During the Xia and Shang Dynasties, clothing was the mainstay, and there was a strict hierarchy. The emperors of the dynasties stipulated who should wear what kind of clothes and who should not wear what kind of clothes, so that clothing began to have the political function of distinguishing rank and position. Due to low productivity, only a few elites in Xia and Shang Dynasties were able to decorate themselves with clothes. Even Dayu, when he was in charge of water conservancy, could only wear a linen blouse and skirt. Only later, with the development of productivity, more and more fabrics were woven, lighter and lighter, and clothes were made longer and longer, which finally solved the problem of concealment once and for all. The greatest contribution of Xia and Shang clothing is this.
The Zhou Dynasty formulated the "Zhou Li", which improved the hierarchy of clothing. The style of the Western Zhou Dynasty is still dominated by upper clothes and lower skirts, but the skirts and belts of men's wear are much wider than before. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, a hundred schools of thought contended, including Lu's ancient costume, Zhao's Hu costume, Zheng's and Wei's gauze skirts ... During this period, there also appeared a "deep dress" (meaning that the body was hidden)-historians called it an ancient robe, and historians also called it this style, which laid the basic style of China's clothing. At that time, the skirt of the deep clothes was extremely long, wrapped around the body several times, and every lace was exposed, so it was called "Qufu robe" with a very unique style. According to the Analects of Confucius, Confucius was very particular about clothes. He wears formal clothes in court and casual clothes at home. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the level of productivity was relatively advanced on the whole. Walking in the street, there are also many young women wearing bright clothes to attract people's attention.
Both men and women in the Qin Dynasty wore three layers of clothes. They are wearing ancient robes wrapped in layers, and the collar of each layer should be exposed. The Qin dynasty advocated black, and if meetings were held as often as in modern times, people would feel different severity when they put on raven clothes. It is said that the vast majority of people in Qin were soldiers, and the military uniform was also a major feature at that time, which can be seen from the military uniform of An Qin figurines. Generally speaking, although black and military uniforms are the main colors of clothing in the Qin Dynasty, people feel that the clothing in the Qin Dynasty is still relatively monotonous.
The Han dynasty overthrew the "violent Qin dynasty", but the clothing style basically followed, but the colors and decorations were much richer. In the middle and late Han Dynasty, the "Silk Road" was opened, and the exchanges between various ethnic groups and countries were active, and the costumes became increasingly gorgeous. The former "flexion robe" was gradually replaced by "straight flexion robe" with vertical skirt because of the inconvenience of movement, but "flexion robe" is still the mainstream for women. At this time, a "long skirt" with a coat and a long skirt appeared, which was popular for more than two thousand years. Because the Han Dynasty was relatively open, women were not bound by "three obedience and four virtues", "boudoir" and "little feet", and their clothes were naturally colorful, exquisite and varied.
During the Three Kingdoms and the Jin Dynasty. At that time, the armor robe was exquisite and unusual, so it is conceivable that the clothes of such a beautiful woman as The Story Of Diu Sim were as beautiful as a cloud. There is a famous painting "Luo Shen Fu" in Gu Kaizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which depicts the scene that Cao Zhi met Luo Shen Fu in Luoshui during the Three Kingdoms period. In the picture, Luo Shen's colorful clothes are fluttering, like swallows flying; Cao Cai's robe mopped the floor like a symmetrical tree.
Southern and Northern Dynasties 160 years, nine countries were founded. During this period, both the northern nationalities and the Han nationality in the Central Plains held political power, and the costumes of Hu and Han nationalities were further integrated, which enhanced the practicability of the costumes.
