Xue Baochai's Clothing Evaluation

Xue Baochai was the most plump and conservative woman in China feudal society. Ye Licheng, a famous scholar of costume culture in Taiwan Province Province, once described the image modeling of women in China as follows: "When modeling, the ancient women in China first demanded beautiful appearance, charming and radiant. Secondly, pay attention to the proper posture, don't make exaggerated movements, and show subtle and elegant beauty. Finally, it requires the beauty of temperament and attaches importance to charm and cultivation, so that it will not be tacky. " [1] This description of China's female image is also in line with Xue Baochai's image. Because she is a follower of Confucianism, her life philosophy and dress are also influenced by these thoughts. Among them, the ideas of "learning from nature", "moderation and thrift" and "harmony between man and nature" have been clearly and fully reflected in her clothing. Her dress is the concentrated expression of China's traditional aesthetic and philosophical culture in life. From her costumes, we can understand her personality, aesthetic psychology, and the essence of China traditional costume culture and art, so as to understand the aesthetic tendency of the whole society at that time. 1 Xue Baochai, the "imitation of nature" in costumes, is a representative figure of typical natural beauty. "Don't feel luxurious but feel elegant" [2] is the most appropriate portrayal of her external image. In dress, I also follow the principle of natural beauty. First of all, in terms of dress color, she mostly chose the original ecological colors in nature, such as honey-colored cotton-padded jacket, rose-purple vest and onion-yellow cotton skirt, all of which are natural plant colors. Secondly, in the material of clothing, natural fibers such as animal hair, such as cranes, cotton skirts and silk, are also selected, which can be said to be taken from nature and used in nature. Finally, in terms of clothing collocation, she also follows the principle of simplicity and strives to maintain simple and original natural beauty. In Ming and Qing dynasties, women's costumes were mainly beautiful, so women's makeup at that time was not as prosperous and complicated as women in other periods, and everything was simple, mainly to highlight their own image temperament. I saw Xue Baochai sitting on the kang sewing, and her hair was black and shiny. ",... Her face is like a silver basin and her eyes are like water apricots; Lips are not touched but contain Dan, eyebrows are not painted but bruised ... "Through Baoyu's eyes, we can see that Baochai is a well-dressed person, without too much decoration, deliberately dressing up and changing natural beauty, and everything is mainly to reflect her original appearance and temperament. Author Cao Xueqin used some beautiful things in nature, such as water apricot, to describe her appearance and reflect her natural beauty. Lips are naturally red without Dany, and eyebrows are naturally black without modification. Other women decorate themselves with makeup and accessories. Xue Baochai just doesn't like these things added the day after tomorrow. She was born with beauty, and her natural beauty deeply attracted everyone. 2. The idea of "moderation and thrift" in costumes, The Book of Rites? 6? 1 "The Doctrine of the Mean" records: "The golden mean is the foundation of the world. He who is in harmony is also in the world. Neutral, the status of Heaven is awkward, and everything breeds. " [3] "Zi Cheng Zi" said, "Impartiality is right; It is not easy to call it mediocrity. The winner is king, and the world is right. Mediocrity is the theorem of this world. " The doctrine of the mean is thought, and frugality is behavior. Thought is embodied by behavior, and thought guides behavior. The two are interrelated. On the seventh occasion, Aunt Xue sent palace flowers to her sisters and said, "Baoyu is strange. He has never liked these flowers. " With the fifty-seventh session of "Huizijuan's love story tries to be busy with jade, and the kind love story comforts the delusion", Baochai once advised Xing Xiuyan not to wear these useless jewelry, and the dress should be as simple as possible. From Baochai's preference for clothes, we find that the traditional thought of "moderation and frugality" is affecting her behavior. Mozi? 6? In the 1 lost article, it is pointed out: "It is true that the evil lies in luxury. Long useless, good at the end of prostitution, not the urgent need of saints. Therefore, food must always be full, and then art is beautiful; Clothes must always keep warm before they look good; Live in peace and be happy. Do it for a long time, do it for a long time, quality first, and then the work of a saint. " [4] Mozi believes that food can fill the stomach, clothes can warm the body, and houses can block thunderstorms and avoid cold and heat, that is, these items can have practical functions and practical effects, and can meet people's living needs. People should also