Types of Hanfu Headwear, Part 4: Hairpins
Sorry for the delay in this article! Life got pretty hectic for a while. You may have noticed that unlike the other articles in this mini-series, I didn’t use the Chinese term for ‘hairpin’ in the title. That’s because there’s no singular catch-all term for hairpin among all the Chinese languages and dialects; instead, hairpins are differentiated by their shape. Today, I’ll introduce the three main types of hairpins in hanfu, as well as some special ones worn throughout histo
Jul 233 min read
Types of Hanfu Headwear, Part 3: Mao (帽)
Welcome back to my mini-series on the types of hanfu headwear! Today I’ll be talking about the mao (帽), or hats. Just like mao is the word commonly used to refer to hats in the modern day, mao in Ancient China tend to resemble today’s hats with their brims. Below are some common types of mao throughout history: Damao (大帽) Like its name, which literally means ‘big hat’, the damao is a wide-brimmed hat with a high crown (the part that covers the head). It’s derived from the bol
Jun 42 min read
Types of Hanfu Headwear, Part 2: Jin (巾)
Next up on our crash course in headwear is the jin (巾)! An Introduction to the Jin Unlike the guan, which I talked about in my previous post on hanfu headwear, the jin is usually just a cloth that one can wrap around the head. It could be worn by men and women of all social classes, while the guan was restricted to the scholarly elite and formal rituals, except on special occasions. Finally, the jin is typically associated with commoners, laborers, and even military personnel
May 213 min read
Types of Hanfu Headwear: Guan (冠)
In my introductory series, Hanfu Through the Ages, I briefly mentioned the types of headwear found in hanfu. Today, I'll be talking more about them, from the fancy crowns worn by emperors to simple head coverings worn by commoners. Categories of Headwear Traditional Han Chinese headwear can be classified into several broad categories: guan (冠), or caps; jin (巾), or cloth head coverings; mao (帽), or hats; and hairpins, which were worn by both men and women and came in a variet
May 73 min read
Is Qing Dynasty Clothing Hanfu?
I mentioned in my recent series, Hanfu Through the Ages: A Brief Overview of How Fashion Evolved in Ancient China, that clothing worn during the Qing Dynasty is not considered hanfu. You may recall that the term hanfu refers to the various styles of clothing worn by the Han Chinese people during Ancient and Imperial China. So you may ask, how come Qing Dynasty-style clothing isn’t considered hanfu? Han Chinese people wore it during that time period, after all! The answer to t
Apr 232 min read
Hanfu Through the Ages, Part 4: The Song and Ming Dynasties
Last but not least, here's the final installment in the Hanfu Through the Ages series! Song Dynasty As opposed to the ostentatiousness of the Tang Dynasty, fashion in the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 AD) favored simpler clothing. The beizi (背子/褙子)—not to be confused with a homophonous word meaning ‘quilt’—helped create a straight silhouette, making for an understated yet elegant aesthetic. It also became fashionable for women to wear ku (裤), or trousers, without a skirt over them
Apr 92 min read
Hanfu Through the Ages, Part 3: The Three Kingdoms, Jin, and Tang Periods
Welcome back to Hanfu Through the Ages, my series on the various styles of hanfu, or traditional Chinese clothing, throughout history! Today I'll be talking about styles of hanfu that were popular during the Three Kingdoms period, as well as the Jin and Tang Dynasties. Three Kingdoms/Jin Dynasty Women’s wear developed further after the Han Dynasty ended, resulting in the rise of ruqun (襦裙). As a type of yichang, the ruqun consisted of a shirt paired with a long skirt, with th
Mar 262 min read
