Clothing and eating are the two most important things in human life.
For thousands of years, the Chinese nation has used its own wisdom and skills to create a splendid and unique clothing culture in production practice and social life. It is an important part of Chinese civilization and an important part of the world. A shining pearl in the cultural treasure house. The essence of traditional clothing culture has been creatively transformed and developed innovatively, shining with a new look and becoming the cornerstone of enhancing cultural confidence.
What kind of clothing-making method made Shen Congwen admired in the book?
"Chun Qiu Zuo Zhuan Zhengyi" records: "China has great etiquette, so it is called Xia; it has the beauty of clothes and seals, so it is called Hua." Since ancient times, our country has been a "state of etiquette" and "clothing and crown". With the reputation of "Shangguo", the ancients who advocated benevolence and believed in rituals and music, hid the rituals in utensils, served them as rituals, and integrated the order of the universe, the ethics of the family and the country, and the national spirit into their clothes.
(Ming Dynasty Yan Sheng Gong court dress)
"Throughout the thousands of years of development of traditional Chinese clothing, the cherishment of objects and care for people are fully demonstrated." Fashion and Art Design of Xi'an Polytechnic University Lu Zhao, dean of the college, said that taking the tailoring of traditional clothing as an example, there is either no cutting at all, appropriate cutting, or reorganization after cutting, which not only creates a rich clothing structure, but also effectively reduces the waste of materials.
It is recorded in "Huainanzi": "A piece of cloth can be used to make a standard "deep garment" in ancient times. People have realized that clothing styles need to be adapted to the fabric specifications of the time.
The ancients advocated the concept of "making the best use of everything" when making clothes. A single garment unearthed from a tomb in Mashan, Jiangling, Hubei during the Warring States Period was made of a single square fabric with a weaving width of about 50 cm. , adopting a "one-piece" T-shaped structure. Shen Congwen said in the book "Research on Ancient Chinese Costumes" that this production method "makes extremely full use of materials."
(Warring States period phoenix pattern embroidered silk clothes unearthed from Chu Tomb No. 1 in Mashan)
(Left: Schematic diagram of garment cutting, Right: Schematic diagram of sewing)
Behind the tangible clothing is the invisible spiritual power. The traditional Chinese clothing concept generally emphasizes the inner spirit of people and gives it moral and personality connotations, becoming an important carrier of the national spirit.
Lovers of Chinese costume culture call each other "fellows". The word "Tongpao" comes from "The Book of Songs·Qin Feng·Wuyi": "How can I say Wuyi? I am in the same robe as my son." It expresses the feelings of family and country among the soldiers on the battlefield who unite and fight hard.
Today, Chinese costume culture enthusiasts use this title to emphasize the spirit of unity and friendship, which is not only the recognition of common interests and hobbies, but also the inheritance of excellent traditional culture and national spirit.
(Jiaxing, Zhejiang, the opening of the 11th Xitang Hanfu Culture Week. Photo by Lu Xin)
It took 30 people and 7 months to complete the restoration of one piece of clothing
Jiang Yuqiu, deputy dean of the School of Fine Arts of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology and dean of the Fashion Culture Research Institute, once led a team to complete the clothing excavated from the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha.Special research on decoration and embroidery restoration, restoration of typical clothing shapes of the Ming Dynasty, etc.
"In 2009, I visited the Hunan Museum and was deeply shocked when I stood in front of the real woven and embroidered clothing from 2000 years ago." Jiang Yuqiu was amazed by the exquisiteness of these cultural relics. "The Four Classics The cinnabar-dyed embroidery of Chengyun Xinqi Longevity is really beautiful. But unfortunately, the clothes worn by the wax figure of the tomb owner are very simple, so I wondered if I could restore a woven and embroidered clothes from the Mawangdui Han Tomb.”
(Fabric unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb. Photo provided by the interviewee)
Restoration is extremely difficult and requires detailed research on clothing materials, patterns, etc. based on archaeological discoveries and related data. After returning to Beijing, Jiang Yuqiu led 30 students and, under the guidance of embroidery teacher Xu Meiyu, began the work of restoring Han Dynasty clothing. It took 7 months to complete the restoration of the entire garment.
