Hanfu skiing photography

Try to imagine such a scene-girls and friends in Tang Dynasty ladies' dresses are shooting videos for their Tik Tok in antique buildings, boys in Ming Dynasty Royal Guards are drinking coffee and chatting with friends on their mobile phones, and young people in double-breasted Han Dynasty costumes are partying all night on the dance floor of nightclubs. Nowadays, this surreal scene is becoming more and more common, especially in the ancient town of Tang Xi, Zhejiang. There is the largest Hanfu Culture Week in China at present, and Hanfu is a well-deserved protagonist here.

Hanfu Activities in Tang Xi Ancient Town

Xitang Hanfu Culture Week, which attracts countless Hanfu lovers every year, has become a key promotion project of the local government and tourism bureau. For Hanfu lovers, this is a grand gathering, and wearing modern and fashionable clothes may be regarded as "different" here. The initiator of Hanfu Culture Week is Jay Chou's royal lyricist Vincent Fang, who regards pop music as the media of traditional culture. In the past hundred or even hundreds of years, western civilization has been the leading force in shaping the history of global cultural development. But now, these rules should be broken. China culture, which used to be placed in the perspective of novelty hunting, has gradually received due attention in the rise of oriental cultural consciousness; China has made great achievements in economy and culture, and the storytelling microphone has also been put in the hands of China people, especially the younger generation in China.

With the development of China's national strength, the younger generation began to take the initiative to understand the long history of China, hoping to express their national identity through the Hanfu they wore. In the past ten years, the number of Hanfu lovers has increased day by day-they wear those Hanfu with rich patterns and large outline designs to meet friends, attend parties or wear them in daily life.

"The concept of Hanfu originated from a group of classical culture lovers," said Zhao Yiheng, a research assistant at the Reno Institute of Journalism in Missouri, who is also a Hanfu lover. "They hope that China can regard Hanfu as a traditional formal dress, just like Japanese kimono and Korean Hanfu. It is a symbol of cultural revival and encourages people to trace back to the ancient traditions of China. " According to the annual report released by Hanfu Information, a group of fans of Hanfu, about 36 10000 people consider themselves fans of Hanfu, an increase of 77% over 20 18, of which 86% are women and 5% are men. In 20 19, there were 1 188 orthodox Hanfu retailers on Taobao, with a year-on-year increase of 45.8%. These figures are based on a survey of 2276 participants.

Looking back at the history of Hanfu, its development process was suppressed after the Qing army entered the customs-the rulers of the Qing dynasty hoped to replace Hanfu with cheongsam to consolidate their power in the Central Plains with a large population of Han nationality. Later, in the new China period, Hanfu was marginalized, and its cultural and historical value was not re-valued. On the contrary, cheongsam has become the representative of China's traditional costumes with the popular culture of film and television. After experiencing the rapid development of China's economic and cultural modernization, Hanfu, which appeared much earlier than Qipao, became popular in the mainstream cultural circle of China.

In addition, China costume drama has also promoted the popularization of Hanfu, and the former has become one of the most sought-after TV dramas in China in recent ten years. From China's early classic TV series, such as A Dream of Red Mansions and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, to the contemporary Wu Meiniang legend adapted from online historical novels, the younger generation in China can see the appearance of traditional Hanfu on the screen almost every day.

Stills of the TV series Nirvana in Fire

At the same time, traditional philosophies such as Confucianism and Taoism began to enter the classroom, encouraging the younger generation to have more contact and understanding of traditional culture. This top-down protection of China's traditional culture has made more young people in China realize that their love for Hanfu is not a "cultural shame", but a way to find a sense of national cultural identity.

Nowadays, wearing Hanfu will not be required to "100% copy" the true historical features displayed by archaeologists. In Zhao Yiheng's view, it is more like "a new era urban subculture similar to Cosplay and Japanese Lolita clothing" or "a China version of African Afrofuturism". According to the report data of Hanfu Information, more than 65. 1% Hanfu lovers prefer Hanfu with historical prototype but more beautiful fabrics, while 65.438+08.7% prefer the modern version.

But there is no universal Hanfu style at present, and it may never exist. Because of different occasions, different times and different needs, different styles and collocation forms of Hanfu can be transformed. From the royal family to officials and soldiers, members of each dynasty and class have their own unique styles, which are further changed according to different purposes. Whether it's religious ceremonies, weddings, funerals or daily clothes, there are various styles, which is one of the reasons why modern Hanfu has so many styles.

