preface
Clothes are an essential daily necessity for human beings, and with the development of society, the functions of clothes are also increasing, from the initial "warmth and shame" to highlight their own aesthetics, becoming a stylish decoration, and in this case also divided into very strict norms.
In ancient times, if you dressed indiscriminately, you would be killed, and the styles of clothing of different classes were different.
From the color, texture, accessories are all in a set of hierarchical order.
The continuous development of ancient costumes not only represents the continuous updating of people's aesthetic and clothing technology, but also
When social concepts changed, people at that time would also change the style, color and ornamentation of clothing with the change of concepts.
The philosophical views prevalent during the Eastern Han and Western Han dynasties were different from those of the Han Dynasty
When the Taoists first advocated were transformed into Confucianism, the influence on the aesthetics of the popular costumes at that time was very direct.
Clothing directly changed from negative to positive
And under the influence of Confucianism, a hierarchical costume system was formed.
The origin of clothes
If the origin of clothing is traced back to ancient times, bone needles used to sew clothes were found in the ape-man cave about 18,000 years ago, so there are probably three theories about the origin of clothing.
Bone needles for sewing clothes
Dress in order to adapt to the natural climate
In the beginning, human ancestors did not have the concept of clothes, and at the end of the Paleolithic age, with the continuous improvement of production technology, people slowly learned to use external things for their own use in the struggle with the natural world.
Hence it
Clothes were created to effectively protect the body from cold storms and snow, while also resisting mosquito bites.
Dress to decorate yourself
Humans wear these clothes not to avoid the cold, but to
In order to decorate themselves, and the primitive people already had a sense of beauty
。
Scholars believe that in the primitive period people did not know how to dress, nor did they know how to use animal skins and primitive clothes to protect themselves, because in the primitive peoples there were not a few peoples who did not wear clothes, but there were very few peoples without ornaments, and in their research they found:
Young children tend to be more interested in ornaments, and shame is only under the influence of adult ideas.
Cave dwelling diagram of primitive people
This innate concept may be the view of people at that time, so this part of the scholars believes that people dressed at that time to decorate themselves, that is, to love beauty.
Dress because after the intellect is developed, there is shame
With the slow development of time, human intelligence was continuously developed, gradually understood etiquette, knew what shame was, and then invented clothing for covering the body, and
Looking at the formation of human clothing, it is often developed from the lower body upwards
First, the lower body is surrounded by leaves or animal skins, and the clothes and robes of the upper body are slowly developed.
The two stages of Han Dynasty costumes
In the early Han Dynasty, it was a negative attitude towards clothing
The development of costumes during the Han Dynasty was divided into two parts, at the very beginning
Inherited the legacy of the pre-Qin
Because the existence of the Qin Dynasty was too short, it was overthrown when its own clothing style was not fully formed.
As a result, in the early 70 years of the han dynasty, the people and even the emperor's civil and military officials still had the characteristics of the costumes of the Qin Dynasty and even the Warring States period, and finally presented the aesthetic style of the costume culture of the Warring States and the Qin Dynasty in the early Han Dynasty.
Qin Dynasty costumes
Because, at this time, the Han Dynasty had just been established, and the society, economy and culture had not developed, and the costume culture naturally did not have the characteristics of the Han Dynasty.
In the previous generations of kings in the Han Dynasty, they were all recuperating soldiers and raising the people, and what they advocated was Taoist thought.
Advocating "rule by doing nothing"
Because the rulers have adopted the "rule of inaction" in governing the country, it is said that it is
People's clothing will not have too many requirements, let nature go
，
Or the old system of the Qin Dynasty is still used, and regardless of whether it is honored or inferior, it is a black dress
During this period, even if some courtiers proposed to make changes to the calendar and the system of dress, after all, it is now a new dynasty, and it is impossible to say that the system of the old dynasty is always followed, but these proposals are not adopted by the rulers.
Lao Tzu's thoughts tend to be natural, conform to nature, and at the same time, he is also
They do not advocate that people's clothing is too gorgeous, thus losing their true self, what they pursue is spiritual freedom, and they are not burdened by the gorgeous things in the outside world.
father
at
From a certain point of view, Taoist thought has a relatively negative attitude towards the development of clothing
Under the influence of this concept, it is understandable that the style of the Han Dynasty in this period still follows the previous dynasty more than the innovation.
After the change of governing ideology, the aesthetics of clothing changed accordingly
However, after 70 years of recuperation, the national strength of the Han Dynasty was restored and became more and more powerful, and by the time of the Han Wu Emperor Liu Che, the Taoist doctrine of "ruling by doing nothing" was not very applicable to the current Han Dynasty, so it was proposed
"Deposing the Hundred Schools of Confucianism"
, will improve the status of Confucianism, and this view as a governing ideology.
"Book of Han and Wudi Chronicle": "Summer may, the main calendar, with the first month as the first year, yellow in color, five in numbers, official names, consonant rhythms."
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also prescribed the color of the costume,
Colors are used to show the supremacy and authority of the king's power, but this is only in the initial stage of Confucianism.
