This article is reprinted from [China Women's News];
Hanfu, also known as Han clothing, Han clothing, and Chinese clothing, the full name is "Han nationality traditional clothing." From the accession of the Yellow Emperor to the middle of the 17th century (late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty), in the main residential areas of the Han nationality, centered on Chinese etiquette culture, it formed through natural evolution a unique style and character of the Han nationality, which is obviously different from the traditions of other nationalities. A collection of clothing and accessories systems. It is a typical embodiment of China's "Chinese Clothes" and "Splendid China". It carries outstanding craftsmanship and aesthetics such as Han dyeing, weaving and embroidery, and has inherited more than 30 Chinese intangible cultural heritages and Chinese arts and crafts.
What are the main types of Hanfu?
Although there are many and complex styles of Hanfu, their common features are mostly right-sided pleats, large sleeves, and dark clothes as typical representatives, and they can be divided into formal clothes, regular clothes, and special clothes. A set of Hanfu generally consists of three layers: "small coat (underwear)", "middle coat" and "overcoat (outer coat)". According to the length, it can be divided into "ru", "short" and "deep coat".
The most typical collar shape of Hanfu is "cross collar and right lapel", that is, the collar is directly connected to the lapel, the lapels cross at the chest, and the left lapel presses the right lapel, which looks like this "Y" shape, the overall garment tilts to the right. The left front lapel covers the right axillary frenulum, and the right lapel is covered inside, which is called the right lapel, and vice versa, it is called the left lapel. The tradition of "turning the right hand to the right" has remained unchanged in Hanfu through the changes in the past dynasties, and it is also inseparable from China's historical thought of "respecting the right". In addition to the "cross-collar right lapel", there are also forms such as "round collar" and "double lapel".
The sleeves of Hanfu include "wide sleeves with big sleeves" and "short clothes with narrow sleeves", with styles ranging from round to square. Hanfu can be divided into three categories according to its overall structure:
The first type is the "shenyi" system in which the "upper garment and lower garment" are connected together. Because it is connected up and down, "the quilt is deep", it is called deep clothing. That is, the upper garment and the lower garment are cut separately and connected at the waist to form a whole, including straight garments with deep garments, curved garments with deep garments, robes, straight garments, jackets, long gowns, etc., which belong to the category of long garments. The deep garment can be worn by both men and women, and can be used as a dress or for daily wear. It is also the clothing worn by monarchs, officials and scholars when they are in residence (informal occasions), and it is a casual clothing.
The second type is the "deep clothing" system in which the "upper garment and lower garment" are worn separately. Including Mianfu, Xuanduan, etc., they are the formal attire worn by the monarch and officials to participate in solemn ceremonies such as sacrifices. Since ancient times, Chinese clothing has advocated the upper garment and the lower garment, and stipulates that "the clothes are of the correct color and the garments are of the same color", that is to say, the upper garment is of correct and pure color, while the lower garment is of interlaced colors. It's like "Tian Xuan Earth Yellow". Because the sky is formed by the rising of pure and light air, pure colors are used; the earth is formed by the descending of heavy and turbid air, so intermediate colors are used.
The third type is the "skirt" system. It also belongs to the upper and lower garment system and is generally used for daily wear. "combing hair on three sides and dressing on two sides" has become a characteristic of ancient Chinese women's traditional clothing.
What styles of women’s Hanfu are there?
Rurt type: Ru, that is, a short top, classified according to style, including double-breasted (also known as straight collar), cross-collar (also known as slanted lapel), and flat collar (also known as U-neck)wait. The skirt, that is, the lower skirt, is usually a one-piece skirt. It is classified according to the production method and is divided into pleated skirts, piece skirts, etc.
Ru skirts are divided into waist-length skirts, high-waist skirts, chest-length skirts, double-breasted skirts, etc. They can be worn with half arms, also called half-arm skirts, and can also be paired with shawls. Sleeve styles are not limited to narrow sleeves, there are also straight sleeves, wide sleeves, wide sleeves, etc. The characteristic of the underskirt is that the top is short and the skirt is long. The skirt is tied above the waist to show the slender figure. Use cloth belts or palace ribbons for skirts, not wide belts or girdle.
Qujing robe: It is a kind of dark robe. The back part of the robe is lengthened, and the lengthened skirt forms a triangle. Curved trains are divided into single winding, double winding and triple winding based on the number of lapels. According to the length of the clothes, they are divided into long and short trains. Usually there is a girdle around the waist and a long belt tied with a knot.
Zhiju robe: After the Eastern Han Dynasty, the straight robe was gradually replaced by the straight robe because it was cumbersome to wear. The straight robe is a kind of daily clothing rather than a formal dress. There are long straight trains, short straight trains, and fishtail straight trains. And other styles.