![Chinese Hanfu Traditional Culture Series: The Horse-Face Skirt](/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/gohanfugirl.webp)
In recent times, the horse-faced skirt, which has a long history and integrates contemporary life aesthetics, has become the top "national style", leading the new Chinese fashion trend and witnessing people's growing cultural confidence.
How long is the history of the horse-faced skirt? How many changes has it experienced? How does it embody the ancient Chinese clothing wisdom and aesthetic style?
——Editor
The horse-faced skirt is a very classic and representative style in traditional Chinese clothing. It has a long history, unique appearance, exquisite craftsmanship, and reasonable functions. It embodies the humanistic thoughts of Chinese traditional clothing culture that integrates beauty and function, and is written down.
In terms of shape structure, the horse-faced skirt consists of a skirt waist and two rectangular skirts. There is a skirt door on the left and right sides of each skirt (two skirts, a total of four skirt doors). When wearing, the skirt doors of the two skirts overlap at the front and middle parts of the back to form an inner and outer skirt door. The shape is overlapping and covering each other, with only two horse-faced skirt doors visible on the outside. Its style is similar to the two-piece spiral skirt of the Song Dynasty. The horse-faced skirts of the Ming Dynasty had live pleats on both sides. The skirts of the horse-faced skirts of the Qing Dynasty had no pleats or had fine pleats one centimeter wide, or were quilted and fixed between the fine pleats to form fish-scale pleats; the skirts of the horse-faced skirts of the Ming Dynasty There are decorative ruffles. The horse-faced skirts of the Qing Dynasty are embroidered with decorative patterns such as flowers and birds on the exposed skirt door and skirt body, while the inner skirt door is undecorated. The patterns of the horse-faced skirt are mainly concentrated on the hem of the skirt. They are complex at the bottom and gradually simplified at the top. The pattern themes are all patterns with beautiful meanings and the patterns are combined with each other.
The horse-faced skirt’s body opening and closing method, skirt door stacking, pleat structure, pattern decoration, cultural connotation and other factors combine to form its coexistence of movement, concealment, decoration and etiquette. The characteristics are the embodiment of the highly developed unique clothing-making wisdom and aesthetic characteristics of the ancient Chinese. Despite the development of society and the changes of times, people's lifestyles and dressing habits have undergone tremendous changes. However, the horse-faced skirt has lasted for hundreds of years and still exudes unique charm. It is not only loved by fans of traditional clothing and Hanfu, but also internationally. The fashion stage is valued and sought after by Western fashion brands and designers.
The pattern of the intersecting skirts and doors of the horse-faced skirt is both mobile and ceremonial
The horse-faced skirt is also called an enemy platform, a pier, or a wall platform. It was first seen in "Mozi" "Bei Lai" and "Bei Gaolin" in "Bei Lai" are named after their long and narrow appearance like a horse's face. It is a T-shaped structure that sticks out of the city wall. It can form an angle with the city wall to eliminate the blind spots under the city and attack the enemy from three sides from top to bottom. The Shimao site, "the largest city in prehistoric China" in Shenmu County, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, contains the earliest existing physical site of a horse face. Shen Kuo of the Northern Song Dynasty recorded in "Passing Through the Relics of Tongwan City in Daxia": "It is still called "Helian City" and is as dense as a stone... The city is not very thick, but the horse faces are extremely long and dense. I personally let people walk on it, and the horses Their faces are four feet long, and they are six to seven feet apart. If the horses are close together, the city does not need to be too thick, and it will be difficult to attack the city with manpower. If the horses are long, they can reflect the attackers below the city and be dense. Then the arrows and stones will hit each other, and when the enemy reaches the city, the arrows and stones will be thrown at them from all sides. It is a good method to prevent the enemy from reaching the city."
The use of "horse face" in clothing can be seen in "Ziuzhong" by Liu Ruoyu, an eunuch of the Ming Dynasty. Records about "Yisa" in "Yisa": "It has a continuous back placket, and hems on both sides, with two sections at the front, horse face pleats underneath, and ears on both sides." "Yisa" is a kind of robe, and "Yisa" is also a kind of robe. As "drag" and "yisha". It is made of skirt-style robe, which was originally a light and agile garment for military service. It is made of gauze, Luo, Guan and silk, with a large lapel and long sleeves. The shape of the front and back body of the garment is different, the back body is a whole piece; the front body is divided into two parts, the upper part of the waist is the same as the back part, and the lower part of the waist has fine pleats on both sides, and the middle is not folded, shaped like a horse's face, and the two armpits are decorated with pendulums.
