#chinese hanfu
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
peekofhistory · 3 days ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
All the various figures, murals, tombs from the Tang Dynasty really gives a lot of references for various clothing styles from this period.
The capital city during the Tang Dynasty was Chang'an, now known as Xi'an. A few years ago when they were expanding Xi'an' airport they found about 3,500 tombs O.O;; If you're interested in the Tang Dynasty, Xi'an is definitely a city you should visit :D (This is also where the famous Terracotta warriors are!)
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
134 notes · View notes
redsugarx · 2 days ago
Text
青白之魅 5: Clothes & Accessories
1 Introduction & Presentation // 2 Background & Influences // 3 Hair & Makeup // 4 Set Design // 5 Clothes & Accessories // 6 Conclusion
This is the actual hanfu post of the hanfu series on this hanfu account! So if you’re here for HANFU and specifically HANFU this is it >:)))) We’re gonna get deep into the relics & archaeology with this one!
Tumblr media Tumblr media
L: Cui Qing'er set, R: Bai Suzhen set, both Cloud9 Hanfu
So before we start. This bitch was supposed to be a four-piece set. However, my dumbass (and Yulan’s dumbass I guess) forgot about the pibo ;-; So it literally just doesn’t appear in the shoot and We Will Not Speak Of It. It still looks pretty great! Just completely slipped our minds amidst the chaos x-x
Anyway: each of these are (SUPPOSED to be) a four-piece set. The four pieces are 大袖褶衣/da4 xiu4 xi2 yi1/large-sleeved top,九破裙/jiu3 po4 qun2/nine-panel skirt,腰封/yao1 feng1/wide sash,and 披帛/pi1 bo2/shawl. The sash & shawl are smaller accessory pieces, so the main two pieces are the top and the skirt, each of which have six months of planning and design: they are completely custom printed and custom patterned, the culmination of months of research. I will be focusing on these two pieces in this post (I’ll go over the last two briefly at the end, they’re just not as interesting). 
Background: Northern Dynasty (386–589 ish)
Background for these sets: Both of these sets are referenced from the南北朝/nan2 bei3 chao2/Northern & Southern Dynasty, with more emphasis on the northern part. This was a very tumultuous time period that often gets looped in with the 魏晉/魏晋/wei4 jin4/Wei & Jin dynasties for a combination time period known as 魏晉南北朝. 
This means two major things in the context of hanfu research: 1) there’s a lot of very fast-paced exchange of culture and evanescent fashion trends going on, and 2) there are very few well-preserved textile relics to work off of. As a result, the sources for Northern & Southern Dynasty clothing often bounce off of chronologically adjacent Wei/Jin relics (sometimes Han, from before). This also means that physical garment relics that we usually depend on to learn about the patterning/construction of hanfu from that time period have to be supplemented with figurines and carvings from the time, so we can see what they were supposed to look like. There’s a lot of educated guesswork involved in recreating these garments.
Most types of hanfu have direct garment relics that their patterns are recreated/resized from. The strictest hanfu enthusiasts—called 形制黨/形制党/xing2 zhi4 dang3/‘form party’—only recognize hanfu that are constructed identically to an archaeological source, because a physical reference is the only way to ensure that the construction is ‘correct’ or would have been commonplace at the time. All other kinds of hanfu are considered hanyuansu or modified, hanfu-influences versions of clothing. I used to be stricter about this too, but I realized after several years researching hanfu that when you get really deep into it, the lines become really blurry. So if you’d like to be stricter about it, feel free to consider this set hanyuansu! But because a lot of historical research went into it, and I personally think it's very very likely that these constructions existed, I feel confident in calling it hanfu rather than guzhuang or ‘costume.’
大袖褶衣
The construction of this top is primarily based off of two archaeological relics from the Northern Dynasty: a sleeve piece and a 褶衣 (!注: 褶 is pronounced xi2 in this phrase) relic. There is very little material out there on the sleeve piece, but the xiyi is very famous and was restored by the China Silk Museum.
褶衣/xi2 yi1/Xiyi
Tumblr media
绞缬绢衣, 中国丝绸博物馆/China Silk Museum
This is the xiyi. Its full technical name is the 絞纈絹衣/绞缬绢衣/jiao3 xie2 juan4 yi1/'twisted knot silk top,' but it's known colloquially as the 褶衣. Right now it's in the China Silk Museum's collection of artifacts.
It was originally excavated by the Gansu Institute of Archaeology from 甘肅花海畢家灘26號墓/甘肃花海毕家滩26号墓/gan1 su1 hua1 hai3 bi4 jia1 tan1 26 hao4 mu4/'Gansu province Huahai Bijiatan grave site #26,' which was discovered in May 2002. The burial site belonged to a woman who died in the year 377CE. Almost all clothing artifacts from the 魏晉南北朝 period that have been referenced in hanfu today came from this woman's tomb.
Tumblr media
It used to look like this before it was restored by the China Silk Museum. You can read the restoration report here.
There's a whollllleeeeee textile analysis complete with microscope fiber images that I could go through here, but I'll save it for another post since my design doesn't have anything to do with the fabric of this piece, just the structure.
Now, I only used the torso portion of the Xiyi, since I used a different sleeve shape, so I won't be going over the Xiyi's sleeves either. The torso looks like this:
Tumblr media
Fairly simple structure! It obeys all the general rules of hanfu construction. There are a few features to note though.
The back of the neck is very wide. Most open-front hanfu garments have a small gap at the top of the neckline. This garment, however, has a particularly wide gap.
