When it comes to Chinese classical style clothing aesthetics, cheongsam and Tang suit have long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, but the public knows very little about Hanfu. From confusion about the concept of "Hanfu" to the name of the structure of Hanfu, there is a lack of understanding, not to mention the behind-the-scenes cultural connotation. The so-called "Hanfu" does not refer to the costumes of the Han Dynasty, but the traditional costumes of the Han nation, also known as Han clothes, Han costumes and Chinese costumes. The predecessor of the Han Dynasty was the Huaxia ethnic group. The entire traditional costumes of the Han ethnic group can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty. They developed through the Qin Dynasty and gradually matured in the Han Dynasty. Cai Yong said in "Doctrine": "The emperor always obeys, and the Han obeys Qin."
At the beginning of the new year, Chengdu Tianfu Ancient Town officially opened the "National Style Year" with thousands of people parading in Hanfu - wearing Chinese clothes, visiting the ancient town, touring the Bamboo Sea, and appreciating the national trend.
Until a few years ago, wearing Hanfu for travel or gatherings was almost equivalent to cosplay. The three questions in the hearts of startled passers-by were "Is it hot?" "Is it filming?" "Does it cost money to take a photo?" Nowadays, with the revival of traditional culture, With the "national trend", Hanfu has become more and more accepted by the public, becoming more popular and daily, and has become a carrier of life aesthetics.
At the same time, there are still many gaps and misunderstandings in today’s public’s understanding of Hanfu. What is Hanfu? In its long history, what kind of development trend has Hanfu had? What impact has it had on the international fashion industry? For many people, Hanfu may be a past tense with unclear meaning, but in the hearts of others, it is a cultural symbol carrying rich meanings.
As Hanfu culture is gradually accepted and loved by more people, fashion brands have also put a lot of thought into the innovation of Hanfu in order to capture young people.
Take "Minghuatang" as an example. It combines traditional and elegant dresses with fashion, creating a novel Chinese original that reproduces the elegance and solemnity of oriental neoclassicism. It has been unexpectedly received by a large number of young Hanfu enthusiasts. Loved and sought after, it has become the logo and big name in Hanfu. The starting price of "Minghuatang" sets is over 3,000 yuan, and models worth tens of thousands of yuan are also very common. Semi-customized membership reservations are said to have been scheduled until 2022.
"Minghuatang" folded peony gauze suit
Looking at the global fashion and historical monuments, Hau te Cou tu re (advanced customization) was born in 1858 and has a history of more than 162 years. It represents the Western system's worship of artistic creation and traditional hand-made craftsmanship, and is indeed the ultimate devil in details - all the craftsmanship is completed by hand, and one piece of clothing takes about a month to work on. The French Haute Couture Association has strict regulations on the scale, technical conditions, and conference details of haute couture designer brands and workshops. In Europe, Haute Couture is a legally protected title.
The fine products of Hanfu, taking the Ming Dynasty as an example, have a history of more than 600 years. The achievements in art and craftsmanship are very high. For example, the flower-and-bird robes and python robes of the Ming Dynasty involved nearly a hundred different embroidery threads, dozens of ancient plant dyeings, and several different yarn twists, just to name a few. Gold and silver threads are divided into different kinds of gold and silver. Not long ago, Chu Yan, the costume designer for leaders of the Beijing APEC meeting and associate professor of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, teamed up with the Shandong Museum to replicate and restore more than 30 pieces of Ming Dynasty Hanfu in its collection that represent the pinnacle of craftsmanship. This is an unprecedented centralized exhibition and artistic reproduction of Hanfu. Chu Yan’s team’s restoration work traces back to yarn, wild silk and mulberry silk, hand-woven and machine-woven. It may seem that there is not much difference, but it will show completely different things later. effects, not to mention several complicated acupuncture techniques. That kind of delicacy and attention to detail made the design team repeatedly amazed during the entire restoration process.
