A beginner guide to hanfu

Hello! I'm Rie, and this is 69% Pink, and alright, this video is a little bit out of left field to be honest, so please don't get used to it, this isn't my usual content, but I made this powerpoint presentation a while back for my friends during our presentation night that we used to hold, and it took me so long to make it that I wanted to immortalise it somewhere. Also, some of my friends who aren't as familiar with hanfu wanted to see it, so I decided I might as well make a video for it. Though, I have to add a disclaimer, which is that I am no expert. I called this video a beginner's guide to hanfu for a reason, and I've just been on zizou a lot, and I think hanfu are gorgeous, so because I wanted to learn more about it to draw it, I thought I might as well share my knowledge. I think it's good enough to familiarise someone who knows nothing about it with, but I'll add some better sources in the description to get more in-depth with if you're interested. I'm also not super familiar with the exact dynasties in which what was worn when was off the top of my head, so I'm sorry if I get things wrong. You can comment or something if I messed up anything, and also forgive me if I messed up some pinyin, because my pinyin is very messy, but I'm trying my best, okay? So anyway, let's start! I've got a table of contents here, and we'll be starting off with this question, if y'all are not aware already, what exactly is hanfu anyway? Well, hanfu is a general term for the traditional Chinese clothing and feudal dynasties ruled by Han people, the most populous ethnic group in China. It recently has been having a boom in popularity, and more Chinese people have been wearing it casually. It's all over Taobao as well, and very easily found and bought if you just search it up. These are the garments that you would also always see worn by characters and actors in period dramas as well, so if you were ever wondering what those were called, it's hanfu. According to the garment's length, there are 3 types of hanfu, which is the ru, the shu, and the shengyi. A complete set of hanfu usually has 3 layers, the undergarment, the middle garment, and the outer garment. The hanfu that we see most of the time, and that I'll be going through later, are all the outer garments for the most part, and while we are here, I know people confuse these 3 as well very often, so I'm just here to clear this up for you. Generally, the main difference between kimonos, hanfu, and hanbok to me, are the silhouette that they have. Kimonos tend to have a boxier, straight silhouette, while hanbok have a more poofy, oval type of silhouette here, if you can take a look. And hanfu is typically confused for these 2 types of styles, because of the different styles that it has, that I'll go through later. Because there are some hanfu that are straight rows, like kimono, and there are some where the skirt starts at the chest, like this as well, and which does get confused for hanbok. But in my opinion, hanbok is still much poofier than hanfu, which is very flowy, and I don't know how to describe it, but it's very like this. Also the thick obi that is worn around kimonos is unique to them, while the sashes worn around rotring are a lot thinner, as can be seen from the picture here. And if I'm not wrong, the extra ribbon thing worn at the collar of the hanbok, that drapes too, like this purple thing, is also unique to hanbok, I believe? I don't think hanfu has that. Here are some other differences that they have, between the ways that the collar is done as well. That ends my general description for what hanfu is, but as I said before, there are several different styles of hanfu, and so I'll be going through the basic styles for women first. I feel like when female hanfu might be more commonly seen, so I'll just start with them. Firstly, we have the ru chun, which is the most basic kind of hanfu, consisting of a top and a wrap around skirt. The top is called the ru, and the skirt is called chun, hence it is called a ru chun. The sleeves for the top, the ru, can be narrow or wide, and generally speaking, people divide ru chun into two types based on the height of the skirt, which is the qi yao ru chun and the qi xiong ru chun. These are the qi yao ru chun, and qi yao ru chun is the kind of ru chun in which the waistband is on the waist. This style is unisex. For women, the top's collar can be parallel, crossed, or u-shaped, but men's ru chun are only cross-collared. Next, we have the qi xiong ru chun, which is the kind of ru chun in which the waistband is above the chest. The top's collar can be parallel or crossed, and this style is only worn by women. Next up is the ao