Liu Shuai (left) and Zhou Fang are dressed in ancient costumes that they have restored
Chi Wenhui serves as the leader of the documentation team in the team
The mother of Yin Jiazheng, the patron of Cave 231 of Dunhuang Mogao Caves
Restoration of the yin mother costume
Women's attire in the early Western Han Dynasty
The attire of a scholar from the late Western Han Dynasty to the New Mang Dynasty
Traditional handmade valerian production
Raw silk tempering The ancients also followed the fashion trend when they dressed? From hairstyles, makeup to clothing, what were the rules of the ancients? Is there a logic of continuity between the costumes of the past? Walk into the costume exhibition in the museum, or chase a hot historical drama, does the gorgeous costume also attract your attention?
In recent years, ancient costumes have quietly become popular, and the cultural veins woven in Chinese robes have attracted people's attention. Fifteen years ago, a group of young people in Shanghai got together to inspect historical texts and cultural relics, calligraphy and painting, bought sewing machines and fabrics, sewed the clothes of the ancients themselves, and named themselves the "Chinese Costume Restoration Group". In the past 15 years, the group has grown from the first few people to being invited to participate in the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, holding a costume restoration show, and restoring hundreds of costumes from the pre-Qin to the Ming and Qing dynasties. Following their explorations, the secrets hidden in the wardrobes of the ancients are being uncovered.
If the ancients traveled back to today, they would also recognize that this was their own clothes
A woman holds an incense burner in her hand, her hair is high in a bun, with a comb and a number of flowers, and the left and right hairpins are opposite. Her gaze was downward, wearing a vermilion flower shirt on the top, a long blue lotus petal pattern skirt underneath, and a clear color of the drapery, this dignified and solemn image restored the image of the mother of Yin Jiazheng, the patron of dunhuang caves during the Tang Wenzong period.
On the mural painting of Cave 231 of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, the lotus petal pattern long skirt worn by the yin mother is exquisitely shaped, which is only seen in this period. This special costume successfully attracted the attention of the costume restoration team, who began by examining the information, determining the shape of the costume, and then selecting materials, designing, and producing, and finally posting the model's makeup photos on social media, with historical interpretation to present to everyone.
When looking through the portfolio of the costume restoration team, it is not difficult to find that although the colors and colors of the clothing are harmonious, the color is not gorgeous, and even has a bit of a "dirty" atmosphere. Many netizens are curious, is it not retouched? In fact, this antique texture is the effect of natural dyes and fabrics, and the use of ancient methods is also the principle adhered to in the work of the costume restoration team for more than ten years.
In the era when there were no chemical dyes, people used raw materials such as mulberry silk to spin and weave cloth, and natural grass and trees were used to color the clothing. In today's bulk garment making in garment factories, it is still handmade in the traditional way, which is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also increases the cost budget. "But it works best." The team founder Liu Shuai laughed and repeated this sentence. "If you don't do this, you won't be able to achieve the effect of restoration." He said the team should try to get the details as good as possible when they can afford it.
In the view of Zhou Fang, a core member in charge of historical research, aesthetic appeals are the focus of the team's restoration. In the era when the ancients lived, everyone's clothes were highly customized, and the restoration team hoped: "If the ancients traveled back to today, they would also recognize that this was their own clothes." If modern people wear this dress back to ancient times, the ancients will not be suspicious, and even feel that this set of well-made clothes is the perfection in their hearts. ”
While restoring the costumes, the group members also pursue an overall display of a classical temperament. In their works, the makeup, hair ornaments, and looks of the characters are all integrated, and the ancients seem to have stepped down from the picture scroll. To achieve such an effect, rigorous historical research is the first step, and then they restore a series of ancient people's living peripherals through aesthetic design and combination of character characteristics, and these "side line businesses" are widely involved, from furniture, ornaments, small to ring accessories, and dance music with great characteristics of the times.
In order to select models that can set off the sense of age of clothing, the costume restoration team has also held several "drafts". They published a solicitation order online, invited interested netizens to participate in offline interviews, and successfully shortlisted them to experience a one-day "journey through". Liu Shuai recalled that more than 500 people came to the recruitment site in Shanghai, but after a full day of interviews, only 38 people were selected. Liu Shuai said that some models have excellent image temperament and can well set off the clothing cut, but many modern people have too short hair to make appropriate hairstyles with wigs, and can only regret failure.
