Pharaoh
Pharaoh
1. The predecessor of the cloak: the jacket
Regarding the predecessor of the cloaks of the Ming Dynasty, Zhou Xibao believed that it was a popular jacket in the Song Dynasty according to the "Sancai Tuhui", which was widely recognized by the academic community.
From the documentary records to the ancient paintings to the archaeological objects, it is shown that the two are very similar in shape, both are straight collars and plackets, with slits on both sides of the crotch, only the sleeve shape, the length of the shirt and the chest are different from whether there are buttons, and both belong to the outer clothes.
Attached throughout, it slips over underwear and covers the underskirt. Therefore, people often see the cloak as a continuation of the jacket in later generations.
Second, the source of the gown, the source of the women's gown
The origin of the cloak in the Ming Dynasty is said to be derived from the "half-arm" of the Tang Dynasty, which is a kind of decorative blouse worn in addition to underwear, and is called "half-arm" because the sleeves are not more than the elbows.
From the image data, it can be seen that the half-arm of the Tang Dynasty is mainly divided into the half-arm of the can-collar and the half-arm of the placket, among which the half-arm of the placket and the jacket of the Song Dynasty both have the characteristics of straight collar and placket.
It's just that the latter has longer sleeves and a longer length of the shirt, and there should be a reference between the two. "Shilin Yanyu" volume ten years: "The back, the half arm, the samurai uniform, how to take the courtesy?"
"History of Painting" also contains: "Recently, the half-arm military uniform is called the back of those who do not wear it, and it is considered a heavy courtesy, and it is rude if there is none." ”
The above materials all mention that the gown (the "gown" here is not divided into men and women) is a kind of clothing style formed by the military half-arm, and it can be seen that the military half-arm is the placket half-arm of the anterior abdominal tie (the tan-collar half-arm is not tied).
From this literature, it can be proved that the characteristics of the women's gown straight collar placket come from the military half-arm, but the open arms are not tied.
Regarding the original use of the gown, it is recorded in the "Zhuzi Language": "The clothes of the concubine are called 'backs' because they are straight to the back of the main mother." Later, Xi passed on to each other, so they distinguished the noble and lowly clothes for men and women. ”
At first, it was used as a costume for the maidservants, but because the maidservants generally stood behind the housemaid, they were called "gowns".
Because of the slit and the ease of walking, it was later adopted by the nobles and gradually became a regular dress, and then became the most representative women's clothing in the Song Dynasty.
3. The shape and classification of the gown
The shape of the gown is a straight collar placket, with slits under the armpits, and the edges of the collar and sleeves are made of stiff fabric and embroidered with ornaments.
It was worn without buttons, similar to today's cardigan clothing. So is a women's blouse with the above characteristics called a "gown"? According to some scholars, the answer to this question is yes.
For example, Zhang Ran in the article "Research and Design Innovation of the Shape Characteristics of Women's Backs in the Southern Song Dynasty" classified the Song Dynasty costumes with straight collars and plackets and open crotches under the armpits as gowns, and divided them into "wide-sleeved gowns" and "narrow-sleeved gowns" according to the width of the sleeves.
In addition, this standard was used to classify the Song Dynasty shirts unearthed from the tomb of Huangsheng in Fuzhou and the tomb of Zhou in De'an, Jiangxi.
Hong Zhaozhi also divided the Song Dynasty costumes with straight collars and open crotches according to the sleeve type in "Research on Han Women's Clothing Jackets in the Song Dynasty of China" into "narrow sleeve skirts", "middle sleeve skirts" and "large sleeve jackets".
The author believes that this classification method is inappropriate because these scholars ignore the existence of a classic type of women's clothing "big sleeve" in the Tang and Song dynasties.
The big sleeves originated from the Tang Dynasty skirt and big sleeve dress, and after the Anshi Rebellion, the whole society's rejection of Hufu became increasingly serious.
In this context, the status of traditional Han clothing has been re-emphasized, and the large-sleeved robes that reflect the serious, gorgeous and elegant demeanor have been further developed, which once prevailed in the late Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and even the Two Song Dynasty, and can still be seen in the women's clothing of the Ming Dynasty.
Because its shape is a straight collar placket and the length of the dress is over the knee, it is very similar to the long gown (over-the-knee gown), so some researchers tend to simply classify it as a gown.
But in fact, from the descriptions of various documents in the Song Dynasty, it can be seen that the people of the time regarded "big sleeves" and "jackets" as two types of women's clothing.
"History of the Song Dynasty and Yufu Zhi III" contains the official regulations on the dress of concubines in the seventh year of the Southern Song Dynasty: "Their clothes, only the clothes are prepared and the dress is prepared, and the concubines are prepared for Zhai, and the third class is prepared."
Its regular clothes, concubine big sleeves, color collar, long skirt, xia veil, jade pendant. The back and color collar are all made of Jangla. ”
In addition, it is recorded in the "Miscellaneous Records of the Court and the Opposition since the Establishment of Yan" that the common clothes of the middle palace include true red Luo big sleeves, true red Luo long skirts, true red Luo Xia curtains, true red Luo backs, yellow gauze or pink gauze shirts, cooked white gauze crotch pants, white silk shirts and so on.
It can be seen that the big sleeves and the gown were two different types of concubine regular clothes in the Song Dynasty, although the shape of the two is very similar, but after all, they are different, and the key to distinguishing the two is the sleeve type.
As a new product of the Song Dynasty, the jacket absorbed the narrow characteristics of the clothes of the northern nomads, and paid attention to showing the slender beauty of the woman's body, so the narrow sleeves are actually one of its indispensable and important features.
