This year's Henan Spring Festival Gala, with the playful and cute little sisters who "jumped out" from the Chinese paintings, brought the classical dance "Tang Palace Night Banquet", let the Chinese people once again appreciate the beauty of traditional Chinese costumes, and the "Chinese style" was blown up on the screen. The ancients had clouds: China had the beauty of the clothing chapter, called hua; there was a great ceremony, so it was called xia. It can be seen that the name of the Chinese nation also has a deep relationship with this gorgeous dress.
While realizing practical functions such as "sheltering from cold and heat, withstanding wind and rain, covering the body, and covering shame", clothing, as an important carrier of ancient culture, also has the cultural function of "distinguishing between respect and inferiority, not being noble and lowly, and distinguishing relatives and relatives".
The "Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Costume Culture", which is currently being exhibited at the National Museum of China, displays nearly 130 pieces (sets) of cultural relics in the order of historical evolution, covering jade, bone, ceramic figurines, clothing, gold and silver accessories and calligraphy and painting works, systematically presenting the development context and cultural connotation of ancient Chinese costumes, and also outlining the endless life of the Chinese nation.
In the late Paleolithic period, the ancestors began to pay attention to dressing and wearing ornaments, and the concept of clothing appeared, and the Chinese costume culture began.
After the evolution of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, clothing gradually became an important symbol of hierarchical differentiation, which continued until the Spring and Autumn Period, when the nobles wore a uniform with no upper and lower bodies connected, called "clothes". In the Spring and Autumn Period and the turn of the Warring States, a new type of clothing that connects the top and the bottom of the jacket together appeared, called "deep clothing". This kind of clothing "can be a literary, can be a martial, can be a face, can govern the army, and is finished and Ferfu, and the second time of good clothes is also." Due to the wide popularity of deep clothing, traces of deep clothing can be found in the remains of Zhou, Qin, Qi, Wei and Zhongshan. In 1949, on the Warring States Period "Figure Dragon and Phoenix Diagram" and "Character Royal Dragon Painting" excavated from the Chen Family Dashan Chu Tomb in Changsha, it can be clearly seen that people were wearing deep clothes at that time. Regardless of gender, the common feature of this clothing style is that it has a curved sleeve that hugs backwards, that is, the hem is extremely flattering, and there is a large piece dragged behind the back, which looks elegant and luxurious. This style is actually to solve the problem of the top and bottom of the genus. From the source, the Chu people of the southern region wore deep clothes not their own invention, but actually imitated the northern countries. But as far as the Western Han Dynasty, the Chu wind spread throughout the country.
In the exhibition hall, a group of jade pendants from the Warring States period excavated from Luoyang, Henan Province, show the customs of the ancients to wear jade. "Li Ji YuZao" Yun: "The ancient gentleman will wear jade". At that time, people's typical costumes were tunics and bottoms, with the front of the waist tied to the city (pronounced "Fu"), and the jade pendant was an ornament hanging on the city. The group of jade pendants shows its aristocratic status, the higher the status, the longer and more complex the group jade pendants, and vice versa.
Warring States Group Jade Pendant
In the Period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the peoples of the Southern Steppe and the people of the Central Plains gradually merged, which promoted great changes in clothing and formed a Sui and Tang dynasty uniform system that was very different from that of the Han and Wei dynasties. The image of Cao Zhi, the king of Chen Si, and his attendants in the volume of Gu Kaizhi's "Luoshen Futu" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty can be seen, and the characters wear high crowns and shoes with upturned heads on their feet. In fact, this reflects the results of the sinicization policy implemented during the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of northern Wei. After his thorough reform, the Northern Wei costume system has already possessed the etiquette of Huaxia.
In the Sui and Tang dynasties, the north and south were unified, and the costume changed from a single system in the Han and Wei dynasties to a composite system of two sources, Huaxia and Xianbei, from a single-track system to a dual-track system. The two costume systems complement each other, forming an overall appearance of dress from the court down to the people. This can be seen in the famous "Bu YuanTu" by Yan Liben, an outstanding painter in the early years of the Tang Dynasty: a red-robed Tang Dynasty ceremonial official was in front, the Tubo envoy was behind, and the interpreter followed. It can be seen from this that the difference in dress between Datang officials and ethnic minority upper-class personnel can be seen.
Cities such as Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty were inhabited by a large number of foreigners, and the costumes absorbed the characteristics of Hufu, the styles were more novel, and the colors and patterns became more beautiful and rich. A group of Tang Shi color figurines in the exhibition hall reproduces this trait.
