#Hanfu from china

[chinesehanfu]

[Hanfu · 漢服]China Song Dynasty Chinese Hanfu Photoshoots-【执欲】

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📸Photo：@朱山尽_

👗Hanfu： @异志阁原创国风

🧚🏻‍♀️Model： 老干部（XiaoHongShu App）

🔗Weibo：https://weibo.com/6906018733/MgyMdBauw

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[hanfugallery]

hanfu fashion matched with miao fashion by chinese designers

[yixique]

A Heart of Ice and Jade

I finished SWBTS a while ago and I love general ouyang so much! I’ve been waiting to read the book since 2020 but only got my book a few days ago, ahhhh it feels so surreal! well written eunuch antags are so rare in historical fiction and I never thought I’d live to see one beautifully written like a trans mlm, this really satisfies my incredibly specific niche (I’ve been fascinated by the concept for years), sorry I don’t know how to authentically describe how much ouyangs character means to me, he’s genuinely (almost) everything I’ve wanted to see in historical fiction, like oh my goodness... he raised the eunuch antag bar way too high now I’m gonna be disappointed when I read anything else

thank you if you read my entire paragraph above I feel like its really hard to articulate just how much I love ouyang as a gay dude with a eunuch hyperfixation... hope u like the art!

[fouryearsofshades]

regional hanfu styles?

i've always wondered if hanfu ever varied from region to region? what i've seen so far on hanfu makes it look like everyone wore the same styles across china but that seems so strange since most of chinese culture is very regional. so are there region specific hanfu styles or is hanfu really that general?

Hi!

It totally did historically. The further away a region from the centre of fashion (e.g. the capital) was, the more behind the fashion the region was. Usually the distinctions could be found in embroidery style, cut, length etc. I read that sometimes it could be a couple decades behind, especially in times of unrest and wars. A more recent example could be seen in Chinese diaspora in the late Qing, e.g. a Vancouver Chinese tend to dress in an older style then like say, Shanghai. Also last year a local hanfu tailor shop was submitted to a weibo tea account because it is too pricey for its old-school out-of-fashion products. (They do occasionally have some more "up-to-date" hanfu.) On the other hand, sometimes the royals would want to keep a look of "plain and simple", like in Ming dynasty, the fashion inside the Imperial Palace was lagging behind. When the clothing length and sleeves sizes increased in the South (Jiangnan area), the clothing inside the palace was kept shorter and fitter.

Modernly, since a lot of hanfu community is online, the distinction isn't as obvious, especially when most people buy hanfu online. There are distinction in materials and layering mostly due to the local climate, e.g. Guangzhou residents (in the south of China) might still be wearing a thin ao, while people in Beijing will have worn layers of wool, fur or dawn. Sometimes local communities of hanfu-ers would have a certain styles (either because there is a popular fashion icon in the group or they tend to bulk purchase from the same shop), but I usually can't tell them apart unless I am familiar with said group.

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

chinese gudian dance / classical dance by 嘎嘎灵

[taketotheskies]

Won’t lie, “The Bravest” will make you cry, many times.  It goes without saying when you are watching a fire fighting movie that deals with a situation like this.  Sure, there are a lot of exaggerations and numerous creative liberties taken, BUT it is still an amazing movie.

[kaeyatic]

—𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞

✦ pairing - zhongli x reader

✦ warning - smut, 18+ content, minors do not interact

✦ w/c: 2.7k

✦ disclaimer: afab!reader with no set pronouns, bookstore au, soulmate au [people get a location and date of where they'll meet their soulmates on their watches], fingering, blood, office sex, slight size kink, belly bulge, praising , strangers to lovers, creampie, reader is implied to be in china, unedited

Your hands pushed open the door, allowing a small bell to chime throughout the small bookstore. The smell of ink and old pages wafted throughout the area as shelves stood tall displaying an arrangement of books. Some were leather-bound, others decorative and ornate, and lastly the modern ones that everyone seemed to have in their personal library. You adjusted your back, dazzled by the atmosphere around you.

The dark wood beneath you creaked—sauntering into the establishment—an unconscious smile displayed on your face. You entered one of the rows, grabbing a random book that caught your eye. You gently titled the spine downwards, holding it in your grasp. As you opened the cover, a traditional drawing greeted you—a Chinese woman adorned in a pure red hanfu. Each stroke was precise, as the artist wished it to be. You wondered if the drawing was based on one of the characters in the story or based on the artist’s life. Antique books were always so interesting to you no matter where the region was.  

You flipped the page, a hand immediately tensing up as you felt a sudden pain on your fingertips. Your grip on the book slipped as it fell onto the ground, a loud echo rumbled signaling your clumsiness. You furrowed your eyebrows, upset at your clumsiness, as you pressed your fingers together to try to stop the beads of red beginning to appear.

