Hey everyone—a little busy as of late, but rest assured that I am not dead! I just had to pop back to belatedly report on the 2022 Scholar's Garden Hanfu Outing organized by Yulan/Chlobaltblue in our hanfu discord server community! This half-day event consisted of a photoshoot and group dinner on July 30th, 2022 in the New York Chinese Scholar's Garden with a small group of eight people attending. People from all over New England joined us for this outing, from Conneticut residents to Boston students flying all the way up to Staten Island. Unfortunately I was not one of those people, but I'm here to share with you all the pictures and experience that my sister provided! I'll also be doing a brief summary of some of the outfits that everyone is wearing. Some of our members had their own sets, while others borrowed from each other. A majority of our outfits were Wei/Jin Style (魏晉風)  outfits which consisted of a zhequn, cross collar top, and daxiushan. Ani also wore a Ming-style summer set, with a modified zhuyao with pearl buttons in the front to mimic the zimu buttons of a zhuyao and a Ming helingshan, a style that greatly resembles…

Cultural variety shows and historical dramas have opened up a new trend of Chinese celebrities' traditional costume styling. Starting with "National Treasure" in 2017, celebrities frequently time travel to various dynasties to experience the life of ancient people. Yang Zi acted in many Xianxia dramas (such as Ashes of Love, and Immortal Samsara), but in "National Treasure", she had the opportunity to talk with Princess Wencheng across time and space. The appropriate gold ornaments, together with the flower inlay between her eyebrows, highlight her dignified and luxurious side. Zhang Zifeng, transformed into a Qing Dynasty astronomer, Wang Zhen Yi. With her plain attire and calm and quiet temperament, you seem to be able to see the majestic universe in her heart. The 2019 suspense drama "The Longest Day In Chang'an", the thrilling investigation process, with a rich display of Tang Dynasty styling, adds a lot of features to this drama. In the show "Meet the temple of heaven" 2019, has a number of actresses changing into Qing Dynasty attire, which combined with the scenery of the Temple of Heaven, really gives a feeling of history shining into reality. Compared to Xianxia and Wuxia dramas, cultural shows and historical dramas usually…

Unlike the noble and elegant clothes of women in the Tang Dynasty, when it comes to Song Dynasty women costumes, maybe we are thinking of a graceful and restrained and a plain and neat feeling. The Song Dynasty was the dynasty with the most prosperous literati temperament in Chinese history. Women’s clothing in the Song Dynasty not only inherited the women's clothing system in the Tang Dynasty, moreover, combined with the characteristics of the times, created a dressing mode that belongs to the Song Dynasty. Its aesthetic standard is skinny beauty with fresh and elegant. It advocates slenderness and fit, exquisite material processing, soft tone, lightness, softness, elegance, and it has a strong atmosphere of life. So what kind of clothes did the women wear in the Song Dynasty thousands of years ago? In this article, ArtMoment will introduce 11 classic Song Dynasty women costumes to you.   1-Top In the Song Dynasty, women’s clothing was basically still coat and dress shape, divided into different forms. Tops mainly have Moxiong, Shan, Ru & Ao, Pao, Beizi, Banxiu, and so on. Moxiong Moxiong (抹胸, bandeau) is the most close-fitting clothing for women in the Song Dynasty. Its function is like today’s…

With the popularity of "A Dream of Splendor", the Chinese traditional folk life of the Song Dynasty shown in the drama has set off a retro craze in reality. The audience's focus on ancient costume dramas is no longer limited to makeup and costumes, but seeks to examine and explore deeper content. In recent years, it is common that ancient costume dramas based on historical research and restoration of ancient life, but most of them are still embodied in costumes and etiquette, do not fully restore the life of ancient China. So, what is traditional Chinese folk life like? STUDIO SHENLOUZHI (蜃楼志), as if they had traveled from ancient China, recreates the traditional Chinese folk life for the audience with their almost perfect short films. On June 10, 2019, their first work, "VAGUELY DREAM IN HOKCHEW - Short Film of Traditional Life in Late Ming Dynasty" suddenly becomes popular on the Internet, with more than 700,000 views. The creative team members are all post-90s traditional culture enthusiasts, who had no experience in film production or acting in any drama before. The short film shows the folk life in Hokchew City (Fuzhou) during the Chongzhen period of the late Ming Dynasty…