be satisfied with this level, there is no need to pursue artistry, and there is no need to show their identity. However, Baochai is also influenced by this concept, and she is simple and generous in dressing, and does not require to wear flowers and jade ornaments to show her status as a rich woman. From some details, such as Baochai doesn't like flowers, her clothes are low-key, and Grandmother Jia's evaluation of her indoor facilities is like a "snow cave", we can see that although she is a lady of a noble family, she is not a spendthrift. Her shrewdness and frugality can be seen everywhere in her clothes. Thirty-two times, due to Jin Chuaner's suicide, Mrs. Wang was about to tell the tailor to make her new clothes. Baochai took out two sets of clothes that she made after knowing this, but she wore clothes that were half new and not old all the year round. Clothing culture and the idea of "harmony between man and nature", that is, the idea of "harmony between man and nature", show that as an organic whole, man is a part of nature and nature is humanized nature. In the eyes of ancient China people, the "heaven" with the unity of man and nature has objective significance as a real person. In the eyes of the ancients, the world is composed of the divine power of "heaven", and the costumes of the world represent and symbolize the divine power of "heaven". The "Heaven" and "Man" endowed by saints and ancestors are inseparable from beginning to end, and "Man" is included in "Heaven". Zhuangzi? 6? There is also a discussion in "of things 1 homology": "Heaven and earth coexist with me, and everything is one with me." [5] The Book of Changes regards the "three talents" of heaven, earth and human beings as a whole, thus achieving the realm of "harmony with heaven and earth, harmony with the sun and the moon" and "harmony between man and nature". The elegant style of Baochai's clothing is related to her personal character, preferences, traditional education and family environment. The principle of "TPO" in dress (that is, the dress of the character should match the time of the occasion attended) can be fully reflected in her. First of all, she is a low-key and peaceful person, and her unassuming personality determines that her dress is simple and elegant. For example, Cao Xueqin, the author, asked her to appear in the external image of "honey cotton-padded jacket, green and yellow silk cotton skirt" from the beginning. Honey color and onion Huang Dou are light colors, which give people a warm feeling, because both colors contain yellow ingredients. The soft and comfortable feeling of cotton fabric is very similar to her gentle and steady image. Secondly, her simple and generous dress behavior is very consistent with her environment. As the Xue family has declined, as a relative living in Jiafu, she feels dependent on others. She needs not only the love of the upper class of Jia family, but also the love of the lower class. Therefore, she often wears some semi-new clothes that are not old, so as to gain the appreciation of her frugality from the upper class, narrow the distance with the lower class and increase her affinity. Finally, her dress behavior was very integrated with the concept of oppression and bondage of women's status dress in society at that time. Therefore, Baochai's clothing has always taken a moderate and peaceful route, which is not prominent and unassuming. 4 Summary "Clothing is the first business card given to the society." [6] From a person's clothes, we can understand his heart, and from the clothes of an era, we can understand the culture of that era. By analyzing Baochai's clothing behavior and combining with China's traditional aesthetic philosophy, we can find the embodiment of Confucian ideas such as "learning from nature", "moderation and thrift" and "harmony between man and nature" in clothing. From natural beauty to dress beauty, and finally to artistic conception beauty, it is exactly what this article advocates. By affirming Baochai's self-cultivation behavior of inner temperament while decorating her appearance, she advocates that modern people should inherit this aesthetic view and improve their aesthetic taste and self-cultivation. There is not much description of Baochai's costume in A Dream of Red Mansions, starting from the seventh time Zhou Rui's family sent palace flowers. But this time, I didn't write about Baochai's dress, only that she was "wearing household clothes and her hair just hung loosely." The eighth time Baoyu visited the doctor, "I saw a soft curtain hanging from a semi-old HongLing." Baoyu lifted the curtain and went in. Baochai was sitting on the kang sewing. Through Baoyu's eyes, we can see that Baochai doesn't have much decoration, and everything mainly reflects her original appearance and temperament. Then, the author gave a detailed description of Baochai's dress: "It doesn't look luxurious to wear a honey-colored cotton-padded jacket, a rose-purple gold and silver mouse jacket and a green and yellow cotton skirt."