Collection of Shandong Museum: fragrant sesame yarn embroidered yoke python women's gown
The exquisiteness of Hanfu, its pursuit of delicacy and elegance, is a challenge and example for contemporary clothing design and innovation. These are indeed worthy of our in-depth study.
What’s even more commendable is that many current Hanfu brands, in addition to paying attention to the elegance and ultimate restoration of tradition, also use a lot of modern technology to create clothing that today’s young people need and can afford. In terms of wearing and matching methods, it presents better combination methods and gives traditional clothing a new life - learning and inheritance, but also innovation and transcendence. This is the new look of Hanfu.
In October last year, traditional Hanfu and Han-style dresses, casual clothes, and trendy clothes were successively displayed in the "Hanfu Special Show" of Shanghai Fashion Week. From ancient plant printing and dyeing to 3D printingAccessories, as well as the symbiosis and harmony of Chinese and Western fusion techniques, are also innovations in inheritance, expressing the understanding and recognition of Hanfu culture by the younger generation of designers.
Generation Z consumers, on the other hand, have a more straightforward concept of fashion - be yourself and know what you want. You don’t necessarily have to understand the cultural connotation behind it, good-looking is the reason to follow it. In recent years, with the strong communication power of Taobao, Douyin, Bilibili, costume dramas, ancient games, etc., many onlookers have been influenced by them and happily entered the "antique circle". In addition to purchasing, Hanfu rentals and Hanfu experience centers have also emerged. The spending power of Hanfu enthusiasts is getting stronger and stronger. In 2019, the market consumption exceeded 4.5 billion. Compared with 500 million in 2017, it is indeed a blowout. It can be said that Hanfu has become a trend. The reason why people like it is mainly due to its appearance and visual impact. What is behind the popular culture may not be that important. However, if you want to inherit Hanfu and culture appropriately, you need to "know where you come from and where you are going." To understand and learn traditional culture, so that the understanding of Hanfu and tradition will not be superficial.
Perhaps Hanfu, like beauty itself, does not need to be overly defined. It is just a vitality of self-confidence.
According to "Historical Records": "Chinese clothes were made by the Yellow Emperor", and it is believed that "Before the Yellow Emperor, there were no clothes and houses. Since the Yellow Emperor built houses, made clothes, and conducted funerals, all the people were saved from the difficulty of survival." Of course, this view It is a kind of understanding based on the sage's view of history. With the rise of modern archaeology, archaeologists believe that primitive agriculture and textile industries appeared in China during the Yangshao Culture period, 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.
In China, traditional clothing plays an important role. "Shang Shu Zhengyi" notes: "The crown of the Huazhang is called Hua, and the great country is called Xia." "Zuo Zhuan of Zhengyi·Dinggong ten years" says: "China has great etiquette, so it is called Xia; there is the beauty of Zhangfu, so it is called Xia. China." Based on this, China has the reputation of "a land of clothes and etiquette", which represents the origin and degree of development of Chinese civilization.
Hanfu has influenced the entire Han cultural circle through the Chinese legal system. Hanfu in ancient times refers to not just a set of clothing, but a complete set of styles, including clothes, headdresses, hairstyles, and facial coverings. , shoes, accessories, etc. As far as clothing is concerned, it is also a concept of two pieces, namely the upper garment and the lower garment. The garment is the garment, and the garment generally refers to the skirt.
The fabrics used in Hanfu are basically cloth and silk. Its structure is divided from top to bottom into ten parts, including collar, lapel, pleat, pleat, skirt, sleeves, jacket, belt and robe. The front and back are symmetrical. During the production process, two pieces of cloth of equal length are taken, folded in half respectively, and used as the front placket and back train, 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. Its production process is extremely complicated. In terms of tailoring, it is completely different from the three-dimensional tailoring popular in the West. Hanfu is cut in natural flat piecesIt is characterized by shearing, and pays attention to the beauty of wide clothes and wide belts. A set of Hanfu requires at least two meters of fabric.