The ladies admiring the moon in "Yaotai Walking the Moon" and the singers in "Gele Tu" are all wearing narrow sleeves and looking very slender and slender.
And big sleeves have appeared in the Tang Dynasty, like the five ladies in the late Tang Dynasty "Hairpin Lady" wore big sleeves, the clothes were loose and elegant, and the cuffs were wide.
It conforms to the aesthetic characteristics of the Han culture's admired clothing and wide sleeves, which is also a significant difference between it and the aesthetic style of the jacket.
The five wide-sleeved robes unearthed from the tomb of Huangsheng in the Southern Song Dynasty in Fuzhou and the two wide-sleeved robes unearthed from the tomb of the Zhou family in De'an, Jiangxi Province, have wide cuffs and are all sagging in the shape of cloth bags, which obviously show the characteristics of overall looseness and loose cuffs, so they should be classified as large sleeves.
It is not a subclass like the two scholars Zhang and Hong mentioned above. In addition, as one of the indispensable features of the shape of the gown, can the slits on both sides be used as one of the criteria to distinguish the gown from the large sleeves?
The author's answer is: no. Judging from the image, the two sides of the big sleeves in the Tang Dynasty are not split, see Zhou Fang's "Hairpin Lady", and the big sleeves he wears are not slit on both sides.
In the brick carving painting of Feng Hui's tomb in the Five Dynasties, the big sleeves worn by the female Lingle are slightly split at the ends of both sides, but there are also non-forked.
In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the "Song Xuanzu Recital Portrait Scroll" wore the large sleeves worn by the Queen Mother with slits on both sides, but because the big sleeves of the figure covered the crotch, the height of the slits could not be seen (see Figure 4).
The large sleeves unearthed from the tomb of Huangsheng in the Southern Song Dynasty and the tomb of De'an Zhou, the slits on both sides of them are not far from the armpits.
From the above phenomenon, we can speculate that the slits on both sides of the big sleeves from the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty are a process from scratch and the degree of split ends from small to large, which is likely to be related to people's further desire for convenience in action.
Although the two sides slits are a necessary shape feature of the pants, they are not its unique shape features, and the large sleeves also have two sides slits in some periods, so whether the sides are slit or not cannot be used as a criterion to distinguish between the two.
Fourth, the applicable group of gowns
The popularity of the gown among women in the Song Dynasty was amazing, and it was described as "all women are dressed" and was prescribed as a system.
From the lord of the middle palace, the noble princess, down to the singer of the Qinglou, and the matchmaker in the market, the gowns are their common clothes.
"History of the Song Dynasty and Yufu Zhi III" stipulates that the concubine's regular clothes include "the back and the colored collar are all made of Jiangluo, and the cover is no different from that of the subordinates", and the women's gown is included in the list of crown clothes as regular clothes.
Chunxizhong, "Zhu Xi also set the clothes of sacrifice and crowning marriage...... The women wore wigs, coats, and long skirts. The woman in the room has a crown and a back. The concubines wore wigs and backs. ”
Unmarried women and concubines are required to wear gowns during ceremonies, weddings, etc.
The record of the matchmaker wearing a gown can be found in "Tokyo Menghualu": "There are several matchmakers, the top ones wear hijabs, purple backs, and say that the official palace is gracious. Medium wearing a crown, a yellow bun on the back, or only a skirt, and a green umbrella, all go together. ”
It can be seen that the popularity of gowns is not divided into groups of people and classes, and it is suitable for all ages. However, one of the important functions of clothing in ancient times was to distinguish classes and highlight status.
Then you need to indicate the status level on the pattern decoration and the matching headwear. Based on Song dynasty documents, paintings and murals, it is clearer that the accessories of the gowns differed according to social class.
In the second volume of Zhou Mi's "Old Martial Arts", it is mentioned: "Watching the princess's room in the west corridor of the apse: ...... Pearl coat, back, pearl emerald collar, four season clothes. ”
The gown is also essential in the princess's wardrobe, and it is decorated with pearls to show dignity.
In the Song Dynasty, pearls were popular among upper-class women as a form of high-class jewelry, and noble women often liked to wear pearls on their clothes or as headwear.
In the Southern Song Dynasty's "Banana Shade Batting Picture", the aristocratic woman standing in front of the table wears a red-edged pale green gown, a small flower crown on her head, and a bead chain made of pearls in front of the crown and temples.
In addition, "Mr. Jinan's Conversation with Teachers and Friends" records that "the banquet is forbidden, and there are only five people in the imperial banquet...... The concubine and the middle palace are both west-facing, and Baoci and Changle are both white-horned group crowns...... Clothes with yellow backs, no flash.
The concubine and the middle palace are all carved with gold cloud moon crown, and the front and back are also white jade dragon hairpins, and decorated with northern pearls, the beads are very large, and the clothes are red back, all decorated with beads. ”
It can be seen that women of higher rank wear gowns and gorgeous headdresses, with pearl hairpins, pearls, and hair crowns.
For example, the three women chatting at the door of Zhao Taicheng's house in the Southern Song Dynasty's "Miscellaneous Drama - Flower Drum Drawing" and "Qingming Riverside Picture" show the image of middle- and lower-class women wearing gowns.
They wear scarves or ties around their heads, and they wear flowers on their temples, which are simple and simple to meet the needs of daily life.
In addition, according to different lengths, the gowns can be divided into knee-length or knee-high short gowns and knee-length knee-length gowns that are knee-length or knee-length to meet the needs of different people.
The short gowns are short and simple, easy to wear, and are mostly worn by working women or active children.
The long gown is slender and dignified, which can better modify the figure, and is favored by upper-class women or servants and Qinglou women.