There are no vents. I know it's not visible in the flat picture, but there are no side slits/vents, which is one of the main features distinguishing this piece from similar parallel-collar tops from the Song/Tang dynasties (usually known as 褙子/bei4 zi0/Beizi). This makes sense: vents are necessary for longer garments so that your hips don't get trapped, but for shorter garments they're not needed. This xiyi is 72cm long, which is still considered short.
There is no 'lan' piece. Modern convention dictates that a top with a lan piece be called a 襦/ru2 (again, modern convention in the hanfu community!!! This is not necessarily historically true). Since this top doesn't have one, it's not considered a Ru, earning its own name as the xiyi.
The root of the sleeve is narrow compared to the rest of the body. It's only about 1/3 the length of the torso.
Finally and most importantly, it's not a cross-collar garment, but the lapels aren't parallel either. Instead, they slope down diagonally from that wide-set neck and meet at a point at the bottom. There's a tiny portion that overlaps, but if you look closely you'll notice that it's actually only the trim that overlaps—if you took off the trim, the torso pieces would meet at the same point.
Keep these in mind as we move on.
錦緣綾大袖/锦缘绫大袖/jin3 yuan2 ling2 da4 xiu4/'Brocade Trim Silk Large Sleeve'
Tumblr media
idek where I got this image, sorry
I spent a full three days scouring the internet for metadata on this thing (until I got hit with a 24-hour migraine and had to stop ;-;). It's a sleeve piece from the Northern & Southern Dynasties called the 錦緣綾大袖. Unfortunately, there is very very very little information out there about it.
From what I could find, this is because 1) it isn't a archaeological artifact excavated post-revolution (which is almost all the ones that are usually referenced), it was an heirloom and doesn't have very good digital records, and 2) it is allegedly in Japan, and I don't know Japanese so I'm not very good at finding information in Japanese. Do not quote me on either of those points; they could very well be misinformed, but I wasn't able to find anything else.
According to 大唐女儿行/大唐女兒行/da4 tang2 nv3 er2 xing2, a book by 左丘萌 (Zuo Qiumeng) and 末春 (Mo Chun) published by Tsinghua University Press, this sleeve piece is in the Nara Shosoin Repository's southern warehouse collection, and was shown during the 58th annual Shosoin Repository Exhibit.
However, I looked up the records of the artifacts shown during the 58th annual exhibit and this artifact is not on the showing list, and I went through three separate databases of Shosoin relics and found nothing, so I have my doubts about the accuracy of this citation. Most of the Shosoin's stuff is from the Tang Dynasty anyway.
So all I have is this picture, which has been passed around the hanfu community for ages. Fortunately, that's basically enough: 90% of hanfu sleeve pieces are constructed the same way, just in different shapes. So probably if you unfolded it, it'd look like this:
Tumblr media
This shape is called 窄臂大袖/zhai3 bi4 da4 xiu4/'narrow bicep large sleeve,' because, well, it's narrow at the bicep but wide at the sleeve opening. This differs from later-dynasty wide sleeves, which do increase in width as you get closer to the cuff, but start out fairly large as well. The shape is backed up by a boatload of figurines from the Northern & Southern Dynasties.
Putting It Together
Okay, we've got a sleeve reference, and we've got a torso reference, and they both existed at the same time. That's... all of the parts we need to make a whole top! Here is the approximate franken-hanfu chimera we have put together:
Tumblr media
But how likely is it that this combination existed?
Pretty likely, actually, if we look at some corroborating evidence. Here is an article about 袴褶装/ku4 xi2 zhuang1 by the National Museum of China. 袴褶装 is a type of outfit (in the sense that t-shirt-and-jeans is a type of outfit) often worn by Northern & Southern Dynasty figurines. 袴 is the archaic form of 褲/裤 which means pants. 褶 refers to the 褶衣 from the previous section. 袴褶装 is the combination of these two garments in an outfit.
According to the article, 袴褶装 was a clothing trend that originated in the north, where nomadic tribes who were often on horseback (some still are today!) preferred to wear pants and shorter tops for convenience. This later got adopted by the Central Plains people, and the pants and sleeves got wider and wider—so it's very conceivable that a xiyi with wider sleeves than this relic existed.
Here are some figurine pictures from all over China:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
L: 陶文吏俑,北齐,徐州博物馆,1985?徐州狮子山北朝墓出土 (Ceramic Statue of Civil Official, Northern Qi, Xuzhou Museum, excavated 1985?from the Lion Mountain site in Xuzhou, Jiangsu)
C: 侍从陶俑,北魏,中国国家博物馆,1965年河南省洛阳市元邵墓出土 (Ceramic Statue of Attendant, Northern Wei, National Museum of China, excavated 1965 from the Yuanshao site in Luoyang, Henan)
R: 陶彩绘男俑,北魏,故宫博物院 (Colored Ceramic Statue of a Man, Northern Wei, China National Palace Museum)
So! I think that this combination is more than plausible. Take a look at these ones:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
L: 陶女俑,东晋,中国国家博物馆,1955年江苏南京出土 (Ceramic Statue of a Woman, Northern Wei, National Museum of China, excavated 1955 from Nanjing, Jiangsu)
R: 彩绘陶女立俑,北朝,徐州博物徐州馆,茅村内华北朝墓出土 (Colored Ceramic Statue of Standing Woman, Northern Dynasty, Xuzhou Museum,excavated from Mao town site in Xuzhou)
Notice how the wide-set collar allows a little bit of the inside clothing (camisole? Undershirt? Who knows) to peek out at the chest. Keep that in mind when we circle back around to the whole outfit at the end :)
Tumblr media
Materials & Details
The fabric used for these tops is called 百合緞/bai3 he2 duan4/‘lily satin’ in Chinese, but a lot of colloquial fabric names don’t transfer well between languages. It’s a sheer polyester fabric that’s somewhere between satin and organza. I’ve heard similar fabrics referred to as crystal organza. It has a very pretty liquid-like shimmer to it on the right side, which I felt was good for representing our ethereal water-bending snake spirits.