Horse face—The Shimao site in Shenmu County, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province
The style of the horse-faced skirt with its front and rear doors covered can be traced back to the "spiral skirt" of the Song Dynasty that "opened the front and rear hips." "History of the Song Dynasty" Biography No. 246 records: "Spiral skirts overlap, and more wins." According to Sima Guang's records, "whirl skirts" were popular among prostitutes in Kyoto in the early Song Dynasty because they were easy to ride. Among the scholars and common people. The actual object is a brown peony flower lace skirt unearthed from Huang Sheng's tomb in Fuzhou. It is 83 cm long, 11.7 cm waist, 123 cm wide waist, and 133 cm wide hem. "Four pieces of material are used to separate the seams, and each two pieces are vertically seamed. Join them into pieces, and then stack them up and down according to their width. The middle piece is larger than the two sides. The top is seamed, and the hem is not sewn. The two layers of the skirt can be separated freely with a skirt waist attached at both ends. " Because it covers the front and back and can be opened and closed freely, it is easy to wear in daily life. When the wearer takes a slightly larger step, the skirts on both sides will naturally separate, making movement very convenient. This two-piece structure was inherited by the horse-faced skirts of the Ming Dynasty and the horse-faced skirts of the Qing Dynasty. This style of intersecting skirt doors is similar to the structure of the slit robe popular in ancient China. It is easy to move and has good mobility. It can also cover the body without exposing underwear and has good etiquette.
A lace skirt unearthed from the tomb of Huang Sheng in the Southern Song Dynasty in Fuzhou, Fujian
Tawny peony flower lace skirt
The horse-faced skirt is a characteristic dress of women in the Ming Dynasty, with pleats and The emphasis on decorative pleats is a distinctive feature
The horse-faced skirt among women's skirts in the Ming Dynasty was the most popular and well-known. According to "Jiajing Taikang County Chronicles": "During the Hongzhi period, women's clothes only covered the waist of their skirts; rich use of Luo, satin, yarn, and silk were used to weave gold-colored sleeves; the skirts were made of gold-colored knee pads, and their buns were more than an inch high. During the Zhengde period, Clothes became larger, skirts had more pleats, the shirts were patched with gold colors, and buns became higher. In the early Jiajing period, clothes were as large as the knees, and skirts were short and had fewer pleats..." records the popularity of horse-faced skirts during the Jiajing period. In the silk color painting "Ming Xianzong's Lantern Festival Parade" created by an unknown artist in the Ming Dynasty, there are many concubines wearing horse-faced skirts.
The concubines wearing horse-faced skirts in "Ming Xianzong's Lantern Festival Recreation Picture"
The "horse-faced skirt" of the Ming Dynasty is divided into two pieces, front and back, with a skirt waist, and there is no pleat in the middle overlap. The shape of the skirt door is a rectangular "horse face". Another important feature of the horse-faced skirts of the Ming Dynasty is the pleats on both sides of the skirt door, which greatly increases the movement space of the skirt and makes the skirt better wearable. In fact, such objects as the camel-colored lotus satin skirt unearthed from the Ming tomb at No. 618 Changxindian, Fengtai District, Beijing, in the middle Ming Dynasty, and the camel-colored lotus satin ground, composed of two large pieces, each 221 cm, made of skirt material Three and a half panels, 60 cm wide. The waist of the skirt is covered with a silk singlet, with a loop on each side, a ribbon at each end of the waist, and three pairs of pleats on the two hips. The skirt is 12 cm wide and decorated with flowers and birds. Another example is the 78-centimeter-long brocade satin horse-faced skirt unearthed from the tomb of Prince Ningjing’s wife Wu. The skirt is made of two pieces of cloth overlapping each other and covering the same waist. Each piece of cloth is stitched together from three and a half pieces of fabric. Width 60 cm.
