Hanfu is the collective name for the traditional costumes of the Chinese Han people, and is also known as Hanfu, Huafu, and Hanyiguan. The word "Hanfu" first appeared in the "Book of Han", which said: Later, when people came to pay homage, they enjoyed the Han clothing system.
The word "Han" in Hanfu will cause many people to mistakenly believe that Hanfu originated from the Han Dynasty and specifically refers to the clothing of the Han Dynasty. In fact, this is not the case. As early as the period of the Chinese nation, the predecessor of the Han nationality, that is, the era of the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors, the prototype of Hanfu had already appeared. After the development of the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang Dynasties, the shapes and styles of Hanfu became increasingly rich. As the main costume of the Chinese nation, Hanfu lasted from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period to the Ming Dynasty, and has been passed down for more than 4,000 years.
Although Hanfu is just a kind of clothing, it is a product that has been influenced by Han culture for a long time. From clothing design to style to style, it naturally contains many traditional Chinese cultural elements and embodies three distinctive characteristics.
First, the broad robe has big sleeves.
Hanfu is similar in appearance to opera costumes, and the standard style of sleeves is "round sleeves (mèi)." "袂" refers to sleeves, and "Qu" refers to cuffs. That is to say, the style of clothing is slightly narrow at the armpits, gradually widens from the middle of the sleeves, and gradually tightens at the cuffs. The shape of the sleeves forms an arc, which represents traditional cultural concepts. In "the sky is round and the place is round", the sky is round.
In terms of overall style, Hanfu shows a solemn and elegant, graceful, elegant and agile style. It is an intuitive reflection of the Han nation's implicit, euphemistic, elegant, detached, optimistic and calm national character. It is very suitable for sacrifices, ancestor worship, enthronement, etc. Wear it during major events such as coming-of-age ceremonies and ceremonies.
Second, the right fold is crossed.
The placket of Hanfu is very wide. When people wear clothes, they usually cross the left placket and the right placket. When the placket crosses the chest, it forms an intersection with the collar.
"Right-fold collar" means that after the left and right lapels are crossed on the chest, the left lapel is on top, suppressing the right lapel. The appearance of the collar is similar to the English letter "y", which visually gives people a It feels like Hanfu is leaning to the right as a whole.
The reason for adopting the right-fold collaring form is thatThere are two main reasons. One is that the Chinese people respect the right side, and the other is that the deceased's shroud usually wears a left-hand gusset. In order to express the difference between yin and yang and avoid taboos, the living person's clothes are made into a right-hand gusset.
Third, the laces have hidden buckles.
There are no buttons on Hanfu. Even if there are buttons, they will be hidden and not exposed. Hanfu has no buttons and is tied to the body with straps.
Usually, a set of Hanfu has six belts, namely the large belt and the long belt around the waist. They are both practical and decorative. They can tighten the waist and symbolize status. The remaining two pairs of straps are mainly practical and used crosswise. The strap under the left armpit is a pair with the strap on the right lapel. The strap under the right armpit is a pair with the strap on the left lapel. These two pairs of straps are mutually exclusive. Tie it with a knot and you have completed the dressing process.
Overall, there are four main styles of Hanfu.
The first type is the "top and lower skirt system", which is characterized by the separation of the top and lower skirt. It is the first style in the Hanfu system. It has been formed as early as the Shang Dynasty and was used as a dress for emperors and officials on formal occasions. use.
The second type is "deep clothing system". Deep clothing is also called "robe". The top and bottom are first cut separately, and then they are sewn together and connected at the waist with fabrics of different colors as edges. The deep robe is a typical type of wide robe with large sleeves, and is the daily clothing of the aristocratic class.
The third type is the "Ru skirt system", which is characterized by a short jacket on the upper body, called "Ru", and a long skirt on the lower body, called "skirt". It is a Hanfu style that is very popular among women. According to the height of the skirt waist, underskirts can be divided into three types: waist-length underskirts, high-waist underskirts and chest-length underskirts. According to the collar style, it can be divided into cross-collar underskirts and straight-collar underskirts. According to the thickness, it can be divided into single jacket and compound jacket. The single jacket is similar to a shirt, while the compound jacket is more like a coat. The underskirt is essentially a "top and lower skirt", but it is a special name for the shape of women's Hanfu.
The fourth type is the "clothing and trousers system", which was reserved for the working people in ancient times. In order to facilitate work, ordinary working people in ancient times usually wore short clothes on the upper body and trousers on the lower body. Sometimes, for the convenience of movement, they would tie a belt on the short clothes. Only in major events will working peopleWear a long-sleeved Hanfu.
