前言 Preface: Beautiful Chinese Clothes Chinese clothing can be traced back to the primitive society of the late Paleolithic Period. Archaeologists have found that 20,000 years ago primitive people who lived near modern-day Zhoukoudian, Beijing, wore ornaments. The white small stone beads, yellowish green cobbles, animal teeth, blood clams and fish bones with furrows unearthed at Zhoukoudian are exquisitely pierced, and traces of hematite powder remain on hole walls. According to the places where they have been found, experts think that these items were necklaces. These people wore ornaments not just for decoration but also to ward off evil spirits and as part of prayer rituals. Long round openings still remain on unearthed bone needles, which demonstrate that ancient people of this period could sew animal hide with needles. In Qinghai Province, in the west of China, painted pottery basins made more than 5,000 years ago have been unearthed. The patterns on these pottery basins look like dancers doing a hunting dance. The dancers wear plaited ornaments on their heads, tail ornaments hang around their waists, and some wear round skirts. A painted pottery bottle unearthed in Gansu also attracts the attention – it is painted to resemble a girl, with short hair on the forehead above the eyebrows, shoulder-length hair at the back of the head, clearly discernable facial features, and continuous patterns below the neck consisting of three layers of oblique lines, arcs, and triangles. It is thought that these patterns depict clothing. Chinese clothing and head gear was formalized during the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046–771 BC). The Zhou Dynasty established official positions such as the “clothes minister,” “inner clothes minister” and “jade official”, responsible for the clothes and jade ornaments of the emperor and empress. There were different clothing rules for the emperor and for ordinary people. From the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) onwards these rules were recorded in official history books such as Records of Carriages and Clothing. During the Tang Dynasty (618–907) China was powerful, society was more open, and clothes were beautiful. Fashions changed more frequently and women wearing low-neck short gowns or men wearing narrow-sleeved dresses became a symbol of the greater social tolerance of the period. The Tang Dynasty was the most splendid era of Chinese clothing. After 1840, China became a modern society as the number of trading ports increased and more cosmopolitan cities, such as Shanghai, saw the integration of Chinese and Western cultures. Driven by European and American fashion trends, traditional Chinese clothes began to change. In the first half of the 20th century, Chinese clothes underwent a period of integration with Western clothing and this fusion can be seen in cheongsams, long gowns, tunic suits, school uniforms, Western-style clothes, hats, silk stockings, and high-heeled shoes. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, clothes that elevated the status of laborers, such as workers’ clothes and farmers’ clothes emerged. In the 1980s, after China began to reform and open up to the rest of the world, jackets, bell-bottomed pants, jeans, miniskirts, bikinis, professional suits, punk clothes, T-shirts, etc. were embraced by the Chinese people. Clothes, like people, have been witness to changing times. China is a multinational country (with 56 different ethnic groups) and clothing styles and customs are constantly changing – like flowers in a garden, always providing color, interest and beauty.
精彩内容 Official Robes Ancient China was a feudal society with a rigid hierarchy. This hierarchy was clearly reflected in its clothing. Because ruling regimes needed stability and stability in turn required order, such order was manifested in clothes, especially officials’ clothes. In ancient China, everybody had to abide by clothing rules, which not only involved daily customs, but also constituted a part of the state’s social institutions. All of the dynasties had rules and orders that stipulated the textures, colors, patterns and styles of clothes in detail. Imperial kinsmen’s clothes, civil and military officials’ clothes and ordinary people’s clothes were all strictly separated, and people who violated the rules were punished. This practice of standardizing and limiting the clothes and headwear of various social classes, officials, and ordinary people was obviously intended to maintain the ruling order but also enhanced the culture of Chinese clothes. A common image of ancient Chinese official robes is of county officials wearing black gauze caps with two wings on both sides like two copper coins, a jade belt and black boots with white soles. But, in fact, this is a comic image of Chinese officials popularized during the Song and Ming dynasties. Ancient Chinese officials’ clothes were quite diverse and different dynasties had different rules, and sometimes even changed the rules several times within the same dynasty. Changing the color of officials’ clothes was usually related to the state’s stability and politics. Official robes often epitomized Chinese people’s world view and understanding of political power, and this should not be overlooked when considering clothing of this type. Official robes had caps, which showed authority. During the Han Dynasty most civil officials wore the “virtue cap” with a turban below it. Military officials wore a large military cap, supplemented with a flat turban. The turban was a kind of kerchief worn by men of all ranks in the Qin and Han dynasties. However, officials’ turbans were worn below their caps, while ordinary people wore only turbans. In the Wei Dynasty, Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, a translucent stiff cap was made by applying lacquer to loose and light black gauze to make it erect, and to make the top vaguely visible. In the Tang Dynasty, both officials and ordinary people wore scarves but they went through different styles and stages of development. The early scarf was a low kerchief wrapped on the head. Later, a turban made of phoenix tree wood, silk, vines, grass, and leather was added under the scarf like a fake chignon, giving a fixed scarf shape. From the middle period of the Tang Dynasty, caps with fixed shapes were formed gradually, and they were still called scarves. In the Zhenguan Period, caps with low and flat tops were called the “flat and small style” and were very popular; during the reign of Emperor Gaozong and the reign of Wu Zetian, the top of the scarf was lifted and separated into two petals called the “imperial Wu family style”; during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, the cap sloped down to the forehead and was called the “Kaiyuan inner style.” The scarf’s two corners, also called feet, at first hung naturally to the neck or below the shoulders like bands. Later, they were gradually shortened, bent upwards, inserted into a knot behind the head, and called the “soft-corner” scarf. After the middle period of the Tang Dynasty scarf corners were round or broad like hard wings curling slightly upwards, and the middle parts were like silk strings. Because they could move, or bounce, these scarf corners were called hard corners or hard feet. It is said that this scarf style became popular because Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty often wore it. In the Song Dynasty, officials’ scarves extended to the left and right. It is said that they were long so that officials were prevented from whispering to each other when they stood in court. In the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties, China’s feudal ruling system was at its most sophisticated and in this period officials’ caps changed from the scarves of the Tang and Song dynasties to the black gauze caps of the Ming Dynasty. The style did not change much: the original temporary wrapping style changed into the fixed cap style. This was the point at which the black gauze cap became a symbol associated with officials. Wearing a scarf or black gauze cap, a round-collared robe (Tang), a round-collared gown (Song) or a coiled-collar robe (Ming), a jade waistband, and black leather boots became the typical image of ancient Chinese officials’ clothes. The official robes of these three dynasties did not change much in style, and official ranks were related to the color of the clothing. For example, in the fourth year of the Zhenguan Period of the Tang Dynasty (630) and the first year of the Shangyuan Period (674), two decrees made
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