I went through dozens of fabrics trying to find the right texture that was available in the green-blue color needed for Xiaoqing, but fabrics of this kind often only come in macaron pastel colors. The targeted color was very specific—too green and it would no longer be 青, too blue and it wouldn’t match Dragun’s coloring. In the end, I had the color’s CMYK code custom printed onto white base fabric, then sent it off to be cut & sewn (by hanfu tailor workshop in Nanjing).
There is also trim sewn onto the collar (出芽/chu1 ya2) and sleeve cuffs, which is made from a beautiful red damask with cloud patterns woven into it. This pattern is a Ming Dynasty cloud pattern called the 四合如意雲紋.
Tumblr media
These embroidered sleeves are one of the most costly parts of the set.
Tumblr media
I drew the embroidery pattern by hand on a raster file over the course of a few weeks (I use a tablet + Clip Studio Paint pro), then worked with an embroidery workshop in Quanzhou to digitize it.
Tumblr media
In the process of embroidering Xiaoqing's top, the fabric got snagged in the machine, and ripped a hole in the front of the right sleeve, which was very sad. There wasn't enough time to remake the whole thing before the shoot.
We rescued it by undoing the seam, chopping a portion of the sleeve off, and re-sewing it back together, resulting in a narrower sleeve opening than the white top (thank you workshop in Xuzhou!!!). The difference barely shows up on camera because it was so wide in the first place.
九破後褶裙
This is the garment that has the most guesswork associated with it, so it's the one that's least plausible to have existed, because I guessed a lot of it and pieced together a lot of sources to make it happen.
I was originally inspired by 玩泥巴的豆角 (user 'String Bean Playing with Mud') on Weibo. She's an incredibly talented historical costume enthusiast who's been the first to recreate tons of rarely-made hanfu pieces in addition to historical clothing from Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Europe, and recently Mongolia. She's also done handcrafted textiles, shoes, and other accessories. If you can read Chinese I highly recommend going through her posts but be careful because if you're like me you'll get sucked in and then neglect your homework for like a week.
This is a post that I saw back in 2023. She points out a kind of skirt often seen in Northern Dynasty figurines that has narrow pleats in the back but not in the front:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
太原北齐东安王娄睿墓单螺髻侍女俑(505,508)/ Northern Qi Taiyuan Dong'an Wang Lourui Burial Site(artifact 505, 508)
She posits that there are two likely possibilities for the construction of this skirt: the 破裙/po4 qun2/'broken skirt' structure or the 百迭裙/bai3 die2 qun2/hundred-layer skirt structure (more on that later). Her recreation is structured closer to the Song Dynasty baidiequn skirt structure, with the reasoning that it would be easier to modify into a poqun later if an excavation ever came out confirming that it was a poqun, but it would be much harder to turn a poqun back into a baidiequn.
Tumblr media
玩泥巴的豆角's image, linework of figurines with pleated-back skirts
For various reasons, one of which being that I'm not claiming this to be historically immaculate, I wanted to explore the possibility of a poqun structure. In addition, I actually do think that this pleated-back skirt is more likely to be a poqun than a Song baidiequn.
My understanding is that the baidiequn structure, which is essentially a long rectangle with pleats on it that gets wrapped around your waist, only got trendy in the Song Dynasty. There's a report of a few rectangular pleated skirts from the Tang Dynasty Famensi site (Shing Mueller, Center for Sinology, University of Munich) as well, but not much before that, and the pleats are very wide compared to a baidiequn.
Poqun, however, have been around since at least the Warring States period. We know this because of the several excavated artifacts from the Warring States Period, the Han Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty. (The Warring States Period is wayyyyy before the Northern Dynasty.) Since time only moves in one direction, I think it makes more sense to assume that an older cut of clothing still existed in a time period after there's evidence that it existed, rather than before.
What's a poqun anyway? I like to describe it as Ye Olde Circle Skirt (sector skirt if you want to be pedantic about it). It's a way to make the flared circle skirt pattern happen at a time when your fabric is only 74cm wide: you cut out a bunch of trapezoids, sew them together, and end up with this sunburst shape. Trim the hem and you've got what's essentially a partial circle skirt.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
L: 江陵馬山楚墓深黄絹單裙(N-17-3), 中國古代服飾研究 p. 92, 沈從文 / Jiangling Mashan Chu Kingdom burial site dark yellow unlined skirt (N-17-3), Research in Ancient Chinese Fashion p. 92, Shen Congwen
R: 長沙馬王堆漢墓單裙,中國古代服飾研究 p. 159,沈從文 / Changsha Mawangdui Han burial site unlined skirt, Research in Ancient Chinese Fashion p. 159, Shen Congwen
The two complete poqun skirts excavated before the Northern Dynasty are a four-panel underskirt from 馬王堆漢墓/马王堆汉墓/ma3 wang2 dui1 han4 mu4/Mawangdui Han Dynasty burial site in Changsha, and an eight-panel skirt from 江陵馬山楚墓/江陵马山楚墓/jiang1 ling2 ma3 shan1 chu3 mu4/Jiangling Mashan Kingdom of Chu burial site. Later Tang Dynasty artifacts also show poqun with 12, 16, even 32 panels, often alternating colors. You'll notice that most of these are even-numbered, because the trapezoids are made by splitting a rectangular piece of fabric into two pieces with a diagonal line, like this:
So why is my design nine panels?
Here's my reasoning: First, I knew I wanted to stay around 8 panels, which seems like a reasonable number based on artifacts at the time (chronologically 8, 4, 6, 6, 12).
