Asian culture has long attracted special attention. Of greatest interest to contemporaries are strict traditions in clothing, shoes, hair and lifestyle in general. It is noteworthy that many European nations are trying to copy traditionally Asian household items, adapting them to their mentality.
One of these original Europeanized accessories is a Chinese national costume.
History tour
Today it is very difficult to imagine an average Chinese man dressed in a classic traditional costume. However, up to the thirties of the twentieth century, he quite comfortably existed in the ordinary ordinary and noble high-ranking wardrobes.
The history of the Chinese national costume begins in about 17-18 centuries. This is not to say that before that the Chinese went about what horrible. It’s just that they didn’t have any one direction in clothes.
The set of traditionally Chinese accessories included a set of components taken from various local nationalities, 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 traditional clothing itself was a dressing gown or long shirt, vest with directly cut sleeves of non-standard width. Under a dressing gown, wide trousers or a skirt were worn, regardless of gender.Often, these were simple natural fabrics for everyday wear, and bright silk outerwear for the holidays, which only high members of society could afford.
The general ensemble of the Chinese national costume is almost the same 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 fabric, colors and sewing quality for the poor and rich were strictly distinguished.
Features of Chinese national clothing
The traditional costume has a fairly simple cut and universal shape for both sexes. Mandatory presence of a stand-up collar, which is the main sign of the difference between a man’s suit and a woman’s suit: 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-handed smell, when the left part of the dressing gown 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 special braid cut from the fabric of basic 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 armpit;
- the fourth, fifth and subsequent (their number varies from 5 to 9 pieces) - are located down vertically on the side of the dressing gown.
As for the color scheme, everything here depended on the territory of residence and gender. Northern Chinese men in their clothes preferred all shades of gray and blue. Southerners were more prone to contrasting - white and black.
For women on both sides of China, bright fabrics were embossed with embossed patterns.
Yellow was always the color of the emperor and his family. Other nobility could afford to wear bright red kimono costumes made of expensive silk fabrics.
National chinese costume for men
Although this type of clothing did not have particularly visible differences by gender, there were still a number of nuances that clearly defined the male model. The summer casual version of the undershirt for men was a natural light tunic made from two large pieces of fabric. This accessory is worn by the Chinese over traditional pants.
Pants - straight, without pockets with a wide "yoke" (wide sewing belt made of white fabric), reaching almost to the chest. From above, this detail is still belted at the waist level by a wide (up to 20 cm) and long (up to 2 m) sash.
Speaking about ordinary people, it should be noted that the length of their pants is noticeably shorter than the noble ones (sometimes their length barely reaches the knee), the sewing belt is already either completely absent.
The role of outerwear is performed by a flared bathrobe with an unlined odor. The lateral parts of it originate from the waist, gradually descending to the very heels with slanting wedge inserts. To prevent long floors from getting in the way and not getting underfoot, cuts are made in them at the level of the knees. The sleeves of this item of a traditional Chinese wardrobe, according to tradition, are wide, long, flared, or narrowed in the palm area.
The demi-season version of the classic costume of Chinese men is complemented by one special element. Lightweight jacket plus insulated sleeveless jacket or lined jacket. Underwear remains the same as in summer.
The demi-season sleeveless jacket does not have a collar; it is equipped with a straight long cut in the front in the middle. Usually made from dark cotton lining. The peasants are not used at all. Autumn-spring jacket (bathrobe) is sewn according to the same principle as summer outerwear, equipped with only a warm lining.
The winter upper part of the Chinese national men's suit was distinguished by a cotton-lined jacket, which was only one side and 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 growth.
In particularly frosty provinces, there was a tendency to wear sheepskin coats.
National clothes for special occasions also had their own characteristics. So, the holiday holiday costume differs from the everyday one - with the top jacket. It has an unusually short length to the waist, it is also equipped with a long straight cut in the front and short ones on the sides, decorated with knotted or copper buttons. The stand-up collar is made of double fabric. It is put on top on a light jacket.
Also there is a demi-season and winter with the corresponding warming characteristics. The fabric for the weekend jackets is chosen with special care: often it is dark silk with painted patterns.
Chinese mourning costume must be made in white. The fabric is acquired rough, but natural, with a yellowish tinge. The overall ensemble consists of a long robe, a wide sash belt 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 harem pants, and as classic ancient skirt pants. The original design of this wardrobe item had clearly feminine features: silk embroidery-appliques at the bottom of the shaft.
- Colors. Mature women were supposed to wear restrained 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 men's. It was a long, tight-fitting body, a sleeveless jacket with a large number 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.
- Weekend long-sex female dressing gown. It has a fitted shape, is sewn of expensive purchased fabrics (usually silk) and is decorated with bright original patterns and applications.
Baby suit
The first clothes are very important for the proper spiritual development of the child. The future mother makes it with her own hands long before the birth of the future heir. The baby's undershirt is sewn of thin paper fabric - clothes of relatives of the elderly, which indicates the future longevity of the baby. Wrap newborns in diapers, also prepared in advance by the mother.
The only difference in the clothes of a boy and a girl up to five years is the way of swaddling in infancy. So, children of the stronger sex are swaddled in the chest, and the weak - in the neck. Over six years old, 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 traditional clothing of the inhabitants of China 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 from the northerners, and black - from the southerners;
- round cap made of felt;
- a textile hat equipped with a peculiar swelling at the crown;
- wide-brimmed southern bamboo-palm hat;
- conical high hat with a national ornament.
It should be noted that hats were exclusively a male prerogative in ancient Chinese society.
As for traditional shoes, it was less diverse than covering the head, and was supposed to be worn by both sexes.Basically, the shoes were lightweight textile shoes in black on a thick platform without heels. The sole was covered in white cotton fabric. People richer shoes in silk shoes.
The shoes of women and girls were distinguished by bright and even sometimes shiny jewelry.
In northern China, due to certain weather conditions, this element of the Chinese national costume was made of felt on a massive platform, sometimes leather was used in our own production.
People living in rural areas wore woven sandals with a square toe and a low hard back. Later, in the open spaces of the city, coarse, rural thick-soled sandals were mottled. For especially wealthy citizens of the weaker sex, even patent-leather shoes on a wooden platform were invented. Sometimes she had a barely noticeable heel.
Today in the vastness of the People’s Republic of China it is difficult to meet a conscious citizen of their country in an old traditional costume. However, they zealously honor the memory of their ancestors, continue to pass on the national characteristics of their clothes from generation to generation.
With great pleasure, they use colorful, slightly modernized, costumes during their national holidays to show the unity of generations and pay tribute to the great ancestors.
