Understanding the Cultural Beauty Behind the Hanfu Craze
The rising popularity of Hanfu in society not only indicates people's admiration for its beautiful styles but also represents their recognition of the traditional culture it embodies. However, when some non-standard or historically unfounded Hanfu becomes popular in real life, people may mistakenly view it as a window to understanding traditional culture, leading to misconceptions.
With its elegant flowing skirts, graceful feathered garments, and delicate silk jackets, Hanfu-clad individuals can be frequently seen nowadays in streets, parks, and malls. Hanfu has become an essential attire for many photography sessions, film productions, and cultural events.
In a broad sense, Hanfu refers to the traditional clothing of the Han ethnic group, encompassing a variety of styles that have evolved over time by absorbing elements from other ethnic costumes. Narrowly defined, Hanfu refers to the clothing system represented by the central plains of the Han Dynasty, inheriting the diverse clothing culture of the Eastern Zhou period, such as the curved hem of Chu clothing, the high collar of Qin clothing, and the back-opening hem of Qi clothing. The stable form of Hanfu was established during the Han Dynasty and has since accompanied the dissemination of Han culture. Despite continuously absorbing new elements over more than 2000 years of development, Hanfu has retained its core characteristics, such as the right-lapel crossover, wide sleeves, flat tailoring, and silk and linen materials.
In recent years, the Hanfu consumer market has experienced explosive growth, with the market size exceeding 10 billion yuan and the number of Hanfu consumers reaching tens of millions. However, the Hanfu market still faces many issues, including designers mixing clothing styles from different eras, excessive artistic processing resulting in flamboyant designs that deviate from traditional Hanfu requirements, and the production of low-quality Hanfu products with inferior materials or rough cuts. In some online games, even fictitious costumes with no historical basis are referred to as "Hanfu."
"China boasts great etiquette, hence its name Xia; it features beautiful clothing, hence it's called Hua." Hanfu embodies multiple cultural connotations such as etiquette and aesthetics, serving as a symbol of ethnic identity. "With fluttering robes, light skirts follow the wind." Hanfu vividly portrays the classical, restrained, lightweight, and elegant beauty. Today, the Hanfu craze indicates not only people's appreciation for its beautiful styles but also their acknowledgment of the traditional culture it carries. Young people wearing Hanfu serve as a dynamic window showcasing Chinese traditional culture to the world.
From the perspective of cultural inheritance, the irregularities in the field of Hanfu are detrimental to the transmission and dissemination of traditional culture. When some non-standard or historically unfounded Hanfu becomes popular in real life, people may mistakenly view it as a carrier of traditional culture, leading to misconceptions.
The reasons behind the issues in the Hanfu market are multifaceted. On one hand, merchants are eager for quick success and blindly pursue profits. On the other hand, the lack of solid and systematic research on Hanfu in academia and the design community has led to a lack of authoritative and unified design standards.
Hanfu is contemporary and futuristic, but first and foremost, it is historical. To inherit and develop Hanfu culture, one must have a reverent attitude toward history, especially respecting traditional Chinese clothing culture. Based on this, we can gradually achieve the revival and rejuvenation of Hanfu through restoration, replication, and innovation.
Restoration involves restoring the original state of things, transforming them from old to new through repair. Replication involves recreating something exactly as it was before. Revival involves incorporating ancient elements into recreations, imbuing them with the attitudes and emotions of the recreators. Rejuvenation involves a comprehensive reproduction from material to spirit, emphasizing the refinement of cultural essence and the enhancement of cultural connotations.
In terms of the inheritance and development of Hanfu culture, we should combine documentary materials and excavated Hanfu artifacts to strengthen research on the form and materials of ancient Hanfu, repair incomplete Hanfu as soon as possible, and replicate "Hanfu samples" from different eras. Furthermore, by combining modern aesthetics and lifestyle habits and drawing on elements of ancient clothing culture, we can design new Hanfu that meets market demands. To achieve these goals, we should first establish a top-level design, promote research and application in parallel, and integrate research, education, production, and dissemination, forming a closed-loop industrial chain.
In addition to developing appropriate Hanfu products that can be worn, it is also essential to explore how ancient costumes can "speak." From the establishment of the field of ancient Chinese clothing research by Shen Congwen to the consolidation and expansion by Sun Ji, and then to the transformation of these achievements into the "Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Clothing Culture" and a series of public courses, these are all beneficial practices for promoting the inheritance and development of Hanfu. In the future, we should promptly translate research results on Hanfu into easy-to-understand and visually appealing formats suitable for presentation to the general public, and deliver these reliable presentations to classrooms and exhibition halls.
Institutions such as the National Museum that research ancient clothing have a responsibility to promote Hanfu culture, but the main responsibility for Hanfu inheritance lies with the public. When young people wearing Hanfu stroll among green hills, rivers, and historical sites, they inadvertently become bearers of Hanfu culture. Of course, if these young people can master more skills in appreciating and interpreting Hanfu culture, then Hanfu culture will be better inherited.
