Classification of Hakka costumes

Main terms: Hakka cool hat and Hakka cool shirt

There are many kinds of Hakka costumes. Let's talk about clothes first. Hakka people call clothes "shirts and pants". "Shirt" refers to the top coat, while pants refer to the bottom coat. "Wearing a coat and trousers" is the most common dress of Hakkas.

Large-breasted shirts are the most commonly worn tops by Hakka men, women and children. Its clothing structure is characterized by straight collar, oblique lapel, cloth button, wide sleeves and no pockets. According to the length of clothing, Hakka big-breasted shirts can be divided into three categories: long shirts, medium-long shirts and short shirts. Robes, also known as robes, are named after their ankles, and are mostly worn by elderly men in cold weather. Short cardigans are similar to ordinary blouses. In order to facilitate the work, a small cardigan was opened at the bottom. The length of a medium-long large-breasted shirt is between a long shirt and a short shirt, generally as long as the legs. It is often worn in leisure, such as holidays, visiting relatives and holding weddings. Generally speaking, young women's blouses are more decorative and beautiful, while middle-aged and elderly women's blouses are simple and solemn.

Besides sweaters, Hakkas also wear sweaters. Duijian shirt is similar to Tang suit, with an opening in the middle of the front, which divides the front into two opposite sides, so it is called "Duijian". The difference between a double-breasted shirt and a big-breasted shirt is that the big-breasted shirt inclines downward from the lower jaw to the armpit, and the front part is a big-faced shirt, while the double-breasted shirt separates the front part in the middle and divides it into two parts. Double-breasted shirts are mostly short dresses, which are worn by Hakka men at work, and women are mostly used as pajamas or underwear. Whether it is a large-breasted shirt or a double-breasted shirt, it is divided into summer clothes and winter clothes. In order to be cool and breathable, summer clothes are all single clothes; Winter clothes, in order to keep out the cold, use double-layered shirts, and some have cotton wool in the middle, making them cotton-padded jackets.

Related to the coat is the apron. The apron skirt of Hakka is usually made of a single piece of dirt-resistant cloth, which is worn by Hakka women at work. Strictly speaking, apron is not a coat, so it can't be used alone. Always wear it on the surface of a large-breasted shirt to prevent clothes from getting dirty at work.

Crotch pants are the most common clothes of Hakkas, which can be seen in almost every occasion. Hakka's crotch pants are characterized by loose waist and legs, straight leg tailoring, ventilation and ventilation, and easy to get up and down. This design is to meet the needs of Hakkas' field work. If it is tight, it is not suitable for bending over and walking at work.

There is also a kind of trousers called "water trousers", which are casual trousers worn by Hakkas in summer. This kind of trousers is made of thin soft cloth, which can reach the knees of the elderly and cover only the hips. It's almost the same as boxers now, but it's much looser.

There are many kinds of hats worn by Hakkas in Qing Dynasty: workers wear Liang hats (commonly known as monk hats), rich people and scholars wear flat satin hats, ordinary citizens wear pointed melon hats, old people wear hoods and cotton hats, and famous people wear "tops" and "tassels". During the Republic of China, felt hats, military hats and workers' hats appeared. Women wear headscarves and cool hats when they go out to work, while men wear bamboo hats. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, pentagonal hats and workers' hats prevailed. After the 1970s, the number of people wearing hats gradually decreased, and some people wore Albert Venn Dicey hats, velvet hats and straw hats. In the 1980s, young men and women began to wear sun hats. However, wearing a cool hat, a big blouse, carrying a child, holding a plow and harrow, and being barefoot in the field are the traditional images of Hakka women. The custom of Hakka women wearing cool hats began in the late Song Dynasty. At that time, Hakka ancestors moved south from the Central Plains. In order to survive, women also cultivated and worked like men. But it is indecent for a woman to go out of the boudoir and make public appearances, so she puts on a bamboo hat and covers her face with a black cloth with two small holes. Later, in practical use, I found it inconvenient, so I cut the cloth short and sewed it around the brim to become a cool hat that is both practical and beautiful. Later, even the curtains were removed, and only bamboo hats were worn.

Hakka women's clothing has been circulating for more than 1000 years, which originated in the Central Plains and later spread to Guangdong, Jiangxi, Hunan and other places. Huizhou is located on the bank of Dongjiang River, and a considerable part of this area is Hakkas from the Central Plains, and the most representative ones are the clothes, cool hats and clogs of Hakka women, which are still preserved in some rural areas.