A group of young people to create a small world of ancient life
As the year draws to a close, Liu Shuai's work is busier, and he often works overtime late at night. He described himself as "in charge of everything from administrative matters to clothing design." After several twists and turns, we finished the online interview with Liu Shuai, it was close to one o'clock in the morning, but he said that he could not sleep yet, and some things were not finished. From the time he joined the costume restoration interest group in college, he has maintained his initial momentum in the industry for 15 years.
In 2007, Liu Shuai, who was still in college, was already interested in ancient costumes, and he joined a few like-minded classmates to rent a house outside, buy sewing machines and fabrics, and set up a simple studio to make his favorite Hanfu at will. Although the size of the studio was not large at that time, Liu Shuai had already consciously consulted documents and archaeological materials to make clothes from the perspective of "restoration".
After graduation, because of family relations, Liu Shuai came to Shanghai from his hometown of Henan, where he met a group of main creators, including Zhou Fang, and officially took the restoration of clothing as his job.
In recent years, the chinese costume restoration team has become famous, and they have been invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to show traditional Chinese Hanfu to international friends at the China-Japan-Rokren Sage Conference. They have also cooperated with museums many times, been invited to various colleges and universities to give lectures, appeared on the variety shows of various David TV, held clothing shows, and even opened Taobao stores. The team has also developed from a few core members at the beginning to a large team with more than 20 main creators, in addition to the studio set up in Shanghai, there are also co-operative garment factories in Shandong, Shanghai and Suzhou. The factory uses the restored finished products of the creators as a model to mass-produce garments for Taobao stores and other cooperative projects.
Liu Shuai, born in 1986, is a proper "post-80s", and the costume dramas and comic strips he watched as a child made him deeply impressed by the clothing of the ancients. Driven by his interest, he "went halfway out" to teach himself fashion design. He said he also liked what was popular among young people, but that didn't conflict with liking traditional culture. Moreover, the circle of clothing restoration does not seem to be large, and after going in, he found that there are many friends, and the work has also allowed him to meet many friends.
We asked Liu Shuai what was interesting in his communication with his peers. He said, "How can it be called fun?" In fact, it is to know, just like you know me, you know. He laughed when he said that. Liu Shuai didn't say much, and only when it came to clothing, he said one or two more sentences. He said that in fact, life is so plain, there are not so many storms to face. So he turned around and quietly plunged into the world of restored clothing.
Zhou Fang, who is a teacher at the School of Fine Arts of Shanghai University, graduated from the Department of Dyeing and Weaving History Research at the School of Fashion of Donghua University, and was responsible for the work related to the processing of historical materials in the team. During his doctoral studies, Zhou Fang met Liu Shuai at the school's textile museum and officially joined the costume restoration team in 2015. In Zhou Fang's view, her own work and the costume restoration team have formed a kind of frequency resonance, helping her to combine academic research and practical work.
Chi Wenhui, the leader of the literature group in the team, met Liu Shuai through the internet forum, "It has been too long, and I have forgotten what forum it is." Liu Shuai said. At present, the professional background of the team members covers clothing history, fashion design, archaeology, art, Chinese, museology, etc., and this group of young people gathers together to create a small world of ancient life.
It took them nearly three years to restore a garment worn by a noblewoman from the Southern Wei and Jin dynasties
To be able to restore clothing as a profession, Liu Shuai feels that he is quite lucky. Just a few years into the industry to catch up with the boom of traditional culture, more and more Chinese people are willing to pay attention to classical culture, helping his career soon to get on the right track. He said the only pits he had stepped on were imperfectly restored clothing. "Sometimes people think it's good-looking, but my own requirements are higher." Selection of materials, colors, craftsmanship, and even a certain accessory, Liu Shuai cares about every tiny detail, he feels that he is a perfectionist.
Restoring a piece of clothing by hand is time-consuming and labor-intensive, such as a fully handmade Wei Jin skirt, which takes two masters half a year to cut and sew, but the team is still willing to work hard to make a dress satisfactory. Persistence, persistence, and cutting details are the concepts that everyone in the team adheres to. In order to restore a robe worn by aristocratic women in the Southern Wei and Jin Dynasties, they spent nearly three years and experienced countless times of bulldozing and restarting. The garment appeared in the famous "Roselle Futu", but because the documentation was not systematic, and there was no physical excavation, it brought great difficulties to the restoration.
