#ming paintings

[beehunni62]

Rare Portraits Depicting Hanfu Worn with Right Over Left Lapel Closing (左衽).

Thirteenth Ancestor Portrait from Portrait Album of Wu’s Ancestors 吳氏先祖容像十三. Ni Renji. Painted sometime between the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty during the artist’s life (1607-1685). Yiwu Museum, Zhejiang, China [image source].

For the Han, the left lapel was considered Yang and the right one Yin and, thus, living people placed the left lapel over the right one to symbolize Yang (life) covering Yin (death). That’s why only dead people had their right lapel over their left. In the case of the dead, Yin (death; right lapel) overtook Yang (life; left lapel). Moreover, the left over right lapel (右衽) served as an ethnic distinction for the Han.

However, not all living Han people followed this tradition and there are documented cases of them wearing their hanfu with the right lapel over the left one.

There are exceptions in which living Han Chinese would wear clothing with a zuoren closure. For example, in some areas (such as Northern Hebei) in the 10th century, some ethnic Han Chinese could be found wearing left-lapel clothing. It was also common for the Han Chinese women to adopt left lapel under the reign of foreign nationalities, such as in the such as in the Yuan dynasty. The practice of wearing the zuoren also continued in some areas of the Ming dynasty despite being a Han Chinese-ruled dynasty which is an atypical feature.

Wikipedia, Garment collars in Hanfu

Fifth Ancestor Portrait from Portrait Album of Wu’s Ancestors 吳氏先祖容像五. Ni Renji. Painted sometime between the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty during the artist’s life (1607-1685). Yiwu Museum, Zhejiang, China [image source].

Other non-Han ethnicities, such as the Khitans and Xianbei, would preserve their 左衽 tradition even after adopting hanfu. It’s possible for these women (and its mostly women wearing hanfu depicted with 左衽) to be non-Han in origin or are Han but came from areas where 左衽 was still practiced due to non-Han ethnic influence. I remember reading somewhere that, South of the Yangtze, certain Han women wore their hanfu in both styles.

Since almost all of the portraits below are ancestor portraits and there are plenty of those where the women and men wear 右衽 despite being dead at the time of painting, it’s unlikely that the 左衽 depicted is meant to indicate that the woman is dead.

Portrait of the wife of a dignitary with maid by Chow Ying. Scroll. Painting on silk. 16th century. Moscow State Museum of Oriental Art [image source].

Portrait of Father Zhang Jimin and Mother Zhao. Unknown artist. Ming or Qing dynasty, Late Ming or early Qing dynasty (17th century or later). Hanging scroll. Ink and colors on silk. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution [image source].

Ancestor Portrait of a Court Lady. Possibly Ming Dynasty. Unknown artist. Hanging scroll (laid down on panel), ink and color on silk. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art [image source].

Notice how, even the maid in the background above, has 左衽.

Possible Portrait of Ancestor with maid. Unknown Artist. Possibly Ming Dynasty [image source].

Ancestor Portrait. Unknown artist. Late 19th century. Qing Dynasty. Auguttes Auction House. [image source].

Note: Be careful when dating ancestor portraits. Many were painted posthumously and could depict ancestors from multiple previous generations. Just because the figures are seen wearing a dynasty’s distinctive clothing, does not necessarily mean that it was painted then. Some Qing Dynasty ancestor portraits depict ancestors from the Ming Dynasty and, thus, artists painted the figures with Ming clothing.

Images portraying hanfu in the Ming Dynasty with 左衽 drawn by Sesshu Toyo (1420 - 1506 CE), a Japanese monk who visited China between 1467 to 1469. Ink on paper [image source].

More portraits with 左衽 and modern recreation:

[kurbis13]

I don’t forget I’m from tgcf community

[balkanparamo]

Hu Ming - Cleaning Day People's Liberation Army

[spoofio]

Baby :3

[lionofchaeronea]

River and Mountain Landscape, Xiang Shengmo (1597-1658)

[luhuala]

Lion Dancer 🦁

[leawesomesloth]

I don’t think I’ve posted this one here before! I just got reminded of this on that dying hell site Twt. It’s so cute so I wanna share again here ✨

[mimimar]

ruoye and e-ming (+when they were newborns)

[psikonauti]

Hu Ming (Chinese, b. 1955)

Guess Who

Oil on canvas

[yebreed]

A few spectacular cosmological ceilings from various Chinese temples in Beijing and suburbs.