After the fall of the Western Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty was established, and after the Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu systematically studied Confucianism,
Understanding that Confucianism plays an important role in consolidating political power, Confucianism became the mainstream of thought in the Eastern Han Dynasty
With the emperor's vigorous promotion, the number of Confucian ministers was also increasing, and these ideas were used in the development of the country, making the people living and working in peace and contentment, and also forming a different social and cultural atmosphere compared with the Western Han Dynasty.
Confucius
Under Confucianism, a system of costumes was formed
Costumes began to differentiate between grades
Because Confucianism is respected
"Etiquette, Pleasure, Benevolence, Righteousness"
to maintain the orderly order of the hierarchy of kings and subjects in society,
Clothing became an important external tool that most easily demonstrated the etiquette of the hierarchy.
And, in turn, the other way around
The social ethical norms embodied in clothing can also edify and restrain people's disposition, and become an important ruling tool for rulers, which is also established
So the emperor formulated a series of uniform systems about clothing.
This is very different from the negative attitude towards clothing in the early Han Dynasty, and in the Eastern Han Dynasty, people's criteria for judging the beauty of clothing were to conform to etiquette, which is roughly what it means
Wearing the right clothes on the right occasion and at the right time is the etiquette of dressing
finish.
And during the Ming Dynasty of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the car clothing system was promulgated, and the clothing system and the wearing of crowns also had extremely detailed standards, only
There are as many as 20 kinds of crowns, which also have the same role as clothing, becoming one of the symbols of distinguishing ranks.
The fusion of Confucianism and Taoism was widely popular in the Han Dynasty
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, people's costumes are implemented in the upper body and lower body without connection, differentiated clothing forms, until the Warring States Period there is a clothing style that is connected up and down - deep clothes, the entire robe is linear, the shape is square and regular, more close to the quaint, concise, simple aesthetics,
The shape of the deep coat is simple, and there is no cumbersome decoration and cutting, which is in line with the taoist natural simplicity and natural thinking.
Although shenyi originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it is still the Han Dynasty period that can be called a popular period, and the Confucian and Taoist families as the ruling ideology of the Han Dynasty greatly affected the life and cultural development of the people of the Han Dynasty
The deep coat is both simple and regular in shape, which is very much in line with the typical characteristics of Confucian thought.
This became the cultural pillar of the simple and natural beauty of Han Dynasty costumes.
Han Dynasty women's deep clothes
The Confucian idea of "beauty and goodness" is also reflected in deep clothing, which has become the internal culture in the style of Han Dynasty clothing.
The Han Dynasty costumes influenced each other in the doctrines of Confucianism and Taoism, showing the beauty of "neutralization"
With the continuous development of manufacturing technology in the Han Dynasty and the progress of silk weaving technology, the varieties and colors of silk fabrics are becoming more and more diverse, and the color alone has exceeded 10 kinds, and the silk color also highlights the aesthetic appeal of simplicity and natural beauty.
Most of the silk fabrics of the Han Dynasty have a very distinctive feature, that is, they are used
A large area of plain color is laid, and then embellished with brightly colored decorations, and the color of the costume and the color pattern of the figure form a sharp contrast
moreover
The white space between the plain color base and the pattern shows the beauty of the unity and coordination of the Han Dynasty costumes, and the base color is matched with a gorgeous pattern, showing a "neutral" aesthetic, calm atmosphere.
Moreover, the beauty of harmonious "neutralization" is the highest aesthetic standard in this period, and being good at using exquisite large-area robes will be matched with relatively simple thick-edged patterns, and this rough and exquisite collocation characteristics have become the pillars of aesthetic culture.
The costumes of the Han Dynasty also influenced each other in the Confucian and Taoist schools, showing the consistent beauty of internal and external harmony.
epilogue
In general, the Han Dynasty clothing, whether from the shape to the texture, color to pattern, etc., was very profoundly influenced by the philosophical values advocated by the society at that time, and at the same time, it was also reflected on the other hand
The han dynasty philosophy of the unity of heaven and man and the grasp of the nature of heaven, earth, and man are quite profound.
In terms of Han Dynasty costume styling, people use it as a model
The pursuit of "neutral" beauty as the core and ultimate goal
, at the same time
The aesthetic ideas formed during this period of the Han Dynasty also became the core of Chinese aesthetics, feeling the essence of art from people's hearts and sex, and pursuing the dual liberation of spirit and heart
And the Eastern Han Dynasty historian Ban Gu proposed about clothes
"Invisible Self-Obstruction"
It is also a deeper influence on the clothing culture of the Han Dynasty, mainly emphasizing the ethical role of clothing, that is
The idea of wrapping the body in secrecy and not revealing the skeleton is also running through the history of Chinese clothing.
The field norms and hierarchical norms reflected in the costume culture are also an external extension of the development of philosophical thought in the same period, which makes the Han Dynasty costumes eventually form a complete set of Confucian costume systems, which also have a significant impact on subsequent dynasties.
Reference: Book of Han, Chronicle of Emperor Wu
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