![The Elegant and Refined Era of Hanfu in the Song Dynasty](/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/gohanfugirl.webp)
▲ The wind reveals colorful clothes. Photo courtesy/Chengdu Linxi Photography
-Fengwujunyu-
"Qingpingle" is finished
Will the back wave of Hanfu come?
In the chants of "Emperors and gods, make pilgrimages at all times", the first screen-dominating hit drama "Qing Ping Le" in the Gengzi Year came to an end.
This song "Ode to the Holy Virtues of Qingli" is indeed the setting sun of Song Renzong, Empress Cao, and Huirou. It is also a literary paradise for talented people and beauties, and white-clothed ministers. It is also a prosperous and prosperous age for peddlers and peddlers. .
▲ Stills from the TV series "Qing Ping Le". Picture/Network
Although "Qing Ping Le" has reached its final chapter, the storm brought by this butterfly has just begun. At noon on May 11, 2020, a certain merchant launched a new series of Hanfu "Spring Here" made in the Song Dynasty. It sold 450,000+ orders on that day alone, and it has reached 600,000+ in two weeks, setting a record in the history of Hanfu merchants. It announced in a high-profile manner that Hanfu "big The advent of the "Song Fengya" era.
▲ Different styles of "Fengya Song" Hanfu. Photo courtesy/Chengdu Linxi Photography
Of course, Hanfu, a "child wearing a bed sheet," did not suddenly become popular. From 2002, people began to discuss traditional Han costumes on forums, and then Wang Letian, "the first person to take to the streets with Hanfu", made his own Quju (a type of Hanfu) Hanfu style) put on the streets, and then the young people in Hanfu on the streets in Station B's "Hou Lang" have become an important cultural symbol of this generation, and it has been eighteen years now.
▲ A clip of Hanfu in the video of Station B’s “Houlang”. Picture/Video of "Back Wave"
Hanfu, which first picked up snippets from TV dramas and then drew inspiration from traditional costumes, is trying to condense the symbols of "beauty" in different eras: the heroic appearance of Wei and Jin Dynasties, the beady and round beads of Tang style, and the slender waist of Song Dynasty. Thin...
The first to become the benchmark for Hanfu was the Hanfu made in the Ming Dynasty, which advocated "thickness and slimness, and shortening to suit the needs".
How elegant can a "Mingfeng" skirt be?Wide robes with big sleeves, layers upon layers, and deep skirts... The Ming style, which is not too flattering on the figure, is the "Ivy" of Hanfu.
The most popular thing is a plain coat skirt. Just like in the novels of the Ming Dynasty, during the New Autumn period, the golden breeze recommends women's dresses: "The moon girl wears a pair of willow-green silk jackets, a light blue water silk skirt, and gold-red crested high-soled shoes." The lines are soft. , like calligraphy. "Duijin jacket" means "double-breasted jacket". The collar types include round collar, crossed collar, square collar and stand-up collar. Among them, the stand-up collar was popular in the late Ming Dynasty, which not only keeps warm, but also shows the slender neck. Sleeves are divided into large sleeves, pipa sleeves and narrow sleeves. The pipa sleeves, in particular, have soft curves and are popular among people at the time.
Slide left
▲ Picture 1: Ming-made vertical collar cloak, Picture 2: Ming-made coat skirt. Photography/Chen Runxi
The most distinctive representative is a flowing horse-face skirt: there are four skirt doors at the front and back, which overlap when worn. The skirt is decorated with pick lines, woven gold, clay silver, etc., and the sides are pleated. The number of pleats was initially six pairs, following the ancient ritual, "the skirt drags six pictures of the Xiangjiang River water"; by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the number of pleats gradually increased, to eight or even ten pairs, and they moved like water patterns when walking. Wearing a horse-faced skirt, she really looked like a woman like water, with an astonishing grace.
