Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below other posts in this series on Chinese textiles:
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague's Brocade Collection (Part I)
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague's Tapestry Collection (Part I)
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague’s Tapestry Collection (Part II)
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague’s Embroidery Collection (Part I)
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague’s Brocade Collection (Part II)
Chinese Clothing Historical Overview - Part 1
Chinese Clothing: Shenyi and Broad Sleeves - Part I
Chinese Clothing: Shenyi and Broad Sleeves - Part II
Chinese Clothing: Shenyi and Broad Sleeves - Part II[1]
Historical evidence whether in the form of Han tomb paintings, painted rocks or clay and wooden figurines, portrays people wearing long gowns. This style is found most commonly on men, but sometimes on women as well. The name, paofu, also known as pao (袍), literally translates as "robe".
Han Tomb Mural, Luoyang.
Paofu refers to long robes with the following features. First it has a lining. Depending on whether it is padded, the garment can be called jiapao or miaopao. Second, it often comes with wide sleeves cinched at the wrist. Third, it has low-cut cross collars to show the undergarment. And fourth, there is often an embroidered dark band at the collar, the wrists and the fourth hem, often decorated with kui (a Chinese mythical animal) or checked patterns.
Kui.
The paofu differ in length. Some robes reach down to the ankles, often worn by scholarly men or the elderly, while others are only long enough to cover the knees, and were worn mostly by warriors or heavy laborers.
A scholarly paofu.
However, even after the paofu became mainstream attire, shenyi did not disappear, remaining as an item of women's clothing. In a silk painting in the Changsha Mawangdui Tomb of the Han Dynasty, a woman is dressed in a shenyi with a wrapped-around lapel, fully embroidered with a dragon and phoenix.
The inner coffin of Number 1 tomb at the Han Tomb was covered by a colorful silk painting. It is the best preserved painting of its kind of Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) with the highest artistic value in China. This silk painting is in the shape of an English letter “T” and the paintings on it can be divided into three parts. The upper part is about heaven, meaning the end-result for life of the dead; the middle part is about the earth, which shows the wealth and nobility of the dead when alive; the lower part is about the afterlife, displaying the happiness of the dead in the afterworld. The whole painting is symmetrical and colorful with fine depiction, reflecting the lofty painting skill in the Western Han Dynasty.
Sketch drawings of the front and back pieces of Shenyi.
Sketch drawings of the exterior of Qujupao.
By the time of the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties (220 - 589), styles of paofu evolved into loose-fitting garments with open sleeves (as opposed to the cinched sleeves of the previous dynasties). These were called bao yi bo dai or "loose robes with long ribbons," exemplifying the carefree style of the wearer. Men's long robes became increasingly casual and simple, while women's long robes became more elaborate and complex. Typical women's clothing can be seen in the painting of Gu Kaizhi (ca. 345 - 409), the great painter of the time. Women wore dresses with decorative cloth on the lower hems. These pieces were triangular and hung like banners with rolled edges and embroidered decorative patterns. When the top of the lapel was wrapped up, these triangles created a layered effect and lent rhythm to the woman's movement. The wide sleeves and long hemline, together with the long silk ribbons tying the decorative cloth around the waist, added to the graceful appearance of the garment.
The style of paofu continually evolved with each dynasty. The Han Dynasty shenyi with wide sleeves, the Tang Dynasty round collar gown and the Ming Dynasty straight gown are all typical changpaos, a kind of long, loose gown preferred by scholars and the ruling class. In time, the changpao became a popular item of leisure wear, as well as being a traditional garment of the Han people.
Reference:
[1] Chinese Clothing, H. Mei, Cambridge University Press (2011).
For your convenience I have listed below other posts in this series on Chinese textiles:
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague's Brocade Collection (Part I)
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague's Tapestry Collection (Part I)
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague’s Tapestry Collection (Part II)
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague’s Embroidery Collection (Part I)
Chinese Textiles: Amy Clague’s Brocade Collection (Part II)
Chinese Clothing Historical Overview - Part 1
Chinese Clothing: Shenyi and Broad Sleeves - Part I
Chinese Clothing: Shenyi and Broad Sleeves - Part II
Chinese Clothing: Shenyi and Broad Sleeves - Part II[1]
Historical evidence whether in the form of Han tomb paintings, painted rocks or clay and wooden figurines, portrays people wearing long gowns. This style is found most commonly on men, but sometimes on women as well. The name, paofu, also known as pao (袍), literally translates as "robe".
Paofu refers to long robes with the following features. First it has a lining. Depending on whether it is padded, the garment can be called jiapao or miaopao. Second, it often comes with wide sleeves cinched at the wrist. Third, it has low-cut cross collars to show the undergarment. And fourth, there is often an embroidered dark band at the collar, the wrists and the fourth hem, often decorated with kui (a Chinese mythical animal) or checked patterns.
The paofu differ in length. Some robes reach down to the ankles, often worn by scholarly men or the elderly, while others are only long enough to cover the knees, and were worn mostly by warriors or heavy laborers.
However, even after the paofu became mainstream attire, shenyi did not disappear, remaining as an item of women's clothing. In a silk painting in the Changsha Mawangdui Tomb of the Han Dynasty, a woman is dressed in a shenyi with a wrapped-around lapel, fully embroidered with a dragon and phoenix.
By the time of the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties (220 - 589), styles of paofu evolved into loose-fitting garments with open sleeves (as opposed to the cinched sleeves of the previous dynasties). These were called bao yi bo dai or "loose robes with long ribbons," exemplifying the carefree style of the wearer. Men's long robes became increasingly casual and simple, while women's long robes became more elaborate and complex. Typical women's clothing can be seen in the painting of Gu Kaizhi (ca. 345 - 409), the great painter of the time. Women wore dresses with decorative cloth on the lower hems. These pieces were triangular and hung like banners with rolled edges and embroidered decorative patterns. When the top of the lapel was wrapped up, these triangles created a layered effect and lent rhythm to the woman's movement. The wide sleeves and long hemline, together with the long silk ribbons tying the decorative cloth around the waist, added to the graceful appearance of the garment.
The style of paofu continually evolved with each dynasty. The Han Dynasty shenyi with wide sleeves, the Tang Dynasty round collar gown and the Ming Dynasty straight gown are all typical changpaos, a kind of long, loose gown preferred by scholars and the ruling class. In time, the changpao became a popular item of leisure wear, as well as being a traditional garment of the Han people.
Reference:
[1] Chinese Clothing, H. Mei, Cambridge University Press (2011).
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