The 9th piece was inserted because of how pleating works. If you want full parallel knife pleats without messing with the symmetry, the fabric has to be rectangular. So one of my pieces has to be a rectangle, and it has to be in the middle. If I want the number of panels on each side of this rectangle to be the same (for symmetry), there's going to have to be an odd number of panels.
Now let's decide what's going on on either side of this pleated rectangle. Say we've inserted the rectangle in the middle of a uniform 8-panel poqun, which was my original intention. That means we get 4 panels on each side of the rectangle:
Tumblr media
Traditionally, the panels are always right trapezoids. But now there's a problem: the legs of these two adjacent trapezoids are not the same length, so the curvature on each side of the rectangle is different.
What if we turn the trapezoids on one side around, so that it's symmetrical? Well, now we have another problem: the different parts of the skirt are different lengths.
All right, so the problem is that the legs of the trapezoids are different lengths. Easy fix: use isosceles trapezoids instead.*
Tumblr media
*Worried about fabric waste? Don't be! What do you get when you chop an isosceles trapezoid in half! Two right trapezoids. You can still use the same technique :) I just didn't for this skirt.
Lastly, mostly to make it easier to do math, and since I've already bastardized the traditional poqun cut anyway, I made the last two panels rectangles (these will overlap with each other when the skirt is put on). This is to make it so that the number of rectangles and the number of trapezoids are both divisible by 3 (makes it easier to adjust calculations based on peoples' measurements).
This is the final structure of the skirt body:
Tumblr media
What about the skirt head? One of the reference images on the Weibo post clearly showed thick shoulder straps on a chest-high skirt style. This is the style that op recreated. Most people consider chest-high skirts a marker of the Tang Dynasty, but skirt bands were migrating locations way before then.
Tumblr media
河南洛阳朱仓北朝墓,新浪河南 / Zhucangcun, Luoyang, Henan Northern Dynasty Burial Site, Sina Henan
In 2022, a stone bedframe (artifact M260) from the Northern Dynasty was excavated in Zhucangcun, Luoyang, Henan. It was carved all over with unusually clear reliefs. One part of it depicted court ladies:
Tumblr media
河南洛阳朱仓北朝墓,新华网 / Zhucangcun, Luoyang, Henan Northern Dynasty Burial Site, Xinhua News Network
As you can see, a very wide skirt head is clearly worn and tied over the chest. So let's tack a wide skirt head and some ribbons onto this thing. And because nobody has time to deal with chest high skirts falling down, a pair of adjustable shoulder straps. I wanted them to be adjustable so mine are very thin, but the existence of shoulder straps in general is supported by wall art and figurines, especially in combination with this back-pleated skirt.
Tumblr media
Shitty brainstorming pen & paper sketches by me
That's the whole skirt! Congratulations.
After a shit ton of geometry and working with hanfu patternmakers from Fujian to CAD the design out digitally, each of these panels were printed directionally with a custom gradient onto satin, laser-cut (by fabric workshop in Shaoxing), and sewn together (by hanfu tailor workshop in Yangzhou) :) This process took approximately 5 months.
腰封 & 披帛
I am unbelievably tired after writing all that and also I'm at tumblr's image limit so I will just put these pictures here so you can admire the pretty embroidery on the pretty fabric.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
A yaofeng is a wide waist sash or 'corset belt' style thing. A pibo or peizi is a long piece of flowy fabric that acts as a shawl that women carry on their shoulders or elbows. The pibo didn't make it onto the set, but the yaofeng did. Its design is not that interesting (it's an extremely wide hexagon with ribbons sticking out of it to tie on your waist) so I will just let you use your eyes.
-
If you made it this far without your eyes bleeding you're doing better than me! This is the most technical part of the series—not much artsy symbolism going on but a lot of hanfu archaeology work. I am again very tired after writing this and am not sure if some of it is incomprehensible, but feel free to send me asks and stuff about it :) Only one post left to wrap it all together!
1 Introduction & Presentation // 2 Background & Influences // 3 Hair & Makeup // 4 Set Design // 5 Clothes & Accessories // 6 Conclusion
117 notes · View notes
marzennya · 10 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
Pov: Northern Consort Shang Qinghua absolutely obliterates you during a council meeting (You can't do anything about it because King Mobei-Jun think's it's hot)
Anyway, hmm, I've been getting in touch with my inner Shen Yuan lately and thinking about silly books I like, so here are some notes about clothes in PIDW and SVSSS if you care to read:
I've been separating realm aesthetics in PIDW by Chinese dynasties, so Shang Qinghua's clothes are based on Ming and Qing dynasty aesthetics! Mostly because their winter clothes fuck lots I love them.
Nail guards! I think he wears them so he won't chew on them.
All his furs are hunted by Mobei-Jun personally.
Shang Qinghua is a very practical consort, honestly, compared to cucumber-bro he's taking to wearing almost no jewelry. It's more than he wore in his peak lord days, though, lol.
4K notes · View notes
lolita-wardrobe · 29 days ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
New Release: ROSERUINS [-Camellia and Snake-] Qi Lolita Top Wear and Jumper Dress
◆ Shopping Link >>> https://lolitawardrobe.com/roseruins-camellia-and-snake-qi-lolita-new-chinese-style-lolita-top-wear-and-jumper-dress_p8515.html
666 notes · View notes
shionaster · 8 days ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Happy Chinese New Year!! I drew Madoka and Homura celebrating because they deserve to be happy ✨
493 notes · View notes
chinesehanfu · 1 month ago
Text
[China] Tries to restore the famous dance during the China Tang and Song Dynasties< Zhezhi Dance/柘枝舞>
The blogger tried to restore the dance by referring to the movements in many related reliefs and murals from the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties, combined with the Tang Dynasty records of the dance.
