CHINA CULTURE 13
OCTOBER 28 - NOVEMBER 3, 2008
Chinese dress throughout the ages
The richness of Chinese attire embodied the spirit of ancient Chinese people:
diverse, elegant and broad-minded as well as reflecting their philosophy of life
XIN HUI
Each dynasty in China’s vast
history had its own memorable culture. The many facets
of style that emerged during a
dynasty’s reign shaped many
highly acclaimed art forms.
Certainly one of the ancient
arts that emerged was clothing
design.
For thousands of years
clothes were an essential element in the history and culture of Chinese society. The
culture of ancient China was
well established, innovative
and resplendent. The clothing was likewise magnificent.
There were many dynasties
throughout China’s history,
each having its own unique
style of dress. And each style
would change or disappear as
the dynasty changed, declined,
or was replaced.
In the Qin and Han Dynasties the style was classical
and conservative. In the Tang
Dynasty it was luxurious and
glamorous. In the Song Dynasty the style was delicate and
elegant. The Ming Dynasty
had a graceful and magnificent
style. And the Qing Dynasty
developed a very intricate
style.
Stylised clothing first
appeared at the time of the Yellow Emperor (2697-2597 BC),
Yao and Shun periods. Chinese
characters were invented later
during the Yin Shang period
(1766-1154 BC). Although 80
per cent of the written characters were pictographs, they
were sufficient for communicating. The inscriptions on
bones and tortoise shells in the
Shang Dynasty, from about
the 16th to 11th century BC,
show characters representing
the social classes at the time
including monarchs, officials
under a feudal ruler, shepherds,
slaves, and tribesmen. There
were also words related to dress
and personal adornments, such
as clothing, shoes, skirts, and
sleeves. Ornaments of varying value, like jade pendants,
jade rings, earrings, necklaces,
combs, silk fabrics, burlaps,
and copper decorations, have
been found on excavated statues. Valuable, exquisite items
belonged to the aristocrats
exclusively.
With the developments
made in textiles, different
types of attire began to appear,
such as dresses, skirts, headdresses, footwear, hats, and
stockings. Clothing styles
evolved from simple and practical to ornamental.
Historical books such as The
Rites of the Zhou, Book of Rites
and Rites record how Chinese
clothing evolved from nothing
to very simple styles, and then
to styles that were complex.
During the Ying Shang period,
etiquette, music, rituals and
clothing showed no evidence
of any social class distinction.
Starting in the Western Zhou
Dynasty (841-771 BC), however, class distinction became
apparent in the differences in
clothing and personal adornment.
More occasional clothing also began to appear. For
example, paying respect to
the gods at the palace temples
required special clothing. There
were army uniforms, wedding
ceremony outfits, bereavement
clothes, and so on. Clothing at
the time was made in a tradition of having dark tops with
yellow trousers or skirts, but
official garb included a fourinch-wide sash made of silk or
leather that was worn over the
lapels. Other clothing included
jade adornments on a belt with
silk ribbons. In addition, clothing of different colours indi-
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
cated different social classes.
During the Warring States
(403-221 BC), the attire of the
seven dukedoms of Qi, Chu,
Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and Qin,
each developed different styles
accordingly. The so-called
“skirt around the front of the
body” style actually referred to
loose-cut cloth with wide edging that was wrapped around
the lower body. The ancient
designers wrapped the cloth
ingeniously from the front of
the upper body to the back,
making full use of horizontal
and diagonal lines to complement space and achieve both
stillness in motion and motion
in stillness. Materials were
light and thin, and stiffer brocade was used to embroider the
edges with wavy patterns that
reflected the wisdom and intellect of the designers.
Qin and Han Dynasties
During the Qin (221–206
BC) and Han Dynasties (AD
206–220), changes in the style
of dress were dramatic. The
Emperor Qin, who was influenced by the Taoist concept
of Yin and Yang as well as the
theory of the Five Elements,
believed that the Qin Dynasty
would subdue the Zhou Dynasty like water extinguishes fire.
