Chinese national costume

Asian culture has attracted special attention for a long time. Of greatest interest to contemporaries are strict traditions in clothing, shoes, hairstyle and lifestyle in general. It is noteworthy that many European peoples try to copy traditionally Asian household items, adapting them to their mentality.

One of these original Europeanized accessories is the Chinese national costume.

Today it is very difficult to imagine the average Chinese dressed in a classic traditional costume. However, until the thirties of the twentieth century, he quite comfortably existed in common rank and file and noble high-ranking wardrobes.

The history of the Chinese national costume dates back to about the 17th-18th centuries. This is not to say that before that the Chinese wore anything. They just did not have any one direction in clothing.

The set of traditional Chinese accessories includes a set of components taken from various local peoples, in particular, the Manchus and South Chinese. Some ethnographers and travel historians argue that a truly national, original, Chinese costume can be found in Korea today.

The traditional clothing itself was a robe or a long shirt with a vest with straight cut sleeves of non-standard width. Wide trousers or a skirt were worn under the dressing gown, regardless of gender.Often these were simple natural fabrics for everyday wear, and bright silk outerwear for the holidays, which only high-level members of society could afford.

The general ensemble of the Chinese national costume is practically uniform throughout the country, differing only in minor features in shoes, hats and accessories. Also in medieval China, which was very actively divided into estates, the types of fabrics, colors and quality of tailoring for the poor and the rich were strictly differentiated.

The traditional costume has a fairly simple cut and a versatile shape for both genders. It is necessary to have a stand-up collar, which is the main sign of the difference between a man's suit and a woman's: for the first, the height should not exceed 2 cm, and for the second, it can successfully reach 8 cm.

Most often, this type of clothing has a right-sided odor, when the left side of the robe or shirt is superimposed on the right, completely covering it. The location of the fasteners on the clothes depended on this: the buttons were sewn to the left side, and the loops - to the right. They were made, as a rule, from a special braid cut from the fabric of the main clothing.

The number of buttons must be odd. They are usually located as follows:

• the first is under the collar;
• the second is on the chest;
• the third - goes under the arm;
• the fourth, fifth and subsequent ones (their number varies from 5 to 9 pieces) - are located downward vertically on the side of the shirt-robe.

As for the color scheme, everything here depended on the territory of residence and gender. Northern Chinese men preferred all shades of gray and blue in their dress. Southerners were more prone to contrasting - white and black.

For women on both sides of China, bright fabrics with embossed patterns were assigned.

Although this type of clothing did not have particularly visible differences in terms of gender, there were still a number of nuances that clearly define the male model. The summer casual version of the undershirt for men was a natural lightweight tunic sewn from two large pieces of fabric. This accessory is worn by the Chinese over traditional trousers.

Pants - straight, no pockets with a wide "yoke" (wide sewn belt made of white fabric), reaching almost to the chest. From above, this detail is still belted at the waist level with a wide (up to 20 cm) and long (up to 2 m) sash.

The role of outer summer clothes is performed by a flared wrap-around robe without lining. The side parts of it originate from the waist, smoothly descending to the very heels with oblique inserts-wedges. So that the long floors do not get in the way and do not get confused under the feet, cuts are made in them at the knee level. The sleeves of this piece of traditional Chinese wardrobe, according to tradition, are wide, long, flared, or tapered in the palm area.

The demi-season version of the classic Chinese men's suit is complemented by one special element. Lightweight jacket plus a padded vest or lined jacket. The underwear stays the same as in summer.

The demi-season sleeveless jacket does not have a collar, it is equipped with a straight long slit in the front in the middle. It is usually made of dark cotton linen with a lining. Not used by peasants at all. The autumn-spring jacket (robe) is sewn according to the same principle as the summer outerwear, equipped with only an insulated lining.

The winter upper part of the national men's costume of the Chinese was distinguished by a jacket with a wadded lining, which had only one side and an equal length on all sides - to the middle of the thigh. The number of buttons of such clothes reaches no more than seven pieces, depending on the height.

National dress for special occasions also had its own characteristics. So, a festive holiday suit differs from an everyday one - an outer jacket. It has an unusually short length to the waist, also has a long straight slit in the front and short ones on the sides, and is decorated with knotted or copper buttons. The stand-up collar is made of double fabric. Placed on top of a light jacket.

It can also be demi-season and winter with appropriate insulation characteristics. The fabric for weekend jackets is chosen with great care: it is often dark silk with painted patterns.

The Chinese funeral costume is necessarily made in white. The fabric becomes rough, but natural, with a yellowish tinge. The general ensemble consists of a long robe, a wide sash and a headband.

Traditional clothing for a Chinese woman differs from men's only in modest additions and accents. Here are the main ones:

• Pants out. The uniqueness lies in the fact that they could be worn in the style of oriental trousers, and as classic ancient skirt pants. The original design of this wardrobe item had clearly feminine features: silk embroidery appliques along the bottom of the bootleg.
• Colors. Mature women were supposed to wear low-key dark colors. Young girls were less limited in their choice. Their outfits have always been distinguished by bright vibrant colors with original embroidery and patterns.

• Underwear. Of course, it was different from the male. It was a long, tight-fitting body, sleeveless jacket with a lot of buttons (from nine to eleven). Since in ancient China a woman's flat chest was considered a symbol of beauty, this sleeveless jacket was designed to reduce her visual size.
• Long-length women's dressing gown. It has a fitted shape, is sewn from expensive purchased fabrics (usually silk) and is decorated with bright original patterns and appliqués.

The first clothes are very important for the correct spiritual development of the child. The future mother makes it with her own hands long before the birth of the future heir. The undershirt is sewn from thin paper fabric - clothes of old relatives, which indicates the future longevity of the baby. Newborns are wrapped in diapers, also prepared in advance by the mother.

The only difference in the clothes of a boy and a girl under five years old is the way of swaddling in infancy. So, children of the stronger sex are swaddled up to the chest, and the weak - up to the neck. Over the age of six, clothes for a boy and a girl acquire the characteristic features of an adult Chinese national costume. It differs only in size.

The unity of the traditional clothes of Chinese people is impossible without additional accessories, each of which also had its own meaning and carried its information to the masses.

The historical headdress of the Chinese has several options:

• tou jin - a piece of white matter for northerners, and black for southerners;
• round felt cap;
• a textile hat, equipped with a kind of swelling at the top of the head;

• wide-brimmed southern bamboo-palm hat;
• high cone-shaped hat with national ornament.

As for the traditional footwear, it was less varied than the head cover and was supposed to be worn by representatives of both sexes.Basically, the shoes were lightweight black textile shoes on a thick platform without a heel. The sole was covered with a white cotton fabric. The richer people put on silk shoes.

People living in the countryside happily wore braided sandals, which had a square toe and a low stiff heel. Later, in the urban spaces, coarse rural sandals with thick soles were interspersed. For especially wealthy townspeople of the weaker sex, even patent leather shoes on a wooden platform were invented. Sometimes she had a barely noticeable heel.

Today, in the vastness of the People's Republic of China, it is difficult to meet a conscientious citizen of his country in an old traditional costume. However, they jealously honor the memory of their ancestors, continue to pass on the national characteristics of their clothes from generation to generation.

They take great pleasure in using colorful, slightly modernized costumes during their folk festivals to show the unity of generations and pay tribute to their great ancestors.