< Zhezhi Dance/柘枝舞>
is a type of well-known "Jian dance/健舞"from the Tang and Song dynasties. The ancient "Yudiao" (羽调) has a piece titled "Zhezhi Qu" (柘枝曲), and the Shang Diao (商调) has "Qu Zhezhi" (屈柘枝), from which the dance takes its name. It originated from Talas (a region in modern-day Kazakhstan, once under the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty's Anxi Protectorate). Initially, it was a solo dance performed by women. The most popular form during the Tang Dynasty was the "Double Zhezhi Dance/《双柘枝舞》," performed by two young girls wearing red and purple silk robes, with Hu-style(胡人/Foreigner style) hats adorned with golden bells. They would dance in time with the beat of the Hu drums, their slender waists swaying in harmony with the ringing of the bells and the dance movements, creating a pleasant sound as they turned.
Zhang Xiaobiao/章孝标's poem 《Zhezhi /柘枝》includes the line "Zhezhi first appears, the drumbeat calls," and Bai Juyi/白居易's poem 《Zhezhi Ji/柘枝妓》 has the line "Three drumbeats strike, urging the painting drum." The dance features rich variations in movement, being both vigorous and lively, as well as graceful and charming. The sleeves of the dancer's costume alternately droop and lift, as described in the poem with phrases like "lifting sleeves amidst the busy drum" and "long sleeves sweeping into the embroidered train." The rapid and intricate footwork causes the golden bells worn by the dancer to produce a clear, crisp sound. Spectators are amazed by the dance's lightness and flexibility. As the dance nears its end, there is a deep bending motion of the waist.
-------- Annotation >Yudiao(羽调) & Shang Diao (商调)<
The Chinese pentatonic scale, or pentatonic mode, is a scale system commonly used in Chinese music. Ancient China named these five notes Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, and Yu(宫、商、角jué、徵zhǐ、羽) in sequence, which is roughly equivalent to the singing notes in Western music notation. Noun (do), (re), (mi), (sol), (la).
--------
In the Song Dynasty, it evolved into a group dance, and the official music included "Zhezhi Troupe" (柘枝队). There were many variations of the dance in the past, though most of the original songs were lost by the Song period. Despite this, the dance still flourished. Since the Yuan Dynasty, the dance itself disappeared, and the name "Zhezhi Ling" (柘枝令) only survives in the lyrics and music.
Along with the Hu Xuan Dance (胡旋舞) and Hu Teng Dance (胡腾舞), Zhezhi Dance was one of the three major Western Region dance styles that were immensely popular during the Tang Dynasty, often performed to welcome foreign envoys gathering in Chang'an China.
【Historical Artifact Reference】:
China Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period Brick Carving Relics from Tomb Of Feng Hui 冯晖墓
Tumblr media
< "Jian dance/健舞 & Ruan Wu/软舞>
Jianwu (健舞) is one of the categories of court music and dance in the Tang Dynasty, specifically referring to a type of martial dance. It signifies a dance style characterized by vigorous, forceful movements and a lively rhythm, in contrast to the "soft dance" (软舞).
The Tang people categorized the various small-scale entertainment dances and musical performances popular in the palace, noble households, and among the general populace based on their stylistic characteristics into "soft dance" and "martial dance" (jianwu). Originally folk dances and Hu music, these were later reorganized and adapted by the court's music and dance troupes, often performed at feasts. The music for these dances typically used elaborate wind instruments and fast string instruments. According to the "Fangfang Ji" (放坊记) and "Yuefu Zalu" (乐府杂录), soft dances included pieces like "A Liao" (阿辽), "Jianqi" (剑器), "Zhezhi" (柘枝), "Hu Xuan" (胡旋), "Hu Teng" (胡腾), "Huang Zhuang" (黄獐), "Da Weizhou" (大渭州), "Fu Lin" (拂菻), "Damo Zhi" (达摩支), and "Ling Da" (棱大).
Ruan Wu(soft dance)/软舞
Ruanwu (软舞) specifically referring to a type of graceful and elegant dance. It signifies a dance style characterized by graceful, delicate, and flowing movements, in contrast to "martial dance" (健舞).
The Tang people categorized the various small-scale entertainment dances and musical performances popular in the palace, noble households, and among the general populace based on their stylistic characteristics into "soft dance" and "martial dance" (jianwu). These dances, originally folk dances, were adapted by the court's music and dance troupes and were often performed at feasts. The movements of soft dance were light, graceful, and elegant, resembling either a startled swan or a flying swallow. According to the "Yuefu Zalu" (乐府杂录), the main soft dances included "Liangzhou" (凉州), "Lüyao" (绿腰), "Suhexiang" (苏合香), "Qu Zhezhi" (屈柘), "Tuan Yuan Xuan" (团圆璇), "Ganzhou" (甘州), "Chui Shou Luo" (垂手罗), "Hui Bo Yue" (回波乐), "Lanling Wang" (兰陵王), "Chun Ying Zhuan" (春莺啭), "Ban She Qu" (半社渠), "Jie Xi" (借席), and "Wu Ye Ti" (乌夜啼).
Next time I will make a post to share to the Tang Dynasty "soft dance/软舞" restored by Choreographer:@李诗荟
------
youtube
"Taiping Yue": Ji《太平乐》· 急 (Great Peace Music: Quick), an instrumental movement in the Dashi mode (Chinese: Dashi diao, 大食调, equivalent to the Mixolydian mode on E), dating back to China's Tang Dynasty, as reconstructed by Bilibili user "männlichkeit," c. January 24, 2020. As the final movement of the suite "Taiping Yue," this piece is known by the title "Hehuan Yan" (合欢盐, Happy Together Song). According to musicologist Steven G. Nelson, this suite probably had its origins as a military dance, perhaps of the pozhen yue (破阵乐, literally "destroying the formations") type, in Tang China, which was transmitted to the Japanese court by the early 8th century, then arranged into a suite in the Japanese court of the mid-9th century.