“Are you okay?” a rich, deep voice called out to you. You looked up to see a tall ambered-eyed boy gazing at your form. His small lamp illuminated his gradient brown hair, tied up in a low ponytail. The man’s eyes were filled with worry, it appeared not to be for the antique book you had just dropped but for your well-being. The man took off his glasses—placed them down on the desk he was at before quickly glided over to you. You had to blink a few times processing the situation that you had created for yourself, heat rising to your cheeks.

“Y-Yes! I’m sorry for disturbing you! I didn’t mean to drop the book. If I messed it up, I’ll definitely pay for it!” you stammered out. The man chuckled slightly, the golden light of noon illuminating his sun-kissed skin.

“It’s alright. The book wasn’t damaged, after all. You seemed frazzled so I wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt,” the man replied. He leaned down—grabbed the book from the ground—and rose to his original position, offering the book to you. Your cheeks felt as if they were on fire. 

As you mistakenly opened up your injured finger, you noticed the man beginning to frown. The smile completely washed away from his face, worry and disappointment settling into its stead.

“Ah, you did get injured after all…” he mumbled. His large palm tenderly wrapped around your wrist, guiding you over to his desk. Reaching out under the space, he received bandages. With careful fingers, the man wrapped your finger with gauze. 

“Be sure to sanitize it as soon as possible. I didn’t have anything to use. I apologize for that,” he murmured. A small laugh escaped your lips.

“I didn’t think I would be tended to in a bookstore of all places today,” you joked outwardly. The man looked back up to you, eyes softening from your statement.

“ I don’t like people getting hurt. I always try to take the opportunity to help as many people as I can,” he replied. Your gaze went down, feeling slightly vulnerable to the man’s look towards you. He was beautiful— tall cheekbones, a beautiful smile, dazzling eyes. He looked unreal in a way.

“There need to be more people like you, honestly. What’s your name, by the way, I never caught it,” you asked. The man rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Zhongli. I’m the shop owner of this establishment,” he answered. The smile on your face manifested itself into a grin, and your eyes began to sparkle. Introducing your name with a quick reply.

“It is really nice to meet you. But, wow! Do you really own all of these? That’s incredible!” you yelled out. Zhongli chuckled at your excited reaction nodding his head. He turned his head, gazing at the accumulation of books he had around.

“Yeah. I always enjoyed reading. As a kid, I’d always use them as a means to escape and dive into the world the author laid out. Honestly, I think that part hasn’t changed,” Zhongli murmured. You looked down, fingers tapping on the wooden desk.

“I can relate to that too…” you admitted. Zhongli hummed momentarily before returning his gaze to you.

“So, what brought you to my store today? Is there anything I can particularly help you with?” he asked. You looked back up at him.

“Yes actually. This was actually the place I am supposed to meet my soulmate. To think they’d share my love of literature…” you chuckled. Zhongli hummed once more, slightly chuckling to himself.

“Your soulmate? A truly exciting moment then. Ironically, it would appear we share this joyous day since I also am supposed to meet my soulmate here soon. I didn’t expect an unknown bookstore to be etched on my watch when I was young only to collect books and buy this place, after retiring from another field” Zhongli responded. Your eyes perked up. You wonder what he did before he was here.

“Life’s funny in many ways. If you don’t mind me asking, what time are you meeting them today?” Zhongli asked. You looked at your watch, the smile on your face etching into confusion. Typically, the watch was always accurate to the dot. It would have been 2:00 in the afternoon, the bright blue skin reflected in the window reminding you of that.

“That’s odd… For some reason, it’s saying 12:00? That can’t be right. I left my home around that time…” you mumbled, narrowing at the watch. You began to poke at it, worried the batteries after all these years had managed to malfunction. You heard Zhongli grunt, his eyes narrowing on his own watch.

“It appears my watch is doing the same thing, how odd?” Zhongli murmured in confusion. You briefly looked at him before focusing your attention on the window once more. As you were deep in your thoughts trying to figure out this phenomenon, your eyes widened.

“What’s wrong?” Zhongli asked, watching you walk closer to the door. You opened the door again, the bell chiming once more. Confused by your behavior, Zhongli swiftly followed you lead to see you standing on the sidewalk. His own eyes widened standing beside you.

The whole world around you seemed to be frozen in action. It’s as if people walking across the busy sidewalks were mannequins—stopped in motion and posing for you. The cars were stopped even though the green lights remained on. Even the birds in the sky were frozen mid-flight.

“What’s happening…” you whispered out, turning your head to Zhongli in disbelief. Zhongli closed his eyes momentarily—the slight panic beginning melting away.

