Is that Hanfu?

The main features of Hanfu are crossed collars and right gussets. They do not use buttons but are tied with ropes, giving people a free and elegant impression. These characteristics are obviously different from the costumes of other ethnic groups. Hanfu can be divided into formal clothes and regular clothes. From the shape point of view, there are mainly "top and lower skirts" system (the skirt in ancient times refers to the lower skirt), "shenyi" system (the top and lower skirts are sewn together), "skirt" system (ru, that is, short clothes), etc. type. Among them, the mianfu with a top and lower skirt is the most solemn and formal dress for emperors and officials; the robe (deep clothes) is the common dress for officials and scholars, and the underskirt is the favorite wear of women. Ordinary working people generally wear short clothes on top and long trousers on bottom.

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Ruskirt

Women's Hanfu

Ruskirt appeared in the Warring States Period and rose to prominence During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Ruqun is a type of Hanfu. The short coat worn on the upper body and the skirt worn on the lower body are collectively called Ruqun. It is a typical "top and lower skirt" clothing system. The top is called "ru" and is shorter in length, generally no longer than the knee. The lower body is called "skirt". It can be seen that "Ruqun" is actually the collective name of two types of clothing. [1]

The underskirt was the main style of clothing for women in the Tang Dynasty. Phi silk, also known as "painted silk", is usually made of a thin gauze with patterns printed on it. The length is generally more than two meters. When used, it is draped over the shoulders and coiled between the two arms. Women in the Tang Dynasty regarded plumpness as their beauty. Due to their plump figures, women's clothing in the mid-Tang Dynasty also gradually became wider, and the width of the skirts was much wider than that in the late Sui and early Tang Dynasties. Although the clothes have small sleeves, they are obviously looser than women's clothes in the early and prosperous Tang Dynasty.

Big-sleeved shirts of the Tang Dynasty

Pictures of ladies with hairpins

After the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the influence of Hufu gradually weakened, and the styles of women's clothes became increasingly generous. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, this feature became more obvious. In general women's clothing, the sleeve width was often more than four feet. Noble dresses in the middle and late Tang Dynasty were generally worn on important occasions, such as court visits, courtesy visits, and weddings. Wearing this kind of dress, there are gold and green hairpins in the hair, so it is also called "hairpin dress". The style of the large-sleeved blouse is with large sleeves and double breasts, and is worn with a long skirt and a shawl. The use of gauze as the material for women's clothing was a feature of Tang Dynasty clothing, which was closely related to the open-mindedness of the time. Especially the costume that does not wear underwear and only covers the body with light gauze is a pioneering work. The so-called "the delicate strands of skin can be seen" is a summary of this kind of costume.

Round-neck shirt

Round-neck shirt

The Sui and Tang Dynasties also produced an important variant of Hanfu - the round-neck shirt. The round neck style appeared very early in the history of Chinese clothing, but it was not until the Sui and Tang Dynasties that it became popular and became an official uniform. This kind of clothing lasted from the Tang, Five Dynasties, Song and Ming Dynasties, and had a great influence on Japan, Goryeo and other countries. Wrapping one's head in a bun and wearing a round-neck robe and shirt were common clothing for men in the Tang Dynasty, with the bun robe and shirt being the most fashionable. Futou, also known as Futou, is a type of headdress based on the Han and Wei turbans. After the Tang Dynasty, people added a fixed ornament called "scarf" inside the futou. The shape of the towel varies from period to period. In addition to the scarf, the Fu Tou's feet also had many changes. By the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the original soft feet had been changed into hard feet, one on the left and one on the left.

It should be pointed out that the popularity of this variant of round-neck Hanfu does not mean the disappearance of the traditional right-fold collared Hanfu. In fact, even in the Tang Dynasty when it was most popular, it was mostly limited to the area centered on Chang'an, and among officials and members of the royal family. However, in areas such as Wuyue and among ordinary people, they used the right-fold collar with a large collar. This type of clothing is mainly Han clothing, similar to the Song and Ming Dynasties. Officials in the Tang Dynasty wore round-neck narrow-sleeved robes, large-sleeved shirts, aprons, and jade pendants. Round-neck Hanfu, like cross-neck Hanfu, is an important part of Han nationality costumes.

