Fashion in Yuan dynasty

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

During the Yuan dynasty of China (1271–1368 AD), Mongol dress was the clothing of elite for both genders.[1] Mongol attire worn in the 13th-14th century was different from the Han clothing from the Tang and Song periods.[2] In the Yuan dynasty, other clothing also co-existed with the Mongol clothing, such as Han clothing and Korean clothing.[3] The Yuan dynasty court clothing also allowed the mixed of Mongol and Han style,[4] and the official dress code of the Yuan dynasty also became a mixture of Han and Mongol clothing styles.[5] The casual clothing for men mainly followed the dress code of the Han people and they wore banbi as a casual clothing item.[6] Women dress code were separated into the aristocratic type (which was Mongol clothing) and the common people type (which were Han clothing consisting of ruqun and banbi).[6]

Mongol Clothing[]

Men's clothing[]

Terlig and jisun[]

The Mongol attire was shared by people of different social ranking due to its practicality which contrasted with the dress code of the Han Chinese; as such, Mongol attire was popular.[2] An important and popular robe for male Mongols was the terlig, known as bianxian ao (辫线袄; plait-line coat) or yaoxian ao (腰线袄; waist-thread coat); this coat had decorations at the waist, tight sleeves, and pleats at the lower hem which made it convenient for horse riding and was worn by all social classes.[7][8][2]

The most notable terlig is the jisün garment, known as zhisunfu (质孙服) in Chinese. The jisün garment was one of the most important male court garment of the Yuan dynasty; it was worn by the emperors and bestowed from the emperors to officials; it can also be called zhisun (质孙 or 只孙), jixun (济逊), or zhama (诈玛).[2][9] The original jisün was worn by the Mongols prior to the establishment of the Yuan dynasty, but it became more elaborate and systematic in the Yuan dynasty.[9] In the History of Yuan, the jisün is also described as yisefu (一色服, dress in one colour) and were usually found in one colour.[10][8]

Haiqing[]

Another distinctive form of male Mongol Yuan court robe is a robe with underarm openings, which is referred as “all- weather” robe by Zhao Feng or Haiqing (海青) in post-Yuan dynasty texts.[11] The robe has long sleeves and the underarm opening is on the seam which joins the sleeves to the body of the robe.[12]

This form of robe is portrayed in the painting Khubilai Khan Hunting by Liu Guandao; in the painting, the Haiqing worn by some of the male attendants or hunters and by Empress Chabi.[11][12] The functionality of the underarm openings is not completely clear, but it might have been related to the weather as slipping the arms through the underarms openings could create a sleeveless robe.[11] The wearer could also slipped out his arm out of the underarm openings to allow for a greater ease of movement as depicted by an archer in green Haiqing in the painting Khubilai Khan Hunting.[12]

  • Man wearing a red Mongol robe with underarm openings. The green under-robe is visible under the red Haiqing. Images from the painting Khubilai Khan Hunting.

  • Male attendant wearing a Mongol robe with underarm openings (Haiqing). His left arm passes through the underarms opening, making the left side sleeveless. Images from the painting Khubilai Khan Hunting.

  • Empress Chabi wearing white Haiqing. Images from the painting Khubilai Khan Hunting.

Short-sleeved outer robes[]

Short-sleeved outer robes could also be worn over long-sleeved robes.[11]

Bijia[]

Mongol men also wore a sleeveless and collarless garment like a vest, called bijia (比甲), whose making was attributed to Empress Chabi.[1][14][15] The bijia was convenient for mounted combat.[16]

Hairstyle and headware[]

Mongol men swept their hair behind their ears and plaited them.[17]

Mongol men wore round or square hats which were made of rattan; and these hats could be surmounted with an ornament.[18] Triangular hats, called maoli, were also worn by Mongol men.[5] Felt hats with upturned brim was the most common form of hat which are typically depicted in the portraits of Genghis Khan, Ögedei Khan, and Kublai Khan.[19]

Mongolian hats were traditionally brimless at the front which offered no protection against the sun.[16] The boli hat (钹笠帽; boli mao) was a popular hat which was worn by the Mongols in Yuan dynasty as it had a wide brim which made it sun-proof and rain-proof; it was worn by emperors, officials and male commoners.[2] The creation of the Mongol hat with a wide brim has been attributed to Empress Chabi.[14][15] Kublai Khan was delighted with the hat invented by Empress Chabi that he decreed for this type of hat to be popularized.[16] The later Yuan emperors are depicted wearing the boli hats instead of the traditional hats worn in the official portrait of Kublai Khan.[19]

Ornaments and jewelries[]

  • Mongol men often wore earrings.[5]
  • Mongol men clothing

  • Figure of a Mongol man wearing Mongol attire and a boli hat, Yuan dynasty.

