What are the three basic forms of Hanfu?

The three basic forms of Hanfu are clothes, deep clothes and robes.

Clothing system: the clothing system, also known as the coat system, means that the coat and the lower garment are cut and made separately, and the coat and the lower garment are the coat. This is the earliest form of clothing in China and the first style of Hanfu system, from which the word "clothing" comes. The top is on the right, and the lower skirt wraps the lower part of the body, all of which are tied with straps, which is also the most basic feature of Hanfu.

Deep clothing system: the deep clothing system is to cut the top and the lower skirt separately first, and then sew them together, that is, the upper and lower parts are connected together to make them "deep" and form a whole. The upper and lower tailoring of the deep coat follows the ancient system of upper coat and lower coat. The upper coat and lower coat can be sewn conveniently, and the whole body can be tightly wrapped and hidden, which not only embodies China's philosophical thought of "the unity of heaven and earth", but also embodies the introverted and tolerant cultural character of the Han nationality.

Robe system: the robe system is the robe system, and its cutting method is obviously different from the coat system. Instead of cutting the coat and waist separately, the whole body is cut straight, and there is no seam from top to bottom, which is seamless. There are both fully cut precursors and hindquarters, and some are cut on one side of the precursors or hindquarters. Hanfu made of robes is cut straight, which saves cloth and is convenient to sew, and its shape is smooth and natural.

In the Tang and Song Dynasties, there was often a seam at the knee, which was called a "beam". It is generally believed that this kind of horizontal beam was deliberately added out of respect for the upper and lower ancestor system.