The clothing patterns of Hanfu often adopt animals, plants, and geometric decorations. The depictions of animals and plants are often realistic and delicate, while the geometric figures are regular and symmetrical. Clothing colors 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 all blended colors, which are made by blending 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. . Green and red are called writing, 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... The mixed positions of four seasons and five colors are called embroidery, which is called cleverness. "The ancient dyeing method of Hanfu is pure and beautiful. Just the red color dyed by safflower, common ones include pomegranate red, peony red, chapter dandelion, coral vermilion, red plum, silver red, bright red, peach red, phoenix red, etc. Wait...natural beauty.
The development of patterns on Hanfu fabrics is also logical, reflecting each other's cultural and social development patterns. For example, the four-in-one Ruyi cloud pattern popular on dragon robes in the Ming Dynasty had different forms in the early and late Ming Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, there was a lot of waste waiting for work, and the patterns were rough; in the middle Ming Dynasty, society began to develop, and the patterns began to show diversity; in the late Ming Dynasty, the society was affluent, and the patterns became luxurious and full. For another example, the textures of the Tang Dynasty were extremely compatible, and many Western elements were freely mixed in traditional patterns, showing the confident and inclusive side of the Tang Dynasty. It can be seen that the coherent development of clothing is consistent with the path of cultural development.
Headwear is also a part of Hanfu. Women's headwear is mainly composed of deputy, number and so on. The buns also show diversity. Sometimes they wear beads, flowers and other colorful ornaments on the buns, and they are decorated with sideburns on both sides of the temples. In the early Tang Dynasty, hairpins were mostly used for decoration, and even if the flowers were arranged all over the head, they were mostly small flowers. In the prosperous age of Kaiyuan, the cultural connotation and expression of hairpin flowers became even richer. According to records, Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty personally inserted hairpins for Concubine Yang. At this time, there was also a hairpin flower fighting competition. According to the "Heritage of Kaiyuan Tianbao" records: "The ladies of Chang'an fight against flowers in spring. They wear strange flowers and the one with the most wins." Whenever spring is in full bloom, women will compete with each other in spring. The flowers are arranged all over the head, and the beauty is exaggerated. From the flower-fighting activities where the upper-class wealthy families spend a lot of money to the flower-fighting drama among the people, it is quite popular. Folk men and women also take the opportunity of flower fights to interact freely and choose their ideal match. There is a sentence in the Dunhuang poem "Fighting Hundreds of Grasses" that describes the life-long fight for flowers, "If you want to pick and ask others, you can twist two by two to get them." - Two by two, twisting each other, it means that they are paired up and become a good match between the Qin and Jin Dynasties.
In addition to hairpins, hairpins are also often regarded as a symbol of love. Lu You and Tang Wan were engaged with a family phoenix hairpin as a token. Lu You finally married Tang Wan when he was nineteen (the fourteenth year of Shaoxing). However, Tang Wan's talent and close relationship with Lu You somehow aroused Lu's mother's affection. Dissatisfied, he ordered Lu You to divorce Tang Wan. 1151 AD (the 21st year of Shaoxing)After failing the examination of the Ministry of Rites, Lu You went to Shen Garden to play and met Tang Wan by chance. The two were very sad to see each other again. Lu You sentimentally wrote a poem on the wall called "The Hairpin-headed Phoenix: Red Sustained Hands". In 1156 AD, Tang Wan came to Shen Garden again and saw Lu You's inscription. She couldn't help but be filled with emotion, and wrote a piece of "The Hairpin-headed Phoenix: The Love of the World". In the autumn of the same year, Tang Bian died of depression.