“...It would appear that our meeting may not be a coincidence after all…” Zhongli replied. His gaze delicately, looking into your eyes. You have read of different couples dealing with odd cases when they first met one another. Historically, people thought it was different Gods and spirits blessing their interactions with one another. Even your own parents couldn’t explain the phenomenon accurately to you.

 Only one thing could have done this, one culprit capable of it all...

“...Soulmates…You’re my soulmate, Zhongli,” you mumbled, before laughing. A soft chuckle escaped Zhongli as well as he weaved his hand with yours.  As you stared out into the frozen world, your lips curved downwards.

“How does the world return to normal though? Since we met, shouldn’t everything be fine now?” you murmured. Zhongli’s hand slightly tighten before his thumb stroked your own hand before sighing.

“Well, legends say that in order to stop a specific phenomenon affecting soulmates, we have to..consummate our union to celebrate our souls finding one another again,” he replied. You darted your head, cheeks getting hot once more.

“A-Ah! I see…W-Well…” you stammered out. Zhongli leaned over, pressing his lips to your forehead as your heart rapidly thumped in your chest.

“We’ll go at your own pace. I know you weren’t expecting this of all things,” he replied. You sighed, leaning your head into his firm just.

“I-It’s overwhelming but…” you whispered, unweaving your hands with this, “I trust you.”

Zhongli guided you toward the back of the bookstore, where his office resided. With a click of the door, locking the two of you inside, your soulmate sauntered over to your timid form. His hand pressed against the plush of your cheek, feeling the warmth as you leaned into it and smiled.

“Every day I dreamed of you…I’m glad to finally have you in my arms,” he whispered, leaning in towards your lips. Your eyes fluttered closed letting his lips press against your own, large palms that were resting on your shoulder beginning to travel throughout your body. His hands briefly rested on your chest, groping it with a slight squeeze as you slightly moaned from the newfound attention. Seizing the opportunity, Zhongli’s tongue slipped into your mouth hands began to wander again.

His hands rested on your hips, fingers playing with the band of your pants as your lips finally separated from one another—trying to catch your breath. Your lips were glossy, a small string of saliva connecting with his lips. He leaned in once again, claiming your lips with his own as he slightly tugged down at the band of your pants.

“You know…I always wonder what we were like in past lives with one another as lovers…” he whispered out, pressing chaste kisses on your cheeks finally slipping his hands down your pants. You whined, feeling his long cold fingers cup at your entrance—fingers trailing down your slit repeatedly, brushing against the nub of your clit.

“Perhaps I was an all-powerful God. Maybe you were too. Maybe we were both poor but we persisted through the hardships for our love of one another,” he murmured. You slightly gyrated your hips, trying to get any bit of friction from Zhongli’s fingers and encourage him to play with your clit more. Your soulmate merely chuckled, pressing his lips at the pulse of your neck.

“Patience there, bǎobèi. You were such a timid mouse before,” he chuckled, hearing you whine his name once more. The pad of his thumb pressed firmly against your clit as you sucked a breath in before massaging the nub as jolts of pleasure shot through you like electricity.

“You know...my reason for book collecting was to see if I could magically see my previous lives with you. Every word, every story made me feel closer as if you were a whisper away from me,” Zhongli confessed, sliding two fingers inside of you. Your body jumped, feeling the digit sink and slightly stretch you out. Slowly thrusting them inside of you, his lips rested on the shell of your ear, nibbling at the cartilage as you leaned into his touch more.

“It surprises me that it’s our first time together, yet it seems I know the exact ways to make you melt in pleasure,” he chuckled to himself, offering a chaste kiss on your nape again. Your hips bucked, feeling his digits curl against your gummy walls—thumb still bullying your clit. Your walls fluttered against his fingers, trying desperately to clamp down and keep them inside of you as he lifted his free hand to reveal your chest and toy with your taut nipple.

“Z-Zhongli, I-I’m close,” you studdered out, feeling his hand stop all movement once you finished your statement. Your eyebrows furrowed looking up at him with a slight pout as he chuckled once more.

“Ah, Ah. I don’t think it’s fair if the first time I make you cum, it’s my fingers of all things,” he murmured. Your lips quivered feelings his fingers slowly pull out of you, thumb moving away from your clit and inside your pants. His hand was coated with your slick. Seeing your eyes watch his with such attention, Zhongli smiled—popping the fingers that were once inside of you into his mouth. A moan echoed from him as his tongue swirled against the slightly sweet essence of your slick before popping them out once more. 

Zhongli quickly disrobed, tan dress shirt and mocha slacks falling down onto the floor near his shoes without a care and you quickly followed his lead. Your eyes focused on the various Intricate geometric tattoos adorned on his muscled arms watching as he slowly pulled his briefs down. His cock immediately shot up, smacking against his lower stomach. 