Slide left
▲Horse skirt. Picture 1 courtesy/Lan Ruoting; Picture 2 courtesy/Chengdu Linxi Photography Minghuatang Series
But if you want to choose a dress that can satisfy the diverse tastes of ordinary lovers, cultural relic restorationists, daily wearers and even Chinese and Western eclectic people, the "Poirot Flower and Bird Embroidered Skirt" is the first choice. The base material of this skirt is dark plum blossom white silk. The waist is spliced with dark diamond-patterned white silk. The hem of the skirt is colorfully embroidered with red, green, yellow, blue, and black silk threads of mountains, rocks, flowers, butterflies, small bridges, flowing water, and hundreds of flowers. Patterns such as birds, colorful phoenixes, etc., what you really want is what you have. In particular, the golden teeth can be seen faintly at the bottom of the skirt, which hides the "carefulness" of beauty.
▲ Ming Dynasty, Bailuo embroidered skirt. Selected from the catalog "Elegance is here - Clothes from the Confucius Mansion's Old Collection". In 2013, the Shandong Provincial Museum held the "Special Exhibition of Costumes from the Old Collection of the Confucius Mansion", and the catalog was compiled after the exhibition.
This skirt is so eye-catching that Hanfu enthusiasts always say, "Every girl should have a flower and bird skirt": from the printed chiffon version to the machine-embroidered imitation flower pattern, the most precious one is the one made of Ding. Weaving white Luo as the base, using Suzhou embroidery techniques to restore the pattern. "Double mandarin duck belts on the embroidered Luo skirt will keep you in the heart of spring year after year." The cost of an embroidered Luo skirt with a beautiful vision is as high as five figures, and you have to wait for a year to receive this precious work of art.
Slide left
▲ Q-version drawing of Ming Dynasty clothes and crowns. Cartography/Master of Extracting Beauty
The richness of Hanfu made in the Ming Dynasty can be seen from the "reference plan" that a simple skirt can have. The owner of Xie Fang once published a set of "Q version of the Ming Dynasty Clothing and Crown Illustrations". Although it is a popular science of ancient costumes, it has unintentionally influenced the hearts of Hanfu lovers. The matching of the Q version is clear at a glance, and the characters are well-behaved and cute, making you fall in love instantly. The style of this book refers to the "Da Ming Huidian" and "Ming History", and the actual objects refer to the cultural relics of the Ming Dynasty imperial mausoleums and the old clothing collection of the Confucius House.
▲ Ming Dynasty, fragrant color hemp fish robe. Selected from the catalog "Elegance is Here - Clothes from the Confucius Mansion's Old Collection"
If a man who loves Hanfu wants to stand up, he can imitate a "fragrance-colored hemp fish robe" from the old collection of the Confucius House. This flying fish robe is made with a close-fitting lining, a crossed collar, a large right lapel, wide sleeves and waist, two pairs of blue ties under the armpits, and a wide hem. White silk collar, colorful woven yoke, flying fish waves on the river cliff, colorful flowing clouds and walking flying fish on the shoulders, sleeves, and knee pads, youthful and vibrant, everywhere.
Friends who are familiar with costume dramas may blurt out that this is the flying fish suit worn by Jin Yiwei! In fact, the term "flying fish suit" is really a "beautiful mistake". All clothes with "flying fish" patterns can be called flying fish suits, and the correct shape is called "tieli" or "yisa".
▲Stills of "Xiu Chun Knife". Picture/Network
"History of the Ming Dynasty Official Records" records: "The Jin Yiwei... will wear flying fish clothes and embroidered spring knives when facing the sun, evening moon, farming and livestock, and will serve on the left and right." The crew of "Embroidered Spring Knife" mistakenly mistook the clothes worn during the ceremony The clothes have become the daily uniforms of Jinyiwei. In "Under the Jinyi", Sir Lu Yi's Nuannuan tour around the capital is irresistible, and Feiyu clothes have become a hot item in Ming Dynasty men's clothing.