The crew-neck shirt in the Tang Dynasty was one of the important clothing items for men. At that time, crew-neck shirts mostly had narrow sleeves. In the Song Dynasty, square sleeves appeared on round-neck shirts. Because frugality was advocated at that time, the colors of round-neck shirts were relatively simple at that time. In contrast, the Tang Dynasty crew neck shirts are more gorgeous. In the Ming Dynasty, crew-neck shirts went a step further, with copper buttons appearing on the shoulders instead of ties. Ming-made crew neck shirts also have partial pipa sleeves. Wearing round-neck shirts, black gauze hats, long boots, and belts became the official attire of Ming Dynasty officials in court. At this time, the official's round-neck shirt appeared with patterns of birds and animals indicating rank. In the Ming Dynasty, the round-neck shirt was no longer the main men's regular clothing. Because the groom in the Ming Dynasty wore a nine-pin round-neck shirt when getting married, the groom was called the groom's official. This title has been retained until the present day [2].

Style Characteristics

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Overview

Hanfu has a unique form, and its basic features are crossed collars, right lapels, and ties , wide sleeves, and are supplemented by plate collars, straight collars, etc.

There are about nine basic styles of Hanfu. Under the basic styles, there are hundreds of styles based on different changes in collars, sleeve types, waistbands, cutting methods, etc. It is very different from a suit, and it is also different from the Hanbok, kimono and other clothing that were influenced by Hanfu, and it is enough to reflect the characteristics of the Chinese nation.

Shape characteristics

From the shape point of view, there are mainly "top and lower skirts" systems (shang refers to lower skirts in ancient times) and "shenyi" systems (the top and lower skirts are sewn together. types), "Ruqun" system (Rufu, that is, short coat), "Tongcai" system (long shirt, outer cover) and other types. Among them, the top and bottom robes are the most solemn and formal attire for emperors and officials; the deep robe is the common dress for officials and common people; the robe is the common dress for officials and scholars, and the underskirt is the favorite wear of women.

Ordinary working people generally wear short clothes on top and long trousers on bottom.

Characteristics of men and women

There are basically two styles of men's clothing:

1. The large lapel, right lapel, crossed collar, wide robe and large sleeves passed down from ancient times. The kind of boy's clothes and belts (represented by Qin and Han costumes) continued from Shang, Zhou (Spring and Autumn and Warring States), Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, Two Jins, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan and Ming, and influenced Japan, North Korea and other countries. This is the most common style of Japanese kimono.

2. Round-neck shirts have become popular since the Sui and Tang Dynasties (worn by Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty). This type of clothing is worn in the common portraits of Taizu of the Song Dynasty and Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. The attire worn by the Japanese emperor on certain occasions to this day is a variant of this Hanfu. Note that this round-neck robe is also on the right side, fastened with a small round button near the right shoulder.

In the early days, women's clothing was similar to men's clothing, and they also wore dark clothes. Later, they mainly wore skirts.

Dynasty Characteristics

The costumes of each Han Dynasty are slightly different in some places, but the main part is the same. The basic style of the deep clothes of the Western Han Dynasty and the Hanfu of the Ming Dynasty are the same, but they differ in details.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, clothing generally followed the dress system of the Shang Dynasty, with only slight changes. The style of clothes is slightly looser than that of the Shang Dynasty. The sleeves come in two styles: large and small. The collars are generally square collars without twist buttons. They are usually tied around the waist, and some have jade ornaments hanging on the belts. There were two main types of belts at that time: one was made of silk fabric, called "big belt" or "gentry belt"; the other was made of leather, called "leather belt." At this time, deep garments with curved skirts appeared. Compared with other garments, in addition to the fact that the upper skirt and lower skirt are connected, there is another obvious difference, which is called "continued skirts and hooked edges". "衽" means the skirt, "continuing the skirt" means extending the skirt, and "hook edge" describes the style of the skirt. It changes the tailoring method of clothing with slits at the hem in the past. The front and back pieces of the left skirt are sewn together, and the back piece of skirt is lengthened. The lengthened skirt forms a triangle, which is wrapped around the back when worn, and then tied with a belt.