In the eyes of modern scholars, all traditional costumes of the ancient Han people are classified as Hanfu. The six types of crown clothes worn by the emperor in ancient times were Da Qiu, Gun Yi, Zen Yi, Yi Yi, Zhen Yi and Xuan Yi. There are six types of dresses worn by ancient queens, namely, Yiyi, Jiaodi, Quedi, Juyi, Zhanyi and Yuanyi. The Confucian clothes worn by literati and officials, the sword clothes worn by warriors and knights, and even the Taoist robes worn by Taoist priests all belong to Hanfu.
In addition to the shape and style, the ancients were also very particular about the color of the fabric used to make Hanfu. The ancients based on the "Yin Yang and Five Elements" and "Six Symbols and Six Colors", that is, cyan symbolizes wood in the east, red symbolizes fire in the south, white symbolizes gold in the west, black symbolizes water in the north, and black (blue-green) symbolizes heaven. , symbolizing yellow, the cloth is specially dyed into six colors: cyan, red, white, black, blue and yellow, collectively known as the "six correct colors".
The "Six Right Colors" are very particular in the colors of Hanfu. There are strict class distinctions. People wear clothes of the same color and style according to their status. Yellow has always been regarded as a color of nobility. Therefore, in ancient times, it has always been the exclusive color of emperors and emperors.
The ancients also believed that dark colors are the most noble colors of Hanfu, followed by light colors, so we can see that the dresses worn on formal occasions usually have bright and deep colors, mostly red, brown and black, and the clothes are With gorgeous and exquisite cotton patterns or embroidery, these are elements that symbolize status. The colors of Hanfu worn by ordinary people are mostly white, blue-white, grass green and other light colors. When you see clothes of this color from a distance, you can know the identity of the owner.
Hanfu can eventually form a cultural form, which is inseparable from China's long-standing clothing culture.
The origin of Chinese clothing culture can be traced back to the early Neolithic Age more than 7,000 years ago. At that time, primitive people relied on hunting and gathering for a living. Agriculture and textiles had not yet been invented. Therefore, they could only wear animal skins and leaves.
About 5,000 years ago, at the end of the Neolithic Age, primitive people relied on their ingenuity and through extensive practice to invent rudimentary agriculture and textile industries. They processed plant fibers and woven them into linen to make clothes. Later, Leizu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor, invented sericulture and silk spinning. With the emergence of silk fabrics, people became more and more sophisticated in making clothing, laying a solid foundation for the emergence of various clothing.
There is a saying in "Historical Records": Chinese clothes were made by the Yellow Emperor. Before the Yellow Emperor, there were no clothes or houses. And the Yellow Emperor built houses, made clothes, and organized funerals, so that all people were freed from the difficulty of survival.
It was the inventions of Huangdi and Leizu that brought people into the "clothing civilization". Clothing is not only about keeping warm and keeping out the cold, but also combines it with etiquette, culture, beliefs, identity and status, forming a broad and profound Hanfu clothing culture. .
"Zuo Zhuan Zhengyi·Ding Gong Ten Years" said: China has great etiquette, so it is called Xia; it has the beauty of Zhangfu, so it is called Hua.
This sentence means that China has been "a country of clothes and etiquette" since ancient times. After "clothes" was endowed with many elements, it eventually evolved into a synonym for civilization and became an integral part of Chinese etiquette.
As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Duke of Zhou formulated a complete system of rituals and music, referred to as "Zhou Li". This is a set of social rules and regulations and behavioral norms, including "Five Rites and Eight Outlines". The five Rites are "auspicious rituals, evil rituals, "Guest ceremony, military ceremony, gala ceremony", the eight outlines are "crown ceremony, wedding ceremony, funeral ceremony, sacrifice ceremony, hometown ceremony, shooting ceremony, court ceremony, betrothal ceremony", the entire content includes food, daily life, marching, wedding, sacrifice, funeral and other social life In all aspects, it subtly affects and regulates everyone's words and deeds.
when people do these things, there is a set of strict norms, especially in terms of dressing. What clothes should be worn on any occasion, the rules and regulations must be strictly followed, otherwise, they will be regarded as "barbarians". This set of ritual and music systems in the Zhou Dynasty provided many references for the later prosperity of Hanfu culture.
Of course, Hanfu does not only refer to clothes. In a broad sense, Hanfu also includes foot clothes and head clothes, that is, various shoes and socks worn on the feet and various headdresses worn on the head, as well as various accessories worn with you, including jade pendants. , shawls, sachets, jewelry, etc., all of which are combined with Hanfu to truly wear Hanfu.