In addition, in the Song Dynasty, hairpin talismans were also hung on the ends of hairpins, also known as "hairpin head talisman", or "treasure talisman" or "spiritual talisman". Zeng Feng's "Dragon Boat Festival Collection" said: "Playing with Zhucai Suo, competing for the red magic talisman." Hairpin heads are often made small and exquisite, and people in the Song Dynasty often call them "small talismans". There are many expressions in the poems of the past dynasties, such as Su Shi's "Huanxisha·Dragon Boat Festival": "Colored threads are lightly wrapped around the red jade arm, and small talismans are hung diagonally on the green cloud servant girl." Another example is Cui Dun's poem "Chunxi Seven Years Dragon Boat Festival Post Ci·Queen Together": " The jade swallow has a small hanging talisman, and the bead bag is knotted with moxa green."
Facial ornaments are flower ornaments, which are flower decorations that women put on their temples, between their eyebrows, and on their cheeks. There is a beautiful legend about the origin of Huadian. One year on the seventh day of the first lunar month, Princess Shouyang, the daughter of Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty Liu Yu, was lying on her back in front of His Royal Highness Hanzhang. The plum tree in front of the palace was blown by the breeze, and a plum blossom fell, and it fell on the princess's forehead. , his forehead was dyed with a plum blossom mark. This peculiar beauty was imitated by the women in the palace. However, when unexpected disaster struck, everyone would cut plum blossoms directly and stick them on their foreheads, which became a new beauty technique. This is what Niu Qiao's "Red Rose" said, "If you decorate Princess Shouyang's forehead, the six palaces will be willing to learn plum makeup."
The plum blossom-shaped flowers are available in three colors: red, yellow, and green, with red being the most common. The well-known "Mirror Applique Yellow" in "Mulan Ci" is affixed with yellow flower mother-of-pearl. The green one is "Cui Tian", which is made of precious kingfisher feathers of various colors. It is turquoise in color, with sparkling crystal points, fresh and unique. In Wen Tingyun's "Nan Ge Zi", "the golden clouds on the face are fine, and the green emeralds are deep between the eyebrows", and in Zhang Taihua's "Poem of Seeing the Shape after Burial", "Thinking about the past pet, the clothes are wet with tears and damaging the green emeralds", all refer to such rareness. thing.
In addition to the common plum blossoms, the flower pattern has later developed many complex and changeable patterns, such as horn-shaped, fan-shaped, peach-shaped, etc. In addition, there are also various shapes of birds, fish and ducks, which are very beautiful and delicate. Flower mother-of-pearl is usually made of gold, silver foil and jewelry. In addition, it is also made of paper, fish scales, camellia flower cakes, and even dragonfly wings. It can be described as unique and eclectic. Tao Gu of the Song Dynasty wrote in "Yun Yi Lu": "People in the later Tang Dynasty caught dragonflies in nets and loved their green thinness, so they painted the wings with gold pens and made small branches and flower seeds." This describes the flower mother-of-pearl made of dragonfly wings.
By the way, the glue used to stick flower tinctures is called "Hejiao". It is made from the fish bladder with arrow feathers stuck on it. Breathe on it and dip it in some saliva, and it will stick firmly to it - all in one go, so it is called "Hejiao". .
Regarding footwear, red cloud shoes are generally used for large formal dresses (court clothes, sacrificial clothes); black cloud shoes or black cloth shoes are used for deep clothes; for women's clothing, formal wear is usually paired with bow shoes; round-neck robes are usually paired with soap boots or soap leather boots (Sui and Tang Dynasties) period); Formal wear such as Taoist robes and straight suits, in addition to cloth shoes, cloud-head shoes can be optional; casual wear cloth shoes and casual shoes are the most common; military uniforms (military uniforms)outfit), can be worn with soap boots and cloth shoes.
The main accessories are jade. Generally speaking, jade can be divided into several categories: headgear, earrings, necklaces, hand ornaments, and body ornaments. The common varieties include jade pieces, jade rings, jade jue, jade teeth, jade wengzhong, jade bracelets, finger rings, jade sword heads, Jade belt plate and so on. Nobles often have complete jade sets and are very particular about the order of wearing them. In addition to jade, the accessories of Hanfu also include knee coverings, shawls, socks, hats, sachets, swords, ribbons, seals, wats, dental plaques, leather belts, jade belts, kuai, and flying snakes.