Therefore, because the Zhou
Dynasty was “fire superior
to gold, its colour being red”,
the favourite colour of the Qin
Dynasty was black, since the
The designers
wrapped the
cloth ingeniously
to achieve
both stillness
in motion and
motion in
stillness
colour black was associated
with water. Thus, in the Qin
Dynasty, black was the superior colour to symbolise the
power of water, so clothing and
adornments were all black.
During the 200 years of
the Western Han Dynasty,
the “dark style” continued for
clothing and personal adornments. Its characteristics
were: cicada-like hats, red
clothing, square sleeves, sloping necklines, jade hanging
decorations, and red shoes. The
general term for this style of
clothing was “Buddhist clothing” and is basically a singlelayered coat. Court dress was
black in colour. As for the formal dress used in performing
sacrificial rites, it was edged
with red. The only way to tell
a person’s rank or position in
society was by the colour and
quality of his clothing – there
was no difference in the style
of the clothing worn by government officials and ordinary
people. There were two types
of robes, classified according
to the style of the front of the
robe. One style had a front with
a diagonal opening, where
the material was wrapped on
a diagonal from the collar to
under one arm, and the other
A painting of Tang Dynasty women playing with a dog
ANCIENT ATTIRE: University students wear traditional garments from the Han Dynasty period
had a straight opening centred
down the front. Because this
style of clothing was long and
loose, it was a popular style for
men.
The Eastern Han Dynasty
reigned from AD 25-200. During the period of the Guangwu
emperor, red was regarded as
the most respectful colour, as
it displayed the Han Dynasty’s
“fire virtue”. Until the second
year of Yongping period, red
was still the popular colour, but
a white inside layer had to be
worn when performing sacrificial rites. This white layer was
edged with red, which matched
the red socks and shoes. Government officials dressed in
colours that were appropriate
for the season, according to
the theory of Five Elements. At
the beginning of spring, they
would hold a ceremony in the
eastern suburbs, and carriages
and clothing would be a greygreen colour. At the beginning of summer, the ceremony
would be held in southern suburbs, and both carriages and
costumes would be red. At the
beginning of autumn, carriages and dress would be yellow,
and at the beginning of winter,
everything would be black.
According to History of the
Song Dynasty, the Han Dynasty inherited the style of the Qin
Dynasty. There were 13 different types of hats. For hundreds
of years people used these hats,
for example, law hats, high
hats, hats for skilled craftsmen,
mountain-like hats, square
hats, Jian-Hua hats, Que-Di
hats, swordsman’s hats, QueFei hats, Jin-Xian hats, etc. In
the Han Dynasty, a man’s rank
and status was indicated by the
style of his hat.
In the Han Dynasty women
wore a short jacket, a long skirt,
and a decorative belt which
hung down to the knee. A
man always dressed in a short
jacket, trousers in the style of a
“calf’s nose” with a short cloth
skirt on top. This style was the
same for everyone – workers,
farmers, businessmen, and
scholars.
During the Wei-Jin period
(AD 265-420), court dress was
red, and casual clothing was
purple. In the ancient book
History of the Wu Empire –
The Story of Lu Meng, it states
“ask the people who wear white
clothing to be a businessman’s
servant.” From this description white was the colour for
ordinary people. During this
period, the emphasis was on
the jacket and skirt. A coat was
considered informal dress.
Women’s adornments were
particularly delicate, including golden earrings, silver
rings and bracelets. There was
a big difference in quality for
women’s accessories worn
inside and outside the Imperial
Palace.
The Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty (AD 618–
907) was the most thriving,
prosperous and glorious period
of ancient Chinese culture and
art. The style of women’s clothing during the Tang Dynasty
is the most outstanding in
China’s history. Tang Dynasty
attire had many different
styles, and was ever-changing,
which enabled the look of the
Tang Dynasty style to remain
elegant, noble and poised. The
dress of the Tang Dynasty are
like exotic flowers in Chinese
history. The quality of the
material was particularly fine
and delicate, and the decorations lustrous.
