Ming Dynasty Costume: Characteristics of Hanfu in Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty was the dynasty with the strongest flavor of China citizens. From the literary works and historical records of the Ming Dynasty circulating today, we can see that the clothing culture of the Ming Dynasty has also reached a relatively developed level.

under the influence of China traditional culture, the beauty of ancient women in China emphasized implicature and attached great importance to inner cultivation, and "attaching great importance to fiber, trimming short fit" has always been a model of beauty.

Although the aesthetic view in Ming Dynasty has been relatively broad, moderate and moderate beauty is still the most respected. In terms of body shape, "rich meat and tiny bones" are once again valued.

since the Ming dynasty, buttons have been widely used, made of metal and jade. The double-breasted gown with buttons is a common dress for women in the Ming Dynasty.

The evolution of Hanfu

Another woman's regular dress, wearing a big-breasted short coat and a horse-faced skirt, has a wide strip in the middle of the skirt, which is similar to the evolution of "covering the knees", with more fine pleats at the waist, and then more and more pleats.

The most prominent feature of the development of Hanfu in the Ming Dynasty is that the buttons on the front front instead of the ties. However, the buckle was mainly used in dresses, and the uniform was rarely used, but it was popular in the late Ming Dynasty.

Buttons didn't come from the Ming Dynasty. From the waist part of braided coat in the Yuan and Meng Dynasties, there was a form of nailing buttons. Buttons should come from China ethnic minorities and became popular in the Ming Dynasty.

Compared with the Tang Dynasty, the proportion of dresses and skirts in women's clothing in the Ming Dynasty was obviously inverted. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the climate became cold, and the cold time in a year was longer, so the coat gradually became longer to the knees, and the skirt could no longer be tied outside the coat, but was covered by the coat, which was called the "coat skirt".

In the Ming Dynasty, there was also a kind of stand-up collar similar to today, which was buckled by buttons.

The makeup of women in the Ming Dynasty changed the eyebrow shape with upturned feathers in the Tang Dynasty, and turned to the slender crescent-shaped emerald eyebrows. The makeup focused on subtlety, emphasizing that "the face is like coagulated fat, the eyes are like paint, and the eyebrows are dark and blue".

a faint rouge on your face looks gentle and beautiful. These characteristics can be seen from the portraits of the harem at that time. Most of the women in the paintings have no rules to follow in makeup. Generally, they wear rouge lightly, point their lips, and then draw eyebrows according to their faces and eyes. They are docile and steady, and never wear heavy makeup.

The blouse of women's clothing in the Ming Dynasty is three-necked and narrow-sleeved, with a length of more than three feet and an exposed skirt of two or three inches. At that time, a new style was popular in Yangzhou: blouses were 2 feet 8 inches long, sleeves were 1 foot 2 inches wide, and the outer sleeves were inlaid with splendid flowers, and mink fox skin was inlaid in winter.

in the early Ming dynasty, the color of the lower dress was light, and in Chongzhen period, white skirts were advocated, with one or two inches of embroidered edges on the skirts. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the skirt width was six, and at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it developed into eight or ten.

pleated skirts have always been very popular, with fine pleats and large pleats. The pleat decoration is very particular. There is a kind of "striped skirt", in which silks and satins of various colors are selected. On each colored satin, flower and bird patterns are embroidered, and the edges are inlaid with gold thread, which can become independent strips. Put several different colored stripes on the belt, and it will become a skirt with colored stripes dancing, named "phoenix tail skirt". Some also make the whole piece of satin into fine pleats by hand, which is called "pleated skirt". There is also a 24-fold skirt called "Jade Skirt".

kuizi, which appeared in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, got this name in Sui and Tang Dynasties and was included in the formal dress in Song Dynasty.

in the Ming dynasty, the hairpin was popular, and its shape was like a long colorful hanging belt, with a width of three inches and two minutes and a length of five feet and seven inches. It bypassed the neck and hung on the chest, with gold or jade pendants hanging at the lower ends. Because of its beautiful shape, it was named "Xiabi".

The patterns of the Xunzi in the Ming Dynasty are basically the same as those of the Xiabi in terms of grade difference, except that eight or nine kinds of flowers are used as brides, instead of tying branches.

in the Ming dynasty, people wore a lot of raccoons. According to identity, there are two types:

aristocrats, as dresses, are in the form of collared sleeves and double-breasted;

as a common dress, the civilians take the form of a straight collar and a double-breasted small sleeve.

Another feature of Hanfu in Ming Dynasty is that it is adorned with ornaments, which are very eye-catching. They are all made of gold, pearls, jade and other materials. Among them, those hanging on the chest are called "falling collar", those tied on the front are called "seven things", and those who walk noisily are called "no walking". These accessories are collectively called "miscellaneous accessories".

There is another kind of special ornament. On a gold chain, four small objects are linked by rings: tweezers, toothpicks, earpick (ear scoop) and a knife, all of which are practical articles for women's life.

it can be seen that the earliest function of ornaments is for the practical purpose of daily life, and then it evolved into the function of decoration and modification.