What is the connection between Manchu clothing and geography?

1. The landform of “white mountains and black waters” brought about the clothing characteristics that are convenient for riding and shooting. The Manchu people and their ancestors have been active in Northeast my country for a long time. This area mainly has three different types of geographical environments: The geographical environment of the grassland in the west of the Greater Khingan Mountains; the geographical environment of the mountains and rivers in the Greater Khingan Mountains, the Changbai Mountains and the Songhua River and Heilongjiang basins in the north; the geographical environment of the plains running through the north and south to the east of the Greater Khingan Mountains and the west of the Changbai Mountains. This geographical landform of plains, mountains, hills, and rivers makes the Manchus and agricultural people in the plain areas mainly cultivate, the nomadic people in the grassland areas mainly herding, and the people in the river and sea areas who make a living in fishing. The fishing nation is quite different. It is a mountain and forest nation that mainly engages in hunting but also engages in farming and animal husbandry. In the mountains and rivers, people have made a living by hunting and gathering flowers and fruits for generations. Riding and shooting have naturally become indispensable skills in people's lives. They have been riding horses and whipping whips for many years, galloping in the mountains of the Northeast, so their clothing is obviously adapted to the needs of riding and shooting in the special environment of the Northeast. When Qianlong talked about Manchu costumes, he said: "The system of our dynasty's crown and dynasty is closely related to the observance of laws, especially the old custom of riding and shooting." One sentence expresses the outstanding characteristics of the Manchu people's clothing. In terms of attire, Manchu men and women often wear robes with "horseshoe sleeves", which is often called Manchu cheongsam. The cut is simple and bright, with round neck, twisted placket (large placket), left gusset, waistband, slits on all sides, and narrow sleeves (some with arrow sleeves). The style of the left vent should be related to the unique production activity of hunting. When riding a horse and archery, hold the bow with your left hand and nock the arrow with your right hand. When you find an accurate target, you must fire the arrow as quickly as possible to ensure the success rate of hunting. The left hem of clothing can avoid obstruction to the right hand when shooting arrows. The narrow sleeves are also convenient for shooting arrows. Because there are horseshoe-shaped protective sleeves attached to the sleeves, they are also called horseshoe sleeves. They can be lowered to protect the back of the hands and wrists when riding and shooting. Wearing a long robe called a cheongsam, the robe usually has a belt around the waist, which can not only resist the cold wind, but also put dry food and other daily necessities in the arms, making it easier to go out hunting. The robe is slit on all sides to the knees, which prevents your feet from being wrapped when riding, and is easy to get on and off, making it ideal for hunting. A waist-length short coat is usually worn outside the robe, called a mandarin jacket. It has a high collar, double front, slits on all sides, and is long to the waist. The sleeves are relatively short, so three or four inches of the sleeves of the inner robe can be exposed. Roll up the sleeves of the robe over the coat. Above the sleeves are the so-called big and small sleeves. The shape of the short coat and short sleeves makes it easier to move and is suitable for riding and shooting. Some Manchu men also wear trousers on the lower body, with long waist and wide crotch. The waistband of the trousers is high and wide. They need to make a big fold at the waist to tie the trousers, and the trousers legs are also folded and tied with leg straps. In winter, a kind of trousers is often worn. The style is peculiar. It only has trousers but no crotch. The two trouser legs are separated separately. This is because it is convenient for riding horses, so it has been followed. Many Manchu ornaments are also related to hunting life. When Manchus go out, "they must wear a knife, a bag of stones, a fire bag, a handkerchief and other items in their belts." These things are necessary items to bring when going hunting. Every time a man goes out to hunt, it often takes several days or even dozens of days to come back. When they hunt game in the forest far away from their residence, they use the fire sickle to light a blazing bonfire. The game is roasted on the fire. After it is cooked, everyone uses their own knives to cut the meat and eat it. In addition, Manchus are also accustomed to carrying tobacco pouches, purses, etc. The purse was originally a food bag, filled with easy-to-carry food to satisfy hunger during hunting. Later, it gradually evolved into a worn jewelry, which could contain tobacco, spices, etc. 2. Cold climate characteristics determine the cold resistance of clothing. Northeastern forest areas and both sides of the river are located in high latitude areas, with long-term cold climate and low temperatures. In order to resist the severe cold and survive the long winter, clothing with cold protection and warmth is a must. The Manchu defense measures against the cold started from the head. Manchu people especially like to wear hats, including warm hats, cool hats, skull caps, Kunqiu hats, etc. "Yanjing Chronicles: Changing Seasons" says: "Every March, women wear straw hats, and August, they wear warm hats. The Ministry of Rites will notify them at that time, and most women wear hostas around the 20th. When they change their hats, women wear hostas." When changing to warm hats, women all wear gold hairpins. "[4] Among them, warm hats are hats often worn by Manchus in winter. They are round in shape, with the brim turned upward, and the top of the hat is specially decorated with red mandarin. Made of leather, but also made of woolen, satin, or cloth, its main function is to protect the head and resist severe cold. When the weather is slightly colder, Manchu women often wear eyebrow masks on their foreheads to cover their ears. The remaining two belts are placed under the bun. On the one hand, they serve as a beautiful decoration and on the other hand, they also have the effect of keeping out the cold. The veils used by the noble women of the Eight Banners were more luxurious and gorgeous. They were often decorated with jewelry and made into flowers or auspicious words such as "good luck", "luck" and "longevity". Most of the clothes worn by ordinary women are made of black velvet, and some are embellished with some pearls or embroidered with some satin. Another highlight of Manchu women's clothing is their scarf. The scarf is a ribbon tied around the neck. It is about 2 inches wide and 3 feet long. It wraps from the back of the neck forward, with the right end placed on the chest and the left end covered. Go to the inside of the folded lapel of the clothes. This is not only beautiful and elegant, but also has the effect of keeping warm. The material style of Manchu clothing also has a relationship with the cold climate that cannot be ignored. Hunted animal skins were generally used as raw materials for clothing by the Manchus and their ancestors, and were processed into warm and waterproof clothing. Volume 39 of "Da Jin Guo Zhi" records: "It is a barren land outside and cannot be protected from the cold unless it is skin, so everyone, rich or poor, takes it.