From the Hanfu, we can see the charm of the ancient Han people - from head to toe, there are so many things to pay attention to. Aesthetic ability must be the result of cultural upbringing. It is the development of a person's empathy, sensitivity, imagination, and cultural vision through humanistic education. It not only determines aesthetic taste, but also relates to personality, temperament, and spirituality. In the long river of time, clothing has never been a weapon to tame people. It is a concerto that interweaves body perception and the quality of materials, and is a self-appreciation and recognition.
Hanfu elements loved by designers around the world:
Baoxianghua
Baoxianghua is an important decorative pattern widely popular on textiles in the Tang Dynasty. Baoxianghua is a patterned pattern. There is no such flower in reality. It combines the characteristics of lotus, peony, and chrysanthemum, and absorbs the essence of traditional patterns such as cloud pattern, honeysuckle pattern, and pomegranate pattern of Central Asian regional colors. In form, it adopts four-way or multi-way symmetrical radial shapes to make round and diamond shapes. , square shape is suitable for decorative patterns. Baoxianghua is a popular pattern that has accompanied the popularity of Buddhism since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and has auspicious and happy meanings. The shapes of Baoxiang flowers in different eras are also different. In the Tang Dynasty, lotus elements were mostly used, and later peonies became the main theme. The Italian brand Valentino used the beaded pattern for fashion design in its 2014 spring and summer haute couture.
Valentino's 2014 spring and summer women's clothing uses the beaded pattern
Clamp Valerian
American New York-based Chinese designer Tan Yanyu’s 2012 spring and summer haute couture wear uses the design element of the valerian pattern.
Tan Yanyu 2012 spring and summer haute couture
Clamping refers to a printing and dyeing process that uses engraving to sandwich and dye predetermined patterns on silk and cotton fabrics. It is one of the "Four Vales" of traditional Chinese printing and dyeing techniques (clamping, waxing, twisting, and graying, which is what is known today as clamping, dyeing, and dyeing). Batik, tie-dye, blue calico) one. Jiaval can be traced back to the Eastern Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties. A poem written by Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty, "A Gift to the Emperor's Doctor", goes: "The new valerian is worn in Chengdu, and the rouge of Liang and Han Dynasties is broken." Most of the Tang Dynasty painted Bodhisattvas in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang wore valerian clothes. In the early days, the valerian craftsmanship was rooted in the folk and spread to the court. The pattern of the small-sleeved shirt worn by a woman in a blue skirt in "Pounding and Training" painted by Zhang Xuan of the Tang Dynasty is quite similar to the valerian craftsmanship.
Cloud Shoulders French women's clothing brand Chanel and Chinese designer Guo Pei have both launched fashions inspired by cloud shoulders.
In the early Ming Dynasty, Yunjian was mostly used as a female kabuki in the court's ceremonial troupe to celebrate New Year's Day and court gatherings. Later, Yunjian became popular among women from all walks of life, especially young women, who were indispensable clothing for their weddings. Most cloud shoulders are composed of four cloud patterns, which are called the four-in-one Ruyi style. There are also willow leaf style, lotus style, etc., with auspicious patterns on them, such as rich peonies, good fortune and longevity, and fish all year round.
Yuhuan Shou
The Italian brand "It's Cavalli" launched an exquisite jade ring tassel necklace in the autumn and winter of 2013. American wedding dress designer Claire Pettibone used the element of "jade ring and ribbon" in her 2010 orchid dress series.
Women's skirts in the Song Dynasty were made of thin materials and were sometimes called "thin shirts and thin skirts." In order to prevent the skirt from spreading out and affecting the appearance, women in the Song Dynasty often hung a streamer made of ribbons in the middle of the skirt. Tie a ring knot and string a jade ring jade pendant, called "yuhuan sash" or "gong sash", to hold down the skirt. This is more common in contemporary Chinese clothing. (Xu Xiaotang)