Let's look at this "code" first. In the past, women used to wear a bun on formal occasions. It is a wig made of gold thread, silver thread or ponytail and yarn, with some pearls and hairpins inserted on it. Usually at home, my hair is loosely tied into a yard. Baochai's code may be "Hangzhou code", which originated in Hangzhou and later spread from north to south, with no specific style. Today, young girls and young women with long hair like to hang their hair loosely on their heads after washing their hair, which is the legacy of this coding.

Then the book mentioned the honey-colored cotton-padded jacket, which is an ancient dyeing, which is light yellow like honey. According to the record of Yangzhou boat, "yellowish white is honey", so this color should be white with a slight yellow taste now.

"Rose purple two-color gold and silver mouse shoulder jacket", rose purple refers to the background color of the material, which is the color of purple roses. The shoulder coat is made of leather, with a face and a lining, which is a bit like the current cropped sleeves. Baochai's epaulettes are made of purple satin, and the patterns on them are woven with gold and silver thread. In terms of color, roses and purple are harmonious colors. In contrast with Huang Dou, onion yellow is extremely light yellow, so the stimulating effect is reduced, and it is lined with deep honey color, which not only loses the youthful atmosphere of girls, but also has a dignified state.

The full name of "Two-color Gold" is "Two-color Kujin". All the patterns are woven with gold and silver thread, mainly gold thread, and a few are decorated with silver thread. "Dichroic gold" refers to the pattern made of woven gold. Weaving gold is an ancient textile technology in China, which can be divided into "twining gold" and "twisting gold". Twisting gold is to cut gold foil into thin strands and weave it into satin, while twisting gold is to twist gold strands into threads and then weave them into satin.

Silver rat is a kind of rare skin rat, which is produced in the northeast mountain forest. Its fur can keep out the cold. A raglan jacket is a kind of semi-sleeved jacket similar to a vest, commonly known as "suspenders". Fan Meijun pointed out in the book "The Origin of Vulgarity", "In order to pursue the beauty of clothing, the Qing people never treat certain accessories lightly. For example,' half arm', commonly known as' suspenders', is also used to narrow wide people and narrow people. "It can objectively modify a person's body shape more than shoulder armor. The green of onion is yellow-green, and twill is a patterned silk fabric. Baochai's shoulder coat is lined with silver rat skin, and fur is exposed at the neckline, cuffs and hem, which is called "wind hair"

Why do you say "one color and a half new and not old, as if it doesn't feel luxurious"? Think of Daiyu's arrival at the mansion. When I first arrived at Mrs. Wang's place, Mrs. Wang's indoor kang was "equipped with a semi-old satin pillow" and the underground chair was "equipped with a semi-old ink chair", all of which were semi-old, but it was from these semi-old things that a luxurious atmosphere emerged. This is the real old family, very different from the nouveau riche. Baochai's clothing embodies a kind of unobtrusive wealth. The author uses clothes to show Baochai's charm. She was born in the frontier of renewal, but she has no worldly wealth.

On close reading, it can be found that the dress color designed by Cao Xueqin for Baochai's debut is "Yang Fei color", Baochai's cotton-padded jacket is light yellow, and both cotton-padded jacket and cotton-padded jacket skirt are yellow tones. Baochai used the word "Yang Fei hits butterflies" when flapping butterflies, and Yang Fei's favorite in his life is the yellow skirt.

Baochai's clothes are mainly warm colors: honey color (light yellow and white), silver mouse color (pure white) and onion yellow (light yellow). Yellow is a color that can give people a warm feeling, which is in line with Baochai's gentle and easy-going personality. In a series of warm colors, she is in harmony with a little cold rose purple.

And the forty-ninth time, "White Snow and Red Plum in the Glass World, Pink Baby Cuts Spices": "Daiyu put on lambskin boots that pinch gold and dig clouds and red incense, a white fox put on red feather gauze, tied a sash with green, gold and green double rings in one, and put on a snow hat on her head. They walked through the snow together. I saw the sisters over there, all scarlet orangutan blankets and feather satin cloaks. Only Li Wan is wearing a blue double-breasted jacket, and Xue Baochai is wearing a crane suit with lotus flowers and green fighting patterns, which is the icing on the cake. Xing Xiuyan is still a homely old clothes, and there is no cover in the snow. Shi Xiangyun came for a while, wearing a mink coat with big hair, a black squirrel with a fever inside and outside, a golden red gorilla felt with a yellow piece of digging clouds on his head, and a big mink wind collar. "

This passage has a strong sense of color. "Red sheep boots" and "flamingo" were leather goods in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Red sheepskin boots are lambskin boots painted red, and large areas of red sleeves show white fox burrs, and white fox hair naturally has a little silver luster. Plus "green, gold, flashing green, four in one", red with green, gold and flashing green, made of gold thread.

The sisters are all wearing red orangutan blankets, and Li Wan is the only one who "wears a blue double-breasted coat". Blue is a cool color, which is in line with her young and widowed life situation and attitude.

Baochai is "wearing a lotus blue pattern with icing on the cake", and her clothes are lotus blue, a kind of deep blue purple, which is a typical cool color. Physiologically speaking, cool colors generally make people feel distant, which is consistent with her calm and calm personality and seems to be different forever.