Qin is a black man, so the standard color of Qin’s clothing is all black. But the style is still the big lapel, right lapel, and cross collar. Basically follows the Warring States Period.

The clothing styles of men in the Han Dynasty can be roughly divided into two types: curved trains and straight trains. Quju, a dark garment popular during the Warring States Period, was still used in the Han Dynasty, but was mostly seen in the early Western Han Dynasty. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was rare for men to wear dark clothes. They usually wore straight skirts, but they could not be used as formal dresses. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the deep skirt with curved trains was not only worn by men, but was also the most common style of clothing among women. This kind of clothing is tight and narrow, long and can be trailed to the floor, and the hem is generally trumpet-shaped, so that no feet are exposed. The sleeves come in two styles: wide and narrow, and the cuffs are mostly edged. The collar part is very distinctive. It is usually cross-collared and the neckline is very low to expose the underwear. If you wear several pieces of clothing, the collar of each layer must be exposed, and the maximum number is more than three layers, which is called "triple clothing". In addition, the narrow-sleeved and tight-fitting deep-breasted clothes of the Han Dynasty were worn. The clothes were turned several times, wrapped around the hips, and then tied with silk ribbons. The clothes were also painted with exquisite and gorgeous patterns.

The straight skirt of the Han Dynasty can be worn by both men and women. This kind of clothing has appeared as early as the Western Han Dynasty, but it cannot be used as a formal dress. The reason is that ancient trousers have no crotch and only have two trouser legs that go to the knees and are tied around the waist with a belt. These crotchless trousers were worn underneath. If they were not covered with outer clothing, the trousers would be exposed. This was considered disrespectful at the time, so they had to wear dark clothes with deep skirts. Later, as clothing became more and more complete, the form of trousers also improved, and crotch trousers (called "crotch") appeared. Due to the improvement of underwear, deep garments with curved trains and lapels have become redundant. Therefore, after the Eastern Han Dynasty, straight trains gradually became popular and replaced deep garments.

During the Wei, Jin and Southern Dynasties, men’s clothing had the characteristics of the times, and they generally wore shirts with large sleeves. Until the Southern Dynasties, this kind of shirt was still loved by men from all walks of life and became a temporary fashion.

Women's clothing during the Wei and Jin Dynasties inherited the customs of the Qin and Han Dynasties, and was improved on the traditional basis. They generally wore shirts, jackets, and jackets on the upper body, and skirts on the lower body. The styles were mostly frugal at the top and rich at the bottom. The body part is tight and fitted, the cuffs are enlarged, the skirt is a multi-pleated skirt, the skirt is floor-length and the hem is loose, thus achieving a handsome and chic effect.

In the Tang Dynasty, officials wore not only round-necked narrow-sleeved robes, but also large-sleeved shirts, aprons, jade pendants and ribbons. Ruqun was the main clothing style for women in the Tang Dynasty. In the Sui Dynasty and the early Tang Dynasty, women wore short jackets with small sleeves and tight-fitting long skirts. The skirts were tied at a high waist, usually above the waist, and some were even tied under the armpits and tied with ribbons, giving people a pretty look. Slender feeling. The skirts of the mid-Tang Dynasty were wider than those of the early Tang Dynasty, but there were no other major changes.

Features of accessories

Headwear is one of the important parts of Han nationality clothing.

In ancient times, both men and women of the Han nationality tied their hair into a bun on their head and fixed it with hairpins. Men often wear crowns, scarves, hats, etc. in various shapes.

Women's buns can also be combed into various styles, and various ornaments such as beads, flowers, and steps can be worn on the buns. Both sides of the temples are decorated with sideburns, and some wear curtain hats and hijabs.

The shoes of ancient Hanfu are also very particular. The shoes reflected in traditional paintings and operas are very different from those of other ethnic groups. Some have thick soles and often have raised toes. decoration. The toes of the shoes are turned up to prevent people from stepping on clothes and falling.

The sword was also part of the ancient Han Dynasty clothing. Scholars often wore swords when wearing formal clothes.