Zhuo Tongzhou is designing Hanfu. Photo by Han Jinyu
(New Year to the grassroots) "post-90s" Sichuan girls let Hanfu on the Sydney stage to launch a new work with the theme of the Year of the Tiger
Chengdu, January 26 (Han Jinyu) "This dress is an improvement we have made on the basis of Ming Hanfu, adding a lot of auspicious and festive elements of the Year of the Tiger. On the eve of the Spring Festival, Zhuo Tongzhou skillfully opened the live broadcast software to show fans the theme hanfu of the Year of the Tiger he designed. In addition to being an "Internet celebrity" with more than a million "fans" on the Internet, the 29-year-old is also a returnee graduate student.
During the 9 years of studying and working in Australia, Zhuo Tongzhou transformed from a Hanfu enthusiast to a Hanfu culture promoter, and she planned many influential activities overseas. In 2016, at the postgraduate graduation ceremony of the University of Sydney, Zhuo Tongzhou wore Hanfu on the stage and surprised the audience.
"I also start making Chinese pastries, wrapping the pastries in a Chinese style, and then wearing Hanfu to deliver takeaways." Between 2016 and 2018, she organized two large-scale public welfare competitions of "Looking for Hanfu Ambassadors", and the finals of both editions were held at Sydney City Hall. In 2019, Zhuo Tongzhou also organized the "My Motherland and Me Hanfu Pop-up" event, and the video was transmitted to the Internet and generated hundreds of millions of views around the world. Zhuo Tongzhou, with his own efforts, has set off a wave of Hanfu in Australia, so that more people know the charm of Hanfu culture.
Zhuo Tongzhou is broadcasting live. Photo by Han Jinyu
In 2019, after settling overseas companies, Zhuo Tongzhou chose to return to his hometown of Sichuan and opened a Hanfu studio in Chengdu. "Chengdu is a multicultural gathering place, where niche cultures such as Hanfu and Two-Dimensional Yuan can take root and sprout, and Chengdu's tolerance can make Hanfu have better room for development." She said.
In Zhuo Tongzhou's view, Hanfu is not only a piece of clothing, but also a cultural symbol, which carries the national culture. In the process of designing and making Hanfu, Zhuo Tongzhou has always maintained a "heart of awe".
In order to do a good job in his ideal Hanfu, Zhuo Tongzhou became a regular visitor to museums and bookstores, and learned a lot of Hanfu-related knowledge. "After returning to China for three years, I was fully involved in the production of Hanfu, the boss, designer, Hanfu model, I constantly switched my identity." Zhuo Tongzhou said.
From 2019 to the present, Zhuo Tongzhou's Hanfu team has designed hundreds of sets of Hanfu, with the Hanfu of the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties as the main style. In addition, she also restored and improved the costumes in the book according to the four famous works, and launched the "Dream of the Red Chamber Series" and the "Journey to the West Series". Zhuo Tongzhou said that they also began to gradually try to combine Hanfu and modern craft elements, and made some designs of Chinese style Han elements.
Infographic: In 2019, Sydney"Hanfu Flash Mob and Me" event. Courtesy of respondents
In recent years, with the rise of online live broadcasts and short videos, more and more young people have contacted and understood Hanfu, and hanfu lovers can always be seen in the streets and alleys with buns and fluttering clothes.
Zhuo Tongzhou said that the rapid development of the Hanfu industry has both cultural expectations and commercial demands, but no matter how it develops, it must follow its core cultural attributes. "Hanfu entrepreneurs can only study Hanfu knowledge from limited ancient books and cultural relics, but our ability is limited after all, and I hope that more experts and scholars can join this industry in the future, so that it has a more long-term development and gives Hanfu a greater possibility of 'breaking the circle'." (End)