With thousands of years of history, how did Hanfu become popular?

The origin of Hanfu

Hanfu does not refer to a single piece of clothing, but to a whole that includes clothing, crowns, hairstyles, face coverings, shoes, accessories, etc. clothing system. Hanfu is one of the oldest ethnic costumes in the world. "Historical Records" records that Chinese clothes were made by the Yellow Emperor. "Before the Yellow Emperor, there were no clothes or houses. By the time the Yellow Emperor built houses, made clothes, and organized funerals, all the people were saved from the difficulty of survival." About 5,000 years ago, China produced primitive agriculture and agriculture during the Yangshao Culture Period of the Neolithic Age. In the textile industry, woven linen began to be used to make clothes. Later, sericulture and silk spinning were invented, and people's clothing became more and more complete. During the Yellow Emperor's time, crowns appeared and the clothing system gradually took shape. After the Xia and Shang Dynasties, the crown service system was initially established, and gradually became complete during the Western Zhou Dynasty, and fully reflected the world outlook and cultural outlook of the ancestors.

Hanfu through the ages

The history of Hanfu is not the same as the history of clothing, because not all clothing can be called Hanfu. Although Chinese costumes in each dynasty will be affected by the "correction and change of clothing color" clothing system, which will have a certain impact on popular styles among the people, and even the characteristics of clothing in the early, middle and late stages of each dynasty are different; but overall, In other words, Chinese clothing and clothing civilization, which was determined by the "Li" of Zhou, has always been based on the etiquette principle of being careful about the end and pursuing the future. Chinese etiquette clothing has maintained an amazing inheritance throughout the thousands of years of history. Even in the era when Hanfu was discontinued, there were still Chinese people who were tenaciously carrying out the work of organizing the literature and classics that continued to rise and fall, hoping that Hanfu could continue forever. The following description of the development of Hanfu is based on the book "Hanfu".

Customization in the Zhou Dynasty

After the Xia and Shang Dynasties, the crown service system was initially established. In the late Zhou Dynasty, due to the rapid changes in politics, economy, ideology and culture, the system of uniforms and uniforms was included in the scope of "rule by etiquette" and became a manifestation of etiquette. From then on, the system of uniforms and uniforms in China became more detailed. "Book of Rites: Spring Officials" states: "The clothes of the chief minister and the king of good and bad luck should be distinguished by their names and their uses." It records that different clothes should be worn for different ceremonies, and the decoration, color, etc. should be decided according to the nature of the ceremony, the season, etc. Selection of materials. Deep garments and tops and lower skirts were the main forms of clothing in this period. They had a great impact on the clothing of later generations. Although the tailoring methods were different in the past dynasties, their shapes continued for thousands of years, which can be said to be of far-reaching significance.

Inherited from the Qin and Han dynasties

During this period, clothing went through a very important transformation process, from the Qin Dynasty not keeping the old system and Zhou etiquette, to the Eastern Han Dynasty redesigning the clothing system and respecting etiquette. "After the completion of the six kings, the four seas are one." The First Emperor Yingzheng unified the various systems of the Warring States Period, "collected the carriages, flags, and uniforms of the six countries" and created a unified clothing system of the Qin Dynasty. The terracotta warriors and horses unearthed in Shaanxi fully demonstrate the magnificent robes and military uniforms of the Qin Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty had a prosperous economy and a stable political power. Its gorgeous clothes fully demonstrated the political dominance of Confucianism and the system of crowns and uniforms. The Han Dynasty inherited the system of the Qin Dynasty and regarded robes as national attire. Many objects unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha provide the most powerful evidence for this; dark clothes with entangled skirts, flying and graceful Ruyi cloud patterns, exquisitely woven silk fabrics... …shows the brilliant Han costume culture.

Integration of the Wei and Jin Dynasties

The Wei and Jin Dynasties were a period of great integration of the northern and southern ethnic groups, which resulted in the integration of Hu and Han costumes. At the same time, the emergence of Buddhism from the Western Regions and local metaphysics also inspired people's awakening. People began to abandon the pursuit of external glitz and turn to the pursuit of inner talents, character, character, and style, and lived a lifestyle that was not rigid in etiquette. Reflected in clothing, literati and Confucian scholars pursued "spirit, style, and style" and deliberately imitated antiques. Wide clothes and wide belts became the main style of this period. In the portrait of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest, we can see the famous Seven Gentlemen at that time - Shan Tao, Ruan Ji, Ji Kang, Xiang Xiu, Liu Ling, Ruan Xian, and Wang Rong - wearing casual corner buns and showing their chests. , an image of contempt for legislation, unrestrained, far-reaching and elegant.

The Development of the Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was a period when China's feudal politics, economy, and culture were highly developed, and it also pushed traditional clothing to its peak. Clothing in the early Tang Dynasty mainly inherited the style of the Sui Dynasty, with thin clothes, narrow sleeves and calm colors. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, colors began to become brighter and bolder, and some highly saturated colors, such as emerald green, rose red, sapphire blue, garnet red, etc., began to be used in clothing. At the same time, exotic patterns became popular, such as honeysuckle patterns, strings of strings, etc. Patterns, treasure patterns, etc. The Tang Dynasty adopted an eclectic strategy in dealing with foreign cultures. The blending of Tang culture and foreign cultures created graceful and generous Tang costumes. From countless unearthed Tang figurines and murals, we can see the sexy Women's clothes in the Tang Dynasty have seen many changes in hairstyles and makeup. No wonder it was Bai Juyi who wrote: "The makeup of the times, the makeup of the times, comes from all over the capital. The fashion of the times has no distance, and the cheeks are not red and the face is not powdered." The black paste on the lips looks like mud, and the eyebrows are painted with a low figure..."

