The traditional costume of the Han people began with the Yellow Emperor and was defined in the Zhou Dynasty. Chinese royal dress has a long and intricate history, dating back to the Xia Dynasty more than 4,000 years ago. The elaborate costumes served as a way to showcase the power and status of Chinese royals, with each successive dynasty developing their own unique styles. Today, Chinese royal dress is still considered some of the most elegant attire in the world. Whether you’re interested in fashion or Chinese culture, you won’t want to miss seeing these stunning pieces up close.
The following is about the traditional clothing and traditional Chinese fashion of the upper class in ancient times. And also attached some images of Chinese traditional clothing for your reference.
The History of Chinese Royal Dress
For centuries, Chinese emperors and their consorts have worn elaborate clothing as a symbol of their power and status. Imperial clothing was often brightly colored and heavily ornamented, and it was strictly regulated by sumptuary laws. In addition to court garments, rulers also had a ceremonial outfit known as the dragon robe, which was reserved for special occasions like coronations and weddings. The dragon robe was made of silk, and it featured a series of embroidered dragons that represented the emperor’s power over the natural world. From the Xia Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, members of the royal family wore different costumes. Today, royal dress is no longer worn in China, but preserved examples can still be seen in museums and art galleries around the world.
Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty
In the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties before the establishment of the Qin and Han unified empires, there were no strict and uniform regulations for the clothing on the color of the king, empress, queen, prince and princess, but the emperor during the Ji and Zhou dynasties usually wore green robes, and the vassal kings did the same.
Qin Dynasty and Han Dynasty
During the Qin Dynasty, there were rules of etiquette, the use of clothing color in different occasions is based on the different occasions to dress. Among the common people who had no status and the royal nobility, the color of dress was even more strict and distinct. White and plain clothes were generally found mostly among the people. In the Qin Dynasty, the reason why the Qin Emperor used black as the main color of the royal clothing was that he was deeply fascinated by the study of the five elements. Qin Shi Huang combined the five elements doctrine that water in the north, the color black, and thus the Qin Dynasty to black as the honor.
Most of the Han Dynasty’s crown and costume system was inherited from the Qin system. The Han emperor’s costume was mainly black, with the symbol of the dragon embroidered on the surface, representing that the emperor was the son of heaven, the son of the dragon. There is also the emperor’s crown, the crown is part of the costume, the crown covers the hair bun, each side has a tassel under the jaw cross knot stay cap, the crown top sticks out a curved thing, the emperor’s crown will be a flowing column hanging in the front and back.
During the Qin and Han dynasties, the imperial family and nobility wore long robes with voluminous sleeves. The fabric was often embroidered with gold or silver thread, and the colors were strictly regulated according to rank. Ordinary people were not allowed to wear brightly colored clothes, and had to make do with more humble materials such as hemp or wool. However, even the simplest clothes were made with care and attention to detail. Ancient Chinese clothing reflected the high level of craftsmanship of the time, as well as the rigid social hierarchy.
Wei Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, Southern and Northern Dynasty
After the establishment of the Western Jin Dynasty, the red color was confirmed as the main color of the imperial family, but the duration should not be long, throughout the Wei Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, the emperors did not have special provisions for the color of the robes they wore.
Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty
By the Sui Dynasty, Sui Wendi Yang Jian and his father liked to wear apricot yellow and cudgel yellow robes, they also used this as the main color of the royal family, but did not specify that this color can only be used by the royal family. And after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Gaozu Li Yuan issued the first ban on the use of red, yellow ban in history, from then on yellow became the first time the exclusive color of the royal family. But the tang dynasty when this ban is not strictly enforced, the early tang time or taboo yellow clothes to the late tang on the folk commonplace, and at this time li tang royal family has long been authority sweep, also have no interest in caring about these illegal actions, and zhao kuangyin usurped the week and built the song dynasty, also continue to use the tang ban on yellow, but the song dynasty emperor’s robes according to the occasion have different changes, yellow robe is just the emperor dress in one kind.
