Is there any interest in learning about the ancient Japanese clothing

Clothing, clothing, housing, and transportation were the most important issues for our ancestors. Among them, "clothing" is an important tool to distinguish human beings from beasts and to protect them from the cold, but with the development of civilization, its beautifying function has been greatly emphasized, and to this day, a well-made cheongsam or a set of newly released French women's clothing is regarded as a work of art. However, if the world's most exquisite national costume, it is not the kimono.

Twelve single

When it comes to the kimono, the first thing to say is the origin (historical heritage).

Since the Shinji era, Japanese clothing culture has always had a distinctive "foreign" mark. This is reflected not only in the form of the clothes, but also in the weaving techniques of the materials.

Since the time of Emperor Eishin, Japan has been closely interacting with Korea and China, which has brought favorable conditions for the transmission of culture. Emperor Pushkin even modeled his crown and court dress after Sui's garments. By the Nara period, it became fashionable to imitate the clothing and the way of dressing of the Tang Dynasty, however, what goes around comes around, and with the passage of time, the era of more individualized and attractive clothing arrived. This was the Heian Period.

The Heian period is also Japan's "national style era", she is in the wholesale digestion of the culture of the Tang Dynasty, as a university graduate on the stage of history. At this time, the clothing also gradually get rid of foreign influences, the development of a unique luxury beauty and exquisite characteristics. For example, if you are familiar with Japanese history, you will have heard of the "Tang coat" and the "twelve sheets". A tōyō is a type of dress (gown) with purple and scarlet coloring, and it is very beautiful with gold and blue coloring. Twelve single is actually a way of wearing, she is not twelve layers of single clothes, but in the single clothes folded twelve layers of clothing called Kei, Kei thin and transparent, multi-layer Kei stacked up can still be seen vaguely single clothes or table with the color, doubling the beauty of a hazy trance. From this, we can also get a glimpse of the Japanese aesthetics, not only like the abstract beauty, but also like to reflect the beauty of the natural world in real detail

Due to excessive corruption and extravagance, the rule of the Shogunate finally declined. During the Kamakura and Muromachi Shogunate periods, the relatively lean and simple culture of the buka emerged, and this characteristic of the era was also reflected in the clothing. Straight pendants and the kimono were fashionable men's clothing, and became very popular. Women's clothing became simpler. During the Azuchi and Momoyama periods of Oda Nobunaga, it was fashionable for women to wear small sleeves, which were beautiful, but still simple compared to a tansu or the like. During this period, the folkloric style of "noh music" took shape, and luxurious and beautiful "noh" costumes appeared. At this time, there was no major change in the clothing of the ministers, which was basically a continuation of the Heian period court dress, and the final fusion of the ministers and martial arts families was in the Meiji period, which is an afterthought

During the Edo shogunate period, there were some changes in men's and women's clothing, for example, the shape of the sleeves of the women's clothing became close to the modern era, and men's clothing was popular in the feathered weave (the black five-grain pattern as the main costume, followed by tea and yellow), and the knot began to be popular. However, the basic pattern was set, and by the Meiji era, the kimono in its present sense had been finalized, and there has not been much change since then

Origin of the Kimono*

From the time of the reign of the Emperor Eishin, the increasingly frequent exchanges between Japan and Korea resulted in a steady flow of high-quality silk fabrics such as kumihimo (brocade), aya (damask), silk (silk), and roe (silk) into the country. The introduction of silk fabrics also brought in silk weaving technology, which began to develop in Japan.

In the twelfth month of the eleventh year of Emperor Peko's reign, the court established a system of crowns and court dress, modeled on the clothing system of the Sui Dynasty in China. Clothing for the stand-up collar, right overlooking, sleeve coat, under the white pants, tie and hanging in front of the knot. Fabric selection of thick cotton and silk, in order to distinguish between the color of the service and the rank and file. That is, the big - German position service purple, big - small German position service green, big - small dress red, big - small letter service yellow, big - small righteousness service white, big - small wisdom service black, and green symbolizes the wood, red symbolizes the fire, yellow symbolizes the earth, white symbolizes the gold, black symbolizes the water, and then to the wood, fire, earth, gold, water, and then the five elements of the five elements of the color combined with five Lun, five Lun to the first virtue. The pants are made of white thick cotton cloth and the belt is made of Japanese cloth.

Beginning in the 10th year of Emperor Tenmu, the Japanese began to use leather belts. On formal occasions, they wore railing clothes with long belts, the armpits of the blouse were sewn together, the hem was slit horizontally, and the front lapel was tied with a long knot hanging down from the right side. Informal occasions of simple clothing for the non-bar short belt, open armpit, hem without horizontal slits, lapel belt is also quite short.

From the fourth year of Emperor Jitsu's reign, the high officials wore silk in winter and roses in summer, and the roses were decorated with areole patterns on the floor. The areole means a bird's nest, and it is in the shape of a swirl. The colors were also selected according to the official position, ranging from pink, black and purple, fuchsia, dark green, dark blue to light blue, and yellow for commoners' garments and black for slaves.

During the Nara period (710-780), Japan was widely influenced by the Tang Dynasty culture in China, and there was a social custom of men wearing women's clothes and women wearing men's clothes.