chun, which is a type of ru chun that got popular during the Ming Dynasty. It is also known as the shan chun. It consists of a double-layered top coat and a waist-high skirt, hence ao chun. Unlike the standard ru chun that has the top tucked inside of the skirt, the ao chun's top is worn untucked, above the skirt. There are two types of ao, short ao and long ao, as can be seen from the pictures here. The short ao reaches the waist, while the long ao covers the knees. Ao collars can be crossed, upright, or square, and ao chun are only worn by women. Okay, I'm not really covering undergarments in this, or middleware, but this one and the next slide of ao chun are exceptions, because they are a popular style of wearing hanfu when wearing a ru chun. But otherwise, there's a lot more about undergarments and middlegarments, because most of the hanfu I'm covering are like, older clothes. I didn't research much about the others, so I'm not including them, sorry! But anyway, this is the mo xiong, and the mo xiong is the rectangular or the square undergarment, which is exposed when paired with parallel collar ru chun and bei zi. It is this thing, basically. And it can also be worn across collar ru chun, like this picture here, but it's generally only worn with qi ao ru chun, because the qi xiong ru chun will cover it. It can come with or without straps, and it is always worn under the top or bei zi, and it's always tucked into the skirt. And now for my personal favourite hanfu style, this is the he zi chun, and the he zi chun consists of two separate pieces, the he zi, which is a strapless undergarment that became fashionable during the Tang Dynasty, and the chun, which is the skirt. The he zi can be straight and rectangular, or curved with a raised front center section. The he zi usually only covers the chest, unlike the mo xiong, which also covers the stomach area. And the he zi can be worn inside or outside the top of the ru chun, but it's most commonly worn over the top. And to be honest, what a he zi is has been questioned a lot as well, because most have only been able to speculate about it from paintings, sculptures, and descriptions, but no actual artifact of it has been found. So some people think that he zi worn outside may just be a really wide skirted, but at the same time, some sculptures show he zi worn on top of the skirt. And these two speculations may both be correct, and these he zi-like things may have both existed in history, but more than reinvented, he zi generally appear now as a separate wide rectangular column tied on top of the skirt, which might have been founded by a leading hanfu fashion brand, qing hui ge, and I think it is the most common type right now, or it will also appear as a long piece, but with a curved top. And due to the lack of clothing evidence, some do not consider this or some other variations of he zi as hanfu, and this idea may contribute to the popularity of the first type of he zi mentioned above, as it does seem more like a decorative accessory, more than proper clothing. Next up though, we have the xiang yi, unlike the ru chun or ao chun, which consists of a top and bottom piece, the sheng yi style of hanfu consists of one-piece robes that wrap around the body once or several times. As the name would imply as well, because sheng yi means deep, they are generally floor-length. Zi ju, which is the straight hem robe, and qu ju, which is the curved hem robe, are two types of sheng yi, and qu ju and zi ju are worn by both men and women. The zi ju, as its name suggests, as the straight hem robe, is a one-piece robe with a straight bottom hem that circles around levelly. To be honest, finding women wearing this was quite hard among the sea of ru chun pictures, probably because girls find ru chuns a lot cuter and have more room to do fun stuff with them than one single robe. I don't know, but I found that interesting. And next is the qu ju, which I think is severely underrated because look at how pretty it is, oh my gosh. In contrast to how the zi ju's bottom hem just circles levelly, the qu ju is different in that the left lapel spirals up to the waist of the wearer. Historically, qu ju generally were floor-length, like this purple one, but nowadays more than hanfu often use a shortened version, which reveals the skirt one underneath, like these. And this is historically accurate? No, historically inaccurate, as far as I know. But like, a lot of modern hanfu takes a lot of liberties for cuteness, so I think it's fine. Like, this is kind of normal. And now, I think I may have mentioned the bei zi several times before this slide, but you get a proper introduction this time. This, the bei zi, is a parallel collar overcoat