It can be said that Hanfu culture is an intuitive embodiment of the hierarchical culture, political culture, etiquette culture, filial piety culture, and the Confucian thoughts of "benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom, trust," over the five thousand years of Chinese civilization.
As we all know, the Chinese civilization is the only civilization in the world that has lasted for 5,000 years without interruption, forming a broad and profound "Han Cultural Circle". Especially in the Tang Dynasty, Han culture reached its peak and had an extremely profound impact on surrounding countries.
Our neighboring countries, such as Japan, South Korea, and North Korea, have historically regarded us with admiration as their sovereign state, while they regard themselves as vassal states and imitate us in all aspects of politics, culture, economy, and commerce.
The Tang Dynasty was the suzerain state of surrounding countries. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty was regarded as the "Son of Heaven" by surrounding countries. At a fixed time every year, leaders or envoys of surrounding countries and nations would come to Chang'an City with gifts to pay homage to the Chinese Emperor. , practice the so-called "chaoji" system, and then accept rewards based on merit from the Chinese emperor.
During the court visit, foreigners must wear their country's national clothes to pay tribute to express the sacredness of the ceremony and their reverence for the emperor. However, during this period, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other countries, as well as the Turks, Mohe, Tubo and other ethnic groups, did not have their own formal dresses. Therefore, they imitated the appearance of Hanfu and began to make their own dresses. It can be said that it was the "wearing national clothes and serving rituals" system implemented by the Tang Dynasty that greatly promoted the neighboring countries and nations to produce their own national costumes.
Today, Japan's national costume is called "kimono" and South Korea's national costume is called "Hanbok". They were gradually introduced during the Han and Tang Dynasties.
The original name of kimono in Japan was "Wu Fu". This name directly revealed the origin of kimono - Wudi, China (Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas), which means the clothing style passed down from Wudi, China.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Soochow was relatively close to Japan, and trade activities between the two places were relatively frequent. At this time, the Japanese came into contact with Han costumes for the first time. In the later Japanese Nara Period (710-794), China was in its prime Tang Dynasty and had a great influence and radiation on the surrounding areas. Japan sent a large number of Tang envoys to China to learn culture and art, clothing etiquette and laws and regulations. This was how the prototype of the kimono began to be established.
Since the Nara period, Japan has not had the concept of kimono, and their kimono completely imitates Hanfu in style. Later, after more than 1,000 years of development, the Japanese continued to incorporate local cultural elements into their national costumes. By the Edo period, the kimono we see today was formed.
In the Edo period of Japan (1603-1868), a book "Essentials of Costume" pointed out: Kimonos follow the clothes of the Tang Dynasty, but their production is similar but has different advantages. This country's connection with China also began in the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang Dynasty. This sentence points out the origin of kimono very objectively.
People on the Korean Peninsula were also exposed to Hanfu for the first time during the Three Kingdoms period. During the "Reign of Zhenguan", the Korean Peninsula was convinced of the prosperity created by the Tang Dynasty and sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty to request Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty to give them Han robes.In order to reform the Korean peninsula's clothing style, the prototype of Hanbok was born.
Later, no matter during the Wang Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) or the Lee Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), the people of the Korean Peninsula highly respected Han culture and were willing to accept the influence of Han culture.
During the development process of Hanbok, especially in the late Goryeo Dynasty of Wang Dynasty and the early Joseon Dynasty of Lee Dynasty, China was in the Ming Dynasty, and the exchanges between the two places were very frequent. Hanbok widely absorbed the clothing styles of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, we can see that, Today's Hanfu has many similarities with Ming Dynasty Hanfu in style.
It can be said that the relationship between Hanfu, Kimono and Hanbok is "one ancestor and two sects". Hanfu is the ancestor, and Kimono and Hanbok are sects. These three types of clothing have similar characteristics.
The common points are: the tops mostly use right-fold collars, and the overall style is mainly wide robes and large sleeves. Different clothes should be matched with different hairstyles and jewelry.
The difference is that the skirts of Hanfu look fluffy and lively, and droop naturally. Even square clothes can maintain smooth lines and a prominent sense of elegance. Hanfu, whether for men or women, comes in a wide variety of styles and colors.
The overall look of the kimono is almost straight, with the whole body wrapped tightly. The sleeves are wide and short, and the belt is wide. The men's clothing is not colorful enough and focuses on black. The women's clothing has an exaggerated belt knot tied on the back, which looks like a "little pillow." , mainly for decoration.
The top of Hanbok is very short, just above the waist. The hem of the top is curved. There is a wide tie at the collar, which can be used to tie a bow. The skirt on the lower body looks wide and fluffy, and the hem is very long, almost close to the body. The ground gives people an uncomfortable feeling.