The Ming Dynasty camel-colored satin skirt with lotus flowers and phoenix makeup
(The horse-faced satin skirt with broken branches unearthed from the tomb of Wu, the wife of Prince Ningjing)
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Zhiyu in "Zhu Zhiyu" "Shi Shun Shui Tan Qi" "Ming Dynasty Clothes Making Method" mentioned: "I see that there are twelve pieces of clothes made in the Ming Dynasty, and there are six pieces. There are one couplet on the left and right of the twelve pieces of clothes. The two ends of each couplet are full frames, and the middle Four panels, each using half a panel, the two panels are connected to make twelve panels. There are horse faces on the front and back, and there are six frames on each side of the body. The folds face each other front and back." It can be seen that the horse-faced skirts in the Ming Dynasty were made with pleats on both sides as live pleats. The rectangular fabric was folded into pleats, and the hem of the skirt was enlarged to meet the movement space of the lower body. In the Ming Dynasty, the horse-faced skirt with folded pleats has a "folded pleat" in the middle. The pleats are folded in opposite directions at equal intervals and connected to the waist. In fact, the real thing is like the King of JiaxingThe Ming Dynasty Four Seasons Flower, Bee and Butterfly Silk Skirt was unearthed from the tomb M4 of Li Xiang and his wife in Dian, with a waist length of 146 cm, a length of 71.5 cm, and a waist width of 10 cm. The pleats of the skirt are decorated with a jade pattern, and the pleats of the skirt are pleats in the middle, with three pleats facing each other.
Four Seasons Flower, Bee and Butterfly Silk Skirt in the Ming Dynasty
(Excavated from the tomb of Mr. and Mrs. Li Xiang in Wangdian, Jiaxing, M4, restored by the China Silk Museum)
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the "hide decoration" on the horse-faced skirt “Different ways of decorating appear. The structure of "襕" originated from the popular upper and lower deep clothing from the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty. The robe appeared in the Sui Dynasty, as evidenced by the "Old Book of Tang·Yu Fu Zhi": "Jin Gong Yu Wenhu ordered the robe to be added with a robe." According to the "History of the Song Dynasty·Yu Fu 5": "The robe is made of white fine cloth For this reason, they have round necks, big sleeves, and horizontal gussets underneath to make clothes..." It can be seen that the "襥" in the 襥shirts of the Song Dynasty refers to the "patchwork" stitching at the hem of the clothing body. The "襕" structure on the clothing of the Song Dynasty was spread to the Jin Dynasty at the same time as the Song Dynasty. The case "History of the Jin Dynasty·Yufuzhong" records: "The fifteen-year system said: robes do not have gussets, which is not ancient. Therefore, all civil servants and official uniforms were ordered to add gussets."
Ming Dynasty Horse Face Skirt" Due to the different parts of the decoration, "gust decoration" can be divided into knee ruffles at the knees and bottom ruffles at the hem of the skirt. Those who use gold thread to make embroidery ornaments are called "golden embroidery". Its width varies. According to the "Taikang County Chronicle": "During the Hongzhi Period (Ming Dynasty), women's clothes only covered the waist of their skirts. They used rich materials such as Luo, satin, yarn, and silk to weave gold-colored sleeves, and their skirts were made of gold-colored knee pads, and their buns were more than an inch high." Wealthy women Ruyi ornaments are also widely used. For example, a Ming Dynasty Ruyi cloud satin-woven gold ruffle pleated single skirt unearthed from the Wangluo family tomb in Wujin has a skirt length of 92 cm, a waist width of 116 cm, a hem width of 120 cm, and a horse face width of 31.6 cm. The fabric is yellow-green damask. There are 8 pleats on each side of the skirt, with a horse face and no waist. The middle part of the skirt is woven with twisted gold thread with a 11.3 cm wide ribbon, decorated with Liuji, lotus, vases and flag-like patterns. The hem is woven with twisted gold thread and has a 6.5 cm wide banner-like decorative belt. Another example is the Ming Dynasty unearthed from the tomb of the Wangluo family in Wujin, a fragment of a phoenix with folded branches and damask woven with gold. The fragment is 57 cm long and 45 cm wide. The fabric is brown damask. The damask is woven with patterns such as phoenix, peony, lotus, broken branches, and miscellaneous treasures. The golden weaving part is made of gold threads woven into the flower weft, and is decorated with auspicious patterns such as symmetrical vase and canopy.