To say he was big was an understatement, honestly, you weren’t even sure it would fit inside of you. Prominent veins decorate his base, as it shivered with desperate pleasure to be inside of you. Precum already leaked from his tip, as his hand jumped his length to smear it across the rest of the base.

He walked over, lining his tip against your entrance, nudging it against your needy clit. Eyes rising back to your own, his gaze softened—pressing his hand against your cheek once more.

“I’m so happy I finally found you again,” he whispered, connecting his lips with yours once more and he soon pushed his cock inside of you. The slow burn flourished throughout your body, trying to adjust to the length sliding inside of you. Your nails harpooned against his back, whining in pain before he finally bottomed out—tip firmly pressed against your cervix. You never felt this full before, as your body tried to adjust to him.

Feeling your walls slowly cave in against his cock, Zhongli slightly pulled out before plunging his cock inside of you again—firmly pressing you against the wall. You cried out his name, feeling his length beginning to press against the satisfying spongey spot inside of you as you gripped him tighter.

“F-Fuck! There! Right there!” you cried out. Zhongli grunted loudly, making sure every angle of his thrust was massaging that spot as he hooked your upper thigh up towards his hip to try to plunge even deeper inside of you. His eyes narrowed, watching his cock disappear insde you time and time again, only to see your lower stomach slightly get bigger every time he thrust. Captivated, he pushed against you only to sharply suck a breath in feeling you squeeze him even more.

Hearing you babble his name repeatedly, Zhongli lifted his hand up from your stomach only to instead toy with your clit once more. He first pulled on the sensitive nub, before rubbing rapid circles.

You were beginning to cave so much, it was beginning to get difficult for him to properly thrust inside of you as the walls of his office rattled with every thrust. 

“C-Close. C-Close. Close! Zhongli!!” you babbled out. Zhongli quickly pressed his lips against your own once more, eyebrows furrowed as your back arched—drinking up your whines as you finally reached your high. Your body quivered, tightly pressed against his, as you rode out your high. 

With a few sloppy thrusts, Zhongli followed behind you, spurting thick ropes of his cums inside of you. He rested his slightly dampened forehead against your own, observing the tired features before pressing another kiss on your forehead. Your legs trembled, clearly about to give out at any second. As much as he didn’t want to pull out, he did before lifting your wobbly leg back down on the cold ground. His cum soon dripped down, making a white trail down your thighs and onto the ground.

“Easy..come, lay down here to recover,” he murmured as he guided you to his small couch, brushing your cheek once more as you flashed him a lazy smile. As Zhongli put his slacks back on and gathered the rest of your clothes and his own, he heard soft laughter emitting from you.

“You hear that?” you whispered out. Zhongli cocked his eyebrow up in confusion. The two of you paused in slight silence before hearing the birds chirp out again. Zhongli looked down at his soulmate's watch, it was 2:00 p.m. once again.

The world around you seemed to return to normal—the crowds chattering, machinery rumbling, and the world around the two of you filled with life outside of his small office.

After all, they say when you’re in love, time has a funny way of stopping.

[ck-17088]

Here’s Cole in a hanbok!! Ninjago takes inspiration from many places, but it probably takes the most inspiration from East Asia, particularly Japanese and Chinese cultures. I’ve seen many drawings of the Ninja in kimonos and occasionally hanfu, so I wanted to draw Cole in a hanbok, or Korean traditional clothing. Korea is another East Asian country between Japan and China, so I thought it would be cool for him to wear another kind of traditional clothing.

[rongzhi]

Does the dominant Han ethnic group in china also have traditional dress or is that like asking if white americans have traditional dress? Re; the latest fashion douyin

Han people are the dominant ethnicity in China but obviously they were wearing something other than modern western wear at one point lol?? (not trying to be rude, I just thought it was a funny comparison)

Ethnic Han people's traditional dress is called hanfu. In the modern age, a lot of Han (and others) people also just wear qipaos and changshans and tangzhuang, although these are not considered hanfu. Basically, they may technically be considered Manchu clothing, due to emerging from styles implemented under Manchu rule in the Qing dynasty, but they are also a uniquely modern (20th century) innovation that were shaped over the years by global (western) influences, too.

Generally speaking, hanfu describes any style/era of clothing basically worn by Han people basically up until the very early Qing dynasty (last dynasty), so you will see it cover many styles. There has been a hanfu revival movement in the past decade or so in China so it's becoming more popular to see, and there's sort of combination of people going for strictly historical styles (based on art and written record, etc) and people innovating and incorporating modern ideas of hanfu into their clothing.

You can check out my hanfu tag for a quick idea or go to @ziseviolet and @fouryearsofshades (just the blogs off the top of my head), who both run blogs much more dedicated to hanfu and know much more than me about the subject.