In addition, Ming's imitators have more abundant "ammunition." In "History of the Ming Dynasty and Clothing Records", there are detailed regulations from the emperor down to the common people, dancers and even monks. Not to mention that the Confucius Mansion contains thousands of Ming Dynasty costumes, including damask, Luo, silk, satin, etc. Crepe, yarn and other surfaceThe materials are made using a variety of techniques such as embroidery, tapestry, hand-painting, printing and dyeing, as well as accessories, headwear... There are so many patterns that it is impossible to imitate them.
Slide left
▲ Picture 1: Gold-inlaid hat top. Figure 2: Gold inlaid with precious stones and white jade hollow cloud dragon crown. Figure 3: The crown of the hat is inlaid with gold filigree and gems. Figure 4: Gold crown with colorless sapphire. Figure 5: Top of hat set with gold and sapphire. Unearthed from the tomb of King Liangzhuang, Ming Dynasty, collected by Hubei Provincial Museum. Photography/Artery Shadow
From the rich accessories and headwear, to the various clothing styles of the Ming Dynasty, and even the imitation of Ming Dynasty homes and courtyards, these elements together create a magnificent "Ming Dynasty style".
Slide left
▲ Ming Dynasty Hanfu and group portraits. Photography/Chen Runxi
Deja Vu "Song" returnsHowever, the popularity of Hanfu changes even faster than the four seasons. The elegant and elegant Ming Dynasty system fell out of favor once it encountered the elegant and feminine "Elegance of the Song Dynasty". I rubbed my blue shirt and apricot-yellow skirt, and leaned alone against the jade railing speechless; the gauze skirt was dyed tulip-yellow, and Bo Luoyi made an appointment with Mingzhuang; the scarf was dyed in sky blue, and the skirt was lightly ruffled in blood... It's true that "people don't regret when their wallets get thinner," It's just on my brow, but it's on my heart."
Slide left
▲ Imitation of Song Dynasty ladies. Photography/Chen Runxi
The most popular trend of women's clothing in the Song Dynasty was the trousers, which had parallel double straight collars and were as long as the knees, elongating the proportions of the human body and making the woman wearing the trousers look weak and charming. In one word, she looked stunning. thin.
▲ Brick rubbings from a Song tomb in Yanshi, Henan. Cartography/Xun
The production of kuzi is exquisite. The Song Dynasty advocated frugality and elegance. In addition to the unique texture of the body of the robe, the kuzi is often decorated with embroidery on the skirt, cuffs, and side seams of the armpits, ranging from figures and flowers to birds, animals and landscapes. , gold printing and other craft decorations quite show the implicit beauty of Chinese style.
▲ Southern Song Dynasty, smoked plum blossom embroidered lace singlet, collected by Fujian Museum. Photography/Artery Shadow
Several jackets unearthed from Huang Sheng's tomb in the Southern Song Dynasty were mostly "Luo" in color. Luo uses twisted warp tissue, which is light and thin in texture and has slender strands. The warp threads are twisted with each other to form stable holes, which is exactly the "Qiluo strands visible on the skin". Behind it is the Luo weaving technology that reached its peak in the Song Dynasty. Material wealth promoted the spirit. There is a poem by Yan Shu, "A beautiful lady tries a thin Luo shirt for the first time", and a poem by Li Qingzhao, "Easy to undress the Luo Shang, and go on an orchid boat alone."
▲ Part of "Gele Tu", collected by Shanghai Museum. Photo courtesy/Shanju Sanren
The recent "Qing Ping Le" is enough to remind people of that golden age of literati: in the court, famous ministers and scholars quarreled and tit-for-tat; below the court, scholar-bureaucrats wore hairpins on their hats and horses trampled the streets. Bianliang's carved beams, painted buildings and embroidered household bead curtains attract an endless stream of merchants. Order tea, burn incense, arrange flowers, and enjoy the leisurely and quiet "slow life".
