Overseas, many associations with Hanfu themes are emerging, becoming windows to showcase the unique charm of colorful traditional Chinese culture to the world.
"I hope everyone can 'play' together"
The DC Fuyao Hanfu Club is the first local Hanfu club established by overseas Chinese in Washington, DC. In line with the concept of "starting with clothes and reaching far away", Hanfu Society uses Hanfu as a medium to carry out cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.
Liao Yingjia is the current president of the society. She has learned pipa since she was a child and has a strong interest in traditional Chinese culture.
"During the performance, we use costumes and makeup to coordinate with the performance to give the audience a better experience. I still remember that when I was learning pipa when I was a child, I always wondered why my classmates who studied Western music wore gauze skirts and tutu skirts when performing, and we performed Do my classmates who play folk music also wear gauze skirts? What kind of clothing is suitable for playing folk music? This triggered my interest and exploration of Hanfu." Liao Yingjia recalled.
At first, most of the activities held by the Hanfu Club were tea parties with specific themes. Members get together to talk about poetry, poetry, and philosophy of life. The audience is small and the threshold is relatively high. "Without the accumulation of relevant knowledge, it would be difficult to accept this kind of 'spring and snow' activity." Liao Yingjia said.
After becoming the president, Liao Yingjia gradually changed the club into an interest group model, setting up activity groups such as classical dance, folk music, martial arts, and nemesis, and carried out traditional activities such as tea art and pot throwing games, as well as research on traditional makeup, hair bundle restoration, and Hanfu design and production. Experience activities.
Hanfu Society has repeatedly conducted performances with Chinese characteristics at the Chinese Embassy in the United States and international institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, allowing overseas people to experience traditional Chinese culture in person. "I hope that everyone can 'play' together and get started through experiential activities, thereby generating interest in Hanfu and planting the seeds of traditional Chinese culture in their hearts," Liao Yingjia said.
During the epidemic, Hanfu Club’s activities shifted from offline performances and experiences to online science popularization and cultural promotion.
In 2021, Liao Yingjia and the Overseas Hanfu Association jointly planned and held the first "Overseas Hanfu""Hanfu Mid-Autumn Festival Gala" also organized many overseas countries, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Chinese ethnic minority compatriots to sing and remake the bilingual version of the Hanfu music video "Floating Life".
In the music video, clothes are fluttering amidst the graceful music, showing the splendor of traditional Chinese culture. The video has been loved by netizens at home and abroad, allowing more people to feel the charm of Hanfu and traditional Chinese culture.
"Your clothes are so beautiful!"
"Once, I was walking down the street wearing Hanfu, and many local people looked at me curiously. They asked me, 'Are you wearing a kimono?' 'Are you Korean?' Such misunderstandings are very common. This made me It strengthens the determination to spread Chinese traditional culture." Liao Yingjia believes that traditional Chinese culture should be spread through the dual actions of display and experience, so that foreign friends with "zero foundation" in Chinese traditional culture can start from a sense of freshness and gradually understand the diversity and richness of Chinese clothing. sexuality and the inclusiveness of Chinese aesthetics.
During the Open Day of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, the Hanfu Club carried out a "one-stop" Hanfu display and cultural experience activities, including female celebrity experience, makeup and styling design, classical dance learning, Hanfu try-on, studio snap shots, etc.
Liao Yingjia said: "Everyone participated with great enthusiasm and everyone gained a lot. We hope that through such cultural experience activities, we can show the beauty of Hanfu to overseas people and allow them to immerse themselves in the charm of traditional Chinese culture."
“In the impression of some overseas people, the representative costume of China is the cheongsam, but in fact, we have a variety of costumes, including flag suits, Chinese tunic suits, Tang suits, beautiful costumes of fifty-six ethnic groups, and historical costumes. Traditional Hanfu." Liao Yingjia said, "Overseas, we are 'minorities' and we want to show and prove who we are."
During China's National Day in 2021, Liao Yingjia wore Hanfu and filmed the music video for "My Motherland and Me" outside the Lincoln Memorial. Her outfit sparked conversations like: "Where are you from? What event are you attending?" "I'm from China and I'm filming a video for our National Day." "Your clothes are so beautiful! Happy national holidays!" ”
Using Hanfu to express identity and showcase splendid traditional culture is the common expectation and goal of Hanfu Club members, including Liao Yingjia.
Bringing Hanfu to a bigger stage
In 2021, Liao Yingjia graduated from American University. At the graduation ceremony, Liao Yingjia dressed in a horse-faced skirt and attended the ceremony, which made her classmates shine.
"I received a lot of compliments that day. One classmate even came to me to shoot a video and post it online. People liked our clothes, and I was very proud." Liao Yingjia recalled with a smile, "It was very cold that day, and other students were wearing suits. I’m almost freezing, but I’m wearing a horse skirt and down pants underneath, which looks good and keeps me warm.”
At the event held by the Chinese Embassy in the United States to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, Liao Ying’s masterpieceFor the chief director and nine core members of the Hanfu Club, he completed music editing, action design, dance choreography, styling and other work within one month.
After three rehearsals, the Hanfu Club presented the 30-minute Hanfu performance "Remembering the Ancients" to hundreds of outstanding student representatives and education experts present. "We integrated the resources of the community and combined Hanfu with folk music, martial arts, Hu Xuan dance, etc. Many of the audience present were fascinated. Many of them had never even seen Hanfu, let alone appreciate so many shapes and styles at the same time. Hanfu." Liao Yingjia said.
Liao Yingjia also spent a year with members of the Hanfu Society to prepare the "Visit DC in Hanfu" event. During the event, overseas Chinese wore traditional Chinese costumes and provided guide services to people who had just arrived overseas and were interested in traveling. The event was novel in form and attracted widespread attention locally and online.
"In the future, I will look for more platforms to showcase our culture to overseas people through more high-quality activities and let the world see the beauty of China," Liao Yingjia said.
The DC Fuyao Hanfu Club currently has nearly 900 members and has expanded from a college student club to the largest Chinese cultural association in Washington, DC. They brought Hanfu to a bigger stage, allowing more overseas people to feel the charm of traditional Chinese culture.