The characteristics of Tang
Dynasty attire were distinctive
and natural, displaying the
beauty, grace, and freedom of
people from a divine culture.
Hair was styled to cover the
temples and frame the face,
and gowns were low-cut with
a high waistband. Women’s
outfits consisted of a shirt with
short sleeves and a long skirt;
or a loose-sleeved shirt, long
skirt, and a shawl. Hair was
coiled high in a bun, with such
names as “gazing-gods bun”,
“cloud bun”, “double handingdown bun” and so on. The dress
consisted mainly of a short
jacket or shirt with half-length
sleeves, shawl and long skirt.
Phoenix were decorated at the
toe of silk shoes or shoes woven
from grass. The hair was coiled
in a “flower bun”, so that one
could adorn it with a bamboo
hat. After the prosperous Tang
Dynasty, sleeves became looser
and larger.
The Tang Dynasty introduced “the rule of the wide
belt”. This convention dictated
that the quality and quantity of
decorations on the belt be used
to indicate the rank of government officials. For example,
officials lower than the first
rank wore a sword or knife;
officials and generals higher
than the third rank wore jade
belts; officials of the fourth
and fifth rank wore gold belts;
and the six- and seventh-ranking officials wore silver belts.
In contrast, ordinary people
could only wear a small bronze
or iron knife.
The Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty (AD 960–1279)
clothing can be divided into
three categories of style. One
was designed for the empress,
the noble concubines, and
females of all levels of “government offices”; another style
called “formal garb” was for
ordinary people; and a third
style was casual for daily use.
The clothing designed for Song
Dynasty government officials
was elegant, and in that period
even common people dressed
fastidiously.
People of the Song Dynasty
believed in the philosophy of
“follow Heaven’s way and get
rid of human desires”. So these
high moral values were reflected as simplicity rather than
flamboyance in their clothing.
The fabrics used were elegant and dignified and the hair
styles were very special. Some
were braided and hung down
on the shoulder, while some
were like clouds with delicate
bands supporting them. People without much money used
paper decorations in their hair,
fragrance on their body, and
wore shoes with embroidered
flowers.
The Yuan Dynasty
In the Yuan Dynasty (AD
1271–1368), “Zhi Sun dresses”
were popular. All government
officials wore them to attend
feasts inside the palace. Musicians and bodyguards also
wore them. This kind of clothing was worn by all classes of
people, and could be made from
material of varying weight and
quality. Emperor Zhi Sun’s
winter and summer clothing
had 15 ranks (by Zhi level division). The material and colours
were well co-ordinated, as
were accessories like hats. The
winter clothing of government
officials had nine ranks, while
summer clothing had 14; they
were made from material of
varying colour and quality.
The bi jian was a double-sided
leather coat, worn by the both
upper and lower classes, which
was a little longer than the
ma gua (a traditional Chinese
gown worn by males). The
Yuan Dynasty Mongolians
called it “pan zi da wu”, and it
was a garment that was suitable for horse riding and hunting since it had no collar or
sleeves and was shorter at the
front than at the back.
Yuan Dynasty women of
aristocracy had their own
style of dress. The aristocrats
were Mongolians who wore
leather coats and hats as their
national attire. Clothing made
of marten and sheepskin was
very popular. Women wore
mostly long, loose gowns
with wide sleeves and narrow
cuffs. Because the gowns were
so long, they dragged on the
ground, so noblewomen had
maids accompany them to care
for their clothing. The gowns,
often made from red and gold
embroidered brocades, silk, fur
and long pieces of woven wool,
had moon-shaped shoulders
called “the gold embroidered
cloud shoulder jade tassel”. The
name alone suggests how gorgeous the gowns must have
been.
The Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty (AD 1368–1644)
women’s tops had three collars with narrow sleeves. The
body height was over three
feet, revealing the skirt only
for two to three inches. They
were called “Flower hat, skirt
clothes with big sleeves and
round collars”. The skirts often
were of light-coloured fabrics
in the early Ming Dynasty. At
Chong Zhen time, white skirts
were very popular. The skirt
hem had one to two inches of
embroidered edges.
