Heaven and Earth symbolism

In traditional Chinese culture, the symbolism of two-pieces garments hold great importance as it symbolizes the greater order of Heaven and Earth.^[3]: 12 In the Yi Jing《易經》, upper garment represents Heaven (Qian) while the lower garment represents the Earth (Kun).^[17] It is also why the mianfu (and the yichang in the Yi Jing) has a black upper garment and typically a red (or yellow^{[18]: 15 [19]}) lower garment which symbolized the order between Heaven and earth and should never be confused.^[20] According to the Wuxing (五行), the colour black symbolized the colour of the sky, which was dark before dawn,^[18]: 15 while the colour yellow represented the earth.^[19]

The order between Heaven and Earth can also translate into clothing length differences between men and women. For example, in 1537, in an attempt to reverse the trend in the late Ming when women clothing was gradually getting longer, Huo Tao, a Ming dynasty Minister of Rites, expressed:^[5]: 51

Men's and women's styles differ in length. A woman's upper garment is level with her waist, her lower garment meets with the top: earth supports heaven. A man's upper garment covers his lower garments: heaven embraces earth. When a woman's [upper] garment covers her lower garments, there is confusion between male and female.

Shang dynasty

In Shang dynasty, the basic form of hanfu was established as the combination of a separate upper and lower garment worn together;^{[27][18]: 15} which was known as yichang (衣裳).^{[6]: 47–50, 54 [29]} In this period, the yichang was a unisex set of attire.^{[30]: 14–22} The yichang consisted of a narrow, ankle length skirt called chang (裳) and the upper garment called yi (衣), in shape of a knee-length tunic with narrow cuffs; the yi was tied with a sash^{[31][30]: 14–22} and could be jiaoling youren.^[29] The yichang as a set of attire featured the wearing of yi over the chang.^[30]: 22

Zhou dynasty

The Zhou dynasty, people continued to wear the yichang as a set of attire. The yichang was similar to the one worn in the Shang dynasty period; however the Zhou-dynasty style yichang was slightly looser and the sleeves could either be broad or narrow.^[32] The yi was jiaoling youren and a sash was used around the waist to tie it closed.^[32] The length of the chang, could also vary from knee to ground length.^[32] In the Western Zhou dynasty, it was popular to wear ruqun as a set of attire consisting of a jacket and skirt.^{[33]: 139 [34]}

Qin and Han dynasty

Even though the clothing of the Warring states period were old, they continued to be worn in Qin and Han dynasties, this included the wearing of cross-collared blouse and skirts.^[12]: 51

The ruqun as a set of attire was worn during by elite women and ordinary women.^[12]: 51 Ordinary women during the Han dynasty wore the ruqun with the jacket being covered by the qun, which came in various colours throughout the year.^[35]: 4 Ordinary women wore plainer form of ruqun; the skirts were typically plain but the sash which was worn around the waist was decorated.^[12]: 51

During the Qin and Han dynasties, women wore skirts which was composed of four pieces cloth sewn together; a belt was often attached to the skirt, but the use of a separate belt was sometimes used by women.^[36] The popularity of the jacket and skirt combination briefly declined after the fall of the Eastern Han dynasty, but returned into fashion in the Jin and Northern Wei dynasties and continued to be worn until the Qing dynasty.^[12]: 51

• A noble lady figure, Western Han dynasty, 206 B.C.-A.D. 25.
• A Han dynasty painting illustrates women wearing ruqun, with blouses tucked into skirts
• A woman in ruqun, i.e. a black cross-collar upper garment tucked inside a red skirt, Dahuting Eastern Han Tombs Mural.

Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties, both the ruqun and the shanqun co-existed. The ruqun was popular among women during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties.^{[37][38]: 312–313} In the early Six dynasties period, women wore a style of ruqun composed of a jiaoling youren ru and a long qun. The jacket worn by commoner women was longer than commoner's men.^{[38]: 312–313}

Elite women in the Wei and Jin dynasty wore the combination of wide-cuffed, V-shaped, unlined blouse which was made of pattern fabric and was lined at the neck with a decorative strip of cloth, a long skirt which came in different styles, and apron.^[12]: 52 However, in the early Six dynasties, most ordinary men did not wear ruqun anymore; men, instead wore a set of attire referred as shanku consisting of ku, trousers, under their cross-collared jacket (i.e. ).^{[38]: 321–323} The men's jacket were either hip-length or knee-length.^{[38]: 321–323} The jackets can be tied with a belt or with other forms of closure.^{[38]: 321–323}

