During the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon, when walking on the street, you will find that horse-faced skirts have become popular as "New Year shirts". Netizens lamented, "Most of the New Year clothes for little girls on the street are Hanfu! Horse-faced skirts are the most popular!!" "I was walking on the street on New Year's Day and counted the number of horse-faced skirts I saw, and there were thirty or forty of them." This wave of national fashion has driven topics such as "Caoxian's horse-faced skirts sold for 300 million yuan are still in short supply" to become hot searches.
When "horse" meets "dragon" can be said to be the most "trendy" joint name in the Spring Festival. Behind the beauty of clothing is the etiquette and culture. Let us explore the cultural code behind the horse-faced skirt
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Does the horse-faced skirt have anything to do with horses?
The horse-faced skirt has nothing to do with horses, and its name comes from the ancient Chinese city wall defense system.
The characteristic of the horse-face skirt is the "horse-face pleats", which are named after the shape of the "horse-face" protruding defensive piers on the ancient city wall.
"Ma Mian" is a series of piers built along the city wall in ancient times that protrude out of the wall on the plane. Its function is to strengthen the city body and facilitate observation and flanking enemy troops attacking the city. Generally speaking, city walls are mostly linear, and the defenders can only attack the enemy troops under the wall from the front. Building convex-shaped auxiliary facilities at a certain distance outside the city wall not only increases the defense area but also accommodates more defenders. The defenders no longer have a blind spot under the wall to attack, and can observe and attack invading enemies from three sides from top to bottom, and can also reinforce the city wall itself. The spacing is mostly limited to the maximum distance that the firepower can cross at that time. For example, if the range of a bow and arrow is 60m, then the distance between two horse faces is generally not more than 120m. This way there will be no gaps in defense.
The prototype of the horse-faced skirt originated from the spiral skirt of the Song Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The word "horse face" was first seen in "Zi Zhong Zhi" by Liu Ruoyu of the Ming Dynasty: "It has a continuous back placket with swings on both sides. The front placket has two sections, and there are horse face pleats underneath, rising to both sides." It was a popular costume in the Ming Dynasty. A kind of "sprinkle".
Huang Nengfu first defined the horse-faced skirt in his book "A General History of Chinese Costumes", that is, "there are flat skirt doors on the front and back, a flat skirt back on the back waist, folds on both sides, and decorative patterns on the skirt door and skirt back. Waistband and ties."
Horse-face skirt is composed of horse-face and pleats (jiǎn). There are four skirt doors on the front, back, inside and outside, stacked two by two. The skirt's pleats are not sewn tightly from the waist to the hem, which is called "living pleats"; the skirt is pleated from the front and back sides to the sides of the body, which is called "downwind pleats"; the lower part of the skirt is open, and the skirt pleats change as the person moves. Zhang Yihe sways like water patterns, agile and beautiful. Although the horse-face skirt is an apron skirt, because the front and back parts overlap each other, it is convenient for walking without revealing the light.
The cultural code of horse-faced skirt
The horse-faced skirt has experienced the freshness and elegance of the Ming Dynasty, the luxury and complexity of the Qing Dynasty, the beauty and simplicity of the Republic of China, and has passed through the thick dust of history. Now, it has "captured" the trend circle with an unstoppable momentum, sweeping the fashion industry and becoming a star and fashion blogger. It has been sought after by the owners and ordinary people, and it has become a popular fashion item for the New Year jersey of the Year of the Dragon.
How beautiful can a horse-faced skirt be?
The picture is selected from: "Splendid Luoqun - Appreciation Catalog of Horse-faced Skirts handed down from ancient times"
The patterns of the horse-faced skirt are mainly concentrated on the hem of the skirt. The patterns on the lower part are complicated and gradually simplify upwards. There are many pattern themes. Different patterns also symbolize different meanings. Different flowers and plants represent different characters and characteristics. The ancients often used The yearning you pursue is pinned on it. Animal patterns such as dragons and phoenixes symbolize good luck and a good marriage; among plant patterns, peonies represent wealth, chrysanthemums represent longevity, lotus symbolizes purity and purity, pomegranates and grapes symbolize fertility and blessings, lilies symbolize a hundred years of good marriage, etc. Women from official families use more exquisite dragon patterns, cloud python patterns, etc., which also reflect traditional Chinese cultural values from the side.
