History of China's Clothing

China clothing has a long history, which can be traced back to ancient times.

Bone needles dating from about 6.5438+0.8 million years ago were excavated from the Ape Cave in Zhoukoudian, Beijing. Tubular spicules were also unearthed at Hemudu Neolithic site in Yuyao, Zhejiang. It can be inferred that these spicules were used to sew original clothes at that time.

The first clothes worn by the ancestors of China people were aprons made of leaves or skins. Later, the costumes of each dynasty had their own characteristics, which were closely related to the production level of agriculture, animal husbandry and textile industry at that time. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, men and women wore "deep jackets" with ordinary tops and low skirts. Hemp, hemp and kudzu fabrics are the staple materials of working people. Rulers and nobles widely use silk fabrics. In some areas, wool, feathers and kapok fibers are also used for textile. The spinning performance, weaving and printing and dyeing technology of silk and hemp fibers were developed in Han Dynasty. Dyed fabrics include yarn, silk, brocade, cloth and silk, and clothing materials are greatly rich. Unearthed plain yarn Zen garments of the Western Han Dynasty weighed only 49 grams, so it can be seen that they could be made into thin and transparent gowns with mulberry silk at that time. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the rulers also made strict grading regulations on clothing, making clothing a symbol of power. Linen is widely used in daily clothes, and silk is generally used in skirts. With the increase of communication between China and foreign countries, clothing styles also influence each other. For example, the costumes of Tuanhua were influenced by Persia; Monks wear Indian-style clothes. Today, Japanese kimono still retains the dress style of China in the Tang Dynasty. From the Tang and Song Dynasties to the Ming Dynasty, clothes were mostly big sleeves with coats off, and coats were mostly robes. Manchu costumes such as mandarin jackets and cheongsam prevailed in Qing dynasty, and manual workers wore jackets and trousers.

The basic shape of clothes in Shang and Zhou dynasties was up and down. "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" says: "Dress up and serve down." The petticoat you are wearing is actually a skirt, not trousers. There is a common record in bronze inscriptions that the Emperor of Zhou rewarded his lieutenants with "red gifts". "Tai Chi" is a piece of red cloth, tied around the waist and hung in front of the abdomen. It is a symbol of noble clothing and status, also known as Wei? Later known as the knee. The custom of the Chinese nation is to tie hair. Do you want to use buns? I got a tan? Fat, harmonious and cool? Rock beak invades Shim ⅲ?

In the pre-Qin period, the dress characteristics of the Chinese nation were tops with skirts and tops with belts off. On the right side of the clothes are narrow sleeves, which are up and down to the knees. The collar, sleeves, lapels and ruffles are all decorated with lace, and there are no buttons to tie the waist. The dress of the Hu people is a short coat with narrow sleeves and left trousers and leather boots. King Wuling of Zhao introduced Hu clothes into the Central Plains, which had a positive impact on the changes of Chinese costumes in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a new type of clothing called deep clothes appeared. "Book of Rites Deep Clothes" Kong Ying Da just said: "Deep clothes are connected with clothes, and the quilt is deep, so it is called deep clothes." People in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties wore deep clothes, regardless of rank, gender, civil and military. Nobles take crowns as dresses, deep clothes as uniforms, civilians take deep clothes as auspicious clothes and short brown as uniforms. Thick clothes with frills should be accompanied by a belt. The gentry belt made of silk by nobles has become popular, so it is called gentleman or gentry belt. The two ends of the belt are connected by hooks and rings, which is called hook belt or hanging belt. The belt can be hung or worn with swords, bows and arrows, seals, wallets and other items.

There was no cotton in the pre-Qin period, and the so-called "cloth" refers to clothes cut with linen. Fine linen in summer is called kudzu vine, and in winter there are robes and fur. A robe is a coat worn inside, which is filled with silk hair and called a quilt, and filled with old hair and called a robe. The poor can't afford to fill silk floss, so they can only fill some rags called robes. Because nightgowns are underwear, they can only be worn at home, not as clothes. When you go out, you can only wear it in a formal suit. The short robe was called Yan, and later it was called coat. Rough texture is called brown. Qiu is a kind of fur clothing, and it is also the main winter clothing in the pre-Qin period.