  • 元舞蹈俑.jpg

  • Yuan emperor Kublai Khan.

  • Yuan Emperor Chengzong.

Women's clothing[]

Mongol robe /deel/[]

The history of Pre-yuan dynasty Mongol clothing is mainly textual; however, based on textual descriptions from William of Rubruck and others, it appears that the elite Mongol women robe /deel/ had existed prior to the founding of the Yuan dynasty.[20] This robe was exceedingly ample and had long sleeves, and it closed to the side.[20] The ruling class of the Yuan dynasty women did not adopt the Song dynasty-style clothing.[21] The Mongol women in the Yuan dynasty continued to wear the robe that they wore before the fall of the Song dynasty, along with a tall headdress called the .[20] That Mongol women robe also appeared to have been worn by the Ilkhanid court noblewomen.[20]

The deel of Mongol women was described as looking similar to the Chinese Taoist garment; it was very wide, was opened in the front, was fastened in three places, was double-breasted, and was cut in the same way as the robe of their male counterpart.[10][20] It was a side closing robe.[20] The Mongol woman's robe /deel/ was long and was one-piece.[22] Its sleeves were wide and tapered at the wrists;[20] i.e. its sleeves were also narrow-sleeved at the wrists.[22]

According to William of Rubruck:

The costume of the [Mongol women] is no different from that of the men except that it is somewhat longer. But on the day after she is married a woman shaves from the middle of her head to her forehead, and she has a tunic as wide as a nun’s cowl, and in every respect wider and longer, and open in front, and this they tie on the right side. Now in this matter the Tartars differ from the Turks, for the Turks tie their tunics on the left, but the Tartars always on the right.

— Shea, Mongol Court Dress, Identity Formation, and Global Exchange, page 80-81

John of Plano Carpini also describes that

the clothes of both the [Mongol] men and the women are made in the same style. They do not use capes, cloaks or hoods, but wear tunics of buckram, velvet, or brocade made in the following fashion: they are open from top to bottom and are folded over the breast; they are fastened on the left with one tie, on the right with three, on the left side also they are open as far as the waist.

— Shea, Mongol Court Dress, Identity Formation, and Global Exchange, Page 80-81

In Chinese sources, the Mongol women clothing was described by Zhao Hong as being

similar to the garments of the Chinese Daoists... Furthermore, they have a jacket with wide sleeves, which resembles the Chinese “crane cloak”; it is wide and long and drags on the ground. When they walk, two female servants carry [the train of the robe]

— Shea, Mongol Court Dress, Identity Formation, and Global Exchange, page 80-81

These historical accounts appear to correspond to both the surviving Yuan dynasty court women robes and from the pictorial evidences from both the Yuan and Ilkhanate court arts.[20] The similarity of the Mongol women robe to the Mongol men's robe (i.e. terlig) do not appear true based on the surviving material evidence.[20]

The long, red Mongol robe became the official dress was worn by elite Mongol women.[23] It was also worn with the gugu hat.[23]

Overjacket[]

Another woman's garment worn during the Yuan dynasty is a short overjacket.[22]

Shoes[]

Mongol women also did not engage in foot binding practice and often wore boots and embroidered silk slippers or shoe covers for unbound feet.[21]

Han Chinese Clothing[]

See also: Hanfu

The Yuan dynasty court clothing also allowed the mixed of Mongol and Han style.[4] The first Mongol khan to wear Chinese clothing was Möngke (1251–1259 AD) who wore the robes of the Son of Heaven, which form of Ceremonial dress of the Chinese emperors worn during the Worshipping of Heaven.[4]