Volume 3 of the "Three Dynasties Beimeng Huibian" contains: "The Jurchen land has extremely cold winters, and they have many skins. Even if they get a rat, they will hide it with the skin off. They all wear thick skins as clothes and will not leave unless they enter the house." ""Jianzhou Hearing and Seeing Records" records that the Jurchens in Jianzhou "wear fur fur in the cold winter" and their hats are also "made of skin." For example, in October 1618, hundreds of households from the Huerha tribe in the East came to surrender and gave them to Na, the leader of the tribe. Kadaba people, "Leopard skin silver lining, python-faced leather jackets, long leather end caps, mink fur hats, etc." This Manchu-style shoe is also a good way to protect yourself from the cold in the cold winter in the Northeast. The Manchus and their ancestors often hunted in the ice and snow. At first, they used the skins of hunted animals to wrap their feet to protect their feet. Later, they gradually evolved into shoes, namely "guards" (靰顡), also known as leather shoes. There is catkin grass in the middle, which can keep out the cold. "Jingtan is made of pig and cow fur. The sole and upper are made of a single piece of leather. They are "bent, without any edge decoration, and cover the instep." When worn, the shoe is put into the leather. Also known as Wula grass), this kind of grass is as thin as thread and as soft as cotton. If you put it in your shoes, it can keep your feet warm and moisture-proof, so "Wula grass" is also called one of the three treasures of the Northeast. 3. Economic. The planting of crops affected clothing fabrics. Before the Yuan Dynasty, China mainly used silk, hemp, and kudzu as clothing fabrics. After the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, cotton was planted and used in large quantities. During the Ming Dynasty, cotton had been planted in large areas in the Yellow River Basin in the north and became my country's main staple One of the most important economic crops, Li Ba's "Cotton Planting Theory" during the Qianlong period said: "As far as Youyan in the north, Chu and Guangdong in the south, traveling east to the Yangtze River and Huaihe River, and reaching Qinlong in the west, all the people I passed along were people wearing cotton. There is no soil suitable for cotton. A family of eight can grow a field of cotton and harvest a hundred catties a year without worrying about the cold. It's very easy to get a lot of money in the market for less than a hundred yuan per catty. The woman is bustling, as if she were on the Spring Terrace, and she is full of joy." The cultivation of cotton made the cotton cloth market very prosperous. Ordinary people lived in poverty and did not have too much silver to buy silk gauze. However, cotton cloth was cheap, practical and durable, and became a The main material for making clothes for ordinary Manchus in the Qing Dynasty. Sericulture production also developed greatly in the Qing Dynasty. Farmers in some areas took mulberry planting and raising silkworms as their main production activity. Volume 8 of Guangxu's "Haiyan County Chronicles" records: "(Haiyan) Wall." There are mulberry trees beside the open field. A thousand catties of mulberry leaves is called duty. There are many silkworms but few leaves, which is called a short position. As soon as the silkworms grow, they must buy leaves to feed them. They fly around lightly and buy them from far away. Although it is a hundred miles away, it will reach it in a day and night, but if it is too late, the leaves will steam and rot, making them no longer suitable for feeding silkworms. "As for the place where mulberry trees are planted, "when the public mulberry fields are full of leaves, there are more than ten baskets of silkworms per acre, the next four or five baskets, and the bottom two or three baskets." When rice is cheap and silk is expensive, a basket of silkworms can be used as an acre's worth of food. The husband and wife work together, put all the mulberry trees into their mother's house, support the family in private, and earn half the salary for their remaining years. Moreover, mulberries can be used as wine, stalks can be used as fuel, silkworm excrement water can be used to fertilize pigs, and the benefits of harvesting vegetables, eggplants and melons on the side of the field are that one mu of mulberry trees can equal a hundred mu of farmland." Growing mulberry and raising silkworms has yielded huge profits, which has greatly This stimulated the enthusiasm of farmers. During the Qing Dynasty under Manchu rule, the silk weaving industry achieved unprecedented development. According to a report by Li Shiyao, the governor of Guangdong and Guangdong in the 24th year of Qianlong’s reign (1759), “The number of silk goods exported to Guangdong by barbarian ships from all over the world has increased. Heavy, the annual sales of Hu silk, silk and satin and other goods range from more than 200,000 to 323,000 jins... The goods are all trafficked to Guangdong by merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, sold to various merchants, and resold to foreigners. "The number of silk products sold by foreign merchants can be seen from the large amount of silk production at that time. At that time, Manchu dignitaries wore silk and satin to show their status. The Qing Dynasty consumed a large amount of silk and satin every year. According to archives, in the first year of Kangxi , Hangzhou Weaving Bureau produced 1,840 pieces of robe satin, palace silk, damask, Luo, yarn, etc., and 2,290 official damask, flake gold, velvet, palace silk, shiny satin, etc. The two items totaled 4,130 pieces of cloth. [14] Yongzheng's "Qing Dynasty Huidian" records that "in Beijing, there are weaving and dyeing bureaus, and there are weaving bureaus in Jiangning, Suzhou, and Hangzhou." Satin is used in the weaving of the year, and silks, edicts and other items are used for sacrifices, each with its own formula."