with side slips beginning at the armpit or at the waist. It can be secured at the front either with ties or a metal button, and it's an extremely versatile piece, as it can be long, short, have narrow or wide sleeves, and is worn by both men and women. It can also be unlined or lined, so it's usually suitable for most weather. Another name for Ming Dynasty bei zi is pi feng as well, and these are pi feng, these are regular bei zi. And next up is the ba bi, with its name translating to half-arm, as its name indicates. A half-sleeve overcoat worn by both men and women. It comes in various lengths, and is usually worn over ruchun. Its collar can be parallel, crossed, or U-shaped. Also, this particular U-shaped ba bi and ruchun combo is also known as the tan ling ruchun. And when worn with ruchun, the ba bi can be tucked into the skirts or left untucked, as can be seen from these pictures. But yeah, there's so many ways of wearing it. Next up, we have the bi jia, which is a sleeveless jacket that is usually worn over ruchun, and that comes in various lengths and styles. They have parallel collars like the bei zi as well, and can be fastened with buttons and ties. And this is the last slide for the women's hanfu styles, and this piece is very popular, and for a good reason. I really love it as well. But this is the da xiao shan, and this is a large-sleeved robe commonly paired with ruchun. As its name that directly translates to big-sleeve jacket or upper garment indicates, its main feature is its broad sleeves. The length is at least 78 inches, and the width exceeds 40 inches. The material is generally thin and light, because it was originally created for wear in the summer, and it will always be unlined for this reason. And that about wraps up the common styles for women's hanfu. Now on to the common styles for men's hanfu. Starting us off, we have the yi xiang, and the yi xiang consists of a men's cross-collar robe with a wrap-around skirt, and is what they call the men's ruchun. Usually, they're accessorized with a sash around the waist. The bambi reappears. To jog your memory though, this is a half-sleeve overcoat worn by both men and women. It comes in various lengths, and is usually worn over yi xiang in men's cases. Its collar can be parallel or crossed. When worn with yi xiang, it can be tucked in or left untucked like an overcoat. And the bei zi makes a reappearance as well. In case you guys don't remember, the bei zi is a parallel collar overcoat with side slits beginning at the armpit or at the waist. It can be long or short, have narrow or wide sleeves, and can be unlined or lined, and suits most weather as a result. And now we have something new for once. This is the da chang, which is a long ankle-length open-fronted overcoat that used to be called he chang or hai chang yi. It is tied at the front by ties, and has large sleeves. In the Ming dynasty, it was generally used for warmth by men, so it's of a thicker material and would always be lined, unlike the bei zi which can be unlined or lined. And I'm pretty sure da chang are unisex as well, but I don't see women wear this as often. The ji ju makes a reappearance as well. Honestly, most hanfu is unisex. And the ji ju is, as its name suggests, a one-piece robe with a straight-bottom hem that circles around levelly. Usually I see men wear this, a yuan ling pao or yi chang, because I guess they don't have, like, audreyans to play with and all that. Also, while qi ju is unisex, I don't see men wear it as often, which is why I did not include it for the men's side. The next is the yuan ling pao that I just mentioned as well. And if you watch period dramas, you have definitely seen these. The yuan ling pao is a round-collared robe typically worn by men, but it became fashionable amongst women in some dynasties. I've seen some women wear this too, but it's in a more, like, audreyan-like style, so I'm not sure if that counts as a whole nother thing, so I didn't include it. But in the Tang dynasty, a long red yuan ling pao with long sleeves was worn by scholars and government officials. And this was called a pali lanshan, and it was worn together with a futou hat. And these are futous. And in the Ming dynasty, they wear a wuxia mao instead of a futou, because wuxia mao are kind of like Ming dynasty knockoffs of futous. These are the wuxia maos. And officials, nobles, yuan ling pao was also wedding with commoners. The groom will wear wuxia mao and a ninth-ranked official's robes. But the pictures I have on the right here look more like a noble wedding. In the Ming dynasty, nobles and civilians started wearing it too. And what would differentiate the civilian versus official, nobles, yuan ling