The dragon is a paradoxical emanation of the Supreme in Chinese traditional aesthetics, accumulated over millennia. Therefore, it is natural that in the temple microcosm, a zenith point is assigned to him.

Photo: ©黑敀

[the-cricket-chirps]

Chen Hongshou

Magnolia and Erect Rock

16th/17th century

[classic-asian-art]

A White Cat, illustration from The Kokka magazine, published in Japan, 1896-7 by Lu Ji

[lellata]

GaMing🦁

[balkanparamo]

Hu Ming - Serve the People

[chinesehanfu]

[Hanfu · 汉服]Chinese Ming Dynasty Wanli period (1573–1620 AD) Traditional Clothing Hanfu & Hairstyle Based On Ming Wanli period woodblock print painting

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Recreation Work：@-盥薇-

👗 Hanfu,Purse:@YUNJIN云今

🔗微博：https://weibo.com/3942003133/MrAxG2Q0q

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【About the Hairstyle 鬃髻(Zōng jì)】

The 鬃髻(Zōng jì) is one of the traditional Han ethnic woman hairstyles. It lasted from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, and it still exists among Hakka(客家) elderly women.

We can see this hairstyle in the painting "《李端端图》" by Tang Yin(唐寅), a painter of the Ming Dynasty.Collection of Nanjing Museum

The 鬃髻(Zōng jì) can be matched with other hairstyles,like below:

Peony Head (牡丹头)+鬃髻(Zōng jì),

Ming Dynasty Green-glazed female pottery figurines,Collection of Guangdong Museum

Ming Dynasty Colored Sculpture of Jellyfish Building in Jinci Temple/晋祠水母楼明代彩塑

Qing Dynasty 鬃髻(Zōng jì),Qing Dynasty figurines

The Hakka(客家) ’s 鬃髻(Zōng jì) is divided into: 三把头(Sān bǎtóu) and 两把头 Liǎng bǎtóu)

For the most typical 三把头(Sān bǎtóu) , it divides the hair into three layers: upper, middle and lower. The part of the hair from the front of the forehead to the top of the head is called "门股(Mén gǔ)", and 门股 is divided into three parts: left, middle and right.Generally, some wigs are placed on the hair or combed the hair in reverse way to make it look fluffy.So from the front, it will have a very “full” effect of hair.

The 三把头(Sān bǎtóu) with 鬃髻(Zōng jì) of Hakka women in old photos

The part below the 三把头 (Sān bǎtóu) is generally called "髻尾". The upper, middle and lower parts of the hair will eventually tied together.

↓Schematic diagram in the book "Discussion on Liudui Hakka Traditional Clothing《六堆客家传统衣饰的探讨》"

Hakka(客家) ’s 鬃髻(Zōng jì) :两把头 (Liǎng bǎtóu) 

The :两把头 Liǎng bǎtóu) is the 三把头 (Sān bǎtóu) that simplifies the part of the "髻尾（The lower part）" , and divides the hair into two part,which is "门股(Mén gǔ)" and the "髻尾(The lower part). ※Some information says that 两把头 (Liǎng bǎtóu)  are unmarried woman hairstyle and 三把头 (Sān bǎtóu) are married woman hairstyle, but this is not the case when looking at the photos

Lastly,Twho are familiar with Japanese culture may notice that above hairstyles are look similar to some hairstyles in Japan call 島田髷.But the method of divide the hair into sections, the way that make the sideburns and the shape after tied the hair together make it to a difference effect from china.

According 日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ),Japan's 島田髷 hairstyle is beginning from the 16th century of Edo period, while the China is also on late Ming period(※usually refers to from the beginning of Wanli (1573) to the end of Chongzhen (1644)）.

Not sure if there is a connection between the japan and china. I will update if there is more information.

(Please correct me if I'm wrong🙏)

[lionofchaeronea]

The Cassia Grove Studio (handscroll, ink and color on paper), Wen Zhengming, ca. 1532