Speaking of the Tang Dynasty, everyone tacitly does not declare it as "Datang". There are Chinese residences abroad, and almost all of them have "Chinatowns". Even in the European Netherlands, the Indonesians, who were originally colonies controlled by the East India Company, became Dutch nationals, and the Dutch still called them "Tang people". The influence of the Tang Dynasty on the future generations of the world definitely overshadowed the successive dynasties. Of course, it is beyond the influence of China's Western Zhou and Han Dynasties. In addition to the economic prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, its cultural influence was the most powerful and lasting.
Tang Flower and bird brocade pattern pattern
Our food, clothing, shelter and transportation are all related to culture. Here we will focus on the clothing and clothing of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty is twelve hundred years away from us. If we intuitively feel the way the Tang people dress, the first thing that comes to mind is painting. Because painting is an empirical evidence, it can provide relatively reliable information about life. For example, the Tang Dynasty Zhanghuai Prince Tomb Maid Mural. Tang Dynasty Yongtai Princess Tomb Maid Mural. There are also paintings of aristocratic ladies in the middle and late Tang Dynasties, such as Zhou Fang's "Picture of a Lady with Hairpin Flowers" in the Tang Dynasty, which truly represents the beauty (sexiness) and boldness of "independence, freedom and openness" of costume art under the "Tang Dynasty weather".
Tang Zhanghuai Prince Tomb Mural Maid Costume Style
Tomb mural of Princess Tang Yongtai The maid is elegantly dressed and luxurious, and her dignity is extraordinary
Mr. Shen Congwen's cultural relics and archaeological work "Dragon and Phoenix Art" has a wonderful discussion of Tang Dynasty costumes. He said: The flower and bird pattern brocade (clothing fabric) of the Tang Dynasty reflects the cultural characteristics of this era, that is, healthy and full, vivid and gorgeous, full of youth! So, how can we verify Mr. Shen Congwen's evaluation?
Tang Zhou Fang Hairpin Flower HandmaidEn (full picture)
Lady of the Hairpin Flower (Partial)
At least we can refer to the Tang Dynasty paintings mentioned earlier, and take a closer look at the costumes of the noblewomen in the paintings. Secondly, another particularly critical archaeological evidence can also support Mr. Shen Congwen's arguments. For example, in 1987, one of the royal tributes of the Tang Dynasty was unearthed from the underground palace of Famen Temple: a gold wire "pomegranate skirt" that Wu Zetian once wore. Needless to say, it is, of course, an extremely bright silk "luxury" – and of course "healthy, full, vivid and gorgeous".
According to historical records, this pomegranate skirt, a favorite skirt style of young girls in the Tang Dynasty, is as red as pomegranate (Tang Dynasty fashion popular color). Women who wear it will look lively and beautiful, and their temperament is bright. However, when Wu Zetian was still an empress, the "pomegranate skirt" she wore was not an ordinary pomegranate skirt, but a pomegranate skirt with the scientific name of "jingjin embroidery", a light fabric, using the Aya pattern weaving gold brocade process (the highest level of craftsmanship in the Tang Dynasty), made of gold thread thinner than hair and silk thread, which was extremely exquisite. It is said that the Tang Dynasty silk fabrics were unearthed from the underground palace of Famen Temple, in addition to Wu Zetian's "pomegranate skirt", there are many other silk fabrics, a total of more than 700 pieces. Archaeologists pointed out that these precious silk relics basically include all the silk categories and silk weaving processes of the Tang Dynasty. It can be called the fabric of Tang Dynasty clothing, and it is an unprecedented archaeological discovery!
Tang Famen Temple underground palace unearthed gold embroidered pomegranate skirt (Empress Wu)
So far, careful readers will find that we talk about a lot of Tang Dynasty clothing fabrics, and there is not much discussion about Tang Dynasty clothing styles, which is basically limited to the Tang Dynasty royal family and the upper-class aristocratic clothing styles. However, the Tang dynasty royal family and nobles belonged to a minority population after all. Their daily clothing does have to pay attention to some rules, such as clothing styles are divided into two categories: dresses and regular clothes. At the same time, the Tang Dynasty people of other social classes were relatively loose and flexible in their clothing styles. In fact, the Tang Dynasty was a highly open dynasty, embracing trade from all over the world and its large number of foreign ethnic groups and populations. It is conceivable that the mandatory provision of a certain standard clothing template (style) is definitely not the style and temperament of the Tang Dynasty people. The clothing styles of the Tang Dynasty people fundamentally did not have a clothing style that occupied the absolute mainstream, and there was no so-called "unchanged" standard clothing style. Therefore, the so-called "Tang costume" of course does not exist. Even if there is the concept of "Tang costume" later, it is only the invention of future generations.
The "Zhou Li" advocated by the Western Zhou and Han Dynasties on the mainland gave a kind of virtue quality to the style of dress, the meaning and restriction of the level of etiquette, so it produced very detailed and clear norms and regulations. This is the historical source of the rigorous "Hanfu". The truly exquisite "Hanfu" must be designed in accordance with the rules and concepts of the narrow sense of "Zhou Li". This kind of clothing style is certainly not the preferences and preferences of consumers (customers) in modern commercial trading, as well as aesthetic tastes. The so-called new national tide "Hanfu" pursued by the young generation of Chinese people in business should belong to the latter kind.
Finally, personally understand the new national tide "Hanfu": commercial aesthetic meaning, greater than cultural conventions.