pao, was that the official and nobles would have a mandarin's wear on it, also known as a ranked badge, called a buzi. And nowadays, it's obviously used a lot more liberally though. And now I see it, and I think, oh my god, guangxiaxing! Next is the zituo, which means the straight gathering of the robe. And it's a straight robe that follows the structure of a shanyi. But unlike how shanyi are floral-length robes, zituo generally end near a little below the knee that reveal the garments underneath. Zituo is also known as zishan and haiqing as well. And the former would be referring to casual zituo, while the latter refers to priest zituo. Nowadays, the haiqing is also referred to as the da pao. Vestiges has so many names. Next up though, and I think last of the men's hanfu section, we have the shuhua, which is also known as the duanda, which consists of a top which can be short or long-sleeved, with that goes down to the thighs or knees, and is coupled with a sash-type pair of trousers. Shuhua is one of the most commonly worn hanfu styles historically, because of how convenient and practical it is. It was worn by a lot of common folk for daily life, including activities like farming. It gets confused with zituo as well sometimes because both reveal the pants underneath, but shuhua generally have shorter tops that end at the thigh or the knee, while zituo end a little below the knee. And that wraps up the common styles of men's hanfu too. And next part is the last section, in which I'll be talking about accessories more than hanfu. I'm skipping really obvious stuff like earrings, hairpins and necklaces though. To start us off, I was always very curious what this was whenever I saw them in dramas, so I was really happy to find out what they were called when I was researching them. But this is the mili, which is a type of wide-brimmed hat with a body-length veil that was used to cover a woman's body from strangers' eyes, and was typically worn during the sui and the tang dynasty. But it evolved into the less conservative weimao, which kept the veil only up to the shoulder and was mostly used to cover the head. In modern hanfu though, it has beads and fringe instead of veil sometimes. People get really creative with it. And I don't think mili are worn by men often, but weimao definitely are. This can be seen by this picture. After that, we have the doupeng, which literally means cloak in Chinese. So capes and cloaks are all doupeng. It is often fur-lined for warmth. And there is actually a bit of controversy whether doupeng count as hanfu, because historically there were cape-like clothing in pre-Qing China, but unlike the doupeng worn with a lot of hanfu today, they did not have hoods attached. The doupeng worn with hanfu often nowadays are usually hooded, and while not counted as authentic hanfu by some, it's still used for practical or aesthetic reasons. And next we have the pipo, which is also known as the peizi, which is a shawl or a long scarf that drapes on the shoulder from back. It evolved from a long shawl to a ribbon between the arms. More often I see them made out of chiffon or a light, thin material, but sometimes I come across them with a more opaque or thick-looking fabric. It is often worn as a decoration for qixiong rujun or rujun in general. And to be honest, the pipo doesn't have a lot of info for it online, so I had to do a lot of my own studying. So some of these claims might be totally baseless because I am no professional, but I'm only barely dipping my feet into the water, you know? But I'm thinking it might have originated from the peizi, which I just bullshitted the pinyin for because I can't even find what hanzi it is. Used with because it's so obscure. Which apparently was a wide and short cape that drapes over one's shoulders, but I can't find a description for it at all. Anyway, I'm thinking nowadays maybe people just consider the pipo to be a fun splash of colour to one's outfit or a fun trippy thing, so they don't actually follow the usual colour conventions. But like what I found out of it... Anyway, said that it was made with silver or gold chiffon back in the Tang dynasty. I don't know if it was specific to this, but knowing how modernised hanfu is getting, I would believe it to be people doing whatever the hell they want. And I think some of you may have seen this before, but sometimes women in Chinese period dramas have- and they're called huadian. But yes, huadian, also known as huazi, plum makeup, plum blossom makeup, or shouyang makeup, is a form of traditional ornamental forehead makeup that was most popular during the Tang dynasty. It's usually painted on the face or a temporary tattoo. Sometimes they are