(Tang) Wearing a crown of three colored figurines
From the end of the Tang Dynasty to the fifth dynasty, although the country once again faced off from the north to the south, the costume system continued. In the Southern Tang court painter Gu Hongzhong's "Han Xizai's Night Feast", it can be seen that officials of different levels wear Tang-style heads, round neck robes, and phi boots. The owner, Han Xizai, is dressed in casual clothes, wearing a high-wearing scarf and a cross-collared civilian suit, which blends in with the maids wearing tuanhua robes, hand-held official fans, and the singers of the family. The style of the scarf worn by Han Xizai also appeared on the head of the Later Song People, although there were changes, the overall style remained the same.
Interestingly, when this "high-dressed scarf" was worn by literati with wide influence, it formed a fashion trend in a short period of time and became a typical Song Dynasty literati doctor outfit. Even because such a towel became part of Su Dongpo's unique outfit, it was also called "Dongpo towel" by the people of the time. In fact, as long as you look at the "Han Xizai Night Feast", you will understand that this is just a revival of the ancient style.
In the famous painting "Map of the Upper River of the Qingming Dynasty", the painter Zhang Zeduan wrote about the prosperity and crisis of the Northern Song Dynasty capital city of Tokyo. When we appreciate its ingenious composition and profound meaning, it is not difficult to find that the dress of the civic class at that time was so colorful and reflected the obvious differences in occupation. Citizens from all walks of life dress differently, making it impossible to see their social status. For example, the attire of the incense-wrapped person is "top hat and shawl"; the person in charge of the quality bank wears a soap shirt and a horn belt; the woman who pours soup for wine for the drinker must "tie a blue and white cloth hand towel around her waist and a dangerous bun", and so on.
One of the key cultural relics in this exhibition, "The Four Generals of Zhongxing", the famous generals Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, Liu Guangshi, Zhang Jun, and their entourage reflected the style of the military generals at that time. Four generals wrapped their heads in scarves and embroidered their waists in casual clothes, which is very common in the Khitan and Jurchen Hu riding painted in song and Yuan works, but rare in the common clothes of the Central Plains military generals. However, in this picture, the civilian clothes of the famous anti-Gold generals Yue Fei and Han Shizhong's generals are not much different from the Jin men's clothes. Although the reasons for their influence are not the same, either for political needs or from the perspective of life, it can be seen that in the last years of the Northern Song Dynasty and the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, ethnic integration was mostly based on practical requirements, even in the period when ethnic contradictions were very fierce. Interested friends, you can find the "Zhuo XieTu" comparison and viewing, this picture is handed down to the five generations of Khitan painters Hu Bao, reproducing the scene of the Jurchen nobles inviting the Southern Song Dynasty envoys to feast and watch dance during the hunting break.
(Song) "The Four Generals of ZTE"
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Han and Tang traditions were restored, inheriting the Tang and Song dynasties, round-necked robes, and jade belts, laying the basic style of the official uniforms of the Ming Dynasty, and formulating a clear and meticulous clothing system to distinguish the grades of officials by complements, patterns, wearing silk, clothing colors, and tooth plates. The 5 cultural relics of the Qiyang Wang family of the Ming Dynasty on display this time - "Portrait of Li Zhen of the Prince of Longxi Gongxian", "Portrait of Princess Cao Guochang of Filial Piety", "Portrait of Li You, Commander of the Jinyi Guard in Nanjing", "Statue of Li Yangong of the Marquis of Linhuai" and "Portrait of Lady Shi of the Marquis of Linhuai" are all first-class products collected by the National Museum, which have a high reputation in the field of ancient costume history research and are debuts. It is worth mentioning that due to the Ming Dynasty government's emphasis on agriculture and the promotion of cotton planting, cotton cloth has been popularized, and the clothing of ordinary people has also been improved.
(Ming) "Statue of Li Zhen, King Gong of Longxi"
In addition to the physical objects of ancient costumes, the exhibition hall also brings many line drawings, as well as 15 restored portraits of costumes from different eras. Historical evidence is given for everything from outerwear, underwear, shoes, crown belts, makeup, hairstyles, and fabrics and patterns. Walk through it, encounter history, and experience a "fashion show" that spans thousands of years.
From robes to crowns, to accessories, the evolution of various costumes in clothing has reflected the history of national integration for thousands of years, and it is also a portrayal of the mutual penetration of cultures and the joint promotion of the in-depth development of Chinese culture. They not only vividly reveal the history of clothing changes, but also tell the story of dynastic changes and cultural inheritance. Source: Beijing Daily