The emperors of the Tang Dynasty had a wide variety of costumes. There were as many as twelve types, including the coronet of the great fur, the coronet of gun, the coronet of phasian, the coronet of cui, the embroidered coronet, and the coronet of tongtian. In the later practice, the emperor’s clothing was simplified, and finally, the Tang Dynasty mainly kept the crown of gun. The clothes of the Tang emperors were mainly black and yellow, and were decorated with twelve chapters, such as the sun, the moon, the dragon and the tiger. The purpose of the coronets in the Tang Dynasty was to restrict the emperor’s movements and to maintain a certain solemnity from his posture. In addition to the coronation, the Tang emperor also had regular clothes. The regular clothes were the usual clothes worn by the emperor. According to the relevant documents, the emperor’s regular clothes were red and yellow in color, wearing a folded turban, a nine-ring belt and six-heeled boots. This kind of costume was a kind of military costume in the time of Wei, Jin and North and South Dynasties. The military uniform was the clothing of the army, suitable for wearing in battle. Because it was easy to wear, this costume became the emperor’s regular clothes from the time of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty. The regular uniform was the most common kind of imperial clothes worn by the emperor. In general, the emperor wore this uniform to receive officials at court, not to mention his daily life. Generally, the emperor would take off his regular clothes and put on his coronation clothes only on special formal occasions.
Song Dynasty
Clothing during the Song dynasty was incredibly diverse and rich in style, with different attires befitting different occasions and ranks. Song dynasty officials’ system basically followed the previous Dynasty, so the official clothes in the palace is also similar to the previous generation, divided into court dress, sacrificial dress, public dress, military dress, funeral dress and time dress. The public uniform, also known as the provincial uniform, with the main form of curved collar and large sleeves and leather belt around the waist, and there are also narrow-sleeved styles. This kind of uniform is distinguished by the use of color. Commoners, on the other hand, would typically wear more subdued colours and simple designs, such white cloth robe.
The Song dynasty had a tradition of frugality and shared rule between rulers and ministers, and in this tradition, the Song emperors made their dragon robes and crowns plainer, so much so that they were considered by later generations to be not much different from official uniforms.
Yuan Dynasty
Most of the dynasties in Chinese history were founded by Han Chinese, and very few were founded by ethnic minorities. Two famous dynasties founded by ethnic minorities are the Yuan Dynasty (founded by the Mongols) and the Qing Dynasty (founded by the Manchus). The predecessor of the Yuan Dynasty was the Mongolian state founded by Genghis Khan, followed by the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty by Kublai, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty.
The Yuan Dynasty was an era of multi-ethnic integration in Chinese history, with the Mongols as the main ethnic group. From the characteristics of the clothing, we can find that the Mongols and the Han Chinese were clothed in one system, with differences in hairstyles. Yuan dynasty clothes mainly for Jisun, is a shorter robe, and narrow and tight, the waist exists a lot of folds, officials are for the robe, Yuan dynasty noble women’s clothing and wide and large, when walking need two maidservants in the back to pull the corner of the robe, general civilian women are black robe, in general have national characteristics.
As recorded history, Yuan dynasty monarchs in costume with the Han people have obvious differences, with Mongolian characteristics, and not like the Han regime monarchs wear bright yellow dragon robe to symbolize their identity. Yuan dynasty monarchs dress in a variety of colors, flower color regiment are different, the overall is also like the Central Plains-style wide robe with large sleeves, the color is scarlet, embroidered with five-clawed gun dragon with stars, sun, moon, fire. Mountains, tigers and other graphic patterns as decoration, the waist with red and white Luo silk sewn into a long belt as a belt.
Ming and Qing Dynasties
Ming Dynasty
The official dress of the Ming Dynasty belonged to the traditional Han dress system. After the Mongolian rule in the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty restored the Han traditions and the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang reformulated the dress system. The Ming official costume was the highest level of material and technology at that time, and it inherited the tradition of Tang and Song official costume system in terms of system, and the guiding ideology was more conservative. However, the production was more exquisite, and the overall coordination was more harmonious and unified.
After the Mongolian rule in the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty restored the Han tradition and the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang reformulated the costume system. The Ming official costume was the highest level of material and technology at that time. In terms of system, it inherited the tradition of Tang and Song official costume system, and the guiding ideology was relatively conservative. However, it was more beautifully made and the overall coordination was more harmonious and unified.
The Ming emperor’s costumes were court dress, imperial dress, coronation dress, regular dress, daoist robe, green dress, Tongtian crown dress, leather bent dress, military bent dress, swallow bent dress, trailing saber, cover armor.
Qing Dynasty
The Manchu rulers of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) considered themselves the legitimate successors of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), and they therefore maintained many of the traditions and customs associated with the Ming court. But Manchu changed the Han clothing styles, such as wide sagging robes, pointed shoes, etc., replaced by such as boots, pants and versatile nomadic horsemen’s riding clothes. The emperor’s hats were also different from those of previous dynasties.
Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing dynasty was the first emperor to wear royal dress motivated by Manchu traditions. And the Qing dynasty was the last feudal imperial dynasty of China.
In the Qing Dynasty, emperors, queens, members of the royal family and ministers of civil and military affairs wore clothes on various occasions by recorded history, mainly including formal dress, auspicious dress, regular dress, walking dress, rain dress, casual dress and so on.
How to dress like a Chinese Royal
In ancient China, the emperor and his consort were considered to be representatives of the gods on earth, the emperor and his family were the only people allowed to wear certain colors and fabrics. As such, they needed to dress in a way that would reflect their divine status. Clothing for the emperor was ornate and heavily embellished, with bright colors and lavish patterns. The consort’s wardrobe was similarly opulent, although her clothing tended to be more subdued in color and style. In addition to their elaborate outfits, both the emperor and consort wore a variety of jewelry (for example, necklace), including jade pendants and pearl-encrusted headdresses.
To dress like a royal (you don’t have to live in the Forbidden City), you’ll need to find clothing in shades of red, yellow, green, and purple. The most expensive fabric was silk, so try to find garments made from this material. You can also look for clothing with intricate embroidery or delicate beading. By dressing like a Chinese royal, you can create an outfit that is both elegant and regal.
The different types of dress worn by Chinese Royals
The different types of dress worn by Chinese Royals throughout history provide a fascinating glimpse into the country’s culture and traditions. Robes were the most common type of clothing worn by royalty, and they were often brightly coloured and decorated with intricate patterns. In addition to robes, Chinese Royals also wore headdresses, which were made from a variety of materials including jade, feathers, and cloth. The headdresses were often very elaborate and served as a symbol of status and power. Chinese Royals also wore jewelry, which was often made from precious metals and stones. The jewelry was not only beautiful but also served as a way to show wealth and power. Different dynasties had different royal costumes. Rulers of different nationalities, pretend to be different. The costumes of the dynasties ruled by the Han people all enjoyed similar basic forms. And, most of the clothes in ancient China were loose and covered the male body and female body, making the lines of the body less obvious. The different types of dress worn by Chinese Royals offer a fascinating insight into the country’s rich history and culture.
Accessories worn with Chinese Royal Dress
The Chinese have a long and rich history of royal dress, dating back thousands of years. While the style of dress has changed over time, some elements have remained constant, such as the use of accessories. Common accessories worn with Chinese royal dress include Jade pendants, embroidered shoes, and belts with metal ornaments. Jade is seen as a symbol of beauty, purity, and power, making it an ideal accessory for royalty. Embroidered shoes were also commonly worn by members of the royal court, as they indicated wealth and status. Belts with metal ornaments were often used to secure robes and other garments, and they also served as a decorative element. By understanding the significance of these accessories, we can gain insights into the importance of dress in Chinese culture.
The Importance of Dressing Like a Chinese Royal
In ancient China, clothes were not only used to keep people warm or to provide protection from the elements. They also served as an important marker of social status. The ruling emperor and his family occupied the highest rung on the social ladder, and their clothes reflected their elevated position. Royal garments were often made of luxurious materials like silk and adorned with intricate embellishments. Ordinary people, on the other hand, were only allowed to wear plain, undecorated clothing. As a result, clothes became an important way of distinguishing between different social classes. In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in traditional Chinese clothing, particularly among young people. By dressing like a Chinese royal, people are able to tap into a rich history and culture that is often overlooked in the modern world.
The Significance of Royal Dress in Chinese Culture
Royal dress in Chinese culture is significant for several reasons. First, it is a visible representation of the wearer’s status. In a society that values hierarchy and order, royal dress conveys one’s position in the social hierarchy. Second, royal dress is an expression of power. The rich colors and elaborate designs of royal dress communicate the power and wealth of the wearer. Finally, royal dress is a symbol of tradition. The long history of Chinese royalty is reflected in the traditional designs and fabrics of royal dress. Royal dress is significant not only to those who wear it, but also to Chinese culture as a whole.
The Chinese Royal Dress is an exquisite piece of art that has been passed down through the ages. It is a stunning representation of Chinese culture and history. It is the wisdom of the Chinese people. If you are interested in Chinese dressing style, traditional Chinese clothing and Chinese fashion, welcome to read the other articles in our website. You also can find more informal clothing and formal clothing info (Pinterest log) of Chinese elements in our account (odressy) on free Pinterest app. If you have some fashionable ideas, also welcome to contact us.