In the context of the piece's title, the term "yan" (塩), which usually means "salt" in Chinese, refers to a particular type of poetic song popular during the Tang period (a synonym for "qu" 曲, meaning "piece"); "yïr" or "yır" means "song" in Turkic languages.
This reconstruction is based primarily on the version of this piece as found in "Sango Yōroku"『三五要録』, the most important and extensive collection of Tang-era scores for 4-string pipa; this collection was compiled by the Japanese nobleman Fujiwara no Moronaga (藤原師長, 1138-1192) shortly after 1177 (c. 1180), during the late Heian period (794-1185).
In Japan's tradition of Tōgaku (唐楽, court music of Chinese origin), this dance suite movement is called "Taiheiraku": Kyū《太平楽》· 急 (たいへいらく:きゅう), with the movement title being pronounced "Gakka-en"《合歡塩》(がっかえん). Its mode is called Taishiki-chō (大食調) in Japanese.
__________________
🧚🏻‍♀️Dancer & Choreographer:@李诗荟
👗Hanfu:@君子山岚
Venue Provider:@包意凡
Lighting Design:@大彤寶殿的彤寶
Music :@männlichkeit(BiliBili)/@dbadagna(Youtube)
🔗Full Video on Xiaohongshu App:https://www.xiaohongshu.com/explore/674995190000000008005fc6?
__________________
432 notes · View notes
rissaito · 5 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
ming dynasty miku!! 🪷
inspired by the “brazilian miku” trend on twitter and a gorgeous outfit i discovered from an online hanfu shop! link and close-ups under the cut :)
close-ups!!
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
the inspiration:
1K notes · View notes
newhanfu · 5 months ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Hanfu Fashion - Ma Mian Skirt
From Chi Zhou Hanfu
750 notes · View notes
karamellisokeri · 7 months ago
Text
Fox lady bday art 🦊
Tumblr media
I have the idea of art nouveau sujue in the back of my head for a while now, its not quite the same but this is it for now xD
Also yes i love mixing art nouveau and hanfu (surprisingly this is like second time i draw someone wearing hanfu in this style haha)
Anyway textless version cause im not sure how to feel towards the typography...
Tumblr media
570 notes · View notes
arashixyarts · 7 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
我情不自禁會為你牽掛🎐
wasn't really inspired by anything, just wanted to see them in hanfu :3
428 notes · View notes
peekofhistory · 3 days ago
Note
Hi! I really like your blog for the historical facts and the really nice statues and paintings of hanfus! I literally come back here whenever I'm designing outfits for my OCs and I just really really like learning about the ancient Chinese world. I really wanted to ask where these pictures and maybe the information on the timeline of the hanfu's come from. Any book or website is fine.
Also, how did most maids in waiting to a noble person dress?
Hi!!
Thank you for your kind message, I'm very happy that the information here can help you 😃❤️❤️ I love getting to share Hanfu with others who also appreciate its beauty!!
For maids in waiting, China differed a lot from the west. From what I understand (and if this is wrong please let me know), maids/ladies in waiting were often from nobility themselves, or had some family background, sent to assist the Queen or someone of a high rank. Historically in China, maids (either to the royal family, to nobility, or just to a rich family) are sold into this role so they themselves come from no/very low family background. Of course, in a complicated system like royal court there would be ranks in the servants as well, but they would not bring in a daughter of the nobility to serve the Queen or Princess.
As for their outfits, this would depend on the time period and who exactly they're serving. For example, maids in the court would dress differently than maids to a nobility. Here are some murals I found that depicts maids/servants. Overall their outfits and hairstyles are simpler than their masters:
Tumblr media
For the photos in my posts I find them all over the internet 😃 Once I decide which garment(s) I'm going to be focusing on for the post, I Google/Baidu (Chinese search engine) search for images of the garment on unearthed artefacts. Then I go looking for where the artefact was found and where it's located now (some ppl don't label it, and then I have to play detective T__T). Sometimes I'll also search on Red Note (Chinese app/website) or Bilibili (Chinese youtube) for information as well.
For the timeline, I'm not sure which information you're referring to. The dynasties? I kind of just...know the dynasties from learning about Chinese history ^^;; You can also find it on Wikipedia, Wiki has a general overview of all the dynasties if you're interested 😃
As for books, the main book I'm using right now is this one:
Tumblr media
中国历代风流服饰
It touches on some of the main garments in each dynasty and is a nice starting point for anyone just starting to learn about historical Hanfu. Unfortunately it's only available in Chinese.
I also got these two books a while ago that are also very helpful (but also only available in Chinese, there's a lack of any English books regarding Hanfu T__T).
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
26 notes · View notes
redsugarx · 11 hours ago
Text
青白之魅 6: Conclusion
1 Introduction & Presentation // 2 Background & Influences // 3 Hair & Makeup // 4 Set Design // 5 Clothes & Accessories // 6 Conclusion
If you’ve followed this series all the way to the end, thank you for your support! A lot more people saw it than I thought would, and I’m really happy that I got to share my process and thoughts with you :) I read all your replies/tags and they make me super happy! There are just a few more things I want to address to wrap things up now.
behind the scenes vid of me with Dragun that Bloomin Studio recorded for us :)
Things That Went Wrong
I am a strong believer in the scientific method and the scientific method involves error analysis!!!!! Also I don’t want it to look like all of this went off without a hitch. That wouldn’t be fair to the complexity of this project and all the people who helped me work through and solve the problems. So here are some of the ways in which We Fucked Up.
