youren ao ( Chinese : 大襟右衽袄 ) continued to be worn. In the late Qing, these dajin youren ao had neither darts nor shoulder stitching;

10614-429: The lower garment, qun . The Chinese character《 襖 》appears in a Sui dynasty rime dictionary called Qieyun , published in 601 AD, and can be translated as "padded coat", but it can also refer to a lined upper garment. The Xinhua Dictionary defines ao as a general term referring to an "upper garment with multiple layers". As such, it is a thick piece of clothing worn mostly during cold seasons. Usually,

10736-497: The lower garment. However, there are also cases where the shan is worn under the lower garment, as during the Jin dynasty . A form of shan which appeared in the Han and Wei period was a new type of gown which had equal front pieces which were straight, called duijin , instead of jiaoling collar and was fastened with a string; it was also a form of unlined upper garment with straight sleeves and wide cuffs. This shan

10858-426: The meaning of cheongsam in English, which refers exclusively to the female garment. What is now known as the Chinese changshan was developed by the Han Chinese during the Qing dynasty . The Qing dynasty Chinese changshan started to be worn by the Han Chinese after the Manchu conquest. The Chinese changshan was actually a modified version of the changshan worn in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD),

10980-436: The neck and closes at the right side. The liling dajin changshan is typically worn with a skirt, called mamianqun . As Han women were not forced to change into Manchu clothing in the Qing dynasty , Han women of the Qing dynasty followed the style of female jacket worn in the Ming dynasty . The Han Chinese women carefully maintained their pure Han Chinese ethnicity and did not wear Manchu clothing . Over time,

11102-405: The neck and sides. Despite the shared similarities with Manchu's neitao , the Chinese changshan differed structurally from the Manchu's neitao . The Chinese changshan only has two slits on the sides lacking the central front and back slits and lacked the presence of the matixiu cuffs; the sleeves were also longer than the ones found in the neitao . The precursors of both

11224-455: The order between Heaven and earth and should never be confused. According to the Wuxing ( 五行 ), the colour black symbolized the colour of the sky, which was dark before dawn, while the colour yellow represented the earth. The order between Heaven and Earth can also translate into clothing length differences between men and women. For example, in 1537, in an attempt to reverse the trend in

11346-448: The power of Yang is suppressing the Yin , which therefore symbolized the clothing of living people. However, if Yin surpasses Yang (i.e. zuoren -style), then clothing becomes the clothing worn by the deceased. It is therefore typically taboo in Chinese clothing for a living person to wear zuoren . Clothing style with youren ( 右衽 ; yòurèn ; 'right lapel') closure originated in China . Prior to

11468-451: The preceding dynasty before the Qing dynasty, and was modelled after the Manchu's men's changpao . Manchu men wore a type of changpao which reflected its equestrian origins, which was originally designed for horseback riding, known as neitao , which was characterized by two pair of slits (one slit on each side, one slit on the back, and one slit on the front) which increased ease of movement when mounting and dismounting horses,

11590-496: The right and closing to the left coexisted in the Yuan dynasty. It was also common for Chinese women in the Yuan dynasty to close their clothing to the left side (instead of the right side). The way of wearing short-length cross-collar upper garment over long narrow skirt was also a Song-style fashion. Long cross-collar upper garment (about the knee-length) over a long skirt could also be worn by Chinese elite women. The aoqun consisting of jia ao ( Chinese : 夹袄 ),

11712-423: The right originated in China . Chinese robes and jackets must cover the right part in a style called youren ( 右衽 ; yòurèn ; 'right lapel'). The youren closure is an important symbol of the Han Chinese ethnicity . The jiaolingyouren yi ( 交領右衽 衣 ; jiāolǐngyòurèn yī ) had been one of the major symbols of the Sino Kingdom, and eventually spread throughout Asia. The structure of

11834-515: The same clothing. When used as a broad term, ruqun refers to a set of attire which consists of a separate upper garment and a qun as a lower garment. As a specific term, ruqun refer to a specific style of wearing a short upper garment called ru ( 襦 ; rú ) under a long skirt called qun ( 裙 ; qún ). The word ru has sometimes been used as a synonym for other clothing items such as shan ( 衫 ; shān ) and ao ( 袄 ; 襖 ; ǎo ). The ru can also be

11956-457: The scholar-official elites and did not apply to the entire male population. The court dress of the Qing dynasty also had to follow the attire of the Manchu people; however, commoner Han men and women were still allowed to wear the hanfu under some circumstances and/or if they fell under the exemptions of the Tifayifu policy. The order of wearing Manchu's hairstyle however still remained as