In the process of finding information, sorting out written materials, visiting museums and archaeological sites, and visiting experts in related fields are all essential steps. Zhou Fang combined the restoration of the jacket with his own academic research, "The existing research on the jacket mostly stays in the interpretation of the 'quilt' and 'quilt' on the jacket, and lacks the discussion of the origin, development and evolution of the shape of the jacket. In a paper published in 2018, Zhou Fang pointed out the difficulties brought by the study of blind spots to the recovery work.
With the continuous updating of the data and several trial and errors in the process of garment making, the restoration of the garment has finally achieved a small success. Liu Shuai told us that the restoration of the garment, which took nearly three years, has recently produced the most satisfactory version, and they will take this dress to CCTV during the New Year to meet with everyone.
In the process of restoration, Zhou Fang's discovery of the garment also provided the basis for the subsequent study of clothing, and the two papers she published on the China Knowledge Network related to the garment were cited by later scholars. While carrying out the restoration work, the team members worked together to summarize the results of the restoration into a book, and successively published two professional books, "Han Jin Clothes" and "Chinese Makeup".
What kind of clothing is worth restoring? In addition to selecting representative clothing that team members are interested in, it is also important to fill vacancies. Chi Wenhui told us that the materials on the history of clothing before the Tang Dynasty were relatively scarce, and there were relatively rich archaeological objects after the Song Dynasty. At present, the restoration team has accumulated a relatively rich set of works for the Warring States, Han and Song dynasties, and recently they have turned their attention to the Ming Dynasty, lengthening the timeline of restoration while filling in the blanks to solve difficult and complicated diseases.
In the course of history, some garment-making methods are difficult to fully replicate today, but the restoration team is not entangled in this. "We want to achieve infinite proximity in appearance, pay attention to the process research on cutting, although we can't raise silkworms and reel silk by ourselves, and restore from the process of each yarn, we can try our best to find fabrics that match cognition, and form a beautiful effect from color matching." Zhou Fang said.
The ancients also had trends, and the changes in clothing were closely related to people's living habits
Chi Wenhui is the leader of the literature group in the costume restoration team, and in her view, the costumes of the past have the same logic. "A lot of the costume research we can see is intergenerational, and the understanding of the history of clothing here is a cross-section of a dynasty." The costume restoration team hopes to study the evolution of clothing in a complete context.
Chi Wenhui made a vivid analogy, "The former is like cutting a fish into fish segments, showing the horizontal texture." We look at the whole muscles and bones of the fish, such as how its streamlined body grows fins and tails. ”
If you want to explore the context of the changes in the ancient costume culture, there is a mystery hidden in a belt. Chi Wenhui concluded, "From the late Warring States period to the early Western Han Dynasty, people wore long robes and robes, tied belts on their hips, and the position was very low, under the aesthetic tendency of the time, the waist line was low and slender, and when kneeling, it was upright and majestic, and it also matched the living habits of people sitting on the ground. ”
"In the new mang period, the waist line suddenly rose, the highest and the armpit. The high waist line made people's lower limb movements no longer restricted, and a large number of murals showing the movements of the lower limbs of the characters in this era reflected the changes in aesthetic trends. From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the waist line returned to the middle, and people's aesthetics began to pursue the balance of upper and lower levels, and the top and hem showed a flowing butterfly shape. Later, in the North and South Dynasties, the waist line rose again, accompanied by the opening of the collar. ”
The change of clothing shape is closely related to people's living habits, the Han people who sat on the ground with a low belt during the Han Dynasty, by the Tang Dynasty, they had adapted to the high seat, so the clothing that was convenient for lower limb movement was accepted by the public, such as the shirts and skirts worn by women in the Tang Dynasty, and the pockets were tied under the armpits. Understanding the flow of clothing from the aesthetic direction, living habits and cultural changes, we can see the logic of the development of clothing in Han culture.