Embroidery positioning: The bottoms of the sleeves were accidentally sewn together before the pieces were sent to the embroidery workshop. If you put the whole sleeve into the machine the embroidery would go through both the front and back of the sleeve, making it unwearable. To solve this, we had to pull the stitches out from the bottom of the sleeve, have it embroidered, and then have it sent back to a tailor's shop to repair the seam. 
Tear in fabric: Lily organza/crystal organza admittedly is a very fragile fabric, especially for machine embroidering. It’s extremely thin, and the surface is very smooth and slippery, which looks phenomenal but makes embroidering it really hard. I covered this in the last post, but long story short, in the process of embroidering one sleeve on the green set, the fabric got snagged in the machinery and tore a hole in the bottom of the sleeve.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
At first the plan was to remake the entire sleeve piece, but because the color of the fabric was custom-printed, when I had a new piece of fabric printed for the new sleeve, the color didn’t match exactly, so we had to make do with the existing fabric. In the end we shortened the width of the sleeve so that it cut off above the hole, moving the seam up. Thankfully it didn’t really show up in the pictures, but you can see when it’d laid flat how the ‘margin’ under the snake embroidery for this garment is unusually small, because it got cut off.
Lateness: We ran like a full hour or two overtime with our hair & makeup. This is unfortunately not at all unusual for fashion projects like this, but as a result we lost like a third of our photography time, so there were some shots that I would’ve loved to get that we didn’t have time for. 
Forgotten items: There were a number of things we forgot to bring down to SoCal with us. The biggest thing was probably our steamer. Fortunately, because this set is mostly polyester, it didn’t get too too wrinkled, but there are still some creases and folds that we would’ve steamed out had we gotten the chance.
Fav Shots
Shh not all of these are published anywhere else.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Things I Would've Done (if I had infinite time and money)
Lingzhi - I don't have any photos of it but I bought a replica lingzhi herb (the magic fungus that Bai Suzhen steals to revive Xu Xian after her dies of shock from seeing her snake form) prop. We didn't get around to using it but it would've been a really nice major callback to the story. Also I would've gotten to talk about how I think it's highly possible people thought the lingzhi was magic because they ate it and started tripping balls
Willow branches - Willow branches by the West Lake feature heavily in the opera. I wanted to get willow branches to hang from the backdrop but unfortunately wasn't able to find ones that were realistic enough. They were replaced with dried water reeds, but most of the pictures weren't shot high enough to get them in frame.
Swords - In the opera, Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing both carry swords. Also, swords are also just cool as hell. I do own one prop sword, but it was too big to fit in my suitcase even diagonally, and also I really didn't want to deal with TSA side-eyeing me about it (even though it technically counts as a prop or sports equipment), so we did not get any swords in the photoshoot.
Extremely specific shot with snakes on the floor - I have this concept of a shot: the empty set, without me or my sister in it, with both Dragun and Spirit on the floor. It would be so cool to do like a snake form -> human form diptych concept! We didn't have time to get both the snakes out at the same time unfortunately. Artistic rendition below LOL
Tumblr media
artist's rendition
Credits & Thanks
Credit should be served where credit is due!!! I probably mentioned most of them somewhere but I want to reiterate that a whole lot of people helped make this happen and I appreciate them a lot.
Day Of:
Yulan, as the White Snake (ig @/chlobaltblue), especially for all the Talking To People Thing parts (that I hate doing)
Bloomin Studio (ig @/bloominstudioofficial), photographer
Cujo from Art of Scales (ig @/art_of_scales), for providing us with Spirit & Dragun as well as the space
Kevin (ig/@k.evinzhao), for driving and getting us stuff
Preparation:
Jinerjia(cutting & sewing)
Xishi Pavilion (cutting & sewing)
Chenxi Workshop (cutting & sewing + alteration)
Hantangfengshang(cutting & sewing)
Changxin Embroidery (digitizing & machine embroidering + alteration)
Hanyiren (patternmaking + CAD)
Xingluzhe (fabric printing + laser cutting)
Final Thoughts
In the introduction I talked a little bit about our intentions with this project and the cultural elements that I attempted to adapt and interact with. The Legend of the White Snake is one of the most well-known Chinese folktales out there, and yet there are so many wonderfully intricate details within it that people don't know about.
Snakes have a bad reputation in a lot of cultures. Evil, dangerous, and malicious, they're often cast as the scheming villains of the story, sly and sneaky characters whose goal is to do you harm. They are not the only victims of a bad reputation—every great dynasty always has some beautiful woman to blame for its eventual downfall. People have been arguing over the game of fault and intention for centuries. Even in the hanfu community, there is an unprecedented amount of infighting over what should or should not count as hanfu, who is 'allowed' to appreciate it, or who can take 'ownership' of it.
I think that's the last thing we need in this day and age. I'm reflecting on this project at a time that is uniquely terrifying for many minorities, especially in the US, who seem to be being persecuted for the crime of simply existing. I don't claim to be fighting for justice, I'm just a student in a world that is far too large for anyone to comprehend. But I hope that I helped make something beautiful happen, and I hope that we shared that with someone else, even if it's just a few people, who are reminded that it's not all for nothing :)
-
Okay, we're pretty much done here. I really enjoyed this process and documenting the whole thing, and I definitely want to do something like this again someday, but I definitely don't have the energy to do this kind of thing very often! If a big project does come up again I'll probably document it in a similar way, but it probably won't be for several months/even years. I'll keep posting hanfu articles and maybe document some smaller single-post projects on here at some point :)
Thank you for letting me share this process with you, and feel free to reply/reblog/send asks/whatever with thoughts, questions or concerns! Please interact with me it brings me joy.