12078-519: The symbolism of two-pieces garments hold great importance as it symbolizes the greater order of Heaven and Earth. In the Yi Jing 《 易經 》, upper garment represents Heaven ( Qian ) while the lower garment represents the Earth ( Kun ). It is also why the mianfu (and the yichang in the Yi Jing ) has a black upper garment and typically a red (or yellow ) lower garment which symbolized

12200-455: The time period. Garments that overlap and close to the right originated in China and are called youren ( Chinese : 右衽 ; pinyin : yòurèn ; lit. 'right lapel'). The style of yi which overlaps at the front and closes on the right in a y-shape is known as jiaolingyouren ( Chinese : 交領右衽 ; pinyin : jiāolǐngyòurèn ; lit. 'intersecting collar right lapel') and first appeared in

12322-400: The use of maweiqun reflected an inversion of Heaven and Earth as this form of clothing silhouette contradicts the traditional Chinese principle of Heaven and Earth order. The Shuyuan zaji 《 椒园杂记 》refers to the maweiqun as being fuyao ( Chinese : 服妖 ); the maweiqun was eventually banned in the early Hongzhi era (1487–1505) according to Lu Rong . Fuyao

12444-446: The waist until they were eventually tied above the breasts and where short upper garment was worn. In addition to the classical jiaoling ru or shan (crossed collar upper garments), duijin shan (parallel/straight collar upper garments) were also worn in this period, thus exposing the cleavage of the breasts. Some Tang dynasty women skirts had accordion pleats. Red coloured skirts were popular. There

12566-557: The waist-hip region and low standing collar; it was a component of the Wenming xinzhuang Chinese : 文明新裝 ; lit. 'Civilized new dress'). After the 1930s, these forms of upper garments lost popularity and decreased in use, as they were replaced by qipao and Western dress. Following the Hanfu movement in 2003, many various forms, shapes, and styles of Hanfu upper garments have reappeared and regained popularity. Ruqun Ruqun ( Chinese : 襦裙 ;)

12688-584: The waist. Styles of shanqun can be found in the Dunhuang murals where they are worn by the benefactors, in the pottery figurines unearthed in Luoyang , and in the paintings of Gu Kaizhi . At Luoyang during the Northern Wei dynasty , several variety of clothing styles found on female tomb figures were largely derived from the traditional ruqun -style set of attire. One style of ruqun

12810-458: The wrist exposed. The skirt was derived from the baizhequn (百摺裙) and became a dark long skirt with larger pleats. With time, the skirt length eventually shortened to the point where the calves of the wearer was exposed, and the ao had a lower collar and an arc shaped vents started to appear on both sides. This style of clothing eventually faded in the early 1930s. In the 21st century, several forms of ruqun, whose design are often based on

12932-520: Was a form of fashionable formal clothing. Song dynasty, women wore jiaolingyouren jackets and duijin jackets. The short ru was a daily garment item for women; the closures of the short ru were found either on the left or right of the front of the garment. Clothing worn by the Northern Song dynasty people living in Kaifeng are depicted in the on the painting Qingming Festival on

13054-429: Was advantageous. Huang Di, Yao, and Shun (simply) wore their [yichang (衣裳)] (as patterns to the people), and good order was secured all under heaven. In Shang dynasty , the basic form of hanfu was established as the combination of a separate upper and lower garment worn together; which was known as yichang ( 衣裳 ). In this period, the yichang was a unisex set of attire. The yichang consisted of

13176-489: Was also a skirt called "Pomegranate skirt" for its red colour, and another skirt called "Turmeric skirt" for its yellow colour. By the Mid-Tang period (around the 8th century), the low cleavage upper garment fell out of fashion; the female beauty ideology changed favouring plump and voluptuous beauty. Women continued to wear the Tang dynasty's fashion of wearing the upper garment and skirts tied around their breasts until

13298-412: Was also a special form of ao called mangao, which was typically used as part of a type of Chinese wedding dress attire . The duijin ao (jackets with front opening) were also worn. The duijin ao in the 19th century could be round neck with no collar or have small stand-up collars. The jiaolingyouren yi continued to be worn in the Qing dynasty even in the 19th century by children. In

13420-468: Was also common for the Han Chinese women to adopt zuoren under the reign of foreign nationalities, such as in the Yuan dynasty ; the use of zuoren also continued in some areas of the Ming dynasty despite being Han-Chinese ruled dynasty, which is an atypical feature. Some non-Chinese ethnicities who also adopted Hanfu -style sometimes maintain their zuoren lapels, such as the Khitans in