[chinesehanfu]

[Hanfu · 漢服]China Tang Dynasty & Wei Jin Dynasty Chinese Traditional Clothing Hanfu Photoshoots

📸Photo By：@朱山尽_

👗Hanfu By：@无妄亭

🔗Weibo：https://m.weibo.cn/6906018733/4760153956024590

[hanfugallery]

chinese hanfu matched with miaojiang苗疆 fashion by 宴山亭

[yixique]

that one twink from three kingdoms

[ash-and-starlight]

Hi, hope you're well.

I love the way you draw Mai, and I was just wondering what inspires your Mai design? (Particularly her garments and makeup)

Hey thank you! As it often happens in my art her design is a mix and match of elements from different cultures, the clothes she’s wearing here are inspired by ming dynasty china, while her hair are done up in a korean braided bun (i think it’s called jjok, and it’s usually worn by married women but oh well she’s married to ty lee so… also the binyeo is of course a dagger in disguise)

i am trying to figure out a “less formal”/more FN look for her, this time inspired by vietnamese traditional clothing.

i think what i always try to keep in mind while drawing Mai in canonverse is that she’s always carrying around a full arsenal of knives, so the fit of her clothes has to reflect that lol, as for the make up it’s mostly made up, i’ve seen the two dots under the eyes a couple of times in modern hanfu models.

[ziseviolet]

Dior Mamianqun Controversy

I received the following message via chat from a follower, that I would like to share here:

Hi, 小紫, do you know that Dior appropriates the modernized mamianqun designed by some hanfu brands in china? link of discussion about Dior 2022 A/W show on weibo: https://weibo.com/6323095999/LChcJyPTa?refer_flag=1001030103_&type=repost#_rnd1657858224778 , I think Dior indeed directly referenced the structure of how it's pleated and inner cutouts of mamianqun which has a long history dated back to ming dynasty and influenced the shape of qing dynasty skirts as well, it is sussy, look how the DIOR model turned around when the skirt spread to reveal the split style, this is indeed the unique inner structure of mamianqun, a more rigorous examination requires DIOR to show the flat design, but Dior is not responding, it claims on the official website that this is their exclusive style launched this year, yet the same style of mamianqun has been prevalent among young people in China for several years, there are several taobao stores making exactly this kind of modernized mamianqun since 2018 or even early (metal leather buckle belt + fabric suitable for autumn and winter + long skirts), such as 四时景, 你好美荔, etc., I don't know how to make it an anonymous ask for you to post my question but I would like to listen to your and other followers' comments on this, thank you 小紫(also feel totally free not to post this one, it's your blog and you make the call ❤️

Here is a screenshot of Dior’s official shop with the skirt in question: 

And here are screenshots of the skirt being displayed on the runway:

Although I am not an expert on tailoring, it does look extremely similar to a Chinese mamianqun/马面裙 (horse-face skirt). Below is an actual modern mamianqun from hanfu brand 你好美荔’s 2018 collection, for comparison:

And here’s a reference sheet on Ming dynasty mamianqun history & construction:

Below is a summary of key points of Chinese netizens’ comments on Weibo:

Based on tailoring and construction, Dior took direct reference from mamianqun for this skirt

However, this is not necessarily “wrong” in and of itself. After all, fashion brands take inspiration from different cultures all the time

What IS wrong, and what is leading to the backlash from Chinese netizens, is that Dior is claiming that the skirt uses an “iconic Dior silhouette” (标志性的Dior廓形) and is a “completely new...fashion item” (全新的优雅时尚单品). See below for screenshot of the item description on their shop, using these exact words:

Personally, I agree with all of the above points. The act of a Western fashion house such as Dior taking inspiration from (or directly using) sartorial styles from other cultures is not new. It is also, in my opinion, not necessarily wrong - as long as due credit is given to the culture(s) that served as a reference for the styles. I do not believe that a historic fashion house like Dior is unaware of the existence of mamianqun. After all, even Princess Diana wore a Qing dynasty-style mamianqun before, in 1981 (x): 

Claiming that the style is totally original and unique to Dior, even an “iconic silhouette” of the brand, is disingenuous in the extreme and deserves to be called out. 

I am interested in hearing what my followers think about this. Especially tagging @fouryearsofshades​ and @audreydoeskaren who are knowledgeable about mamianqun construction and history. What do you all think?

[feather2004]

Why Wukong might be suffering nostalgic depression and how his clothing tells us this

Just to get this out there I’m not a physicist, this is just something I pieced together whilst studying Wukong’s character design. Also replies are turned off for this post idk, but I’ll trying to fix it.

