Jump to content
Chinese-Forums
  • Sign Up

汉服


Quest

Recommended Posts

For years I thought it would be cool to dress up as a Geisha for Halloween because kimonos are so beautiful and it'd suit me a lot better than a Xena the Warrior Princess costume. Now I think of' date=' it doesn't make a whole lot of sense though since I'm Chinese.

The problem comes up when I try to find ANY traditional Han costume for sale, not Cheongsam mind you. Personally, I don't think Cheongsam's are nearly as romantic as willowy Han dresses. Not to mention it's not representative of most Chinese's ethnic background being non-Manchu.

So I'm thinking about designing and making my own Han costume, probably in form of Da Xiu from the Song dynasty. See a picture at the bottom of this page [url']http://www.library.utoronto.ca/east/students03/tai_amy/song.htm[/url] My reasons are: 1, I can learn a lot more than I ever wanted about sewing and making clothes, 2, it'll bring Chinese culture pride.

I have no clue how far I can get with this ambitious undertaking though. My Mom doesn't even own any Cheongsam's. This summer I plan to travel to China so maybe I can find a film studio that sells costumes used in movies and TV shows.

Do you think it's a practical idea? Have you heard of anyone doing this before? 8)

sure you can, i made one after one failed and i am not a girl...it's not that hard really.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your impress of Tang is from media! See Japan and Korea Clothes --the leading style of Tang should be that?

please go and check the wall paintings in the tang tombs or dunhuang caves. but of course ppl wear differently during summer and winter.

in tang dynasty ppl do wear multiple layer of clithings --- made of silk, so thin and light that ur flesh can be seen even when wearing 8 or 10 layers. japanese just changed the material to thicker ones so it seems clumsy to us. in the famen temple site ppl discovered 700 layers of tang silk pile up to 28cm thick, so imagine their weaving skills.

you have only seen the court attire and the northern part of Tang, folk attire was still relatively intact especially for the southern part in 吳,越 region

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the idea of dressing up in traditional for Halloween! There's really no other practical circumstances (other than perhaps weddings and Chinese New Year?) that I could imagine walking around Californian streets dressed this way... but Halloween? Perfect opportunity.

There are plenty of resources out there for buying qipaos (by the way, for the ladies that are interested, I'm always told that your best bet is still to get a custom-tailored dress on the mainland itself; costs will run in the $100-300 USD range). But what about 中山装? Any ideas out there?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the idea of dressing up in traditional for Halloween! There's really no other practical circumstances (other than perhaps weddings and Chinese New Year?) that I could imagine walking around Californian streets dressed this way... but Halloween? Perfect opportunity.

There are plenty of resources out there for buying qipaos (by the way' date=' for the ladies that are interested, I'm always told that your best bet is still to get a custom-tailored dress on the mainland itself; costs will run in the $100-300 USD range). But what about 中山装? Any ideas out there?[/quote']

Qipao can be found everywhere, it's Han clothings that are harder to find.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you have only seen the court attire and the northern part of Tang, folk attire was still relatively intact especially for the southern part in 吳,越 region

the wall paintings did include commoners and court officials alike. but of course the dress code are different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

the current qipao is a modern design which can be traced back to the Kuomintang era and reflects little of our rich and diverse heritage.

I think Han Chinese should revive Han attire (汉 服) and continue wearing the authentic Manchu qipao. We should start wearing them on festive occasion. It is hard to revive back the old but we can start slowly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

As a long standing nationality , we Han people once had the pride of the most loose and elegant clothes... And the style of wide and long sleeves and crossing collarbands had influenced the most nearby countries till now... But why, the now so called "China dress" is so different from the Japanese and the Korean ?

The answer is that the Han clothing had once forbiden in the main China . That is at the 1644, when Manchu troops had invaded the main China , they knew that they were only barbarian . So the Manchu ruler on one side made themselves learn the Han culture , and on the other hand they did thire best to kill the national identity of the Han people -- that is actualized by "TI FA YI FU". "TI FA" means the Han people must cut there hair like the Manchurias which essentially like the pig tails more... And "YI FU" means the Han people must wear clothes as Manchurias ... As a result ,the Manchu controlled the country for nearly 300 years and the Han clothing vanished ...

For a better known of that tragidy , we must comprehend the Han customs. the Han people believe that the body, skin, blood, and hair is gaven by there parents and according to the filial piety, they musen't hurt them... So they never cut hair, and tire there hair together to make a headknop at the age of 20 at a special ceremony which is called "GUAN LI". On the other hand, Han people believe the natural and peace life, so they never drive themselves to fit narrow and tight clothes...They like wide and long sleeves waving in the wend , and crossing collarbands crossing quadrately before thire chest...

All of this --hairknops and loose clothes constructed the "YI GUAN" of the Han people. And so although the clothes vary time by time , but the basic characteristic remained... Remained untill that day the Manchu troops came...

Noticing the beliefs I mentioned above , you can imagine the resistance of the Han people ... That is the Manchu ruler must massacre thousands of people to complete thier policy and conquer ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Basic characeristics and patterns of Hanfu ( Han clothing )

1, "JIAO-LING YOU-REN" Crossing Collarbands and Tying at the Right : This pattern can be traced at least to the Shang Dynasty, and is the most pop pattern till now in China Korea and Japan.

2, "YUAN-LING" Roundish Collarband : It is mostly considered as appeared at the Tang Dynasty and is somehow infuenced by the north-west nationalities. But recently we synthesized some archaeological information and advanced a new hypothesis that YUAN-LING is our own invention.

3, "DUI-JIN" Symmetry : It is the most pop pattern over the world . It appeared at Song Dynasty , and strictly say the clothes of Manchu Qing Period is derived from DUI-JIN clothes in the late Ming Dynasty , but however DUI-JIN in the main China is only one kind of too many tradictional clothes...

4, "DA-JIN" Tying at the Right but Not Cross : Appeared at late Ming Dynasty , a variety of JIAO-LING.

You can see that Hanfu is itself varying

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...
Actually, I think a Qipao flatters any female form, be her Han or non-Han.

Oh boy does it.

What do you think about 唐装? Seems to be the most standard style you see in the west for the men anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hey guys, if you are interested in making hanfu, you can try out taobao. I have wanted to make one long ago for my opera performances but they do not accept international credit cards. So sad~ :cry:

Nonetheless, it is a good source for buying hanfu so if you have friends in China, you can ask him/her pay for you first.

Some links to the hanfu:

http://auction1.taobao.com/auction/0/item_detail-0db1-63f7f4768f69e1e6c0ced31f079e0c80.jhtml

http://auction1.taobao.com/auction/0/item_detail-0db1-5db804096c648174c378a47fa42e7726.jhtml

http://auction1.taobao.com/auction/0/item_detail-0db2-7c432350e9f5fd0e23a7792206da8392.jhtml

http://auction1.taobao.com/auction/0/item_detail-0db1-44fe2ca07977d27c1ca56fc4e48f093d.jhtml

Nice right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and select your username and password later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Click here to reply. Select text to quote.

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...