The costumes in the Qin and Han dynasties were richer than those in the pre-Qin period. The Book of Rites says, "Clothes are not silk." Is this because of peace? It's all underwear Confucianism advocates frugality and believes that silk should not be used to cut underwear. In the Six Dynasties, those aristocratic men actually made trousers out of white silk, so they were called "dude". Ancient trousers usually had no crotch, only two leg tubes, and the upper ends of the two leg tubes were connected together and tied at the waist with a belt, so they were called Kun. "Shi Ming" said: Cross also. These two strands cross each other. "Kun is underwear and can't be exposed. You must wear a skirt or thick clothes outside. Civilians wear short clothes at work, but they have to wear a bag of crotch cloth inside, just like the clothes of Japanese sumo wrestlers. In the early song dynasty, you can still see this way of wearing. Pants with crotch are called crotch. Short as a cow's nose, commonly known as calf's nose pants. Sima Xiangru returned to Chengdu with Zhuo Wenjun, wearing oxnose pants as a washing machine, humiliating Zhuo Wangsun.

A man's coat is also called a robe. The robe is called Mei, and the sleeves are loose. The cuffs are tight. The robe is lined. This is a jacket. Single coat is called. Robes and? There are two kinds of skirts: curved and straight, and curved is deep clothes. It is inconvenient to wrap the body when wearing deep clothes, and it is slowly replaced by straight clothes. Women wear one-piece deep clothes or slit skirts, and there is little difference between the styles of women's clothes and men's clothes in Han Dynasty.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, clothing changed twice. First, the pattern of China costumes was broken, and second, Hu costumes were absorbed and integrated into Han costumes.

Men's clothes replaced robes with shirts. "Interpretation of the Name" said: "Does the shirt have sleeveless ends?" So shirts don't have sleeves? Therefore, the shirt sleeve is wider than the robe sleeve, which is as big as "one sleeve is big and the foot is broken in two;" The length of a skirt can be divided into two, which makes you more chic when you start cutting. "In the Qin and Han dynasties, blue and purple were the most important colors, and civilians could only wear white clothes. However, the Six Dynasties were uncharacteristically dressed in white. Due to the impact on the exclusive position of Confucian classics, the Confucian crown service system has also been shaken. Not only did the style and color of clothes break through the rules of the Han Dynasty, but also the way of dressing was often unconventional, such as wearing strange clothes, revealing breasts, wearing robes and trousers, or wearing strange clothes, which broke through the old etiquette.

Women's wear also advocates compliments, and some lengthen skirts and cut them into triangles. What is this called? ; Some put a silk between the shoulders and arms, and the big sleeves fly away? Very elegant.

Hu people's trousers and boots have been widely accepted by Han people. Khufu's trousers are trousers worn as a coat, with loose legs and straps at the knees, which are called tied trousers. Pleats are knee-tight shorts that go with pants. Trousers pleats and leather boots are suitable for riding and shooting.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, after a long period of national integration, coupled with economic prosperity and social opening, costumes became increasingly rich and gorgeous. Before Kaiyuan, narrow sleeves were popular in women's clothing, especially Hu clothing. In the early Tang Dynasty, women liked to wear Hu Mao, lapel and narrow sleeve robes, striped trousers, soft boots and lace. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, clothes tended to be wider. By the Tang Dynasty, society was more open. Women often wear men's clothes, and low-necked clothes with bare breasts are very popular. They like to wear a double-breasted short-sleeved dress over their shirts, which is called half-arm or half-sleeve, and add a silk on their shoulders. There are many styles and rich colors of skirts in the Tang Dynasty, especially red skirts like pomegranate flowers, which poets call pomegranate skirts. Men's shirts are mainly round neck and narrow sleeves, and boots have become common shoes for ordinary people.