The shangjian xiafeng (Chinese: 上俭下丰; lit. 'top is frugal', 'bottom is rich'; similar to A-line silhouette) style was also a trend in the Wei, Jin, Northern, Southern dynasties, where skirts large and loose giving an elegant and unrestrained effect.^[22][23]

During the Wei and Jin dynasties, women also wore the shanqun, which consisted of a long qun and a shan, an unlined upper garment.^{[14]: 62 [15]: 62} The shanqun found in this period were typically large and loose; the shan had a duijin front and was tied at the waist.^{[14]: 62 [15]: 62} A weichang (simplified Chinese: 围裳; traditional Chinese: 圍裳; pinyin: wéicháng), which looked similar to an apron, was tied between the shan and qun in order to fasten the waist.^{[14]: 62 [15]: 62} Styles of shanqun can be found in the Dunhuang murals where they are worn by the benefactors, in the pottery figurines unearthed in Luoyang, and in the paintings of Gu Kaizhi.^[14]: 62

a)

b)

c)

Styles of shanqun: a) shanqun worn like a jiaoling youren yi with less overlap and worn with a weichang, Northern Qi b) shanqun with banbi, Southern dynasties, c) duijin shanqun with shan worn over qun, Southern dynasties

At Luoyang during the Northern Wei dynasty, several variety of clothing styles found on female tomb figures were largely derived from the traditional ruqun-style set of attire.^{[38]: 321–323} One style of ruqun was the combination of short jacket (usually belted and tied at the front of the jacket) with wide sleeves which falls to the knee or below knee level with a very high waist, pleated and multicoloured long skirt.^{[38]: 321–323} Based on a female tomb figure dating from the Eastern Wei, this form of ruqun is jacket worn over skirt.^{[38]: 321–323}

A popular form of ruqun was the jacket worn under skirt.^{[38]: 321–323} The qixiong ruqun-style also first appeared in the Northern and Southern dynasties.^[39]

Sui and Tang dynasties

In the Sui dynasty, ordinary men did not wear skirts anymore.^[40] In the late sixth century, women's skirts in the Sui dynasty were characterized with high waistline; this kind of high waistline skirt created a silhouette which looked similar to the Empire dresses of Napoleonic France; however, the construction of the assemble differed from the ones worn in Western countries as Han Chinese women assemble consisted of a separate skirt and upper garment which show low décolletage.^[41] This trend continued in the early decades of the Tang dynasty when women continued the tend of the Sui and would also wear long, high-waist skirts, low-cut upper garment.^[41]

During the Sui and Tang dynasty, women wore the traditional ruqun in the qixiong ruqun-style; a style where the skirts were tied higher and higher up the waist until they were eventually tied above the breasts and where short upper garment was worn.^{[3]: 1 [35]: 5}

In addition to the classical jiaoling ru or shan (crossed collar upper garments), duijin shan (parallel/straight collar upper garments) were also worn in this period, thus exposing the cleavage of the breasts. Some Tang dynasty women skirts had accordion pleats.^[42] Red coloured skirts were popular.^[35]: 5 There was also a skirt called "Pomegranate skirt" for its red colour, and another skirt called "Turmeric skirt" for its yellow colour.^[42]

By the Mid-Tang period (around the 8th century), the low cleavage upper garment fell out of fashion; the female beauty ideology changed favouring plump and voluptuous beauty.^[41]

• Woman in qixiong ruqun, Sui dynasty.
• A Tang dynasty painting illustrates women wearing ruqun, with skirts tied above the breasts and short parallel-collar blouses
• Another Tang dynasty painting illustrating ruqun
• A Tang dynasty palace concert wearing ruqun

Song and Liao dynasties

Yuan dynasty

In the Yuan dynasty, the Mongols never imposed Mongol customs on the ethnic Han,^[47] and they did not force the Han Chinese to wear Mongol clothing.^{[46]: 84–86} Many Han Chinese and other ethnicity readily adopted Mongol clothing in Northern China to show their allegiance to the Yuan rulers; however, in Southern China, Mongol clothing was rarely seen as both men and women continued to dress in Song-style garments.^{[48]: 82–83 [46]: 84–86} Tang-Song style clothing also continued to be worn in multiple layers by families who showed that they were resisting the rule of the Mongols.^{[46]: 84–86} The Song style dress also continued to persist among the southern elites of the Yuan dynasty and evidence of Song-style clothing was also found in the unearthed tombs in southern China.^{[46]: 84–86}