Baochai's dress style is "crane coffin", which is a kind of gown. The earliest coffins were made of crane feathers, called crane coffins. Records about it first appeared in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. "The Book of Jin Xie Wan Biography" says: "The crane wears a white silk scarf and hangs hair." Lu You also wrote a poem: "Go to the thatched cottage in the evening and get a crane with black scarf in Qiu Guang". According to Xu Hao's "Shuo Wen Jie Zi", it is said: "He who wears stork hair is a crane, and his name is beautiful." Liu ruoyu's water collection "Yi Yi" in "History of the Forbidden City in the Ming Dynasty" says: "Like robe sleeves, they have not been well made in recent years. The old system didn't sew sleeves, so it was named "Ye Yi". Color, plain and informal. "

Crane is a kind of wool fabric made of bird hair. It looks like a robe without sleeves and wears a big coat outside, just like modern people only wear a jacket inside and a big down jacket outside. Crane mast and feather satin yarn are satin waterproof fabrics woven from silk threads twisted by bird feathers, which just play a role in sheltering from wind and rain in rainy and snowy weather. Wang Shizhen's Notes on Xiangzu in Qing Dynasty: Feather yarn and feather satin went abroad to Siam, Holland and other countries. Only one or two of them paid tribute in the early years of Kangxi, and now there are many in Fujian and Guangxi. Gecko birds are woven into wool. In the third volume of Yellow Man, it is said that there are feather satin and feather yarn in the west, which are woven with bird feathers, and each horse is sixty or seventy gold, so it doesn't get wet when it rains. Holland salutes one or two horses. To sum up, the main source of this rain and snow coat is overseas trade, which is precious. Jia Fu's wife is either orangutan felt or feather satin, and her wealth is so great. Crane is the top grade in feather clothing, and it is an auspicious bird in China culture, so people who wear cranes are often regarded as the type of sage like type.

The material of Baochai's clothes is "foreign silk", which is a blended fabric of silk and wool. From the word "foreign", such as Daiyu's feather satin, Li Wan's Duo Luo's crepe, and Xifeng's crepe are all imported products, which are precious materials that can show the status of people at that time.

Baochai's clothes are plain and clean in Leng Yan, but the material is unambiguous. Under the seemingly simple appearance, there is another kind of extravagance that ordinary people are not as good as. The pattern of clothes is "barrel pattern icing on the cake", and barrel pattern refers to "cross barrel pattern" The icing on the cake is a cosmetic process in silk weaving, which refers to digging patterns on the fabric with a small shuttle on the basis of color weft jacquard. The makeup techniques in Qing Dynasty were very advanced, including the famous patterns such as "Huang Jinguo" and "Hibiscus Makeup". The pattern of Baochai's dress is a bucket pattern woven by makeup, not a flower pattern, but a relatively elegant pattern.

Generally speaking, this dress of Baochai is actually a woolen coat with a blue and purple square hat pattern. Because it is cold in winter, most people look pale. Ladies, led by Daiyu, wear red coats to set off their red skin color in winter. Only Baochai wears a lotus crane. The "Qin" presented by Jia Mu is made of the hair on the head of a wild duck, which is green and slightly halo. As we all know, people whose skin is not white enough can't wear green, otherwise it will easily produce the effect of coke on their faces and ginger on their hands. Similarly, people whose skin is not white enough should not wear dark clothes, because it will look old-fashioned. Baochai's clothing style is simple and elegant, which is a moderate and peaceful style, not prominent and unobtrusive.

According to statistics, the colors of costumes in A Dream of Red Mansions are amazing. Yellow includes onion yellow, golden yellow, goose yellow, willow yellow and almost orange-yellow honey color. Green categories are green, water green, willow green, bean green, jade, Song Hualv and Chou-heung; There are more than ten kinds of red, including apricot red, silver red, peach red, apricot red, pink, begonia red, pomegranate red, jasper red, crimson red, bonus red, rose red, scarlet and blood red like wine red; In addition, there are azurite, lotus green, coupling, rose purple, litchi, eggplant color and so on.

Baochai usually wears plain clothes, such as white, ink (light yellow) and onion yellow. In terms of dress color, she chooses the original ecological colors in nature, such as honey-colored cotton-padded jacket, rose-purple vest and onion-yellow cotton skirt, all of which are natural plant colors, and also chooses natural fibers such as moving hair, such as cranes and cotton skirts. In clothing collocation, she also follows the principle of simplicity and strives to maintain simple and original natural beauty. In Ming and Qing dynasties, women's costumes were mainly beautiful, so women's makeup at that time was not as prosperous and complicated as women in other periods, and everything was simple, mainly to highlight their own image temperament. )

Generally speaking, the costume of the Red Chamber clearly embodies some characteristics of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with experts watching the doorway and laymen watching the excitement, hehe.