At the same time as the development and evolution of clothing, there are also the matching of clothing, hairstyles and makeup that belong to each era, which together show the aesthetic consistency of the ancients and the coordination of the culture of the times. In the early days of the Western Han Dynasty, people combed their hairs, mostly painted with slender eyebrows, and the image was gentle, reflecting the quiet and inactive Huang Lao thought in the society at that time. The thick eyebrows that became popular in the Eastern Han Dynasty, accompanied by women's hanging buns becoming high buns, and the elevated waistline of clothing reflected the positive and energetic spiritual outlook of the society at that time.
Chi Wenhui said that the ancients also had their own fashion wear vane, and the famous "Ballad in the City" of the Eastern Han Dynasty recorded the story of the ancients catching up with the fashion trend.
"The city is a good bun, and it is a foot high in all directions. The city is good and wide eyebrows, square and half forehead. Good big sleeves in the city, all four horses. "When high buns, long eyebrows and wide cuffs were popular in Beijing, women from all over the world also competed to imitate the style of dressing. While this witty ballad implies irony, it still unravels the fashion code of an era.
Ancient style sucks powder, and traffic can bring young people's attention to traditional culture
In recent years, Taobao shops selling Hanfu have sprung up like mushrooms, and they can occasionally meet people wearing Hanfu when walking on the road, and Hanfu has become a hot topic of traffic at present. The Chinese costume restoration team does not reject the fact that clothing restoration has become a popular culture phenomenon, and the flow can bring young people more attention to traditional culture.
In 2019, Chi Wenhui wore four sets of highly topical restoration costumes and appeared on the CCTV variety show "Opening the Door", allowing four famous female figures in history to cross to the stage. When she was a young girl, Yang Guifei was decorated with flowers on her forehead, showing the unique style of cloud sideburns. Tang Wan, famous for his love story with Lu You, is painted with the song dynasty mournful "melancholy eyebrows". Empress Dowager Qin Xuan,800, dressed in the robes of the Chu nobles, is the historical prototype of Mi Yue, the eldest heroine played by Sun Li. Xiao Qiao's face was embellished with the popular face of the time, which was very different from the image presented by Lin Chiling in the movie. The restoration team combined historical allusions and popular film and television dramas to restore costumes to attract more people's attention.
In recent years, many celebrities have put on the works of the costume restoration team, Liu Shishi, who dressed as a Song Dynasty lady, appeared on CCTV's Mid-Autumn Festival Gala; Zheng Yunlong presented the classic image of the poet Li Bai with a set of outfits; Lou Yixiao restored the image of the donor of the Maijishan Grottoes in the early Tang Dynasty during the Beijing Fashion Week, wearing a large-sleeved skirt.
In addition to the star "bringing goods", the costume show planned by the restoration team itself has also attracted the attention of the outside world. Like the catwalk of the world-famous fashion show, ladies and scholars dressed in costumes of various dynasties slowly walked out, telling the story of the long river of Chinese history. Although the restoration show, which was originally scheduled to be held every two years, was blocked due to the impact of the epidemic, Liu Shuai was still planning which works to bring to meet with everyone later.
On social media, the men's equipment displayed by the team in the new Mang period was well received, and netizens praised it as "getting the beauty of Qin and Han men" and "the original Chinese style". Some people also use this as a contrast, saying that the costume image in the costume idol drama is too unprofessional.
Zhou Fang has an open and inclusive attitude towards this, "The price of buying a set of exquisite ancient clothing is not cheap, and students who are interested in this do not necessarily have the financial resources." "It is most important to cultivate young people's love for traditional costumes and let more people who are interested in learning about ancient costumes and traditional cultures get started."
"I heard that there is a lot of ming powder now?" Zhou Fang noticed that in recent years, in college campuses or parks, there have been significantly more young people wearing Song and Ming Dynasty costumes to take pictures. She said that today's children open their eyes early and form their own cultural self-confidence in cross-cultural comparison, and traditional culture has also ushered in a wave of "knowledge revival" in such a trend.
Recently, the group has made initial results in the restoration of classic ming dynasty costumes, and they look forward to meeting the works with everyone as soon as possible. In the future, the members of the group still hope to check and fill in the gaps, and restore the traditional costumes with points of view and difficulties. This edition / Wu Bingcong
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Costume Restoration Team