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Traditional Chinese clothing, qipao dresses, wushu and tai chi costumes
One of the most ancient civilizations, one of the richest cultural traditions, one of the most populated countries in the world, all this is China. The national dress of China, despite the strongest industrial, economic breakthrough following the European superpowers, has not undergone changes and borrowings from European culture in many ways. It was formed as a result of the fusion of styles and traditions of many peoples, now in China there are more than fifty ethnic groups, each of which has its own traditions in clothing styles and colors.
The national dress of China is divided into the following types.
Qipao Is an ethnic Chinese dress, whose modern shape was created by designers in the 20s of the last century in Shanghai. Initially, the Manchus had a wide shirt-dress that left only the head and socks of shoes and palms open. In its modern form, it is a tight-fitting dress, often sleeveless with side slits, and usually smart.
Chinese men's clothing has the same features as women's clothing, a stand-up collar, air loops, and national embroidery. Traditional shirt - Tangzhuang, monochromatic, strict straight cut, stand-up collar, looped lace loops.
Headdresses are usually worn by men, on special occasions, these are hats for Mian officials, similar in shape to the roof of a pagoda with a pigtail and its common version, also with a pigtail but dome-shaped. Separately, we can highlight the well-known wide conical panama made of reed or rice straw.
For more information, see the women's and men's Chinese clothing sections.
Chinese clothing style
East is a delicate matter.
From ancient times, or rather, to19th century, the cultural center of East Asia was China. Its influence on the development of mankind is colossal - it was in China that paper first appeared, and they learned to print books. But the track record of Chinese craftsmen does not end there, they managed to invent gunpowder and create a compass.
But let's not go too deep into the history of this beautiful country with centuries of experience and moral values, let's rather talk about the traditions that have come down to our time from the depths of the centuries, and which we can apply in the modern world.
The actual question of people at all times was their appearance. Clothing can be an indicator of social status and material well-being. And as the proverb says "They meet by their clothes ..."
Let's "meet" the image of a Chinese woman and try it on ourselves. Everything will be very simple, read carefully and imagine.
Let's start with the sensations: light, smooth and flowing. Most often it is made from high quality natural fabrics such as silk, satin, chiffon and the like. After all, dresses that accentuate every bend of the figure, and loose blouses with skirts, sewn from these fabrics, attract enthusiastic glances.
Have you presented? Then let's continue, consider which styles of clothing determine the Chinese style. I have almost no doubt that each of you, when it comes to China, represents a girl in ... no, no, don't be confused, the kimono is from Japan, and we are talking about China! So here's a girl dressed in a silk dress with short sleeves, charming slits on the sides, a high stand-up collar that fastens slightly at the side of the neck. In addition to this image, representatives of the Chinese style can wear fitted straight jackets with the already familiar collar, tapered ankle-length silk trousers with traditional slits on the sides; long straight wrap skirts and more. The main style difference of such clothes is the maximum integrity of the cut, as well as the absence of inconvenient and non-functional pockets, buttons, ruffles, frills and other things. The Chinese style combines true beauty, convenience and simplicity. It is also worth noting that colors for clothes are traditionally preferred bright, lively, and very naturally combined with each other. But do not think that there are no "decorations" on these clothes.
Let's go back to what everyone associates with China. Bright flowers, dragons, bonsai, butterflies and the constant interweaving of 4 elements. It is these motifs that are present in traditional Chinese ornaments. Air loops and stunning embroidery work together to create an indescribable sense of the beauty and sophistication of the Chinese style.
Asian culture has attracted special attention for a long time. Of greatest interest to contemporaries are strict traditions in clothing, shoes, hairstyle and lifestyle in general. It is noteworthy that many European peoples are trying to copy traditionally Asian household items, adapting them to their mentality.
One of these original Europeanized accessories is the Chinese national costume.
An excursion into history
Today it is very difficult to imagine the average Chinese dressed in a classic traditional costume. However, until the thirties of the twentieth century, he quite comfortably existed in common rank and file and noble high-ranking wardrobes.
