With the revival of traditional culture, Hanfu has attracted more and more attention from people and became popular for a time. However, people know very little about Hanfu. Not only do they not understand the concept of "Hanfu" itself, but they also lack understanding of the name of the structure of Hanfu, let alone the cultural connotation behind it.
The so-called "Hanfu", also known as Han clothing, Han clothing, and Chinese clothing, generally refers to the traditional clothing of the Han nation. It does not refer to the clothing of the Han Dynasty, but to the traditional clothing of the Han nationality. Because the predecessor of the Han Dynasty was the Huaxia people, the entire traditional clothing of the Han people can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty. After the development of the Qin Dynasty, it gradually matured in the Han Dynasty. For example, Cai Yong said in "Doctrine": "The emperor always wears clothes, and Han wears clothes and accepts Qin."
Figure 1 Yellow Emperor (2717 BC-2599 BC)
Regarding the earliest origin of Hanfu, the traditional view is that it was during the Huangdi period. For example, "Historical Records" says: "Chinese clothes were made by the Yellow Emperor." He also believed that "Before the Yellow Emperor, there were no clothes and houses. Since the Yellow Emperor built houses, made clothes, and organized funerals, all people were saved from the difficulty of survival." Of course, this view is based on the sage's view of history. However, with the rise of modern archaeology, archaeologists believe that during the Yangshao Culture period, primitive agriculture and textile industries appeared in China, and linen began to be used to make clothes. Leizu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor, was the inventor of silkworms and silk. Since then, people's clothes have become more and more complete. Of course, there is no problem that clothes appeared in this period, but as a system of crown clothing, it appeared in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, because the crown clothing system has cultural connotations and has the function of distinguishing social order and hierarchy. Therefore, to be more precise, Hanfu originated from the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
In fact, in traditional China, the status of clothing is very important. In addition to the basic connotations of covering up shame, warmth, and aesthetics, the most important thing is the cultural and political connotations it represents. We know that China was called "Huaxia" in ancient times, and the word Huaxia itself has the connotation of civilization. For example, "Shang Shu Zhengyi" notes: "The crown uniform with Huazhang is called Hua, and the great country is called Xia." And "Zuo Zhuan Zhengyi·Dinggong Ten Years" notes: "China has great etiquette, so it is called Xia; with the beauty of Zhangfu, it is called Xia. It’s called Hua.” Two concepts are mentioned here, namely China and Huaxia. They are both cultural concepts, that is, they represent a civilization.degree of development. Based on this, China has the reputation of "a land of clothes and etiquette".
Figure 2 The emperor’s imperial crown in Xuanyi in the early Ming Dynasty (back)
After we have clarified the basic concept and origin of Hanfu, it is necessary to understand its basic structure.When talking about Hanfu, you have to know the materials used in it, which are cloth and silk. Its structure is divided into ten parts from top to bottom, including collar, lapel, pleat, pleat, skirt, sleeves, jacket, belt and robe. The front and back are symmetrical, which means that during the production process, two pieces of cloth of equal length are taken, folded in half respectively, and used as the front and back trains, and the middle seam of the back is sewn. If there is no gusset on the front, it is a straight-collar double-breasted jacket. If you take another piece of cloth, cut it into two pieces of gussets, and sew them on the left and right lapels, it is called a diagonal collar and right gusset garment. The production process is extremely complicated, so we won’t introduce them one by one.
One thing we need to pay special attention to is that when we talk about Hanfu, it is no longer a simple set of clothes. We cannot understand the ancients with the way we dress today. In fact, Hanfu includes a complete clothing system, including clothes, headdress, hairstyle, face decoration, shoes, accessories, etc. As for the clothes themselves, they are also two concepts, namely the upper garment and the lower garment. The garment is close to the upper garment we have today, and the upper garment is the skirt.
Figure 3 Various first servers
The so-called headdress refers to the headdress, which also constitutes an important part of the Han nationality's clothing. We know that traditional Han people, both men and women, have to tie their hair. Both men and women will tie their hair into hair after they reach adulthood.The bun is placed on the head and fixed with hairpins. The main headwear includes hats, scarves, etc. Adult men often wear crowns, scarves, hats, etc. The shapes are diverse, and common ones include crowns, bows, and futou. Of course, there are strict rules for wearing headgear. For example, in the Han Dynasty, it was stipulated that officials should first wear a hat and then wear a hat, while civilians only wore a hat without wearing a hat. In later generations, the specific wearing methods may change, but the hierarchical order arrangement contained in it remains unchanged.
Women's headwear is mainly composed of deputy and number. The buns also show diversity, and sometimes various ornaments such as beads and flowers are worn on the buns. There are also sideburns on both sides of the temples. Of course, there are also some people who wear curtain hats and hijabs. In general, there are eight types of jewelry worn by Han women, namely hairpin, comb, hairpin, Huasheng, Buyao, Jindan, Zhuhua and Lezi. The jewelry worn by women is made of precious gold and has gorgeous and exquisite styles. Not only can it help their appearance, but it can also highlight their graceful social status and temperament.
Figure 4 Women’s double-knife bun and frightened swan bun in Hanfu
The traditional accessories of the Han nationality are also very important. The one we are familiar with is the jade pendant. The so-called "a gentleman has no reason, and jade will never leave his body" and "a gentleman is more virtuous than jade." Since jade has the characteristics of being bright but not shining, honest and not prudent, people should also imitate it. The so-called "a gentleman is as gentle as jade." That's what it means. Of course, in addition to wearing jade, there are also knee-coverings, shawls, socks, hats, sachets, swords, ribbons, seals, wats, dental plaques, leather belts, jade belts, kuai, and snakes, etc.
In addition, the patterns of clothing are also very important. Traditional Han clothing often adopts animal, plant, and geometric shapes. The depictions of animals and plants tend to be realistic, delicate and lifelike, while the geometric figures are very regular and symmetrical. Of course, the colors of clothing are strictly differentiated. The world as understood by the ancients consists of five colors: green, red, yellow, black and white, which are called the five correct colors, which are extremely noble. As for other colors, they are blended colors, which are the blends of these five basic colors and are called "intermediate colors". And the five colors correspond to the five elements, "black earth, white earth, red earth, green earth, loess", "Heaven calls it Xuan, earth calls it yellow, green and white are in the same order, red and black are in the order, and black and yellow are in the order. .greenRed and white are called essays, red and white are called seals, white and black are called embroidery, black feathers and green are called embroidery, and five colors are called embroidery. skillful. ”
Figure 5 The imaginary picture of the "Crown crown" in "The New Three Rituals"
We have a craze for Hanfu today, but there is a whole set of traditional cultural connotations behind Hanfu. If you don’t have a deep understanding of it, there is no difference between wearing Hanfu and Western clothes. It’s all about following fashion, just pursuing it as an aesthetic trend. We say: "China has great etiquette, so it is called Xia; it has the beauty of Zhangfu, so it is called Hua." Hanfu is not a simple dress. It carries a country with five thousand years of civilization and etiquette, symbolizing China. splendid civilization and spiritual temperament.
Therefore, it is more important for us to learn traditional culture, so that our understanding of Hanfu and tradition will not be superficial. Only in this way will we understand the connotation of a country of etiquette and a country of clothes. Only in this way can we avoid national and historical nihilism and truly firmly believe in cultural confidence in our hearts.