The revival of traditional culture and the rapid growth of overseas Chinese population have opened a new chapter in the overseas development of China Hanfu. The growth of Hanfu trend outside China is attributed to a large number of overseas immigrants from China. As more and more young people in China choose to study abroad, Hanfu lovers have gradually found their own "base areas" abroad. According to the data of the interest group "Hanfu Map", there are 4 1 Hanfu organizations registered outside China, and each organization contains at least several hundred members. Liang Ming, founder and social worker of new york Hanfu Company, said: "Wearing Hanfu can make overseas Chinese feel the real connection with their country's cultural heritage. In addition to helping to promote China culture to other communities, it is also a useful way to socialize. " In new york, Hanfu lovers will also hold "Handicraft Night", music and dance performances, and hold outdoor gatherings in landmark buildings such as Central Park and Times Square to popularize people's understanding of Hanfu.

Hanfu activity organized by new york Hanfu Organization in new york Central Park.

Olivia Chen is the head of Hanfu Interest Group in Los Angeles. She said that since 20 13, the number of members of the group has increased tenfold, and now it has exceeded 300. Before the outbreak of the epidemic, she organized activities every month, such as celebrating traditional festivals in China or holding parties, so that everyone could wear Hanfu to practice seal cutting and make hairpins. Olivia also said: "In Southern California, the styles of Hanfu during the Song and Ming Dynasties were favored by Hanfu lovers. There are relatively complete literature records and cultural relics support about Song and Ming costumes, and their styles are also more suitable for today's daily life and activities. "

Hanfu Interest Group in Los Angeles

According to Ming's observation, the chest-length skirt is a kind of high-waisted traditional dress worn by women in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, which is very popular among young girls in new york. At the same time, because there are many plays with the background of the Song Dynasty in recent years, the Song Dynasty clothing style, which is easy to mix and match with contemporary clothing, is becoming more and more popular.

Over the years, the development scale of Hanfu industry has been considerable. "If these Hanfu fans buy a complete set of Hanfu every three months, the market value of Hanfu will reach 5 billion yuan," Lu said. "Some investment institutions predict that the market value of Hanfu in 20 19 will be between 8 billion-10 billion yuan if people who buy Hanfu for various needs such as taking photos or music performances, tea ceremony and cultural activities are counted."

According to Hanfu Information, the price of a set of Hanfu can be as low as 100 yuan or as high as 10000 yuan, and the price of Hanfu suits between 100 yuan and 500 yuan occupies 70% of the market. The most expensive Hanfu bought by Ming is from Minghuatang, and the price is1.2000 yuan. She waited for four months before the professionals made it specially for her. The number of people waiting for Minghuatang to customize Hanfu for them like Ming has reached the end of 202 1.

Zheng Zhigang, CEO of New World Development Group, a Hong Kong-listed company, told WWD that he was happy to see the revival of high-end technology in China initiated by Hanfu. "Cultural heritage protection is highly valued in China, and we want to know the hidden value behind this process," he said. "Millennials, especially Generation Z, are very interested in this field of knowledge, and a huge paradigm shift is coming. I think people will go back and explore its cultural origin and realize how we created this exquisite textile. "

When asked about the future development of Hanfu, Zhao Yiheng said: "I very much hope to see a traditional culture-oriented and Internet-based movement to shape the elite fashion industry. I think the day when Hanfu becomes a part of mainstream fashion is not far away, although it may not be the form we see today. " Ming believes that Hanfu has a long way to go before it can be fully accepted by the mainstream society in China. He said: "There has always been a misunderstanding that the public thinks that wearing Hanfu is equivalent to wearing ancient costumes or playing Cosplay."

However, Xiao Wei is optimistic about this. Wearing Hanfu is equivalent to being out of touch with modern social activities. Lu thinks this is a big misunderstanding of Hanfu. "I hope the public can understand that Hanfu can be fully integrated into our modern lifestyle. We can see that young people wearing Hanfu are also using mobile phones and computers. They can also wear Hanfu to drive or even ride bicycles. We can also wear Hanfu to work, exercise, shop, cook, and even bungee jump and ski, "Lv Xiaowei said.