Such an elegant background gave birth to the familiar "reciting and dictating the whole text" of later generations: Ouyang Xiu, Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu, Su Shi, Fu Bi... No wonder Chen Yinke said that "the culture of the Chinese nation has evolved over thousands of years and reached its peak." During the Zhao and Song Dynasties."
▲ Good clothes must have good accessories. Design/Xun
Just like the section of Queen Mother Liu E's "Visiting the temple in official uniform", we can get a glimpse of the ancient imperial uniform system. Duke Zhou established rituals and music and established a relatively complete system of crowns and uniforms. Later generations basically inherited the weekly system, with only slight changes in specific details. Among them, Gongfu, together with "Mianguan", is called "Gunmian". It is the most noble dress in ancient times. It was only worn by the emperor during major ceremonies such as worshiping heaven and earth, and ancestral temples.
▲ In "Qing Ping Le", Empress Dowager Liu's uniform. Picture/Network
In the play, Empress Dowager Liu has been listening to politics behind the curtain and taking charge of the court for many years. In the first year of the Ming Dynasty, she asked to wear Gong robes to worship at the Taimiao Temple, which caused an uproar in both the government and the public. mostLater, with the support of Renzong and Yan Shu, Empress Dowager Liu removed the Zongyi and algae patterns symbolizing cleanliness and filial piety from the twelve chapter patterns on her uniform, removed the sword, and visited the Ancestral Temple. This woman has endured decades of hardships in the imperial court. Although she has no intention of becoming emperor, her pride and perseverance in showing her achievements to her ancestors moved all the audiences.
In order to depict this Northern Song Dynasty style picture in detail, clothing, makeup, and props (hereinafter referred to as Fu Hua Dao) are crucial. According to the promotion, this drama invited Chen Shiyu, the costume consultant of "National Treasure", to participate in some costume research. From the emperor and queen to the traffickers and pawns, more than 3,000 sets of costumes were customized, which can be said to be very careful.
Slide left
▲ A collection of stills from "Qing Ping Le". Picture/Network
TV series such as "Emperor of Han Dynasty" have become the first thoughts of Hanfu lovers. In recent years, the craze of Hanfu has forced film and television dramas to be more meticulous in the way of clothing, making people "immersive". For example, in "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an", the dance of Tanqi immediately brings back the dream of the majestic Chang'an that is full of flowers but like burning oil. This is probably the charm of "people and clothes".
What creates the beauty of Hanfu?Hanfu has built a dream of brilliant culture for fans, and behind this beauty, a pair of pairs are inseparable.Smart hands. Today's Hanfu no longer wears sheets on the streets. Many local crafts have been reactivated by Hanfu. This is probably an unexpected surprise.
▲Suzhou tapestry making process. Photography/Chen Jian
Just like the word "Luo" in silk and satin, this word carries today's infinite imagination of ancient scenery. Luo has become a frequent visitor in Song poetry. In "A Dream of Red Mansions", Jia Mu mentioned a kind of "soft smoke": "That soft smoke... If you make a tent and cover the windows, looking at it from a distance, it will look like smoke." The smoke is the same, so it's called 'soft smoke', and the silver-red one is called 'Xia Yingsha'." After the rain, the sky is blue, the color of autumn fragrance, the pine green, and the silvery red. Although I haven't seen it yet, the boundless wind and moon have already fallen in my heart.
▲Songluo fabrics displayed at Suzhou Intangible Culture Center. Picture/Network
Before the rise of Hanfu, it was difficult to find close friends for "Luo" in China. The few high-end Hualuo factories in Suzhou were mainly engaged in the production of "kimono" and "Hanbok" for export to Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. "Sang comes out of Luo Xi, silk comes out, and silk and silk make-up bring out Pingting." In this way, "Su Luo" is in trouble with "Hu Ling".