1 Introduction & Presentation // 2 Background & Influences // 3 Hair & Makeup // 4 Set Design // 5 Clothes & Accessories // 6 Conclusion
Here's a picture of my snake to close out (his name is Porcupine/Porky for short/滷肉飯 and he's the dumbest animal I've ever met)
Tumblr media
52 notes · View notes
marzennya · 8 months ago
Text
Tumblr media
POV: Northern power couple makes eye contact with you at a party (You're gonna be dead in 2 weeks tops.)
Ok so for the fashion notes:
Qing dynasty hanfu for both of them; though it is highly stylized, just so you know.
Mobei-jun's jewelry is more mongolian-based than anything else. Though it is referenced from chinese drama costuming so I guess it not that accurate. It does look cool though, so we're going by Airplane logic here.
The crown on Shang Qinghua is called a Fengguan, which means "Phoenix crown", it was popular throughout a lot of dynasties but mostly the Ming one.
The nail guards absolutely have incurable poisons in them, thank you kind commenter for the idea.
pearls pearls pearls Shang Qinghua is just drowning in them and his husband keeps giving him more.
Mobei-jun is wearing his Hanfu wrong, this is indecent behaviour, his tits do look good tho.
Shang Qinghua is wearing those fabulous looking Qing Dynasty heels, he's short as fuck actually.
I have a massive headache please be nice to me abt this
3K notes · View notes
lolita-wardrobe · 2 months ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
The Dancing Snake Girl
◆ Outfits >>> https://lolitawardrobe.com/roseruins-snake-girl-new-chinese-style-qi-lolita-cheongsam-dress-and-matching-cape_p8480.html
807 notes · View notes
yonaki12 · 4 months ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Some gem trios but in Chinese version
Art by me:
398 notes · View notes
chinesehanfu · 5 months ago
Text
[Hanfu · 漢服]The past and present of "eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival"
As the Mid-Autumn Festival/Zhong Qiu Jie 中秋节 is coming, let us learn how “mooncakes/月饼” became an iconic traditional food of the Mid-Autumn Festival
🌕🥮Mooncake/月饼🥮🏮
Tumblr media
A mooncake (simplified Chinese: 月饼; traditional Chinese: 月餅) is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節).The festival is primarily about the harvest while a legend connects it to moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is widely regarded as one of the four most important Chinese festivals.
Mooncakes were originally used as offerings to worship the moon god.
Worshiping the moon is a very old custom in China. It is actually a worship activity for the "moon god" by the ancients. Eating mooncakes and appreciating the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival are indispensable customs for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in all parts of China. Mooncakes symbolize reunion. People regard them as festive food, use them to worship the moon, and give them to relatives and friends.
Cultural relics believed to be the predecessor of mooncakes were unearthed:
<China Tang Dynasty Baoxiang flower-patterned mooncakes/宝相花月饼>⬇️
Tumblr media
Mooncakes, traditionally offered as a tribute to the Moon Goddess, have a long and rich history. The term "mooncake" was first recorded in the Southern Song Dynasty in Wu Zimu’s <梦梁录/Meng Liang Lu>.
Over time, mooncakes merged with various regional culinary traditions, giving rise to different styles such as Cantonese, Shanxi, Beijing, Suzhou, Chaozhou, and Yunnan mooncakes, all of which are beloved by people across China:
Tumblr media
Mooncakes truly became associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival during the Ming Dynasty. In the writings of Liu Ruoyu 刘若愚, a eunuch during the reigns of the Wanli and Chongzhen emperors, he mentioned in his prison work Zhuozhong Zhi 《酌中志》(Vol. 20, "Brief Record of Culinary Preferences"): “八月宫中赏秋海棠、玉簪花。自初一日起,即有卖月饼者。加以西瓜、藕,互相馈送。西苑鹿藕。至十五日,家家供月饼瓜果,候月上焚香后,即大肆饮啖,多竟夜始散席者。如有剩月饼,仍整收于干燥风凉之处,至岁暮合家分用之,曰‘团圆饼’也”
Translation:
"In August, the palace having event appreciates autumn crabapple blossoms. From the first day of the month, mooncakes are sold,it accompanied by watermelons and lotus roots, and are exchanged as gifts.By the fifteenth day, every household offers mooncakes and fruits in worship, waiting for the moon to rise before burning incense and feasting lavishly, with some gatherings lasting all night. If there are leftover mooncakes, they are stored in a dry and cool place until the end of the year, when the whole family shares them, calling them 'reunion cakes.'
In the Qing Dynasty, there were books that detailed the methods of making mooncakes. For example, Zeng Yi, a female writer and female doctor in the late Qing Dynasty, recorded the "Method of Making Crisp Mooncakes" in her book "Zhongkuilu": "Use white ash flour, half of which is steamed in a steamer, and no water vapor is seen; the other half is raw, and kneaded with lard and cold water. Then, mix the steamed flour with lard. Use a ball of raw oil flour, and wrap a small ball of cooked oil flour inside; use a rolling pin to roll it into a cup-sized shape, fold it into a square; roll it into a ball again, and fold it into a square again; then wrap the filling. Use a cake stamp to stamp it, and put it on the stove to cook. For the oil-flavored filling, use cooked flour, sugar, walnuts, etc., and add a little sesame oil, so that it will not fall apart." The method is very similar to today's Suzhou-style mooncakes.
————————
🧚🏻‍Production & Model/Makeup:@曾嚼子
🔗Xiaohongshu:https://www.xiaohongshu.com/discovery/item/66e66ef70000000026033df2
————————
420 notes · View notes