Han Chinese clothing or Hanfu (漢服 or 汉服) refers to the historical clothing of the Han Chinese people, especially before conquest by the Manchu Qing Dynasty in 1644. Today, most Han Chinese wear western-style clothing, and Han Chinese clothing is no longer worn in everyday life. Han Chinese clothing is presently worn only as a part of historical reenactment, hobby, or cultural exercise; however, there is a small but vocal movement in China to revive Han Chinese clothing in everyday life. Hanfu can be frequently seen on Chinese television series, films and other forms of media entertainment.
Some costumes commonly thought of as typically Chinese (such as the qipao) are the result of Manchu influence. Purist advocates of Han Chinese clothing do not regard these as authentic Han Chinese clothing.
Style
The designs are generally gender-neutral in design and simple in cutting, allowing the body's natural curves to accentuate the clothing's features and itself. Types include tops (yi) and bottoms (divided further into pants and skirts for both genders, with different terminologies qun for females and shang for males), and one-piece robes that wrap around the body once or several times (shenyi).
- Shenyi(深衣)
- Shanqun(衫裙)
- Zhiju(直裾)
- Ruqun(襦裙)
- Kuzhe(褲褶)
- Yunlingshan(圓領衫)
History
Hanfu has a history of more than three millennia, and is said to have been worn by the legendary Yellow Emperor. From the beginning of its history, Hanfu (especially in elite circles) was inseparable from silk, supposedly discovered by the Yellow Emperor’s consort, Leozu. The first solidly historical dynasty known of in China, the Shang Dynasty (c.1600 BC-1000 BC), developed the rudiments of Hanfu; it consisted of a Yi, a narrow-cuffed, knee-length tunic tied with a sash, and a narrow, ankle-length skirt, of Shang, worn with a Bixi, a length of fabric that reached the knees. Vivid primary colours and green were used, due to the degree of technology at the time.
The dynasty to follow the Shang, the Western Zhou Dynasty, established a strict hierarchical society that used clothing as a status meridian, and inevitably, the height of one’s rank influenced the ornateness of a costume. Such markers included the length of a skirt, the wideness of a sleeve and the degree of ornamentation. In addition to these class-orientated developments, the Hanfu became looser, with the introduction of wide sleeves and jade decorations hung from the sash which served to keep the Yi closed. The Yi was essentially wrapped over, in a style known as Jiaoling Youren, or wrapping the right side over before the left, because of the initially greater challenge to the right-handed wearer (the Chinese discouraged left-handedness like many other historical cultures, considering it unnatural).
In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Deep Robe (Shenyi) appeared a combination of tunic and skirt. The upper and lower halves were cut separately but sewn as a single unit. An additional change was the shaping of the left side of the costume into a corner, fastened on the chest. Perhaps because of Confucian influence, disapproving of a hierarchical society in favour of social mobility based on personal merit, the Shenyi was swiftly adopted. There still existed an elite however, and they monopolised the more ornate fabrics and grandiose details.