What did ancient Chinese clothing look like?

In the book "Clothing and Chinese Culture" by Hua Mei, there is this sentence: "People have no culture without clothes, and Chinese people have no Chinese culture without making clothes." It is true that when human beings were still in the primitive period, out of the most primitive instincts and needs, they would peel off the fur of animals, as well as peeling off the bark of trees and weaving blades of grass to be worn as warmth. At this time the "dress", there is no ethnicity, not to mention the "totem", "pattern", "color" difference, only the heat and the cold. There is no difference between the materials used in hot and cold areas.

When the spinning wheel appeared in Half-slope of Shaanxi Province and Hemudu of Zhejiang Province, when the kudzu cloth appeared in Caoxiao Mountain of Jiangsu Province, and silk textiles appeared in Qanshanyang of Zhejiang Province, the differences in pattern and coloring of these ancient fabrics showed the same techniques (passed down from generation to generation) and different decorative preferences, and the most primitive "warm clothing" such as animal skins and grass blades were already used by the Chinese ancestors. Those primitive "warm clothes" such as animal skins and grass blades were abandoned by the Chinese forefathers, and the material culture of China's primitive civilization began to sprout and develop independently and pass on.

Shang Zhou period

Shang Dynasty clothing in the crown and hat, style, color, ornamentation has produced a hierarchical difference, "clothes so table noble and low", "Shi Zhang is clothing Ming up and down" concept has taken shape. However, due to the lack of information, only know that the Shang dynasty is still white, more clothes under the clothes (pants), the nobles have long robes, other clothing level details are not known. But the unearthed fabrics of the Shang Dynasty, black, red, white and yellow colors, red and black mostly.

Cross-necked, lapel, round-necked clothes have appeared as early as the Shang Dynasty, round-necked different from the later round-necked robes, can be understood as a through the head shirt, in the fabric to cut a round hole over the head of the wearing method is not unique. Taking a piece of fabric and intersecting the two sides in front of the chest is also the simplest way to wear in ancient times. But the use of tailoring to make the collar, slant lapel, and the importance of right-over-obligation (unearthed are right-over-obligation, the oracle bone inscription "clothes" or left or right), indicating that China in the dress culture has produced a unique aesthetic as well as the idea.

The Qin and Han Dynasties

Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms and "collected the costumes of the six kingdoms", thus reorganizing the chaotic clothing system since the Warring States period. However, the short life of the Qin dynasty, we can only by the terracotta warriors, a glimpse of the soldiers, military officials dressed at that time. Qin soldiers mostly wore short straight-train robes with long pants, square-toed shoes, hair buns, or wear a small crown, and an armor. Those in official positions wore slightly longer robes.

The Han Dynasty, which "took over from the Qin Dynasty, mostly due to its old ways", retained a lot of the Qin Dynasty's systems in the early Western Han Dynasty. On the other hand, the discovery of the Zhou Rites and the preparation of the Book of Rites made the Han Dynasty more perfect than the Warring States and Qin Dynasties in terms of etiquette. It can be said that the system of Chinese clothes and costumes began with the Yellow Emperor, was laid down in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, developed in the Warring States period, and came to fruition in the Han Dynasty. The name of the Han race also began in the Han Dynasty.

The Rites of Passage and the Zhou Rites, which were established by the Han Dynasty, were largely within the scope of the Han Dynasty for thousands of years afterward, even though there were some additions, deletions, and fluctuations in the records of "The Book of Public Opinion and Clothing" for each dynasty and each generation. After the natural evolution of the Han costume by thousands of years, the Ming Dynasty and Han Dynasty difference is obvious, but the "Book of Rites", "Zhou Li" and another Confucian classic "Rites of Passage" of the dress system, such as funeral dress, deep clothes, XuanDuan, coronet, ceremonial dress ...... and so on, the style is still roughly the same line of inheritance. Is to successive dynasties of Han (Hanhua) emperor's coronation is a style, only in the color and the use of heraldry slightly different.

Sui-Tang era

Sui-Dynasty unification, to the Tang Dynasty, China's clothing system clothing system finally returned to the "Han system", but due to the confusion for a long time, in addition to the coronet and other major dress, the rest of the common people's regular clothes, the world of the clothes and the Han Dynasty has been very far away. In terms of headgear, the turban appeared, initially just a soft cloth wrapped around the head, and then gradually developed into a hat style, which is also commonly known as a hat, and there are various styles, such as soft foot, spread foot, etc. The turban is also a kind of a cap, which can be worn on the head, and can be worn on the head.

Originally used in the west to cover the wind and sand used by the curtain away from the curtain cap is also commonly used by the women of the Great Tang Dynasty, used as a prop to cover the line of sight of passers-by when traveling to the Song Dynasty is still in use. According to records, some places in the Ming Dynasty, women still have the habit of veil masked travel.

The round neck robe also came from the West at this time by the hu clothing, gradually reformed as a major dress in the Han. The round-collar gown is not a shirt, but abides by the cross-collar right obeisance, but is only a round-collar cloak-wearing clothes.