Dielianhua
River cliff sea pattern
Python pattern
The picture is selected from: "Splendid Luoqun - Appreciation Catalog of Horse-faced Skirts handed down from ancient times"
From the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Republic of China, horse-faced skirts have undergone significant changes in terms of style, fabric, color, decoration, craftsmanship, and ways of wearing and matching. The basic trend of change is from simplicity to complexity, and then back to simplicity. This process of change reflects the aesthetic fashion of the times, that is, the Ming Dynasty advocated an elegant, dignified style, the Qing Dynasty pursued a style with elaborate decoration, wealth and celebration, and the Republic of China tended to a low-key, plain and simple style. At the same time, this wayThe changing process also reflects the socio-economic and ideological conditions of different eras.
Put on the "Year of the Dragon jersey" and go for a Chinese-style romance
The flat cutting method of the horse-face skirt, the full use of fabrics, and the simplicity of the production process all demonstrate the ancient Chinese creation wisdom of "saving things", "treasuring use" and "being careful"; broad, symmetrical and impartial. The straight and straight structure reflects the ancients' pursuit of being in the world; and the combination of horse face and pleats demonstrates the oriental beauty of "combination of movement and stillness, and degree of relaxation".
The original intention of the horse skirt was to facilitate riding. The non-closed skirt will open when the wind blows, walking or sitting down. Therefore, the formal horse-faced skirt cannot be worn alone, and a petticoat or underpants must be worn underneath.
A big reason why the horse-faced skirt can become the "Year of the Dragon" is that it is more everyday. In some scenes, the shape of the traditional skirt may be too exaggerated and the movement may be restricted. The horse-faced skirt is not picky, it looks good on everyone, and it is very "versatile". Whether paired with a shirt, cardigan, suit jacket, coat, etc., the horse skirt can be perfectly matched and rarely "fall over". Only by returning to practicality can we overcome all kinds of prejudices and obstacles and continue to pass on.
When traditional culture returns to modern life, horse-faced skirts gradually enter our fiery lives from museums embodying ancient culture in the cycle of "continuous understanding, discovery, and improvement" of modern people. In the Year of the Dragon, the strong linkage between "dragon" and "horse" has made more and more people realize that horse-faced skirts can be taken to the streets and into venues. It can be perfectly adapted to a variety of occasions - commuting and traveling. , go shopping without breaking the rules, the rediscovered horse-faced skirt is bursting with the brilliance of this era. When friends around you who claim to be avant-garde and avant-garde all fall in love with horse-faced skirts, does this mean that the most traditional is also the most contemporary?
The picture is from the professional service center librarian above
Although the Spring Festival has passed, spring is in full bloom. Why not wear a horse-faced skirt and go out for a Chinese-style romance?
Book recommendation: "Splendid Luoqun - Appreciation Catalog of Horse-faced Skirts handed down from ancient times"
"Beautiful Luoqun: An Appreciation Catalog of Handmade Horse-faced Skirts"
Author: Zhou Jin
China Textile Publishing House Co., Ltd. 2023
Call number: TS941.742.8-64/7287
"Splendid Luoqun - Appreciation Catalog of Horse-faced Skirts from Ancient Times" focuses on the horse-faced skirt, a category with artistic characteristics and representative value in the historical system of Chinese costumes. It traces its origin upwards and spreads its aesthetics downwards in order to achieve three-dimensional and Completely showing the beauty of horse face skirt. The book displays 125 exquisite horse-faced skirts. Through sorting and summarizing, its characteristics such as shape, color, pattern, decoration and craftsmanship are recorded and analyzed piece by piece to guide readers.Understand the traditional folk creation concepts and aesthetics. Then, the design concept and piece combination of the horse-faced skirt are decomposed and discussed to complete a full interpretation from form to meaning.
The book focuses on showing us five kinds of horse-faced skirts: langan horse-faced skirt, pleated horse-faced skirt, gold-plated horse-faced skirt and moonflower horse-faced skirt, as well as regular and improved horse-faced skirts.