Somewhere along the way, in TV dramas, it became trendy for brides in Tang and Song Dynasty settings to wear green wedding dresses, and the trend has only grown. After revisiting historical records, it dawned on me: have we been misled?
Have you also been bombarded with images of "red - clad grooms and green - clad brides"? First, let's talk about the concept of wedding attire. In ancient times, there was no strict dress code for weddings, which has led to the current confusion about wedding dress styles. However, officials and noblewomen had corresponding strict dress codes, and their use was defined according to specific scenarios in the Five Rites. Weddings and coming - of - age ceremonies were important occasions in the auspicious rites.
From the Sui and Tang Dynasties to the Song and Ming Dynasties, cyan was always a high - end color for women's formal dresses. "The Book of Sui: Ceremony 7" records that the empress's Yi dress was "made of dark cyan fabric, with woven collars and cuffs, embroidered with five - colored pheasants in twelve rows." "Tang Six Codes" states that the empress's Yi dress was "made of dark cyan woven fabric..." "New Rites of the Zhenghe Era: Clothing" also mentions that the empress's Yi dress was "made of dark cyan woven fabric..."
In "The Great Tang Kaiyuan Rites, Volume 3", the dress standards for the empress, crown princess, and noblewomen (women with titles) are detailed, with the main color being cyan. Ordinary women could wear low - grade cyan formal dresses on their wedding day.
In formal dresses, the empress wore the "Yi dress", the crown princess wore the "Yu Di dress". The wedding dresses of noblewomen and common girls of other ranks were mainly divided into "Ju Yi", "Hua (Dian) Chai Li Yi", and "Da Xiu Lian Shang" according to their status.
The "Hua (Dian) Chai Li Yi" had the widest range of use. It was not only worn by the empress but also shared by noblewomen of all ranks. Its wearing occasions went beyond simple banquets and extended to various important ceremonies of the royal family and nobility. For example, the empress would wear the Dian Chai Li Yi to show her dignity during tomb - visiting ceremonies and silkworm - rearing ceremonies. Similarly, noblewomen would choose the Dian Chai Li Yi to show respect and solemnity when worshiping their ancestral temples, with the number of hairpins distinguishing their ranks.
The "Yi dress", "Yu Di dress", and "Que Di dress (simplified and abolished in the Tang Dynasty)" were dark cyan, embroidered with different forms and numbers of "pheasant patterns" according to rank, collectively known as "Di Yi". The "Hua (Dian) Chai Li Yi" and "Da Xiu Lian Shang" were cyan without "pheasant patterns", and the "Ju Yi" was yellow, made of silk.
The Song Dynasty's Yi dress system followed the Tang system, also in dark cyan. On top of the Tang Dynasty style, the Song Dynasty's Yi dress added a large belt and an apron. The apron was used to cover the knees, starting from the empress of Emperor Qinzong, and the large belt started from Emperor Huizong.
"The History of Song: Clothing Records" mentions four formal dresses under "Dresses of Empresses and Concubines": "One is the Yi dress, the second is the Zhu Yi, the third is the Li Yi, and the fourth is the Ju Yi." It also describes the Yi dress as "made of dark cyan woven fabric, with red - colored pheasant patterns in five colors and twelve grades. It has a cyan silk inner shirt, a patterned collar, and silk cuffs and hems. The apron matches the color of the skirt, with a black - edged collar, decorated with pheasant patterns in three grades. The large belt matches the color of the dress, with a red lining and a bordered outer edge, the upper part in red brocade and the lower part in green brocade, fastened with a cyan ribbon. The leather belt is worn with a cyan outer layer, paired with two white jade pendants, a black ribbon, two large silk ribbons, three small silk ribbons, and three jade rings in between. It comes with cyan socks and shoes, and the shoes are decorated with gold. It is worn when receiving the imperial edict and visiting the Jingling Palace. The Ju Yi is made of yellow silk, with the apron, large belt, and leather shoes matching the color of the dress. The rest is the same as the Yi dress, except without the pheasant patterns. It is worn during silkworm - rearing ceremonies."
In the portrait of the empress of Emperor Renzong, the empress is wearing a dark cyan Yi dress with pheasant (golden - pheasant) patterns, an apron, and a nine - dragon crown. The edges of the dress are embroidered with gold - woven red - ground dragon and cloud patterns.
The Zhu Yi was equivalent to office wear, used for daily affairs and when visiting the imperial portrait.
The Li Yi was a more widely used formal dress, with a shawl added in the Song Dynasty.
What did men wear at weddings? In the Tang Dynasty, common men could wear a plain red "Jiang Gong Fu" on their wedding day, forming a "red - clad groom and cyan - clad bride" combination with the plain "Da Xiu Lian Shang" ("Tang Six Codes": "Common people can borrow the Jiang Gong Fu for their weddings").
In the murals of Caves 12 and 33 in Mogao Grottoes, the bride is wearing a cyan dress with a long shawl around her body and a head full of pearls and hairpins. The groom is wearing a crimson round - collar official robe and is saluting beside her. The left - hand picture even follows the rule of "men kneel, women don't kneel".
Therefore, from noble families to common girls, if following the etiquette system, no matter which rank they belonged to, a cyan robe with a leather belt and cyan socks and shoes were essential elements.
Although there was no strict color - difference standard for dyeing in ancient times, it is certain that cyan and green were distinguished. Ma Duanlin of the Yuan Dynasty wrote in "Comprehensive Examination of Documents": "Using purple, cyan, and green for official uniforms started in the Sui Dynasty and was finalized in the Tang Dynasty." Generally speaking, since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, colors such as purple, scarlet, green, and cyan were used to determine official ranks. The separate listing of cyan and green here shows that the ancients had long distinguished between the two colors.
From portraits of empresses throughout the dynasties, we can also see that dark cyan is close to what we now call navy blue. So, we can conclude that dark cyan is definitely not the green we see today, that is, the "cyan that comes from indigo but is bluer than indigo". However, there were indeed deviations in ancient dyeing, so it might turn yellow, green, or black. But no matter how the color deviated, it is different from the increasingly green wedding dresses we see today.