The history of the Chinese national costume dates back to about the 17th-18th centuries. This is not to say that before that the Chinese wore anything. They just did not have any one direction in clothing.
The set of traditional Chinese accessories includes a set of components taken from various local peoples, in particular, the Manchus and South Chinese. Some ethnographers and travel historians claim that a truly national, original, Chinese costume can be found in Korea today.
The very traditional clothing was a robe or a long shirt with a vest with straight cut sleeves of non-standard width. Wide trousers or a skirt, regardless of gender, were worn under the dressing gown. Often these were simple natural fabrics for everyday wear, and bright silk outerwear for the holidays, which only high-level members of society could afford.
The general ensemble of the Chinese national costume is practically uniform throughout the country, differing only in minor features in shoes, hats and accessories. Also in medieval China, which was very actively divided into estates, the types of fabrics, colors and quality of tailoring for the poor and the rich were strictly differentiated.
Features of Chinese national dress
The traditional costume has a fairly simple cut and a versatile shape for both genders. It is necessary to have a stand-up collar, which is the main sign of the difference between a man's suit and a woman's: for the first, the height should not exceed 2 cm, and for the second, it can successfully reach 8 cm.
Most often, this type of clothing has a right-sided odor, when the left side of the robe or shirt is superimposed on the right, completely covering it. The location of the fasteners on the clothes depended on this: the buttons were sewn to the left side, and the loops - to the right. They were made, as a rule, from a special braid cut from the fabric of the main clothing.
The number of buttons must be odd. They are usually located as follows:
- the first is under the collar;
- the second is on the chest;
- the third - goes under the arm;
- the fourth, fifth and subsequent ones (their number varies from 5 to 9 pieces) - are located downward vertically on the side of the shirt-robe.
As for the color scheme, everything here depended on the territory of residence and gender. Northern Chinese men preferred all shades of gray and blue in their dress. Southerners were more prone to contrasting - white and black.
For women on both sides of China, bright fabrics with embossed patterns were assigned.
Yellow has always been the color of the emperor and his family. The rest of the nobility could afford to wear bright red kimono suits made of expensive silk fabrics.
National Chinese costume for men
Although this type of clothing did not have particularly visible differences in terms of gender, there were still a number of nuances that clearly define the male model. The summer casual version of the undershirt for men was a natural lightweight tunic sewn from two large pieces of fabric. This accessory is worn by the Chinese over traditional pants.
Pants - straight, no pockets with a wide "yoke" (wide sewn belt made of white fabric), reaching almost to the chest. From above, this detail is still belted at the waist level with a wide (up to 20 cm) and long (up to 2 m) sash.
Speaking about the common people, it should be borne in mind that the length of their trousers is noticeably shorter than the noble ones (sometimes their length barely reaches the knee), the sewing belt is much already or completely absent.
The role of outer summer clothing is performed by a flared wrap-around robe without lining. The side parts of it originate from the waist, smoothly descending to the very heels with oblique inserts-wedges. So that the long floors do not get in the way and do not get confused under the feet, cuts are made in them at the knee level. The sleeves of this piece of traditional Chinese wardrobe, according to tradition, are wide, long, flared, or tapered in the palm area.
The demi-season version of the classic Chinese men's suit is complemented by one special element. Lightweight jacket plus a padded vest or lined jacket. The underwear remains the same as in summer.
The demi-season sleeveless jacket does not have a collar, it is equipped with a straight long slit in the front in the middle. Usually made of dark cotton linen with a lining. Not used by peasants at all. The autumn-spring jacket (robe) is sewn according to the same principle as the summer outerwear, provided only with an insulated lining.
The winter upper part of the national men's costume of the Chinese was distinguished by a jacket with a wadded lining, which has only one side and is equal in length from all sides - to the middle of the thigh. The number of buttons of such clothes reaches no more than seven pieces, depending on the height.
In particularly frosty provinces, there was a tendency to wear sheep's wool coats.