Inherited from the Song and Ming Dynasties

"Since ancient times, both have valued China and despised barbarians, and I have loved them only. Different from the concept of "ruyi", the Song Dynasty despised the Khitan, Jurchen, Dangxiang and other ethnic minorities in the north when it was founded. In terms of clothing system, it also restored the old traditions of the Han people and repeatedly banned people from wearing Hu people's clothing. Influenced by Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism at that time, clothing turned away from the bright and colorful colors of the Tang Dynasty and pursued a simple and elegant style. Clothing styles also tended to be restrained and conservative, forming the unique "rational beauty" of the Song Dynasty.

From the famous "Along the River During Qingming Festival", we can see the prosperity of towns in the Song Dynasty. There are more than 500 people in the painting, dressed in different ways, which fully demonstrates the clothing of the people in the Northern Song Dynasty: there are those with buns, those wearing futou, those wearing scarves, those wearing mat hats, those wearing 襕robes, those wearing mandarins, and those wearing trousers. There are all kinds of short shirts.

Part of "Listening to the Qin" (Zhao Ji of the Northern Song Dynasty, 147.2 cm long and 51.3 cm wide, collected by the Palace Museum)

The Ming Dynasty abandoned the Yuan Dynasty's clothing system and adopted it from Zhou and Han Dynasties , taking the Tang and Song Dynasties, restored the Han etiquette, and made a series of adjustments to the costumes, establishing the basic style of Ming Dynasty costumes. "The teachings of the ancient kings on dress, etiquette, and righteousness were mixed up with the barbarians, and became popular among the upper and lower levels." The attitude towards the clothing of officials and common people has changed from "the common people wore braided buns, deep-brimmed beard hats, and their clothes were pleated trousers, narrow sleeves, and Braided waist pleats; women's short-sleeved clothes and skirts are no longer the same as the old Chinese clothes. Some people even changed their surnames to Hu. They have been accustomed to the Hu language for a long time, and they are not surprised at all. Two pieces of Hu clothes, braided hair and buns, Hu clothes, Hu language, and Hu surnames are all prohibited." In Zhu Yuanzhang's own words, the formulation of this style of clothing can be said to be "considering profit and loss, all determined from the sacred heart." In the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu, the clothing system underwent a large-scale adjustment. The crown clothing system remained unchanged for hundreds of years, and the clothing styles of the Ming Dynasty were inherited in subsequent opera costumes and folk marriage customs.

The chronology of Hanfu

In the analysis of Hanfu, we mentioned that Japan’s kimono and South Korea’s Hanbok are both the result of the influence of Hanfu. Some ethnic groups in Asia, such as Vietnam, Mongolian and Bhutanese costumes also borrowed the characteristics of Hanfu. However, today, under the influence of Korean and Japanese styles, many Han people do not even recognize their own national costumes, and instead mistake their own costumes for kimono and Hanbok.

For the embarrassing status of Hanfu today, people who don’t know the truth may explain it by saying that Hanfu’s wide robes and long sleeves are not suitable for modern society. However, in fact, Hanfu did not disappear naturally. A more important history is the fundamental reason why it disappeared from modern people's vision. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty in 1644, during the war between the Qing Dynasty and the Southern Ming Dynasty, in order to weaken the national identity of the Han people and achieve the purpose of unifying China, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty vigorously promoted Manchu hairstyles and Manchu costumes, and prohibited people from wearing Han costumes. It is called "shaving hair and wearing clothes easily". At that time, Kong Wen, a descendant of Confucius, wrote to Dorgon, requesting that the Confucian family's clothing be preserved, saying: "The ancestors of the sages were the masters of ceremonies... The most important ritual is the crown and clothes... But the clothes of the minister's family have been preserved for three thousand years. It has never changed..." Dorgon refused. The Manchu rulers ordered the nation to shave their heads and change clothes, which aroused the anger, dissatisfaction and armed resistance of the Han people. Subsequently, the Manchu dynasty carried out bloody suppression and massacre with force, and the Hanfu gradually disappeared.

......In 1683, the Qing army entered Taiwan and destroyed the remaining troops of Zheng Chenggong. From then on, the Han Dynasty completely disappeared from the daily life of the Chinese nation. Time turns to modern times. After the Revolution of 1911 overthrew the rule of the Manchu aristocracy, people's thoughts tended to be Westernized. During the May 4th Movement and the Cultural Movement, all traditional things were blindly suppressed. At that time, even Chinese characters suffered In response to the criticism, everyone changed to wearing suits, but Hanfu still has not been restored. The edifice of the Hanfu system collapsed, and the cheongsam, gown, and mandarin that are easily accepted by everyone today are all developed and improved from Manchu costumes.

The reason why we mention the history of the demise of Hanfu here is to correct a relatively common misunderstanding, that is, it is believed that Hanfu disappeared naturally, and it is even believed that the Han nation has never had its own national costumes. It is not surprising that this misunderstanding occurs, because many people do not understand the history of the demise of Hanfu. History has become the past, but it is necessary to revisit the history of 1645 and understand it with an objective and rational attitude.