Ming Dynasty phoenix dance, folded branches, damask and gold embroidery fragments
(unearthed from the Wangluo family tomb in Wujin, collected by Wujin Museum)
Double-embroidered horse-faced skirts were popular in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. At this time, women's coats were as long as the knees, and even only 5 inches off the ground. This is evidenced by the "Sheng'an Waiji": "In Jingzhong, the women from all directions were no different from men, hanging straight to the knees, only five inches from the ground, and four feet from the ground." Yu. "Jiajing's "Hongya County Chronicles": "Their clothing was more simple in the past, but more recently, women tended to dress more colorfully, with straight updos, wide and long sleeves, and long skirts." During the Jiajing period, long women's coats were the most popular. . Since the knee pads are covered by the top, the bottom pads gradually become larger. The actual objects include the Ming Dynasty horse-faced skirt, the red dark flower satin embroidered cloud python skirt, the Ming Dynasty green ground floral gauze python skirt, the Ming Dynasty blue tangled four-season flower woven gold floral satin skirt. The latter has a skirt length of 88 cm and a waist circumference of 104 cm. The upper part is inlaid with red gauze skirt waist, and the knee darts of blue satin brocade are decorated with four-season flowers. There are three skirt darts on the bottom. From top to bottom, they are: woven gold cloud pattern, The phoenix wears peonies, and the colorful silk threads are woven with phoenix wears peonies and lotus ornamental patterns. Another example is the Ming Dynasty flower-patterned silk horse-face skirt unearthed from the Ming Dynasty Tomb in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province. The fabric is floral-patterned silk, with skirt pleats on both sides of the waist, and the skirt is designed with wide knees and narrow bottom. Another example is the girl's room in the tomb of Zhang Shouzong and his wife in Guizhou, which was unearthed from the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. A satin horse-faced skirt with cloud pattern and a horse-faced skirt with unicorn, zhicao, lotus pond and egret pattern. The former is 90 cm in length, 106 cm in waist circumference, 7.5 cm in waist width, and 368 cm in skirt width. It is spread out in a fan shape and is made of beige satin with zigzag moiré and chrysanthemum patterns. Horse-front skirt with openable skirt door and left and right pleats. The latter skirt has slits at the door and pleats on the left and right. It is a brown satin horse-faced skirt. The knee pleats are unicorn grass and continuous pattern flowers of 15 cm; the bottom pleat of 20.5 cm includes a layer of tree patterns, deer and bird patterns of 5.5 cm, and another layer of lotus pond herons. The pattern is 15cm in lotus pond and egret pattern.
Red dark satin cloud python horse-faced skirt of Ming Dynasty (old collection of Confucius Mansion)
Ming Dynasty blue tangled four-season flower woven gold-embroidered satin skirt (old collection of Confucius)
The Qing Dynasty horse-faced skirt has rich styles, in which the pleats are replaced by strips. A kind of three-dimensional effect
The horse-faced skirt became very popular in the Qing Dynasty and became the daily and iconic dress of Han women in the Qing Dynasty. It is composed of two identical skirt pieces. When wearing, the buttons or ropes on the waist of the skirt need to be fastened.
In the early Qing Dynasty, horse-faced skirts were decorated with one or more rims around the skirt door (except the waist part). The skirt door is decorated with patterns such as dragon patterns, phoenix patterns, sea water cliffs, pavilions, cloud patterns, butterflies and flowers. The bottom end of the pattern fits the square shape of the skirt door, while the upper end is flexible. The actual object is a Qing Dynasty green and dark floral silk ground embroidered horse-faced skirt, 100 cm long and 105 cm wide at the hem. The front skirt door is embroidered with auspicious patterns such as peonies, chrysanthemums, bergamots, red bats, and aquariuses, which symbolize "The sky is filled with great blessings, good luck and wealth." Scattered flowers and bat patterns are embroidered on both sides of the skirt door, echoing the main pattern. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, with the accelerated pace of life and the simplification of aesthetics, the structure of the horse-faced skirt and skirt door still existed, but the pattern gradually disappeared, and finally only the edge decoration remained.
Horse-faced skirts with green and dark floral silk ground embroidered with floral patterns in the Qing Dynasty
In the Qing Dynasty, horse-faced skirts in the Ming Dynasty were made of rectangular fabric folded to increase the space for movement. The process of splicing fabrics and decorating the seams with ruffles was replaced, and it was called "ruffle skirt" at that time. The actual object is a three-blue embroidered side pleated skirt on Qingjiang purple satin from the Tsinghua University Art Museum. It is 97 cm long and 107 cm wide at the hem. The skirt door is embroidered with peonies using three-blue flat stitch, three-blue embroidery and gold plate embroidery. , eight treasure patterns and sea water river cliff teeth. Another example is the bright red horse-face skirt embroidered with three blue and butterfly flowers in the Qing Dynasty, the horse-face skirt embroidered with four dragons and eight phoenix patterns on the green satin ground, and the horse-face skirt embroidered with sapphire blue satin appliqués in the Qing Dynasty. The latter is 97 centimeters long and 144 centimeters wide at the hem. The skirt is decorated with a combination of aquariums and peonies, a combination of wealth and peace, and is inlaid with black rhizome stems. The "rump stems" are decorated with vertical stripes of peony and aquarium patterns.