In the Song Dynasty, the single coat was called a shirt, and the cuffs of the shirt were not removed. There are short shirts for underwear and adult shirts for coats. It is a common clothing for men to add a horizontal reed shirt to the hem. Jackets and cotton-padded clothes are called Yanhe clothes, which are the common clothes of civilians. It was also popular in the Song Dynasty to put a wide coat over clothes. The diagonal collar is called straight, and the straight collar is called crane. Women's outerwear is dominated by upper clothes and skirts, while tops tend to be short and narrow, and pleated skirts are popular under skirts. Underwear has a tube top and abdomen, and pants are not exposed. Only people with inferiority will wear pants alone. The popular "half-arm" in the Tang Dynasty is a short-sleeved coat, and the popular coat in the Song Dynasty is called a backpack. There are long and short sleeves, long sleeves and short sleeves, which are characterized by splitting on both sides and extending to the armpit.

The Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties were founded by ethnic minorities, and the costumes of Khitan, Nuzhen and Mongols all had distinct national characteristics. In the clothing of the Khitan people, men and women wear robes with a left collar and narrow sleeves, under which is a shirt and jacket, under which are trousers, and the trouser legs are stuffed in boots. Women wear skirts and boots in robes. The costumes of the Jurchen nationality are similar to those of the Qidan nationality. Because of the cold climate in the north, clothes are mainly fur. In the Yuan Dynasty, the Han people still kept their original costumes. Mongolian men mainly wear narrow-sleeved robes and trousers, but due to the influence of Han people, they mostly change to right-handed robes, while women still wear left-handed robes.

The robes of officials in the Ming Dynasty were shirts with round collars, tied with belts and inlaid with jade pieces. This is the so-called jade belt The colors and patterns of officials' clothes vary according to different grades. Weave a square pattern on the chest and back, called a patch. Civil servants' patchwork embroidered birds and officers' patchwork embroidered beasts have different patterns according to different grades. Confucian scholars all wear blue straight body, black edge, soft towel and black curtain, also known as Confucian scholar towel. Zaoli is wearing a blue cloth. Although wealthy businessmen in the market can wear silk and satin, they can only use blue or black. After Wanli, the ban was relaxed, and gorgeous clothes spread all over Li Shu.

The official clothes of famous prostitutes in the royal family are crowned, with long sleeves. The usual dresses are jackets and skirts, and pants are rarely worn. The back is wider. Dresses can be made on the back of big sleeves, and small sleeve's straight collar is casual. There is also a collarless sleeveless vest, knee-length, called Gaby, which is very popular among young women.

After the Manchu entered the customs to establish the Qing Dynasty, the Han people were forced to accept Manchu costumes. Men's wear includes robes, shirts, jackets and trousers. In the Qing dynasty, robes were divided into four slits, imperial clan opened four slits, officials and scholars opened two slits, and the general public did not open slits. There are arrow sleeves on the cuffs of robes, which are generally turned up and put down when saluting. Because they are shaped like horseshoes, they are also called horseshoe sleeves. There is also a patch sewn between the front and back of the robe, which is called a patch. Buzi also followed the Wen, birds and beasts of the Ming Dynasty, but the pattern was different from that of the Ming Dynasty, and because the cloth of the Qing Dynasty was double-breasted, the piece on the chest was divided into two halves. There is a short jacket, which is less than the waist, and the sleeves only cover the elbows. It is called a walking jacket, also known as a mandarin jacket. Yellow is the most expensive mandarin jacket, and you can't wear it unless the emperor gives you permission. There is also a kind of vest, which is called vest or vest in the north. This is a sleeveless coat that can be worn by both men and women. Men seldom wear trousers and skirts.

In the early Qing dynasty, it was stipulated that "men should not obey women", so women's clothing had two styles: Manchu and Chinese. The headdresses of Han women include hairpin, hairpin, crown and lace. And Manchu women's "big wings" are the most distinctive. Manchu women's clothes are similar to those of men, and they also wear robes and mandarin jackets, but they are generally tight and narrow, not as wide as those of Han women. In the early Qing Dynasty, Han women still wore bright clothes, mainly skirts. Later, Manchu and Han costumes gradually merged, and the clothes became shorter and shorter, and a knee-length vest was put on the outside. Women's wear pays special attention to decorating the skirt with lace, so the more lace rolls, the more wide skirts are formed. Pants were popular in the late Qing Dynasty, and skirts became scarce.