Huzhou, because it is located on the shore of Taihu Lake, the soil is suitable for planting mulberry and raising silkworms. Since the Tang Dynasty, it has been an important silk production area and is known as "Lake silk all over the world." "The flower is damask, the plain silk is silk." In the Ming Dynasty, Huzhou damask production reached its peak, and it was famous for being as light as cicada wings and as thin as morning mist. In the Qing Dynasty, it was even exported to Japan and Southeast Asian countries, and became popular overseas.
▲ Silk patterns from the Ming Dynasty: falling flowers and flowing water damask (upper left), Qiulu brocade (upper right), lantern satin (lower left) and dragon and phoenix woven gold satin embroidery (lower right). Selected from "History of Chinese Clothing"
Since modern times, damask and silk fabrics have been mainly used for mounting calligraphy, painting and handicrafts. Nowadays, some Hanfu merchants have cooperated with Huzhou intangible cultural heritage inheritors and established the "Hu Ling Pavilion" in Keqiao, Shaoxing, displaying and selling Hanfu made by Guanghua Ling, Jin Ling, Hu Ling, etc., so that "Red Sleeve Woven Ling boasts persimmon stems, The charm of "selling wine while enjoying the pear blossoms" can be reproduced in the world.
▲ Xiangcheng Yuanhe tapestry is a traditional handicraft technique. Photography/Wang Jianjiang
In addition to Suzhou embroidery and silk, Hanfu is indispensable with accessories. This also led to many crafts that were once popular.
During the Kangxi period of the early Qing Dynasty, Yangzhou became famous all over the world for its grass and flowers. Tongcaohua uses Tongcao as raw material to imitate the flower shape. It has soft texture and elegant color, and is known as the "flower that never thanks". Empress Fucha once ordered to "abandon pearls and jade and use velvet flowers as decoration instead." During the Republic of China, it was even customary for everyone in Yangzhou to wear flowers.
▲ Yangzhou velvet flower technique. Photo courtesy/Chengdu Linxi Photography
The modern art of making flowers is already on the verge of being lost. A post-95s Hanfu enthusiast named "Yun Yu" brought it to the attention of Hanfu enthusiasts as a Hanfu headwear, attracting the attention and learning of many young people. Masters of intangible cultural heritage have even started live-streaming to sell goods, which has given Tongcaohua new vitality.
Nanjing Velvet Flowers, once known as "Palace Flowers", and Hubei Yingshan Tanghua Flowers, known for their "small", "clever", "excellent" and "living"...these intangible cultural heritage handicrafts that have almost disappeared have been reactivated and are the basis for today's Hanfu. Create the finishing touch.
Hanfu, where are you going?At the end of April, the China Silk Museum announced that the theme of this year’s “National Silk and Hanfu Festival” is “Elegance of the Song Dynasty.” What is surprising is that Guosi has launched a high-end Song Dynasty Hanfu suit, featuring three stylesThe base material is made of gauze, plain silk, and flower damask, and the patterns are carved with Su embroidery and gold printing techniques. The cost is high. Two days later, Lan Ruoting announced the release of the 5.11 Hanfu made in the Song Dynasty. The set has rich colors and the price remains the same as before. Low through the center of the earth.
▲ High-end Hanfu suit made in the Song Dynasty. Photo courtesy/Chengdu Linxi Photography
High-end and mass, wealth and frugality depend on people, costume dramas provide imagination, museums and handicrafts provide nourishment, and become the "storytelling" that merchants are good at. As said in "Houlang", "turn the traditional into the modern" ; Turn classics into popular ones."
▲ Modern Hanfu office and subway stationscene. Photography/Weibo @甄雨湘 Models/Xuanji, YaYa, Xiaomo, Aling, Chu Ming, Youyu, Qingxuan
Hanfu is also fading away from the noise of presence and absence, moving with the trend of business, and returning to its essence as clothing - in line with the season, wearing it, feeling the tranquility of the years, and imagining the eternal romance.