Qing Dynasty purple satin ground three-blue embroidered side pleated skirt
Horse-faced skirt with colorful embroidery of four dragons and eight phoenixes on the green satin floor in the Qing Dynasty
Li Dou's "Yangzhou Painted Fang Lu" in the Qing Dynasty records that Yangzhou women's daily clothing has "twenty-four pleats" and "jade" The actual "skirt" is a horse-faced skirt with embroidered peonies and butterflies on apricot red dark floral silk ground in the Tsinghua University Art Museum. It is 99 cm long and 88 cm wide at the hem. The front skirt door is fully embroidered with peonies, plum blossoms, butterflies and other patterns, and is inlaid with black and blue ground. Flower lace is embroidered, and the skirt is pleated on both sides. The bottom of each pleat is colorfully embroidered with flower branches and inlaid with a total of 24 laces. The skirt on the apricot red silk ground has a black "tuck" edge and the yarn direction is diagonal.The direction of the yarn is perpendicular to the bottom edge, and the black "襕干" on the horse face also takes the same direction, showing a satin glossy texture. The black quill not only has the function of covering the splicing lines of the skirt, but can also reinforce the shape of the skirt through different yarn directions, and is conducive to the formation of an "expanded cone" modeling effect.
Horse-faced skirts with apricot red dark floral silk embroidered with peony and butterfly patterns on the ground in the Qing Dynasty
Pleated horse-faced skirts were also popular in the Qing Dynasty. Volume 9 of Li Dou's "Yangzhou Painted Boat Record" records: "In recent times, the whole style has been The satin pleats are made of thin pleats, which are called hundred folds. "The pleats on both sides of the pleated skirt are pleated toward the middle. Each pleat is only about 1 cm wide, and the pleats are fixed, which is sometimes called "downwind pleats." Li Yu in the Qing Dynasty once said of this skirt, "This skirt is suitable for formal wear, but not suitable for home use. It saves material resources." The actual object is such as the clear red dark flower silk ground embroidered landscape plum butterfly pattern pleated fish scale horse face skirt in the collection of Tsinghua University Art Museum. It is 97 centimeters long, 76 centimeters wide at the hem, and has 50 fine pleats on each side. The total number is exactly 100. It is a veritable "pleated skirt". The front skirt and the center of the back skirt are embroidered with patterns such as "Qilin sends his son", "Five sons win the first prize" and "Official belt passes on". The skirt door has a wide border and is decorated with four layers of trim from the inside to the outside. The fourth layer is white satin ground stitch embroidery with branch lace, and is made into a Ruyi cloud head pattern in the middle part of the skirt door.
The Qing Dynasty red and dark floral silk ground embroidered landscape plum and butterfly pattern pleated fish scale horse-faced skirt
The late Qing Dynasty's "Beijing Bamboo Branch Poems of the Qing Dynasty·Time Sample Skirt" said: "How can the phoenix tail not be heard for so long? There are many different styles of lint jackets, but nowadays, fish scale pleated skirts are worn no matter what time of year. "In order to make these fine pleats not easy.It is scattered and out of shape, and the pleats are fixed in a certain way with fine thread quilting and cross-connection. When the wearer walks, the pleats resemble fish scales, so it is called "fish scale pleated skirt". The vertical pleats are fixedly sutured about 2 cm apart, and the transverse pleat stitching points are staggered up and down, and so on. The entire pleat surface is elastic and movable pleats. The "fish scale pleats" are delicate and even, and are quite beautiful. The actual object is a grass-green dark floral silk printed fish scale skirt collected by the Tsinghua University Art Museum. It is 103 cm long and 80 cm wide at the hem. The skirt door is made of cutout and printed with delicate flowers, and is decorated with a black silk Ruyi cloud head trim. The hem of the skirt door is decorated with "Carved and embroidered" two wishful cloud heads, edged with yellow silk and lined with red silk; another example is the clear red dark flower sesame yarn embroidered figure and landscape pattern fish scale skirt collected by the Tsinghua University Art Museum, 98 cm long and 72 cm wide at the hem. Red dark flower sesame gauze ground, fish scale skirt style, embroidered figures and landscape patterns in the center of the skirt door, embroidered fruits, rocks, houses and distant mountains with seeds, embroidered figures' faces with straight stitches, outlined with gold plate and nail thread embroidery; For example, the Tsinghua University Art Museum collects the Qing lotus dark floral silk flat gold embroidered flower pattern pleated fish scale skirt, which is 87 cm long and 60 cm wide at the hem. The front skirt door is decorated with flat gold embroidered flowers and is inlaid with organic woven butterfly lace. The sides are pleated and pleated. The traces are fine, and the pleats of the skirt are decorated with ribbons. The ends of the ribbons are decorated with Ruyi cloud heads, and are decorated with metal beads and moon-white threads.