The ‪Hanfu appeared in China more than three thousand years ago and is said that it was clothing of the legendary Yellow Emperor, a great sage king of ancient China. The basic of Hanfu was developed in time of Shang Dynasty, from 1600BC to 1000BC. “With the beginning of Western Zhou Dynasty Hanfu began to a be method of distinction between classes.” (History Of Clothing, 2023) “The Hanfu is now worn during some festivals, ritualistic ceremonies (such are coming of age or rite of passage), by historical re-enactors and by monks and priests.” (History Of Clothing, 2023) ‬

I believe this article of clothing is important because the show is supposed to be set in the modern day of JTTW and so as a result most characters in the beginning of the show are dressed suitably with a more modern attire. However, Wukong was the exception to this with him being the only character that dressed in fully traditional clothing for the most part; now this could have been done to simply make him recognizable, but I think it’s deeper than that. 

I believe Wukong's traditional clothing at the start of the show was a method to show that despite how he may present himself, Wukong in the show is trapped by his past and ruminating on his failures as a hero and as a friend. And it shows that Wukong clings to his past successes to cope and hide from his insecurities, constantly bragging about his heroic deeds whilst skipping over his mess-ups and refusing to admit responsibility. “Longing for the past (something you can’t reclaim) can fuel dissatisfaction with the present. Nostalgic depression, then, can describe a yearning coloured with deeper tones of hopelessness or despair.” (Those Happy Golden Years: Coping with Memories That Bring More Pain Than Peace, 2021, Crystal Raypole)

‪It also appears to be a visual theme to the show that characters who cling to the past like Wukong have a more traditional clothing style, but characters who embrace the future even gods like Wukong have amore modern appearance. A good example of this would be this shows version of Chang'e who has fully adapted to the modern day and has an outfit that is a clear reference to sailor moon and is even a TV host and a popular one at that. ‬

‪As you can tell The characters who are focused on the present are clearly designed with a more modern appearance in mind, but the characters stuck in the past all wear traditional clothing and have clearly stayed close to their origins. This could be for a myriad of reasons such as a longing for the past or to caught up in what happened to them that they are completely incapable of moving on. ‬

‪The only time we see Wukong in a modern style of clothing is during Season 3 where Wukong is forced to leave his comfort zone and is forced to interact with a friend group again; due to the threat of the Lady Bone Demon being so great he can’t just solo this adventure as he usually would and has to learn how to work with people again. ‬

During this arc we see Wukong’s credibility as a teacher and a friend being questioned and he is also forced to face a lot of his passed mistakes. This is also where Wukong first stars wearing semi modern clothing, as he is no longer hiding from the world and the new connections he is making with MK and his friends; this to me symbolizes Wukong making the first few steps to come to terms with his past and embracing his present however, he isn’t fully there yet as he is still lying to MK and the group and is dogging responsibility for his mistakes. “you hid it from all of us why? Were you afraid you were going to have to tear me apart” (Mei, Lego Monkie Kid, 2022) “we trusted you all of us how could you lead us into a fight without a real plan! Time and time again I’ve watched you put MK in danger leaving him to figure everything out on his own. Don’t you realize you hurting the people wo care about you the most!’  (Mei, Lego Monkie Kid, 2022) Which is why despite his progress he still clings to his old habits aka his more traditional style clothing.   

‪This is interesting to me because as stated by the series creators “the story of JTTW is very much about making peace with yourself and making peace with other people” (A Lego Journey To The East, 2020) However, despite this being the fundamental core of the story Wukong seems incapable of this with him being combative with others, deceitful and completely incapable of facing his past mistakes or even addressing his past at all. ‬

‪This theory is amplified more in Season 4 as during this season we get a good close look at the monkey kings past and what he was like before the advents of the journey. This design is a clear homage to Havoc In Heaven’s (1961) design of the monkey king, its copy’s the clothing to the letter.

Whilst this may just be a cool reference to the Chinese fans, I think it has a double meaning; as during this season Wukong is trapped inside a memory scroll which is designed to trap people in the past. This all but confirms Wukong’s refusal to move on from his history and his clothing clearly represents this due to it literally being a physical manifestation of a past iteration on the monkey king. ”getting caught up in an idealized rewrite can leave you comparing your present day to a past you didn’t actually enjoy all that much. This yearning can eventually factor into emotional distress, including symptoms of depression.” (Those Happy Golden Years: Coping with Memories That Bring More Pain Than Peace, 2021, Crystal Raypole)

‪So, in conclusion I believe The character designers for this show are displaying Wukong’s unhealthy clinging to his past with his clothing choices which can clearly show us the character arc the writers are intending for him. Whilst also displaying the themes of the show, which is moving on and self acceptance.         ‬