The casual clothing for men mainly followed the dress code of the Han people and they wore banbi as a casual clothing item while ordinary women clothing consisted of banbi and ruqun.^[49]

Chinese women also wore cross-collar upper garment which had elbow length sleeves (i.e. cross-collar banbi) over a long-sleeved blouse under a skirt; the abbreviated wrap skirts were also popular in Yuan.^{[45]: 19–20} Women jackets closing to the right and closing to the left coexisted in the Yuan dynasty. It was also common for Chinese women in the Yuan dynasty to close their clothing to the left side (instead of the right side).^[50]

The way of wearing short-length cross-collar upper garment over long narrow skirt was also a Song-style fashion.^[44] Long cross-collar upper garment (about the knee-length) over a long skirt could also be worn by Chinese elite women.^{[45]: 19–20} The aoqun consisting of jia ao (Chinese: 夹袄), a lined jacket, and a long-length qun was worn by the Han Chinese women as winter clothing; typically the jia ao would be worn over the skirt.^[51]

• Figure of a Woman Jin-Yuan dynasty China 13th-14th century.
• Ruqun and banbi, Yuan dynasty. The jacket is closing to the left which is a common style for Chinese women in the Yuan dynasty.
• Woman wearing shanqun, Yuan dynasty.
• Women depicted in the Fresco in the Hall of King Mingying. Han women wore elbow-length sleeves, cross-collar upper garment over a long-sleeved blouse; the abbreviated skirts were popular in Yuan.^[52]
• Women wearing Song-style ruqun (jacket over skirt) in the Yuan dynasty, from the painting Street Scenes in Times of Peace (Chinese: 太平風會圖), Yuan dynasty 14th century.

Ming dynasty

In terms of appearance, the Ming dynasty ruqun (i.e. the short jacket and skirt) was similar to the Song dynasty's ruqun.^[42] Compared to the ruqun worn in the Tang dynasty, the Ming dynasty ruqun was more gentle and elegant in style; it was also less lavish and yet less rigid and strict as the ruqun worn in the Song dynasty.^[3]: 42 One difference from the Song dynasty ruqun is the addition of a small short waist skirt which was worn by young maidservants; it is assumed that it was worn as an apron to protect the long skirt under it.^[3]: 42 The short overskirt was called yaoqun.^{[5]: 48–50} Moreover, following the Yuan dynasty, the style of closing the jacket to the left in women's clothing persisted in some geographical areas of the Ming dynasty, or for at least Chinese women who lived in the province of Shanxi.^[50] Ming dynasty portrait paintings showing Chinese women dressing in left lapel jackets appeared to be characteristic of ancestral portraits from the province of Shanxi and most likely in the areas neighbouring the province.^[50]

By the Ming dynasty, the ruqun became the most common form of attire for women. The sleeves of the blouse were mostly curved with a narrow sleeve cuff in a style known as pipaxiu (Chinese: 琵琶袖; lit. 'pipa sleeve'). The collar was of the same colour as the clothing. Often, there was an optional detachable protective huling (Chinese: 護領; lit. 'protect collar') sewn to the collar. The huling can be white or any dark colour, and is used to protect the collar from being rotten by sweat, therefore to extend the life of the clothing. Towards the start of the Qing dynasty, the skirt was mostly baizhequn (Chinese: 百摺裙; lit. 'hundred pleat skirt') or mamianqun.^{[dubious – discuss]}

By the late Ming dynasty, the aoqun (jacket over skirt) became more prevalent than the ruqun (short jacket under skirt); and the ao became longer in length.^{[5]: 48–50} By the late Ming dynasty, jackets with high collars started to appear.^{[5]: 93–94} The stand-up collar were closed with interlocking buttons made of gold and silver,^[53] called zimukou (Chinese: 子母扣).^[54] The appearance of interlocking buckle promoted the emergence and the popularity of the stand-up collar and the Chinese jacket with buttons at the front, and laid the foundation of the use of Chinese knot buckles.^[53] In women garments of the Ming dynasty, the stand-up collar with gold and silver interlocking buckles became one of the most distinctive and popular form of clothing structure; it became commonly used in women's clothing reflecting the conservative concept of Ming women's chastity by keeping their bodies covered and due to the climate changes during the Ming dynasty (i.e. the average temperature was low in China).^[53]