The robe appeared in the Tang Dynasty, in order to adhere to the ancient system of deep clothes, the robe hem only to the knee, and then continue to join the fabric to the instep, and add clothing edge, to symbolize the top and bottom of the garment sewn together as one deep garment. The shirt is still often worn by students in the Song and Ming dynasties.

Song and Yuan Dynasties

The Song Dynasty was characterized by rapid commercial development and a thriving marketplace culture, where citizens could in turn influence aristocratic trends. In the Song Dynasty, the great dress remained the same, and the consort's Zhai clothes and phoenix crown were also developed and perfected. The Song public dress was also defined as turban and round-collar robe after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, which continued to influence the Ming Dynasty. But the civilian dress compared to the Tang Dynasty, and not the same.

Song women from the townspeople to the noble family, all like to wear a single breast, wrapped belly, with slit pants (there are still a few layers of pants), or tie short skirt, waist skirt, and the occasional long skirt. No blouse outside the bust, only set of pasties, not tied. It can be said to be the earliest example of wearing underwear outside, so much so that several women's Song tombs have not been unearthed in a cross-collar garment, all are pasted together, bustier, pants (skirt).

Ming Dynasty period

Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, the first is to prohibit the Liao Yuan since the legacy of the Hu language, Hu, Hu, Hu, Hu clothing, and strive to restore the Han system of clothing. The imperial decree, "all the clothes and crowns like the Tang system", but due to the lack of information, the examination of the limitations and other factors, and ultimately only restored to the Song system, and has its own development.

Gowns, official uniforms, etc. are still the same as in previous dynasties, but in the official clothes, there is a complementary system. Later the emperor's crown clothing innovation out of the round neck robe-style gun suit.

Men's clothing is still round-necked robe, straightjacket, robe, deep clothes, overcoat, caftan and other traditional styles, the new style of the crown and scarf has increased, and there is another Yuan dynasty handed down the trailing robe.

The Ming Dynasty saw the emergence of the characteristic collar, that is, the collar of the clothes and then set a layer of a different color collar, usually white, easy to remove and wash.

Qing Dynasty

The rulers of the Qing Dynasty, in order to strengthen their rule, forced the implementation of "shaved hair and easy to wear" to the Han 丨people, cutting off the Chinese clothing since the beginning of the Yellow Emperor, inherited thousands of years of history, from the emperor to the officials have to change, and even the aversion to "being hair over obeisance". Even the descendants of Confucius, who detested "being overgrown with hair", did not escape. Hairpins, which have been sharpened and used since the Neolithic era, are gone. The main feature of right-over-right overlapping of the collar is gone. Gowns and crowns that have lasted for thousands of years, gone. Han Chinese dress in the past two hundred years, was a devastating blow, although there are "ten from ten not from" retained some, but it is only a candle in the wind, with the end of the Qing Dynasty, the number of gas dissipated, the Republic of China, Westernization, very little left.

Women, children, actresses, monks and the dead of the Qing Dynasty could still wear Chinese clothing. Now to the Qing Dynasty to stay in the heirloom Chinese clothing objects, costumes, children's clothing, robes and monks robes account for most of the women's clothing, although there are retained, but most of them are still with the alienation of men's clothing, into a combination of factory collars, plate buckle and so on, the combination of Manchu and Chinese products. As a "monk clothes" "sweater" "soil cotton jacket" "baby clothes" retained the Han Chinese children's clothing, but is has always existed, only few people to pay attention to.

These are the first time I've ever seen a person in a car in the United States, and I've never seen a person in a car in the United States who has been in the United States for a long time. A lot of intellectuals put forward to restore the program of Chinese clothing, but Sun Yat-sen at that time pushed westernization, did not accept this opinion, after the wars, although occasionally there is a restoration of the imperial farce, Han-style degree clothing and other events related to Chinese clothing, but after the civil war, **, the Cultural Revolution and other series of turmoil and chaos, the last of the Qing Dynasty left the last memories of the Chinese clothing, but also almost disappeared from the minds of the Han丨people's finish. After the founding of New China, whenever the various ethnic groups gathered together, the Han Chinese either wore cheongsams, a combination of Chinese and Western styles, or suits.

Modern Future

"What is the national costume of the Han?"

At the turn of the century, with the popularization of the Internet, more and more Chinese netizens were accustomed to discussing all kinds of issues in online communities. Finally, someone asked this question. Perhaps it was a stone that stirred up a thousand waves, or perhaps it was the password that could open the treasure box of Chinese culture that had been misunderstood and left out for a long time, and more and more people got involved in the issue. After a while of Internet discussion and debate, in 2003, Wang Lotian, an ordinary laborer, wore a Han Chinese dress and walked on the street, announcing to the media and the world that Han Chinese dress had returned.

The return of the Han Chinese costume has been seven years now, or nearly ten years, and it looks like it's about to go round. From a person, to the Han network, the day Han network, Baidu Hanbok, as well as around the Hanbok website, Hanbok organizations have risen, joined more and more people, was certified, found more and more styles of Hanbok, but also different from the previous styles of innovation. Such as Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, some big cities, passers-by wearing Chinese dress shopping people also no longer hold the attitude of looking at the rare, more understanding, encouragement.