worn on the cheeks as well, and these are called mianye or xiaoye, and take the form of a dimple. And for the longest time, to be honest, I confused them with the bindi, but then I realised that huadian tend to be of flowers, though there is also a single red dot pattern that they can use. But these are typically meant to symbolise the plum blossom, like the origin of the huadian, which was a plum blossom that fell on the forehead of the shouyang princess and couldn't be removed for some reason. But because it looked beautiful on her, other women were just like, oh my gosh, that looks really pretty, and were like, I want that too. And it became all the rage, and I find that story really funny. And next up, we have the yingtian, which is known as the cloud collar, and which directly translates to cloud shoulder, and is a traditional Chinese shoulder ornament that's usually worn over audrey. It is named as such because it resembles a cloud pattern when laid flat. It's typically a detachable collar with cloud patterns, but it could also be used as a motif which falls around the collar, or as a clothing applique. Due to its widespread use, it became associated with wedding clothing, because brides wear yingtian decorated with ribbons and bells. In this use, it is also known as the phoenix collar. Next is the xiapei, which is a type of Chinese clothing accessory in either the form of a long scarf, a neckband, or in the shape of waistcoat, depending on the time period. But today, I'll mostly be looking at it as it's formed as a long embroidered neckband in the Ming dynasty. It was worn by queens as daily attire, and by the wives of senior officials as formal attire, and it was also used as part of the ceremonial attire for entitled women, and eventually became part of wedding attire for commoners. And now, on to fans. There are many types of fans in ancient China, but the most notable ones are the tuanshan and the zheshan. These often were decorated on both sides with paintings, poems, or calligraphy. And for tuanshan, they'll be decorated with embroidery. The China-made fans go from being a practical device to an art form in its own right. They were not only for cooling yourself back then, but also artwork and essentially status symbols that showed off your taste and your grace. The tuanshan is a circular rigid fan that was already popular all the way back in the Han dynasty, and was said to signify union and happiness because of its full moon-like shape. Eventually, it came to take on many different shapes though, such as flowers, or like... I've seen butterfly ones, but I think I forgot to put in a picture of it. And there is like a leaf as well. There are so many, it's very versatile. And these were carried by both men and women until the Ming dynasty, when they became mostly identified as a fashion accessory for women. And next, we have the zheshan, which is also known as the head-gathering style of fan, because its ends meet together when folded. The zheshan is actually not invented by the Chinese, but was brought to them by the Japanese and became very popular in the Ming dynasty, and replaced the tuanshan as the fan to show off your social status with. It was also during this time that the culture of using fan gestures as a way to express moods developed. And lastly, I'm sure any wuxia drama watchers can definitely recognize these, but these are bangshuodai, which are hand wraps that are simplified forms of the huan, which are wrist guards. So these are bangshuodai, and these are huan. And these forms of accessories were commonly worn in ancient China during strenuous fitness physical activity, such as manual labor and combat sports, such as hand-to-hand combat, sword fighting, archery, etc. They have two purposes. Number one, to bind up the sleeves for convenience, and number two, to protect the wearer's hands and arms. And that is it. There are a lot more hanfu and hanfu accessories and things about it in general, but I already spent a whole week making this powerpoint, and I give up. I throw in the towel. I'm done. Thank you so much for watching. You can find me on Twitter at pinklarker69, or shoeesque at s-x-u-e-s-q-u-e. And see you next video! And please like or comment if you liked this, or subscribe if you're interested in seeing me draw hanfu next time, because I am probably going to do that. And I might also make a second part about a modernized hanfu, which is also known as hanyuanshu. And because I've absolutely fallen in love with it, I would love to share more about it. And half of it would really just be my search history on Taobao as well. But you know what? That might be okay. But thank you so much, and see you next time. Bye!