National dress for special occasions also had its own characteristics. So, a festive holiday suit differs from an everyday one - an outer jacket. It has an unusually short length to the waist, also has a long straight slit in the front and short ones on the sides, and is decorated with knotted or copper buttons. The stand-up collar is made of double fabric. Placed on top of a light jacket.
It can also be demi-season and winter with appropriate insulation characteristics. The fabric for weekend jackets is chosen with great care: it is often dark silk with painted patterns.
The Chinese funeral costume is necessarily made in white. The fabric becomes rough, but natural, with a yellowish tinge. The general ensemble consists of a long robe, a wide sash and a headband.
Women's national Chinese costume
Traditional clothing for a Chinese woman differs from men's only in modest additions and accents. Here are the main ones:
- Pants out. The uniqueness lies in the fact that they could be worn in the style of oriental trousers, and as classic ancient skirt pants. The original design of this wardrobe item had clearly feminine features: silk embroidery appliques along the bottom of the bootleg.
- Colors. Mature women were supposed to wear low-key dark colors. Young girls were less limited in their choice. Their outfits have always been distinguished by bright vibrant colors with original embroidery and patterns.
- Underwear. Of course, it was different from the male. It was a long, tight-fitting body, sleeveless jacket with a lot of buttons (from nine to eleven). Since in ancient China a woman's flat chest was considered a symbol of beauty, this sleeveless jacket was designed to reduce her visual size.
- Long-length women's dressing gown. It has a fitted shape, is sewn from expensive purchased fabrics (usually silk) and is decorated with bright original patterns and appliqués.
Baby suit
The first clothes are very important for the correct spiritual development of the child. The future mother makes it with her own hands long before the birth of the future heir. The undershirt is sewn from thin paper fabric - clothes of old relatives, which indicates the future longevity of the baby. Newborns are wrapped in diapers, also prepared in advance by the mother.
The only difference in the clothes of a boy and a girl under five years old is the way of swaddling in infancy. So, children of the stronger sex are swaddled up to the chest, and the weak - up to the neck. Over the age of six, clothes for a boy and a girl acquire the characteristic features of an adult Chinese national costume. It differs only in size.
Accessories
The unity of the traditional clothes of Chinese people is impossible without additional accessories, each of which also had its own meaning and carried its information to the masses.
The historical headdress of the Chinese has several options:
- tou jin - a piece of white matter for northerners, and black for southerners;
- round felt cap;
- a textile hat, equipped with a kind of swelling at the top of the head;
The national clothing of China is hanfu, which means, the clothing of the Han dynasty. For formal and very important events, a hanfu outfit made of red and black fabrics was used, white was considered mourning and was used very rarely, gold and yellow were worn by emperors, his family and entourage.
Since the mid-30s of the last century, when the Chinese monarchy ceased to exist, qipao has become a typical example of the national Chinese dress for women. In the English-speaking countries, qipao is better known as cheongsam, which translates as shirt. The first qipao robes were simple enough to sew. They consisted of a piece of cloth with two seams and a stand-up collar, had five buttons and a slit in the front.
National Chinese clothing and traditions
Chinese women's national dress was made from various fabrics - it depended on wealth. Cotton and hemp fabrics were used by the middle-class population, silk fabrics were used by local aristocrats. Pants, sewn without zippers or buttons, with an oblique seam on the belly, have become traditional clothing for pregnant women. It was believed that such a dress helped prevent evil spirits from penetrating into the belly of a pregnant woman. In China, it is believed that a woman's small foot is very beautiful. In order not to grow a leg, from early childhood they put shoes on the girls. This procedure caused severe pain, leg illnesses, and in some cases even disability.
National clothes of China are still in fashion today. On the streets of the city, in offices, you can meet a woman in a qipao. Short blouses, jackets and sweaters can be added to national clothes. The main distinguishing features of traditional Chinese clothing are the softness and elegance of the cut, traditional embroidery, knot buttons and braid.
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