Daxiushan (大袖衫, big sleeves shirt) were originally men's clothing in the Wei and Jin dynasties, but in the Tang dynasty it referred to women's extra wide big sleeves outfits. The shape of the Daxiushan is straight collar, symmetrical lapels, long sleeves, large cuffs, mostly long clothing body and with splitting and lacing.   Daxiushan in Tang Dynasty During the Tang Dynasty, the society was open and Hu clothing was prevalent. Women were free-spirited and often wore men's or Hu clothing. After the flourishing Tang period, the style of women's clothing became wider and wider, and this feature became more obvious in the middle and late Tang period, with general women's clothing, the sleeve width was often more than four feet. Wide sleeve shirts, long skirts and Pibo were worn as the noble dresses at that time, and usually worn on important occasions, such as court meetings, ceremonial, and marriages. The Daxiushan costume is recorded in Zhou Fang's painting "Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair With Flowers" records the Daxiushan costume. The beauty in the painting wears a long dress with a large-sleeved sarong shirt draped directly. The artist's realistic approach not only portrays the delicate clothing materials of the Tang Dynasty,…

Is it appropriate to wear hanfu in summer? Hanfu makers are more concerned with this question. Light fabrics, half-sleeve designs, and fresh colors have become their solution to allow hanfu lovers to wear beautiful hanfu even in the hot summer. Redsugarx in the community has already shared how to choose hanfu in summer. And in this post, I've brought together 10 green hanfu dress styles, I hope will helpful in your next hanfu shopping. They all have one thing in common, give you a touch of freshness in the summer heat. So, let's get started. 1 Modified hanfu top + Bai Die Qun   2 Ming dynasty: square collar Shan + sarong skirt   3 Song dynasty: Moxiong + Shan + San Jian Qun   4 Song Dynasty: Hanfu camisole + Beizi + Bai Die Qun   5 Song Dynasty: Hanfu camisole + Beizi + Zhe Qun   6 Ming dynasty: round-necked Shan + Moxiong + Ma Mian Qun   7 Wei and Jin dynasties: Ruqun   8 Ming Dynasty: sarong Shan + Ma Mian Qun   9 Qixiong Shanqun   10 Song Dynasty: Shanqun + Beizi More about summer hanfu:

Song Hanfu is never absent from summer wear, and most of them are made of silk, tencel, and other breathable materials that will bring you a touch of coolness in the hot summer. 1 Moxiong + Changshan + Zhequn The Changshan (long shirt) is very light, with delicate floral embroidery at the collar edge. The silk material is comfortable and skin-friendly, with a gentle color scheme. The fabric of Moxiong (a kind of Song Dynasty underwear) is a chemical fiber fabric, has a good feel. Chiffon material skirt, with breathable performance, good drape.   2 Diaodai + Changshan + Jianqun The single-layer Diaodai (camisole, a kind of Song Dynasty underwear) is decorated with pearls, and the material has a dark pattern of bamboo leaves. The Changshan has a dark pattern of diamond lattice with a bright scarlet color, and the placket is decorated with small pearls and webbing, which is soft and smooth to the touch and comfortable on the body. The skirt is with a dark pattern of twisted grapes. The use of large dark patterns adds to the luxury of this hanfu.   3 Diaodai + Duanshan + Baidie Qun The main color of this Song hanfu is…

As requested by user @Wei on my Mamianqun article, here’s a little summary of all the most popular hanfu skirt (qun or 裙) types and what the difference between them is! I’m not going to go into as much detail as the previous article since my goal is to go through them all quickly and teach you the differences between them, but I’ll be including some brief details on their name, history, construction, and features so that you can better understand the huge variety of skirts in hanfu. Let’s start off with some basics rules hanfu skirts tend to follow. Skirts are made up of one or two pieces of fabric, usually, and they take the shape of a flat piece of pleated or non pleated cloth that gets wrapped around the body and tied in place by ribbons/ties. There are very few exceptions to this, except in hanyuansu, which is modified hanfu for convenience and style. The waistband of the skirt is usually 6-8cm wide and made with a different piece of fabric than the body of the skirt, which the body of the skirt is then attached to—this is referred to as the skirt head (裙頭). But even…

Brief history describing the purpose of yunjian, history, and changes overtime between modern period and past.

Hey everyone! I’m so sorry about how late this is since I promised this like… three weeks ago, but here’s a little outfit analysis of the rainbow pride outfit that I designed and posted a few pictures of last month! Disclaimer: While I design the shapes, fabrics, and combinations of my hanfu designs, I do not sew any of my hanfu designs! This is due to the fact that I could not sew a straight line to sew my life. Instead I work with various small independent tailors, seamstresses and hanfu workshops.   THE BASIC STATS I chose to make this set a Song Dynasty hanyuansu. Song style hanfu has long been known to be the most popular in the summer with its flowy and light layers, and me being in Taiwan for pretty much all of pride month meant that I needed to be able to stay cool in 37+ degrees while hanging around outside for pictures. The main modifications in this set are to the top piece, which is a 吊帶, or camisole, with straps. This is a very simple three-piece set that gives all of its attention to the rainbow skirt. The three pieces include the camisole…