(Clothes restored by Jiang Yuqiu’s team based on the fabrics unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb. Photo provided by the interviewee)
“The difficulty of the restoration process also makes us admire the exquisite clothing-making skills of the ancients. One of them is called The weaving method of the 'Four-Warp Guillotine' cannot be replicated by our team's technology so far," Jiang Yuqiu said. Different from ordinary fabrics, the Four-Warp Guillotine was once lost because of its complicated craftsmanship.
Fortunately, this skill was "resurrected" in the hands of Zhou Jiaming. Zhou Jiaming, 70 years old this year, is the provincial representative inheritor of the four-warp gimp weaving technique. At the age of 28, he followed his father to learn weaving techniques such as Kesi and Song brocade.
One centimeter of lorryHow many warp threads and how many weft threads there are are the standards for measuring the fineness of the four warp twists. Because of its high fineness, it is easy to cause thread breakage and defects, so it can only be woven by hand. A skilled weaver can only weave 5-10 centimeters in length in one day.
(Left: Two-warp ginch structure. Right: Four-warp ginch structure. Picture provided by interviewee)
There are very few records on the four-warp ginch weaving technology in historical materials. Zhou Jiaming referred to the The well-known two-warp gauze weaving process was trying to find a textile structure in which the warp and weft threads of the four-warp gauze were twisted together. After studying it on the loom for a year, it was finally successfully restored. Later, in the hands of Zhou Jiaming, the ear cup rhombus pattern unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb and the four-meridian gauze unearthed from the Mashan Tomb in Jiangling were reproduced.
(Ear cup rhombus pattern unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb restored by Zhou Jiaming. Photo by Fang Yun)
Oriental aesthetics evokes the "bloodline awakening" of contemporary people
At the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games, dancers dressed in "water and sky blue" long skirts danced to elegant melody amid ink paintings of thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, leaving a deep impression on Chinese and foreign audiences.
Chu Yan, the designer of the long skirt and director of the New Era Chinese Beauty Research Institute of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, said that the collar of the long skirt adopts the typical cross-collar and right-fold form of Chinese clothing, and is decorated with embroidered plum blossom patterns; In the production of the skirt, the gauze material is cut into the outline of a mountain peak, and stitches are embellished on the raised tail, just like the rolling mountains; the colors are stone green, spring new, green beads,The interweaving colors of green and green express the beauty of Jiangnan...
The overall shape of the long skirt adopts the silhouette of a Western-style dress. The top is waisted and corseted to make it easier to show the actor's dancing posture, while the skirt It is also embellished with pavilions and tree patterns made with 3D composite technology. "With traditional Chinese culture as the core, the innovative spirit of the times as the style, and the integration of traditional aesthetics into contemporary fashion, art presentation has broader possibilities," Chu Yan said.
(Dancers danced in "water and sky blue" long skirts at the opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Song Yanhua)
Clothing is a living cultural element and also records the flowing humanities history. From early human beings wearing grass blades and animal skins, kudzu, hemp, silk, and cotton have enriched the materials for making clothing. Nowadays, the integration of various new technologies, new materials, and new processes continues to meet people's various living needs, and also injects more imagination and possibilities into clothing design.
“Clothes are not just for display. We need to grasp the characteristics of contemporary life and implement them into specific clothing design details.” Lu Zhao said that the reason why horse-faced skirts have become a popular traditional clothing is Can be integrated into daily life.
Nowadays, horse-faced skirts can be seen in various occasions such as work, travel, and shopping. The horse-faced skirt, which was born in the Liao and Song Dynasties, can now be perfectly matched with shirts, T-shirts or suit jackets.
("New Chinese style" clothing has become a hot topic on social platforms)
Traditional clothing culture has entered the lives of ordinary people and entered the world stage, reflecting the increasing cultural confidence. There is a broad consensus that we attach great importance to the inheritance and innovation of China's excellent traditional culture, and Chinese traditional clothing culture is bursting with brilliance that belongs to this era.
(Source: People’s Daily political article WeChat official account)