Sui and Tang Dynasties were the heyday of China's autocratic monarchy in politics, economy and culture, and there were extensive exchanges among various ethnic groups and countries. Influenced by the northern Hu clothing, the clothing in the early Tang Dynasty was tight and narrow. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, China's traditional aesthetic ideas were strengthened in clothing, and the styles of clothing became wider and wider. The society in the Tang Dynasty was open, when women's dresses were slightly exposed, graceful, colorful and plump. Men's wear in the Tang Dynasty was steamed bread, round neck gown and flat boots. Its bright colors, luxurious patterns and generous style fully express a nation's self-confidence, self-improvement and generosity. The costumes of the Tang Dynasty are like a complete Tang poem. The format is gradually advanced and the content is splendid. It really deserves to be the famous song Cai Yu written by Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the famous city of the Tang Dynasty, with charming men and gorgeous women, played a role in fueling the situation.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms only lasted for more than 50 years. There are five generations in the north and ten countries in the south. The main influence on clothing is to make clothes gradually narrow and fit-the main function is to facilitate war and escape.
In the Song Dynasty, a picture of the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival was famous all over the world, and a water margin was a household name. In this dynasty, a very distinctive new dress appeared: narrow back and long sleeves, knee-length and underarm placket, which were worn by both men and women. Generally speaking, Song costumes are simple and smooth, colorful, well organized and unobtrusive, and feel similar to Song Ci. As for Liao, Jin and other countries that were roughly contemporary with the Song Dynasty, they all belonged to ethnic minorities, and their costumes were characterized by narrow sleeves and split ends, each with its own characteristics.
The Yuan Dynasty was an embarrassing dynasty for historians. Although "a generation is arrogant, Genghis Khan", Mongolians should be more proud. The most important costume in the Yuan Dynasty was the Mongolian "quality Yang clothing"-the crown, clothes and shoes all used the same color from top to bottom, which was very monotonous. Fortunately, you can still wear Hanfu at that time, which was preserved during the Tang and Song Dynasties. However, this Hanfu is inevitably contaminated with Mongolian elements, and its image is somewhat blurred. The clothes of Yuan Dynasty are like Yuan Sanqu and short sentences, which can be played with interlining, but the overall level is lower than that of Song Ci, as if they have entered a low tide of clothing.
In Ming Dynasty, all men wore buns, and in Tang and Song Dynasties, they wore traditional loose T-shirts, stockings and shallow boots. However, according to the law, working people are only allowed to use brown, blue, cyan, black and other colors, and civilian wives and daughters can only wear purple, green, pink and other colors to avoid being mixed with official uniforms. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was a poor farmer. After winning the world, I am very strict with the official history. If he embezzles more than 620 silver, he will be beheaded. Under such a rule of law, clothing naturally lacks good. Later, the rule of law was relaxed, but Neo-Confucianism prevailed and the spirit was unprecedented, but the clothes were stiff and simple. In addition to the official and imperial clothes, most of the clothes in the Ming Dynasty were cool colors, which marked the conformity of that era.
After the Manchu entered the customs, one of the important things that the Qing government did was to force all ethnic groups in the customs to shave their heads and change clothes. Most of the costumes of the Qing Dynasty were designed according to the wishes of the rulers, which were very political and practical, so the costumes of the Qing Dynasty were not much better than those of the Yuan Dynasty. Manchu ruled China for 300 years. Their melon hats, jackets, gowns, horseshoe sleeves, high-bun cheongsam, basin shoes and pipa lapels have always influenced the Republic of China, basically obliterating the traditional national costume features such as "wide robes and big sleeves" and making the Han people lose their national costumes. The Qing Dynasty should be regarded as the darkest period of clothing in China.
During the Republic of China, people began to wear suits and ties and learn from the West, which was almost the same as the way Wu Zhao Wang Ling rode and shot in Khufu more than 2,200 years ago. At this time, China has basically got rid of thousands of years of heavy clothing and started to travel lightly. Although the clothing changes in the Republic of China did not restore the clothing of all ethnic groups and sometimes had some Manchu characteristics, they laid the basic pattern for us to wear beach pants and suspenders today.
During the 30 years since the founding of New China, Chinese tunic suits and green military uniforms have been overwhelming, and some dazzling national costumes have been artificially imprisoned. It was not until the reform and opening up that the internationalization trend of China's clothing gradually took shape. Except for important meetings and festivals, all ethnic groups rarely wear traditional clothes. We are no different from most countries in the world in terms of clothes.