‪Through this research I have discovered that Wukong may very likely be experiencing nostalgic depression in the series but what is it, and what can it tell us about the creator's intention with Wukong's character and how his environment might be contributing to this. From what we can tell Wukong’s depression seems to stem from his broken relationships and loved ones lost, ”still the same Wukong, doing whatever he wants with no regard for others” (macaque, Lego Monkie Kid, 2022) which seems to have led to the monkey isolating himself not leaving his home Flower Fruit Mountain for at least 1000 years given the era the show takes place in ”The Monkey king Vanished never to be seen again…” (Lego Monkie Kid: A Hero Is Borne, Tang, 2020) We also know that “Nostalgia often surfaces when thinking of loved ones, both those you haven’t encountered in some time and those you no longer spend time with. If you lost a friend or loved one and feel like you never got real closure, this nostalgia may feel even more distressing.”‬

This can also be seen by the state on Wukong's home/environment, which is completely in ruin showing no signs of care or upkeep being put into it. The only exception might be his house but even then, it’s clear he has a hoarding problem with literal mountains of stuff from his past that he can’t part with ” The Journal of Clinical Psychology has identified depression and anxiety disorders as potential risk factors and underlying causes of compulsive hoarding. Depression and anxiety may lead to maladaptive behaviour  patterns that make it difficult to function in everyday situations. In this case, it could be holding onto items and creating clutter that disrupts everyday life.” (WHAT CAUSES HOARDING IN YOUR PARENT AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT,  VARIFIED STAFF, 2019)

‪Environmental problems can trigger depression in someone with a genetic predisposition for the disorder. But even those who don't have genetic risk factors for depression can develop symptoms due to environmental factors. “People who engage in unhealthy lifestyle practices also have a more difficult time overcoming depressive episodes than healthier people, as their unhealthy lifestyle practices tend to work against many treatment effects.” (Lifestyle Factors and Environmental Causes of Major Depression, 2023, MentalHelp) So I think it’s safe to say based on all this Wukong's self isolating habits plus his unhealthy lifestyle have contributed to him gaining nostalgic depression.   ‬

‪So yeah that’s my theory, what do you think.‬

[audreydoeskaren]

Abridged History of Qing Dynasty Han Women’s Fashion (part 1: Late Ming & Shunzhi Era)

Intro

Finally got around to writing this series! Couple notes before we begin. I will only discuss civilian fashion and not court dress because 1) Qing court dress is well documented and there are plenty of other people/blogs/articles that explain it better than I ever could 2) court dress doesn’t really count as fashion because it serves ceremonial/religious/political purposes and is not supposed to change. The overwhelming majority of English language information about Qing Dynasty clothing is about court dress and Manchu women’s fashion, so I will be doing a disservice to the era if I continued that line of discussion. It should be noted that most literature on court dress and Manchu women’s fashion is not flawless either; court dress is often flattened to “dragon robes” by white historians despite it not being a legitimate fashion history term, and much information about “Qing Dynasty” Manchu fashion is really about that of the early 20th century, the Republican era. That is outside the scope of discussion for this series. Instead, I would like to shed some light on the life and times of Han women’s fashion during the Qing, something strictly kept out of the canon of Chinese fashion history until very recently.

Before we jump into it, we need some context. Prior to the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, China was ruled by the Ming Dynasty under ethnically Han (majority ethnicity in China nowadays) rulers since 1368. A collection of Jurchen tribes from what is now northeastern China and parts of Siberia, who later called themselves the Manchus, conquered China in 1644. In order to solidify their power, the new Manchu rulers forced Han Chinese men to adopt Manchu style clothing and hairstyles, but Han women were allowed to continue wearing Han style clothing, which is why the second half of the 17th century appears to be the continuation of the late Ming Dynasty aesthetic. 

However, the early Qing was undeniably distinct from the Ming Dynasty, and I will not tolerate anybody calling clothes from this era “Ming style”. It could potentially be considered hanfu, as it was worn by Han women exclusively----something up for the community to decide----but it definitely did not belong to Ming Dynasty proper. Although in the 1640s and 50s some resistance forces in the south (dubbed “Southern Ming”) were still around, it’s not really worthwhile to make the distinction for womenswear, so let’s place it under Qing Dynasty for convenience. I have berated 18th century erasure quite frequently and passionately in the past (and it’s often extended to the 17th century as well), if you have seen any of those posts you would know that Qing Han women’s fashion prior to the 19th century is routinely mislabelled as Ming because it didn’t adhere to 20th century stereotypes about the “Manchuness” of Qing clothing and supposed Chinese backwardness in the colonial imagination of the time. Because of this reason, please do not be surprised if any of the images from the first couple posts of this series appear to be depicting what is commonly considered “Ming Dynasty hanfu”; they do not, they were from the Qing, plain and simple. It’s often simply because people don’t pay enough attention to the dating of artworks.

I will use emperors’ reign years as a guide for eras in this series because oftentimes that’s the most accurate dating that exists for artworks (many are unclear as to the exact year/decade they were made in), though I would recommend using exact dates instead of emperors wherever possible.