• A painting by Ming dynasty painter Tang Yin illustrating women in ruqun
• A painting by Ming dynasty painter Tang Yin illustrating women in ruqun
• A painting by Ming dynasty painter Tang Yin illustrating women in ruqun
• Illustration of Ming dynasty ruqun
• A woman (left) wearing an aoqun (i.e. top over skirt), Ming dynasty.
• Aoqun, Ming dynasty.
• Group of women wearing aoqun, Ming dynasty
• A ming dynasty woman wearing a chang ao over a skirt (possibly a mamian skirt). A blue pifeng is worn over the outfit. The ao jacket is long and has a high stand-up collar.

Qing dynasty

During the Qing dynasty, the aoqun was the most prominent clothing of Han Chinese women.^{[5]: 48–50 [55]} The ruqun (i.e. short jacket under skirt) continued to be worn in early Qing dynasty,^[4] but the later Qing dynasty depictions of ruqun in arts were mostly based on earlier paintings rather than the lived clothing worn by women in this period.^{[5]: 48–50}

In the late Qing, women wore the long jacket ao with the skirt.^[56] It was fashionable to wear the ao (袄) with the baizhequn (百摺裙) and the mamianqun.^[4] The ao in the Qing dynasty has a front centre closure and then curves crossover to the right before secured with frog buttons.^{[5]: 48–50} The front closing, collar, hem, and sleeves cuff have edging of contrasting pipings and side slits.^{[5]: 48–50} The skirts have a flat front and back panels with knife-pleated sides.^{[5]: 48–50} In Qing, the high collar continued to be used but it was not a common feature in clothing before the 20th century.^{[5]: 93–94} In the late Qing, the high collar become more popular and was integrated to the jacket and robe of the Chinese and the Manchu becoming a regular garment feature instead of an occasional feature.^{[5]: 93–94} The high collar remained a defining feature of their jacket even in the first few years of the republic.^{[5]: 93–94}

For the Han Chinese women, the stand-up collar became a defining feature of their long jacket; this long jacket with high collar could be worn over their trousers (shanku) but also over their skirts.^{[5]: 93–94} In The Chinese and Japanese repository published in 1863 by James Summers, Summers described Chinese women wearing a knee-length upper garment which fits closely at the neck; they wore it together with loose trousers with border around the ankles under a skirt, which opens at the front and has large plaits over the hips. Summers also observed that the sleeves of the women's garment are generally long enough to conceal the hands in cold weather; the sleeves were sometimes very wide and were decorated beautifully with embroidered satin lining which would be turned back to form a border.^[57]: 40 In Mesny's Chinese Miscellany written in 1897 by William Mesny, it was observed that skirts were worn by Chinese women over their trousers in some regions of China, but that in most areas, skirts were only used when women would go out for paying visits.^[58]: 371 He also observed that the wearing of trousers was a national custom for Chinese women and that trousers were worn in their homes when they would do house chores.^[58]: 371 Mesny also observed that men (especially farmers, working men and soldiers) around Shanghai also wore skirts in winter.^[58]: 371

Another form of ruqun worn in that period is called qungua (Chinese: 裙褂), which is composed of gua (褂; a jacket with central closure which closes with buttons) worn with a qun (裙) skirt.^[59] The gua jacket was a popular form of jacket in Qing and was worn as a summer jacket instead of the ao which was usually worn in winter.^[4] The qungua also referred to one style of Qing dynasty wedding dress.^[59]

• Illustration of ruqun and pifeng during Qing dynasty
• A woman wearing aoqun under a pifeng (aka beizi).
• Qing dynasty aoqun, the blue ao (jacket) has a slanted/curved opening.
• Qing dynasty Han Chinese women wearing Manchu-influenced aoqun and qungua.
• Cantonese Han noble lady with her servants in 1900s wears Manchu-influenced aoqun.
• Woman's wedding costume from China, an aoqun. c. 1900.
• A bride wearing aoqun,

Modern

Women's skirts

Throughout history, Han Chinese women wore many kind of skirts which came in variety of styles; some of which had their own specific names.