13542-469: Was also less lavish and yet less rigid and strict as the ruqun worn in the Song dynasty. One difference from the Song dynasty ruqun is the addition of a small short waist skirt which was worn by young maidservants; it is assumed that it was worn as an apron to protect the long skirt under it. The short overskirt was called yaoqun . Moreover, following the Yuan dynasty, the style of closing

13664-490: Was an influence of the late imperial secularization of arts and culture on textiles. They were also lavished with embroideries which were based on the Chinese symbolic system, which was itself based on Chinese language, mythology, customs, and literature, and belief system (e.g. Confucianist and Taoist motifs). The wide sleeves used in the upper garment were a heritage of the Ming dynasty and a distinctive feature which differentiated Hanfu from Manchu clothing. In terms of length,

13786-437: Was called shan ( 衫 ); and in the time of Li Shizhen's time, the shan also came to refer to long garments ( simplified Chinese : 长衣 ; traditional Chinese : 長衣 ; pinyin : chángyī ; lit. 'long clothes'). The term hanshan ( Chinese : 汗衫 ; pinyin : hànshān ; lit. ' sweat shirt') typically refers to a form an undershirt. According to Li Shizhen, who quoted

13908-450: Was composed of four pieces cloth sewn together; a belt was often attached to the skirt, but the use of a separate belt was sometimes used by women. The popularity of the jacket and skirt combination briefly declined after the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty , but returned into fashion in the Jin and Northern Wei dynasties and continued to be worn until the Qing dynasty . During the Wei , Jin , Southern and Northern dynasties , both

14030-605: Was fastened with a string; it was also a form of unlined upper garment with straight sleeves and wide cuffs. This shan was worn by men and women and became popular as it was more convenient for wearing. The ru , shan , and ao were common garment items for women in the Tang dynasty . The ru (as a short jacket) and shan (as an unlined short robe) were used for ceremonial and daily clothing by women. Some jackets in Tang dynasty could be found with narrow sleeves, while other upper garments could be found with loose sleeves. The Tang dynasty ru could also be

14152-519: Was observed that skirts were worn by Chinese women over their trousers in some regions of China, but that in most areas, skirts were only used when women would go out for paying visits. He also observed that the wearing of trousers was a national custom for Chinese women and that trousers were worn in their homes when they would do house chores. Mesny also observed that men (especially farmers, working men and soldiers) around Shanghai also wore skirts in winter. Another form of ruqun worn in that period

14274-518: Was rarely seen as both men and women continued to dress in Song-style garments. Tang-Song style clothing also continued to be worn in multiple layers by families who showed that they were resisting the rule of the Mongols. The Song style dress also continued to persist among the southern elites of the Yuan dynasty and evidence of Song-style clothing was also found in the unearthed tombs in southern China. The casual clothing for men mainly followed

14396-533: Was similar to the one worn in the Shang dynasty period; however the Zhou-dynasty style yichang was slightly looser and the sleeves could either be broad or narrow. The yi was jiaoling youren and a sash was used around the waist to tie it closed. The length of the chang , could also vary from knee to ground length. In the Western Zhou dynasty , it was popular to wear ruqun as

14518-408: Was the ru . The ru had different names in this period depending on its characteristics such as length and lining: gua referred to the long-length ru ; yaoru ( 腰襦 ; 'waist jacket') referred to the short-length ru ; furu referred to the ru with a lining and was therefore suitable to protect its wearer from the cold in winter if it was filled with silk or flax;

14640-507: Was the combination of short jacket (usually belted and tied at the front of the jacket) with wide sleeves which falls to the knee or below knee level with a very high waist, pleated and multicoloured long skirt. Based on a female tomb figure dating from the Eastern Wei , this form of ruqun is jacket worn over skirt. A popular form of ruqun was the jacket worn under skirt. The qixiong ruqun -style also first appeared in

14762-514: Was worn by men and women and became popular as it was more convenient for wearing. In addition, the term shanqun is sometimes used interchangeably with ruqun to refer to short upper garment worn on skirt. The term shan can also refer to long garments. Of note of importance, the term yichang is not only used to describe the specific types of Hanfu , but also modern western clothing styles consisting of separate top and bottom garments as well. In traditional Chinese culture,

14884-414: Was worn during by elite women and ordinary women. Ordinary women during the Han dynasty wore the ruqun with the jacket being covered by the qun , which came in various colours throughout the year. Ordinary women wore plainer form of ruqun ; the skirts were typically plain but the sash which was worn around the waist was decorated. During the Qin and Han dynasties, women wore skirts which

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