Pleated
skirts
were
extremely popular. The size of
the pleats ranged from small
and thin to large and full.
Skirts were also highly decorated. One particular design
was called the “striped garland
skirt” or “phoenix tail skirt”.
Each strip was made from a
different piece of coloured satin, and each piece was embroidered with a flower-and-bird
design in gold thread. One of
these strips could be used as a
sash. If several of these decorated strips or “garlands” were
joined together at the waistband, in the form of a skirt,
they fluttered and danced in
the breeze – hence the name
“phoenix tail skirt”. Other
popular pleated skirts were
made from a whole piece of
silk and hand sewn into close
pleats.
The Ming Dynasty also
introduced a special kind of
robe. Because of its beautiful
shape, it was called the “pink
cloud robe”. Men typically
wore a robe having a square
embroidered patch and circular collar. This garment characteristically had full sleeves,
black edges, a round blue
collar, and a soft black belt.
Workers wore cloth trousers,
which were black. They also
wore long black cloth handkerchiefs and coats with wide
edges. Officials wore satin
circular-collared robes. This
style of robe hung one inch
above the ground. Sleeves
were also long enough to cover the hands, and the sleeves
themselves were each one
foot wide. Bright red shoes
were the typical fashion.
The Qing Dynasty
Manchurian-style
clothing
with narrow sleeves was the
popular style of dress in the
Qing Dynasty (AD 1644–1911).
The style was slender and rectangular in form. The saddleshaped collar was large enough
to cover a person’s cheeks and
protect the face. The entire garment, which was not lined, was
cut straight from top to bottom
and did not have a waist. Plate
buttons were placed on the
front-right side as decoration.
There were two to three false
sleeves, and the sleeves were
long enough to cover the hands.
Garments were often decorated
with embroidered designs,
and over-clothes included the
vest and long robe. The boxlike look of the Qing Dynasty
clothing presented a solemn,
slightly arrogant image that
commanded respect.
The Qi robe (Chinese
cheongsam dress) and the
short clothes have the shape
of a pipa (a Chinese musical
instrument). The sides of the
garment, as well as the collar
and sleeves, were decorated
with inlays and embroidery.
The matching skirts and trousers were intricately decorated
in a variety of ways, including
dye printing and embroidery.
Qing Dynasty women had
separate clothes for formal,
casual, and business occasions.
Business dress was for empresses and other nobility up to 7
Pin (level). Formal clothes were
worn at events like weddings or
funerals. Inside the palace, the
clothes were decided according
to the females’ Pin. The style of
casual clothes varied, depending on their function.
Conclusion
From this brief description of
ancient Chinese attire, it is easy
to see that one outstanding feature of these historic dynasties
was the strict system of full
dress. It demonstrates that the
ancients were careful about
maintaining their standards
and their responsibilities in
society, regardless of whether
they were sovereigns, officials,
or ordinary people. Each class
had their own respected contribution to society and was so
honoured with its own clothing style.
People dressed in accordance with a defined clothing
style, bowing to ancestors and
offering obeisance to heaven
and earth, having realised
their position in the world.
People learnt from observation that in the morning before
daybreak, the sky was black
in colour, so their tops were
black in colour, as it should
resemble heaven. The earth
was yellow, so trousers and
skirts were dyed yellow to be
like the earth. In this way, they
expressed their adoration of
heaven and earth.
Ancient people’s way of
thinking – that man is an
integral part of nature – was
based on their faith in God and
their adherence to high moral
standards. They believed it
was exactly because of their
kindness and upright morality that God bestowed wisdom
and magnificence on them,
enabling them to develop a
glorious lifestyle.
The dress of the different dynasties all had their
own distinctive features and
appeared to have no close
connection to each other.
They represented the culture
of different dynasties and the
wisdom that humans were
endowed with during these
different periods. The attire of
each dynasty vividly reflected
and represented the lifestyle,
social status, ideology, and
mentality of that time.
While pondering the beautiful clothes of the ancients, it
is easy to realise the broad and
profound inner nature of the
ancient Chinese people.