So the Mamianqun, or 馬面裙, or horse-faced skirt, has been blowing up lately especially because of the Dior controversy—here's an in-depth dive into the history, construction, and features of the famous horse-face skirt.   A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MAMIANQUN The mamianqun or horse-faced skirt is a skirt that first originated somewhere close to the Song dynasty worn by high-class courtesans (who were like celebrities and fashion icons tbh) in the form of colorful pleated silk. It’s named this way because of its resemblance to the mamian fortress, which has stairs on either side (like the pleats) and a door in the front and back (like the skirt doors). The ‘doors’ sides of the fortress were known as the *horse faces* or mamian/馬面 because these were the faces of the fortress where the horses would pass through. It became extremely popular in the following Ming dynasty and stayed popular through the Qing dynasty through Manchurian rule—it’s been around for a long, long time! Mamianqun are more convenient for movement and offer a regal, classy aesthetic as well as a very recognizable and unique silhouette. Even Princess Diana wore one once! BASIC CONSTRUCTION OF A MAMIANQUN The Skirt Doors From the…

The mythical creature from "Classic of Mountains and Seas" are brought to life again! These ancient records from 2,000 years ago come to vivid reality in this girl's restoration. Xiang Liu (相柳): 《山海经·海外北经》：“共工之臣曰相柳氏，九首，以食于九山。相柳之所抵，厥为泽溪。……相柳者，九首人面，蛇身而青……” Shan Hai Jing - Hai Wai Bei Jing: "Gong Gong had a minister named Xiang Liu, who had nine heads and fetched food on each of the nine mountains. Everywhere the Xiang Liu touched, it would turn into swamps and streams. ....... Xiang Liu, with nine heads, had a human-like face, a snake-like body, and a greenish body." Ling Yu (陵鱼): 《山海经·海内北经》：“陵鱼人面、手足、鱼身，在海中。” Shan Hai Jing - Hai Nei Bei Jing: "There is a kind of Ling Yu, with a human-like face, arms and legs, and a fish-like body, living in the sea." Qiong Qi (穷奇) & Luo Yu (蠃鱼): 《山海经·西山经》：“又西二百六十里，曰邽山，其上有兽焉，其状如牛，猬毛，名曰穷奇，音如獆狗，是食人。濛水出焉，南流注于洋水，其中多黄贝、蠃鱼，鱼身而鸟翼，音如鸳鸯，见则其邑大水。” Shan Hai Jing - Xi Shan Jing: "Two hundred and sixty miles to the west, there is a mountain called Gui Shan. A beast on the mountain, shaped like a cow, with hair like the thorns of a hedgehog, is called the Qiong Qi, which makes a sound like a barking dog and can eat humans. Meng River originates from this mountain and flows southward into the…

According to legend, in the Tang Dynasty, during spring, Emperor Li Xian would order his servants to take out "colored flowers" from the inner palace and give them to the concubines of the harem to welcome the new spring, and these "colored flowers" referred to the Rong Hua (绒花, velvet flower). Today, Rong Hua is often worn with traditional hanfu and has become one of the most popular accessories in Chinese traditional costumes. The flower hairpin was always one of the most popular decorative styles of the ancients. In the painting "Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair With Flowers" by the famous Tang Dynasty painter Zhou Fang, the woman is wearing a high bun and wearing a flower as a hairpin, which is as elegant and beautiful as a fairy in a fantasy world. But flowers are limited by the season and easily withered, and the petals often wither. So the ancient noble ladies wished to have flowers that would last forever as accessories, and that's when the handmade Rong Hua came into being. The Chinese word for velvet flower is similar to the pronunciation of "Rong Hua (荣华, prosperity)" and has been given a meaning of good luck and blessing. The…

In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, women's hairstyle, makeup, jewelry, and dress style has undergone a huge change. Heavy makeup and high buns, long skirts with large sleeves prevailed, and formed a variety of distinctive makeup styles. At first, it was just regarded as grotesque, considered to be a sign of chaos, but later it developed into an issue discussed in the court. Although prohibited by the court, it is difficult to extinguish, getting more and more intense.   Shi Shi Zhuang During the Zhengyuan period (785-805), the Ti Mei makeup (啼眉妆) and the Duo Ma bun (堕马髻) appeared first. The prototype of the bun hanging on one side already appeared during the Kaiyuan period, but it evolved into more huge and exaggerated in the Middle Tang Dynasty. The eyebrows painted in the shape of characters "八", replaced the previous curved thin eyebrows. The female figurines excavated during the Zhen Yuan period and the ladies of the "A Palace Concert" all showed such kind of makeup style. On this basis, the famous Shi Shi Zhuang (时世妆) was formed during the Yuanhe period (806-820). Bai Juyi, who loved to record the details of the costumes, depicted this makeup detail in…