In the Yuan dynasty, the Mongols never imposed Mongol customs on the ethnic Han,[25] and they did not force the Han Chinese to wear Mongol clothing.[21] Many Han Chinese and other ethnicities readily adopted Mongol clothing in Northern China to show their allegiance to the Yuan rulers; however, in Southern China, Mongol clothing was rarely seen as both men and women continued to dress in Song-style garments.[1][21]

The type of clothing worn in the Yuan dynasty may have also served as a political statement; for example, despite not being the clothing of the ruling elite, the Tang-Song style clothing also continued to be worn in multiple layers by families who showed that they were resisting the rule of the Mongols.[21] The Song style dress also continued to persist among the southern elites of the Yuan dynasty and evidence of Song-style clothing was also found in the unearthed tombs in southern China.[21] The casual clothing for men mainly followed the dress code of the Han people and they wore banbi as a casual clothing item while ordinary women clothing consisted of banbi and ruqun.[6] Chinese women also wore elbow-length sleeves, cross-collar upper garment over a long-sleeved blouse; the abbreviated wrap skirts were also popular in Yuan.[26]

  • Han Chinese clothing

  • The tomb occupants are Han but are wearing Mongol-style clothing. The female tomb occupant is depicted wearing the woman's red Mongol robe under a short overjacket but does not wear the gugu hat, Shazishan Tomb Fresco, Yuan Dynasty.

  • A community in Yuan dynasty; some of the hats and clothing of these figures appear to be Mongol-style; from the painting Street Scenes in Times of Peace (Chinese: 太平風會圖), Yuan dynasty 14th century.[27]

  • A community in Yuan dynasty; some of the hats and clothing of these figures appear to be Mongol-style; from the painting Street Scenes in Times of Peace (Chinese: 太平風會圖), Yuan dynasty 14th century.[28]

  • A community in Yuan dynasty; some of the hats and clothing of these figures appear to be Mongol-style; from the painting Street Scenes in Times of Peace (Chinese: 太平風會圖), Yuan dynasty 14th century.[29]

  • Women depicted in the Fresco in the Hall of King Mingying. Han women wore elbow-length sleeves, cross-collar upper garment over a long-sleeved blouse; the abbreviated skirts were popular in Yuan.[30]

  • Yuan dynasty female figures wearing ruqun and banbi.

  • A Chinese wall mural painting from a Daoist temple, Yuan dynasty painting.

Goryeo-style Clothing[]

Near the end of the Yuan dynasty, clothing style from Goryeo became popular and was perceived as beautiful; they were adopted by Mongol rulers.[3] The Mongol aristocrats, queens and imperial concubines started to imitate the clothing style of Goryeo women.[31] The diffusion of Goryeo culture (including clothing customs) in the upper class culture of the Mongols has been attributed to the last Empress of the Yuan, Empress Gi (who became first empress in 1365 and exercised great power as soon as she became empress).[32]

During the Yuan dynasty, the Mongol forced the rulers of Goryeo to send women and children to Yuan.[32][33] Many people from Goryeo were sent to live in Yuan against their will, and most of them were the Kongnyo (Chinese: 貢女; lit. 'tribute women'), eunuchs and war prisoners.[32] Between 1275 and 1355, there were approximately 50 instances where Goryeo tribute women were sent to the Mongol court by the Goryeo court.[33] There were approximately 2000 young Goryeo women who were sent to Yuan as Kongnyo; they were considered beautiful women and excellent servants, but most of them lived in exhausting lifestyles which were marked with hard labour and sexual abuse.[32] The Kongnyo were in effect slaves who were sent to Yuan as a sign of Goryeo submission to Yuan.[33] Only some of them were able to become the concubines or wives of Yuan's noblemen.[32]

Empress Gi was one of those Kongnyo women, and when she became empress of Yuan, she started to recruit many Goryeo court maids in the palace.[32] The late Yuan dynasty poet Zhang Xu wrote a few poems about the popularity of Goryeo-style, which was dubbed as Goryeoyang (Chinese: 高麗樣).[32] At the end of the Yuan dynasty, the Goryeoyang clothing is described as a short, banryong (方領, square collar) banbi (半臂, a short sleeve upper garment) which passed beneath the waist.[32] However, so far, the modern interpretation on the appearance of Mongol royal women's clothing influenced by Goryeoyang is based on authors' suggestions.[34] According to Hyunhee Park: "Like the Mongolian style, it is possible that this Koryŏ style [Koryŏ yang] continued to influence some Chinese in the Ming period after the Ming dynasty replaced the Yuan dynasty, a topic to investigate further."[35]