Fashion of the Ming-Qing transition

Han women’s fashion of the very early Qing had significant overlap and continuity with the late Ming. I’m not very knowledgeable on the minutiae of Ming Dynasty clothing so do add/correct anything. The standard ensemble for Han Chinese women was the 袄裙 aoqun (alternatively named 衫裙 shanqun) ensemble consisting of a robe and a skirt. In the 1620s and 30s, the cut of the robe was extremely generous, the hem hitting about knee length and the sleeves almost touching the ground. The sleeves of this era (and often throughout Chinese history) were longer than that of the length of the wearer’s arms, meaning that the wearer is required to grab the cuffs of the sleeves in order to facilitate the use of their arms. Many consider this inconvenient nowadays, but keep in mind that these robes with huge sleeves were made for wealthy people who hired servants and didn’t need to do physical labor. Working class people wore shorter, tighter sleeves that could also be held up by a garter. 

The robe had a fitted tall standing collar, as opposed to the cross collar popular in previous centuries. The standing collar in the 1620s and 30s was soft, unstiffened and closed by two 子母扣 zimukou, metal clasp buttons, one at the bottom of the collar where it touched the bodice and one at the middle of the collar. Collars with only one button also existed, and these would be worn folded over. Gold or silver piping on the collar began to be popularized on the collar. Robes were closed at the side under the right armpit, commonly with tie strings. The placket forms a straight diagonal line from the collar to under the armpit. In the 17th century, robes were commonly plain and unicolor, with only brocade/embroidery in the same color. When decorative patterns were used, they were frequently in a repetitive arrangement of small clusters of motifs. Light pastel colors or white were very popular. Undergarments whose cuffs could be seen on the outside were commonly red, providing a contrasting flash of color to the otherwise light and plain ensembles.

Illustration from the late Ming novel 鸳鸯绦, showing the large sleeves popular at the time.

Late Ming women’s robe from the Confucius Estate collection.

The skirt was usually of 马面 mamian construction, basically two pleated pieces of fabric with two unpleated sections at the middle each, called 裙门 qunmen, that are sewn onto a waistband with one unpleated section overlapping, creating a wrap skirt. It has ribbons attached to each end of the waistband and was closed by wrapping the skirt around the waist and tying with the ribbons. Throughout much of the Ming Dynasty, mamian skirts were decorated using 裙襕 qunlan, a horizontal row of gold brocade or embroidery across the skirt, whose placement and widths varied depending on the trends of the decade. In the 1620s and 30s, skirts became increasingly simple, and plain white skirts were all the rage. Decorative features like qunlan were frequently relegated to formal dress.

Illustration for the Chongzhen era novel 醋葫芦. The repetitive decorative patterns could be seen on the robe of the lady to the left.

Women’s hairstyle of this period is referred to as 三绺梳头 or “hair in three sections”, where the front of one’s hair would be divided into three sections, top, left and right, which would then be tied and coiled at the back, sometimes forming an elongated end at the bottom called a 燕尾 or “swallow tail”.

Late Ming/early Qing painting showing two fashionable women. The flash of red from the under robe is visible.

Beside the skirt and robe, women could layer a 披风 pifeng on top of the robe. These were equally generous in cut as the robe but had a 直领 zhiling, parallel collar, and were closed by tie strings or bigger decorative clasp buttons at the center front. It usually had a wide facing at the collar, which in the 1620s and 30s were often plain and in the same color as the garment. 

Mid 17th century portrait. This lady is wearing a plain red robe with gold buttons and piping, blue pifeng and plain white mamian skirt. 

By the 1640s, the width of the sleeves had become smaller, and hairstyles became gradually fuller and more voluminous at the top, beginning the transition to the Kangxi era. The diagonal placket on robes began to be replaced by closures at the center front, often held together by tie strings.

Section of 浴砚图 by 蓝瑛 Lan Ying and 徐泰 Xu Tai, 1659. We can see the center front closure with tie strings instead of the diagonal placket closing under the right armpit popular in previous eras.

Around this time, robes made of sheer fabric were being popularized as informal loungewear for warmer weather. Sheer robes were not proper enough to be worn outside, but we can catch a glimpse of these robes along with the undergarments beneath in romantic paintings with a domestic setting. The principle women’s undergarment for the upper body remained a 主腰 zhuyao, a tube top-like garment that provided bust support. It could have shoulder straps and was usually closed at the back with tie strings, though closures with cloth buttons became increasingly common throughout the Qing.

Shunzhi era painting series by Sun Huang (the cover image for this post is from the same series), showing a lady and her maids in lounging clothes, the zhuyao visible under the sheer robe.

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I’m not as knowledgeable about the earlier parts of the Qing Dynasty as the later ones, so as always feel free to correct or add anything to this post :))