Qing Dynasty grass green dark floral silk printed fish scale skirt
Qing Dynasty red dark flower sesame gauze embroidered figure and landscape pattern fish scale skirt
The Qing Dynasty lotus dark floral silk floor-flat gold embroidered flower pattern pleated fish scale skirt
The "Yuehua skirt" with multi-color pleats and colorful satin patchwork is also a trendy item in the Qing Dynasty. Because it was too wasteful of materials and labor, Li Yu from the Qing Dynasty called the Yuehua skirt "artificial and material materials, ten times that of ordinary skirts, a waste of natural resources, needless to say." The actual object is Xue Yan's "Xia Skirt Trailing the Rainbow - Ancient and Modern Chinese Women's Skirts" Included in the collection of the China National Silk Museum is a bright red dark floral silk Yuehua skirt (Fig. 45). Two overlapping pieces form a skirt door. There are two edges on the horse face and skirt hem. The outer one is blue plain satin with colorful embroidery of folded branches and peony flowers. , trimmed with white plain sections; the inner strip is a black satin ribbon with butterfly flowers, longevity peach and grape patterns, trimmed with blue and white woven lace. The pleats on both sides of the skirt are made of ten colors of silk fabrics: green, silver grey, purple, orange, white, blue, rose red, yellow, light pink and water red. The skirt is colorful and bright when the wind blows. The moon halo shines brightly and is called the moonlight skirt.
The bright red dark floral silk Yuehua Skirt (collected by the China National Silk Museum)
The Qing Dynasty Fengwei Skirt is a strip-shaped female skirt made of colored strips of cloth connected to the waist. It is also named because its end is sharp and resembles a phoenix tail. Two of them are wider, and the rest are made into narrow strips. Each strip is embroidered with different patterns, and both sides are inlaid with rolled gold thread or decorated with lace. The back is fixed with colored strips and the skirt waist is embellished. It must be worn with a petticoat, which is mostly worn by young women from wealthy families. It is also worn by commoner women when they get married. It was named because its shape is similar to that of a phoenix tail, and it was popular from the Kangxi to Qianlong years of the Qing Dynasty. Volume 9 of "Yangzhou Painted Boat Record" by Li Dou of the Qing Dynasty: "skirt styleCut strips of satin, embroider each strip, and inlaid with gold thread on both sides. The pieces are broken into skirts, which are called phoenix tails. "Phoenix tail skirt is often worn as an accessory to the horse-faced skirt, and is sometimes called "phoenix-tail horse-faced skirt".
Colorful satin ground embroidered dragon and phoenix pattern phoenix tail skirt
Pleated phoenix tail skirt with colorful cloud pattern, dark floral silk and colorful embroidery in the Qing Dynasty
The phoenix tail skirt was later connected with the long coat and evolved into ceremonial wedding costumes and "dance clothes" used in opera performances. For example, the Tsinghua University Art Museum has a collection of satin-ground colorful embroidered dance clothes. The phoenix tail part follows the strip-cut shape and is composed of double-layer phoenix tail embroidery pieces. The colors are rich, the embroidery is exquisite, and it is very gorgeous.
Tsinghua University Art Museum collection of satin ground colorful embroidered dance clothes
WorkAuthor: Jia Xizeng
Text: Jia Xizeng (Ph.D. supervisor, Department of Dyeing, Weaving and Fashion Design, Academy of Fine Arts, Tsinghua University) Editor: Fan Xin Editor: Shao Ling
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