Manchu ancestors lived between Baishan and Heishui and chose warm robes as their daily clothes to adapt to the long-term cold climate. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, Manchu absorbed the overcoat-style clothes of the Han nationality in the Central Plains and improved them into "flag clothes" with national characteristics. After the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, due to the compulsory promotion of Manchu aristocratic rulers, the flag became popular all over the country. During the Republic of China, modern western fashion elements were added to form a modern cheongsam with western aesthetic concepts. Great changes have taken place in Manchu economy and culture since the 20th century, and many traditional costumes are very rare. Manchu ancestors were hunters. In the era of underdeveloped hairdressing technology, in order to adapt to the long-term hunting life, Manchu men chose to braid their hair as their hairstyle. Its practice is to shave off the hair on the forehead first to avoid blocking the line of sight and facilitate archery or fighting. The hair at the back is braided, not braided, to adapt to riding bumps. This hairstyle was once enforced by political means in the Qing Dynasty.

Historically, Manchu men wore horseshoe sleeves with a belt around their waist, or a robe with a double-breasted coat, a cool hat in summer and a sloppy fur hat in winter. The clothes are made of blue, blue and brown cotton, silk, silk, satin and other materials, with blue leg straps on the trouser legs, cotton boots or leather boots on the feet, and Piura in winter. Braid the top and shave off the surrounding hair.

hair decorations

Great changes have taken place in Manchu economy and culture since the 20th century, and many traditional costumes are very rare. However, from movies, TV series and museums, we can often appreciate the elegance of the old national flag costumes. Among them, the wide, long, fan-shaped and crown-shaped women's headdress, which is called "flag head" in Chinese and "Dalachi" in Manchu, is unique to Manchu women all over the world, thus becoming a typical national costume feature and attracting attention.

In the past, Manchu women had to learn to ride and shoot like boys when they were young, and their hair accessories were similar to those of boys. They shaved off more hair around the top of their heads, leaving only a part of their hair in two girls' braids, which hung down on their temples until 16 years old came of age. After marriage, I began to wear a big pot head, a shelf head and two first-class steamed buns, two of which are typical. At both ends, the hair on the top of the head is tied up and divided into two locks, each lock is made into a bun, and then the rest of the hair at the back is made into a "dovetail" long flat bun. Usually, a hairpin with a length of 20-30 cm and a width of 23 cm is inserted horizontally in the bun. When celebrating an auspicious day or receiving distinguished guests, you should wear a hat at most.

Qitou

The "flag head" is called "Dalachi" in Manchu, which is a headdress worn by Manchu women in general etiquette or wedding occasions. The specific method is to use iron wire or bamboo rattan as the hat frame and green satin, green velvet or green yarn as the surface, and wrap the fan-shaped headdress with a length of about 30 cm and a width of about 10 cm. It can be fixed on a bun when worn. Often embroidered with patterns, inlaid with jewels or decorated with various flowers, decorated with long tassels. This kind of headdress is mostly used by upper-class Manchu women, and it is only used by ordinary women at weddings, festivals or ancestor worship. Wearing this wide and long ornament limits the distortion of the neck and makes them straight. Coupled with the long cheongsam and high-grade flag shoes, their walking pace is very delicate, which is particularly stable and elegant.

Horseshoe shoes

In addition to "flag clothes" and "Dalachi", Manchu women's "flag shoes" are also very distinctive. In the old society, Manchu women were different from Han women. They advocate big feet, climb mountains and ride horses, refuse the bad habit of foot binding, and take big feet as beauty. As a result, sufficient creative space was obtained in the decoration of shoes and socks, and "flag shoes" came into being. This elaborately embroidered flag shoe takes wood as the bottom and the shoe root rises from the middle. This kind of shoes is commonly called "flag shoes" or "high-top shoes". "High-top shoes" are mainly divided into two types, one is called "flowerpot bottom" shoes; Another kind is called "horseshoe sole" shoes. Generally, its heel is about 5- 10 cm, and some can reach 14- 16 cm, and the highest can reach about 25 cm.

Usually wrapped in white cloth, and then embedded in the middle of the soles of the feet. Because of the different shapes of heels, they are usually divided into two styles: one is that the heel is oval and inverted trapezoid, which looks like a flowerpot from a distance; The other is thin on the top and wide on the bottom, flat on the front and round on the back. The shape and landing marks are like inverted horseshoe marks. The "flowerpot bottom" and "horseshoe bottom" are named after this, and they are also collectively called "high-top shoes". In addition to embroidered patterns or decorative pieces such as cicadas and butterflies on the vamp, wood can't follow the ground, and it is often decorated with embroidery, gold, silver or beads. Some toes are also decorated with ears made of velvet balls or silk thread, which can reach the ground for the longest time. The high-heeled wooden sole of this kind of shoes is extremely strong, and the upper is often broken, while the sole is still intact and can be reused. High-heeled flag shoes are mostly worn by Manchu youth and middle-aged women over 16 years old in ceremonial occasions. Older women's flag shoes are mostly made of flat wood, which is called "flat shoes". The front end is slightly cut to facilitate walking. Among bureaucrats and nobles, young, middle-aged or elderly women can wear high heels. In modern society, these shoes are not usually worn except for theatrical performances.

Manchu people have the custom of "chopping wood to make shoes" since ancient times. There are different opinions about the origin of this kind of high-top shoes. One view is that Manchu women used to go up mountains to collect wild fruits, mushrooms and so on. In order to prevent insect bites, they tied wooden blocks to the soles, and later made increasingly sophisticated shoes and developed them into high-top shoes. There is also a legend that in order to cross a mud pond and recapture the city occupied by the enemy, the ancestors of the Manchu Dynasty learned the appearance of a white crane, tied high branches on their shoes, and finally won, achieving the goal of revenge and development. In order not to forget those tragic days, but also to commemorate the contribution of stilt wooden shoes, women put on these shoes and passed them down from generation to generation, becoming more and more exquisite and beautiful, and later they became like this.

I wonder if it will help you. If not, sorry! ! ! ~~