In recent years, there have been many high-quality costume dramas that have been launched continuously, and we have also seen through the TV screen that the actors have restored the image of the ancients with superb acting skills, especially some ancient aristocratic classes, who are dressed in gorgeous costumes, which makes people look relaxed and pleasant, as if they have returned to the era of dreams and swaying postures.
Throughout the traditional costumes of the dynasties, although they are different in style, they are basically very long, like the rich and noble families will also embroider a variety of exquisite patterns on it, and the more noble people are, the longer their skirts will be, and even on some occasions there will be special people to take care of the skirt. But in history, there are also emperors who advocate frugality and strictly prohibit concubines from mopping the skirts of the floor.
Image: Stills of skirt mopping the floor
First, the attitude of the ancient nobility towards clothes
1. Take good care of everywhere
The popular costumes of our modern society, no matter what season and style, are basically based on convenience and ability, and wear them to pay attention to the principle of fitting, while the costumes of the ancients are obviously different, they are wearing wide robes, as well as the attached long skirt, not to mention wearing, it is a little uncomfortable to look at.
The ancients were so intelligent, didn't they consider that this kind of clothing was not suitable for daily life? More importantly, this kind of skirt is rubbed on the ground for a long time, and after a long time, do you not have to consider getting dirty or scratched?
Photo: Stills of the princess going out in a long skirt
According to the research of experts, in fact, the ancients have long been aware of these problems, but also have a series of solutions, such as in the construction process of the court, taking into account the factors of clothing, high-grade flooring will be used to lay the ground, and every day there will be many servants to wipe the ground clean, not a trace of dust is allowed.
When the nobles travel, there will also be special people to take care of the back, if it is from the perspective of the dignitaries, there is no need to worry about the inconvenience of clothes.
Then some friends have doubts, this is clean in the palace, but you can't always stay in the palace every day without going out, right? Once out, aren't you afraid of getting dirty?
Photo: Stills of traveling in a long skirt
2. "Unique" way of handling
It is also true that "poverty limits our imagination", when the clothes of these dignitaries and dignitaries are dirty and torn because they are out, they generally do not wash and repair, the most common way is to throw them away. Yes, you read that right, the luxurious clothes on these feudal aristocrats are basically "disposable", and if there is a problem, it will be directly invalidated.
It may be that for ordinary people, they may not be able to wear this kind of clothing for a lifetime, but for the nobles, they have money and power in their hands, and since a piece of clothing is dirty and broken, why should they wear it? Wouldn't it be more physical and mentally pleasing to go straight to buy and go straight to the new one?
Picture: The servant sends the girl stills of the new clothes she has made
Second, there are exceptions to everything
1. The frugal emperor
Of course, not all ruling classes and dignitaries and dignitaries were in this style, for example, in the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Han, who was known for his frugality, decreed that all clothes were not allowed to be mopped, and also told harem concubines that no matter what kind of clothes they were, they could not be worn only once and thrown away.
In fact, before there were many friends did not understand what Emperor HanWen's approach meant, in fact, there was no mystery, it was just simple frugality, after all, the clothes worn only once were thrown away, which was still too wasteful for a society with low productivity.
In addition to Emperor Wen of Han, among the emperors in Chinese history, there is also a person who pays great attention to frugality, he is the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and although the Daoguang Emperor lived in an era when feudal centralization has entered the peak, he is a person who has paid special attention to frugality since he was a teenager.
According to historical records, he can often see various patches on his clothes, and he can do this step, looking at the history of five thousand years, and he really can't find much. Although he could not demand that all the officials in the world be like himself, he also stipulated that as long as he was a minister of the Qing Dynasty, all clothes must be washed more than three times before they could be thrown away.
Although from our modern point of view, it is still a bit extravagant to wash a piece of clothing three times and throw it away, we must know that they are the absolute rulers of the feudal era, and to be able to do so is already a frugality that has never been done before.
Photo: Stills of the Daoguang Emperor in the Qing Dynasty
Many friends who do not know much about history do not know that in the ancient dynasties and emperors, many of them were written by historians because they wore clothes that had been washed once, singing praises and praises, such as The Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin has a record of "the clothes of regular clothing, Huan Mao to the next".
The social conditions in ancient times were different from today's, and the living conditions of the ancient rulers were very different from those of our modern people, so we cannot demand and judge them with the eyes of modern people.
More importantly, the luxurious costumes of ancient times were not originally for them to wear to participate in labor, and the routine frugality was essentially the embodiment of identity, the manifestation of wealth, and the comparison between the powerful.
The dressing procedures of the ancients are quite complicated, not only the production itself is difficult, but also a variety of embroidery patterns are beyond the reach, which is destined to be the biggest role of these clothes is "ornamentation" rather than "labor".
It is only the privilege of aristocratic families to wear once and no longer be used, for them, there are still many things and opportunities to show status, there is no need to waste time and energy because of a piece of clothing, which is also one of the gaps between rich and poor in ancient times.
Image: Stills of embroidered patterns on luxurious costumes
2. Civilian clothing
In the costume drama, we can easily find that the costumes of the majority of working people are mainly "short dresses", their clothes do not have long skirts, it is impossible to have various embroidery patterns, and the clothes are often dominated by dark colors, and even many of them are still wearing the color of the fabric.
Therefore, for the poor families in the feudal era, it is completely unimaginable that a piece of clothing is not washed or thrown away only once.
In fact, in the history of every country in the world, there are privileged classes, and their lives are very different from ordinary people, and we must also understand that the beautifully dressed ancients in television cameras are only a side of the upper class, not the whole picture of ancient society.
Photo: Stills of the costumes of working people
In fact, the pursuit of luxury clothing, even in the 21st century today, is not to mention more, many rich people spend a lot of money to buy clothes, it is likely to forget to wear, when later found that it has been "outdated", will be these still with the standard clothes directly thrown away, which for many people in poor areas, the same is unimaginable.
Article author: Dahui
The entire graphic was produced by the team of the Big Cafe Say History Studio!