Understand the Cultural Beauty Behind Hanfu
Understanding the Cultural Beauty Behind the Hanfu Craze
The rising popularity of Hanfu in society not only indicates people's admiration for its beautiful styles but also represents their recognition of the traditional culture it embodies. However, when some non-standard or historically unfounded Hanfu becomes popular in real life, people may mistakenly view it as a window to understanding traditional culture, leading to misconceptions.
With its elegant flowing skirts, graceful feathered garments, and delicate silk jackets, Hanfu-clad individuals can be frequently seen nowadays in streets, parks, and malls. Hanfu has become an essential attire for many photography sessions, film productions, and cultural events.
In a broad sense, Hanfu refers to the traditional clothing of the Han ethnic group, encompassing a variety of styles that have evolved over time by absorbing elements from other ethnic costumes. Narrowly defined, Hanfu refers to the clothing system represented by the central plains of the Han Dynasty, inheriting the diverse clothing culture of the Eastern Zhou period, such as the curved hem of Chu clothing, the high collar of Qin clothing, and the back-opening hem of Qi clothing. The stable form of Hanfu was established during the Han Dynasty and has since accompanied the dissemination of Han culture. Despite continuously absorbing new elements over more than 2000 years of development, Hanfu has retained its core characteristics, such as the right-lapel crossover, wide sleeves, flat tailoring, and silk and linen materials.
In recent years, the Hanfu consumer market has experienced explosive growth, with the market size exceeding 10 billion yuan and the number of Hanfu consumers reaching tens of millions. However, the Hanfu market still faces many issues, including designers mixing clothing styles from different eras, excessive artistic processing resulting in flamboyant designs that deviate from traditional Hanfu requirements, and the production of low-quality Hanfu products with inferior materials or rough cuts. In some online games, even fictitious costumes with no historical basis are referred to as "Hanfu."
"China boasts great etiquette, hence its name Xia; it features beautiful clothing, hence it's called Hua." Hanfu embodies multiple cultural connotations such as etiquette and aesthetics, serving as a symbol of ethnic identity. "With fluttering robes, light skirts follow the wind." Hanfu vividly portrays the classical, restrained, lightweight, and elegant beauty. Today, the Hanfu craze indicates not only people's appreciation for its beautiful styles but also their acknowledgment of the traditional culture it carries. Young people wearing Hanfu serve as a dynamic window showcasing Chinese traditional culture to the world.
From the perspective of cultural inheritance, the irregularities in the field of Hanfu are detrimental to the transmission and dissemination of traditional culture. When some non-standard or historically unfounded Hanfu becomes popular in real life, people may mistakenly view it as a carrier of traditional culture, leading to misconceptions.
The reasons behind the issues in the Hanfu market are multifaceted. On one hand, merchants are eager for quick success and blindly pursue profits. On the other hand, the lack of solid and systematic research on Hanfu in academia and the design community has led to a lack of authoritative and unified design standards.
Hanfu is contemporary and futuristic, but first and foremost, it is historical. To inherit and develop Hanfu culture, one must have a reverent attitude toward history, especially respecting traditional Chinese clothing culture. Based on this, we can gradually achieve the revival and rejuvenation of Hanfu through restoration, replication, and innovation.
Restoration involves restoring the original state of things, transforming them from old to new through repair. Replication involves recreating something exactly as it was before. Revival involves incorporating ancient elements into recreations, imbuing them with the attitudes and emotions of the recreators. Rejuvenation involves a comprehensive reproduction from material to spirit, emphasizing the refinement of cultural essence and the enhancement of cultural connotations.
In terms of the inheritance and development of Hanfu culture, we should combine documentary materials and excavated Hanfu artifacts to strengthen research on the form and materials of ancient Hanfu, repair incomplete Hanfu as soon as possible, and replicate "Hanfu samples" from different eras. Furthermore, by combining modern aesthetics and lifestyle habits and drawing on elements of ancient clothing culture, we can design new Hanfu that meets market demands. To achieve these goals, we should first establish a top-level design, promote research and application in parallel, and integrate research, education, production, and dissemination, forming a closed-loop industrial chain.
In addition to developing appropriate Hanfu products that can be worn, it is also essential to explore how ancient costumes can "speak." From the establishment of the field of ancient Chinese clothing research by Shen Congwen to the consolidation and expansion by Sun Ji, and then to the transformation of these achievements into the "Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Clothing Culture" and a series of public courses, these are all beneficial practices for promoting the inheritance and development of Hanfu. In the future, we should promptly translate research results on Hanfu into easy-to-understand and visually appealing formats suitable for presentation to the general public, and deliver these reliable presentations to classrooms and exhibition halls.
Institutions such as the National Museum that research ancient clothing have a responsibility to promote Hanfu culture, but the main responsibility for Hanfu inheritance lies with the public. When young people wearing Hanfu stroll among green hills, rivers, and historical sites, they inadvertently become bearers of Hanfu culture. Of course, if these young people can master more skills in appreciating and interpreting Hanfu culture, then Hanfu culture will be better inherited.