During the Nara period, there were many types of fabrics, including damask, brocade, roses, yarns, silks, silks, chiffons, and cloths. The most famous of these fabrics was Kashiki (a type of cloth made of deer tires)

The Heian Period (794-1192), also known as the "Kokufu Period" in Japanese history, was a period when the culture of the Tang Dynasty was digested and developed into a new culture with a distinctive style of the Yamato people. This period was a "noble era" in the history of Japanese clothing, with its advanced craftsmanship and ornate decorations. The court costumes of the Heian period became the basis for the later court fashion

The costumes of the Heian period included the tatami, the omotenashi, the kyu, the hinoki, the kettle, the monokini, the shirts, and the pants. Tang Yi refers to the straight collar coat with short length of coat and sleeve, and later Tang Yi is also known as forbidden color, which stipulates that the scarlet brocade damask Tang Yi can not be worn casually without a license.

The table wear was a garment similar to today's kimono.

Kei was a multilayered garment with an unlimited number of layers, up to 18-20 according to the Eiwa Monogatari. Kogyo is a thin and light transparent clothing over the surface, the color of this clothing is different from the surface, and through the small, thin texture can slightly reveal some of the color of the surface, which is very beautiful, and this is a feature of the modern Japanese kimono.

There is no special rule for the texture and pattern of the costume that looks slender when it is worn on top of the kyu.

The kettle attire, which refers to wearing a city women's hat and a kyu, is the clothing worn by women when they go out on a long journey.

Single clothes, especially the highly decorated "twelve single" is also an important clothing style in this period, it is the female officials in the palace wear clothing. The twelve singletons do not mean twelve layers of singletons, but rather twelve layers of decorative garments stacked on top of the singletons.

The Kamakura Shogunate (1192-1333) was the first samurai regime in the history of Japan, and the samurai clothing during this period had a distinctive national and contemporary character. By the Meiji era, the Japanese kimono was basically finalized.

Origin of Kimono

Legend has it that there was an Izanagi god in the Shinto period, who used to take off his shirt, hakama, and sash and expose his body when he performed purification (seeking blessings by fasting and bathing). According to posterity, the Shinji period described in the legend corresponds to Japan's primitive society period, and thousands of sites where Japanese people lived during that period have been found, spreading from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south, almost all over Japan. The Japanese in primitive society lived a migratory life in groups, and their main productive activities were hunting and gathering (don't always think of the Imperial Era). Perhaps it was in that era that the Japanese began to process animal fur or leaves to protect themselves from the cold, and came out of the age of nudity

Jomon human statue

In the late Jomon style culture period (the Neolithic period in Japan, equivalent to 800-500 years before the present) and in the Yayoi style culture period (the era when Yayoi style pottery was used in Japan, equivalent to 300-300 years before the present), Japan saw the emergence of the Yayoi style pottery. 300-300), two basic clothing styles emerged in Japan. One was the pullover-style round-necked shirt, similar in shape to today's round-necked knit pullover; the other was the button-down style, with a left-overlooking placket, a collar tipped to the waist, isometric two beginnings buttoned together with a thin rope tie, and cylindrical sleeves that were above the knee in length. The upper garment is accompanied by a hakama, a neckerchief, and a yusubi.

The hakama was originally a crotch cloth worn over the lower body to cover the upper garment, but here the hakama refers to pants-like undergarments with leg attachments. Men have a type of hakama called a shirasu, which is tied around the upper garment, and which creates some variation in clothing due to the pleats that appear in the knot. Most of the women wore a garment, which, unlike the men's, was long enough to reach the ground and was similar in form to the Korean women's skirt, the kimah

The neckerchief was generally worn as a decoration on both shoulders, and the form of the neckerchief was not limited, but was usually determined by personal preference. In the production of labor, the scarf is also often used as a long-sleeved band, or as a substitute for the cloth. On parting occasions, people waved their neckerchiefs to show their reluctance to part, which was the same as waving handkerchiefs to say goodbye, which became popular in the Meiji era.

The yusubi is a band of fabric, larger and longer than a neckerchief, that is worn over the head and around the waist. In ancient times, Japanese women did not want to be seen by men, so they covered their faces with a yasubi.

According to the Ancient Records, Nihonshoki, Uekawa Atlas, and Gleanings from the Ancient Tongue, the garments of the late Jomon and Yayoi periods were made of plant fibers such as kozo, linen, cotton burlap, rattan, and kobo, and the band was made of Japanese cloth. The emergence of clothing materials was shrouded in a halo of myths, such as the god Tenkaichi Washi cutting kozo and weaving cloth, and the god Nichijo Hakubutsu creating his own hemp cloth for civilian use.

Dyeing was already common at that time, and according to the "Eishinji" (The Record of the Gods), by the time of Emperor Kagekiyo, commoners already knew how to dye red with cress, green with indigo, yellow with arctostaphylos, black with acorns, and purple with violet roots. Most of the dyed fabrics had no patterns, but occasionally there were some prints, which were usually done by rubbing the leaves and flowers directly on the fabrics. The plants used are moon grass, swallow grass, hazelnut, mountain blue, lonicera and so on.

Japan has been importing culture from the Tang Dynasty since the early Nara Period, including information on clothing, food, housing, and transportation, and of course, the "clothing" of daily life was also influenced by the Tang Dynasty, and when the era of the Nara Era entered the Heian Era, the clothing was improved, so the so-called Heian court attire

The Heian Era attire is extremely classical and artistic value.