Have you ever noticed the motifs on a hanfu? They are diverse and can even be considered the finishing touch to a hanfu. Maybe it is some kind of animal from ancient times or different kinds of plants to match. Most of them have a special meaning, and some fantastical motifs even contain mythological stories.   Animal Motifs Qilin Motifs Although the production environment of the ancients was much less than the modern society, the ancients never skimped on their imagination when it came to creating sacred animals. For example, the Qilin (麒麟). With a dragon head, deer antlers, cow hooves, and lion's tail, the Qilin changed several times before the Tang Dynasty and had no fixed appearance. In the Song Dynasty, the body became a common lion-shaped scaly body, basically into the current form. In "Fantastic Beasts 3: The Mystery of Dumbledore", the Qilin appears as a new fantastic beast. This is the second Chinese mythical creature launched in the "Fantastic Beasts" series, Zouwu from the "Shan Hai Jing" appeared in "Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald". Qilin is a symbol of auspiciousness and has a very high status in ancient times, and has been assigned with simple…

Unlike modern clothing, which is updated so frequently, the development of antique Chinese clothing was not only accompanied by the change of dynasties, but also combined with the level of fabrics of the time. However, there is no doubt that different periods in ancient China had distinctive fashion items.   01 Shenyi in Han Dynasty In 1972, when the three-month archaeological excavation ended, the archaeologists of Tomb No. 1 of the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha were still excited. During the subsequent work, they discovered a dozen pieces of well-preserved Western Han costumes, thus opening a window for later generations to peek into the aesthetics of the dress worn by ancient Chinese 2000 years ago. The relics of the tomb that the archaeologists cleaned were from the tomb of Xin Zhui, the wife of Li Cang, the prime minister of Changsha in the early Western Han Dynasty. Based on archaeological and textual records, we know that there were two main types of clothing for the ancient Chinese during the Qin and Han dynasties. Type Yichang (衣裳), in which the clothing of the upper body and the lower body were not connected; Type Shenyi (深衣) in which the upper garment and…

Ready to start deepening your hanfu wardrobe? Start looking into some of your closet staples here: hanfu underlayers!

Wedding dresses have become more and more sophisticated in recent years and continue to bring pleasing looks to the audience. But if we rewind the time to twenty years ago, would we be able to see such a wedding dress look in a costume drama?

The Duanwu Festival (端午节, Dragon Boat Festival) has long been transformed into a concrete and profound contemporary cultural symbol in the annual ritualistic repetition of the action. As the fifth day of the fifth lunar month approaches, various flavors of Zongzi are marketed, many traditional villages begin preparing for dragon boat races, and Chinese office workers and students await the holiday with great anticipation. Are there any other traditional Duanwu customs that have continued from ancient times? And how did the ancient people prepare for the Duanwu Festival? Let's search the Duanwu Festival in the classic paintings that have been passed down through the ages.   Eat Zongzi Whenever the Duanwu is mentioned, Qu Yuan is the most familiar to people. In order to commemorate Qu Yuan, who committed himself to the Miluo River, on every fifth day of May, people throw Zongzi into the river; at the same time, they make dragon boats to expel the augur dragon so that Qu Yuan's flesh will not be robbed. This is also the most widespread source of Zongzi and dragon boat racing. As the most ritualistic necessity of the Duanwu Festival, eating Zongzi has long been a popular habit for all Chinese. Many…

In recent years, hanfu has been flourishing all over China, and there are large and small hanfu events held every month. So what are the specific cities with the best hanfu atmosphere? Hanfu Zixun launched the Top Hanfu Cities of China contest to reflect the different development of hanfu around the country. With 62.01% of the votes, Chengdu, Sichuan topped the list, the only city with more than 50% of the votes, and was drastically outperformed by all the other cities. Xiuwu ranked seventh, which should have a lot to do with its success in holding the first Hanfu Expo in 2021.   NO.1 Chengdu (成都) The No. 1 hanfu city is: Chengdu. After pandas, hot pot and mahjong, Chengdu has a new calling card: the Hanfu capital. It is not only because of its nationally known "Hanfu Street", but also because it has nearly 220,000 hanfu lovers, the first in China in terms of the number of Hanfu Tongpao (同袍; Hanfu fans call each other Tongpao). Chengdu's excellent hanfu culture atmosphere cannot be separated from the local government's strong support for the promotion of hanfu culture.   NO.2 Hangzhou (杭州) Hangzhou, known as "Hang" for short, was known as…