What is the origin of cheongsam

The origin of the cheongsam:

The cheongsam is a kind of women's clothing rich in national flavor, evolved from the Manchu women's robes. Because the Manchu called "flag people", so it will be called "cheongsam". In the Qing Dynasty, women's clothing can be said to be Manchu and Han coexisted. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Manchu women to robes, and Han Chinese women are still on the dress under the skirt for the fashion; the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu and Han have imitated; to the late Qing Dynasty, the Manchu imitation of the Han's style, and even appeared "half of the flag dress to change the Han's clothes, the palace robes cut off as a short garment," the situation, and the Han Chinese imitation of Manchu dress style, but also at this time in a number of dignitaries The Han Chinese imitation of Manchu dress, also at this time in some of the dignitaries popularized.

To the 1920s, by the influence of Western dress, after the improvement of the cheongsam gradually popularized in the majority of women. This cheongsam is the Han Chinese women in the absorption of Western clothing styles, through continuous improvement, before entering thousands of households. There are many styles of cheongsams, such as Ruyi placket, Pipa placket, oblique placket and double placket; high collar, low collar and collarless collar; long sleeve, short sleeve and sleeveless sleeve; high slit and low slit; and long cheongsam, short cheongsam, clip cheongsam and single cheongsam, etc. The improved cheongsam was popularized in the 20th century. The modified cheongsam became almost a standard garment for Chinese women in the 1930s.

Popular in ethnic minority areas or nomadic robes, generally more tightly fitted, in order to facilitate the riding and shooting or other intense activities, this style of clothing more than the use of left-overlapping, narrow-sleeved, the robe is more modest. Historically, the Han people have also adopted this narrow fit robe style, Zhao Wuling Wang implemented by the Hu riding is a typical example. The Tang Dynasty Hu clothing was also popular for a while, Hu clothing in the Tang Kaiyuan, Tianbao years and Hu makeup, Hu ride, Hu music with the people tend to worship, can be counted as an exotic culture of a large area of popularity example, belonging to the street of Chang'an that year's "imported goods". In the Liao, Jin, Yuan and the Qing Dynasty and other minority regimes, fitted robes have once played a leading role in the dress, although they are experiencing or show the process or trend of becoming broad. Since the Qing Dynasty was the longest and more stable, the robe can be regarded as a typical costume.

In the first year of the Shunzhi era (1644 AD), Emperor Shizu of the Qing Dynasty led his troops to enter the country, set the capital at Beijing, and then unified the whole country. With the initial stabilization of the regime, began to enforce the implementation of clothing reform, set off a powerful wave of pheasants hair and easy to dress, the strictness of the law of life, there is a "head, not hair, hair, not head" said. So far, the traditional crown and clothes were almost completely prohibited to wear, and the clothing system of the thousands of years of tradition has only been retained in the Han women's home dress. Celebration occasions regardless of men and women have to wear robes, all kinds of robes and costumes have a variety of names, there is a robe, dragon robe, python robe and regular dress robe and so on. From the meaning of the word solution, cheongsam refers to cheongsam (both men and women) robes, but only the eight banners of women wear daily robes with the later cheongsam has a blood relationship, used as a dress robe, python robes, etc. Customarily they are not categorized as "cheongsam" category. Qing rulers emphasized Manchu riding, trying to maintain its inherent customs and ways of life, on the one hand, to assimilate the Han Chinese with Manchu clothing, while Manchu and Mongolian women are strictly prohibited to imitate the Han attire, from the top of the rule, the Jiaqing years repeatedly issued a ban on Manchu women are prohibited to imitate the Han Chinese women's attire of the prevailing wind, it can be seen. To the late Qing Dynasty, there are also Han women imitate Manchu attire. Manchu-Chinese women's clothing styles quietly intermingled, so that the difference between the two sides of the dress is decreasing, and then became the prelude to the popularity of the cheongsam across the country.

Late in the Qing Dynasty, the long robe worn by the flag woman, the body is wide, the modeling line is straight and tough, the length of the garment to the ankle. "Yuanbao collar" is very common, the collar high cover the cheeks touched the ear, robe body more embroidered with various colors and patterns, collar, sleeves, lapel, according to have multiple wide piping. To Xianfeng, Tongzhi years, rolled to the peak of the period, and some even the whole piece of clothing with lace rolled, so that it is almost difficult to recognize the original material. Banner women's gowns and clothes of the decoration of the tedious, a few to the peak of the situation. At this time the Qing dynasty is faltering unsustainable, the Qing court internal and external difficulties, the national power is declining. Imperialist ships and cannons broke through the closed door of the Qing Dynasty. In order to save the country, the foreign affairs faction of the Qing court put forward the strategy of "secondary school as the body, western learning as the use", sent a large number of foreign students to study abroad, and the army also changed to the new army. In the Chinese students and soldiers were the first to appear in the Western-style students, drill clothes, drill caps and Western-style uniforms, hats. The importation of foreign clothes provided another reference system for judging beauty, which directly affected the change of the social concept of dress. In the future, cheongsam evolved into a new style that integrates the East and the West, and the change of its influence by the West can be said to be the beginning of this.

The 1911 Xinhai Revolution, which overthrew the last feudal dynasty in China's history, cleared the political obstacles to the popularization of Western-style clothing in China, and at the same time threw aside the traditionally harsh concepts of etiquette and decency, and lifted all the shackles of the rigid hierarchy of the clothing system. The free change of clothing to civilianization and internationalization has come to fruition, and the cheongsam has thus removed the heavy burden of tradition. Due to the demise of the Manchu ruling regime, the cheongsam at this time very few wearers. Western-style Chinese dress up bustling and everywhere. The old-style cheongsam robes were abandoned, the new cheongsam began to brew in the chaotic makeup.

This time the center of fashion has long been moved to Shanghai by the Su, Yang. The opening of the commercial port of Shanghai, China and the foreign side, five parties living together, become a place of extravagance and prosperity in Shanghai. Shanghai is also the town of women seeking liberation. Missionaries, merchants, revolutionaries competing to establish women's schools, set off a wave of feminist movement, seeking liberation of the social climate cleansing the dress and makeup on the stereotypes. Clothing decoration swept away the Qing Dynasty style of ornamentation, tends to be simple, and the color tone to strive for elegant, focusing on the embodiment of the natural beauty of women. The cheongsam initially appeared in the form of a vest, which was as long as the back of the foot and was added to the short jacket. Later, the long vest was changed into a sleeved style, which became the prototype of the new cheongsam. It is said that female students in Shanghai, who were the first to take advantage of the trend, were the initiators of the popularity of cheongsam. At that time, the female students as the representative of intellectual women, become the ideal image of society, they are the symbol of civilization, the vanguard of fashion, and even social celebrities, greenhouse girls and other fashionable characters have been dressed up as female students. 30s and 40s is the cheongsam's heyday, and its basic silhouette has reached maturity. After the Xinhai Revolution, the new cheongsam became popular during the Northern Expeditionary War, which was different from the cheongsam's robe, and the improved cheongsam that appeared in the late 30's drew on Western cutting methods to make the robe more tailored and fitted, which will be described in detail in the following chapters. Although the cheongsam was born in the Qing Dynasty, it is different from the old system, and has become the standard clothing for modern Chinese women, which incorporates the characteristics of both Chinese and Western clothing.