Theatre Clothing[]

In the Yuan dynasty, theatre zaju drama actors wore all different clothes ranging from Jurchen, to Khitan, to Mongol, to Song Han Chinese clothes.[36]

  • Yuan dynasty theatre actors wore elaborate costumes and stereotyped facial makeup; diverse costumes of different nationalities were worn, Yuan dynasty, 1324 AD.

Legacy[]

After the fall of the Yuan dynasty, any clothing which was not Hanfu was banned in the succeeding Ming dynasty.[3] However, the influence of Mongol clothing could not erased completely; and some clothing in Ming dynasty had absorbed elements of both the Hanfu and the Mongol clothing of the Yuan dynasty.[36] Other forms of clothing was directly adapted from Mongol clothing and was localized; i.e. the hats damao (大帽; big hat), humao (胡帽; "barbarian hat"), and the xiaomao (小帽; "small hat"); the robes yesa (曳撒) and tieli (贴里); the open-sided vest bijia (比甲), and the dahu (褡护) jacket.[2][37][38][8] The zhisun also continued to be worn in Ming dynasty.[2]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Watt, James C. Y. (2010). The world of Khubilai Khan : Chinese art in the Yuan Dynasty. Maxwell K. Hearn, Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-1-58839-402-6. OCLC 606786260.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Wei, Luo (2018-01-02). "A Preliminary Study of Mongol Costumes in the Ming Dynasty". Social Sciences in China. 39 (1): 165–185. doi:10.1080/02529203.2018.1414417. ISSN 0252-9203. S2CID 149138176.
  3. ^ a b c Yang, Shaorong (2004). Traditional Chinese clothing : costumes, adornments & culture. San Francisco: Long River Press. p. 6. ISBN 1-59265-019-8. OCLC 52775158.
  4. ^ a b c Jaġcidsecen (2018). "Elements of Nomadic Culture". Mongolia's culture and society. Paul Hyer. New York, NY. ISBN 978-0-429-05085-5. OCLC 1110009278.
  5. ^ a b c Hua, Mei (2011). Chinese clothing (Updated ed.). Cambridge, United Kingdom. p. 5. ISBN 0-521-18689-7. OCLC 781020660.
  6. ^ a b c "Costume in the Yuan Dynasty---ASEAN---China Center". www.asean-china-center.org. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  7. ^ Shea, Eiren L. (2020). Mongol court dress, identity formation, and global exchange. New York, NY. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-429-34065-9. OCLC 1139920835.
  8. ^ a b c Cho, Woohyun; Yi, Jaeyoon; Kim, Jinyoung (2015). "The dress of the Mongol Empire: Genealogy and diaspora of the Terlig" (PDF). Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 68 (3): 22–29. doi:10.1556/062.2015.68.3.2. ISSN 0001-6446.
  9. ^ a b Shea, Eiren L. (2020). Mongol court dress, identity formation, and global exchange. New York, NY. pp. 63–65. ISBN 978-0-429-34065-9. OCLC 1139920835.
  10. ^ a b Oka, Ildikó (2015). "Mongol Clothing in the Yuan Period *". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 68 (4): 385–414. doi:10.1556/062.2015.68.4.2. ISSN 0001-6446.
  11. ^ a b c d Shea, Eiren L. (2020-02-05). Mongol Court Dress, Identity Formation, and Global Exchange. Routledge. pp. 52–54. ISBN 978-0-429-34065-9.
  12. ^ a b c Watt, James C. Y. (2010). The world of Khubilai Khan : Chinese art in the Yuan Dynasty. Maxwell K. Hearn, Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-58839-402-6. OCLC 606786260.
  13. ^ "Vajrabhairava mandala ca. 1330–32". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  14. ^ a b Rossabi, Morris (2009). Khubilai Khan : his life and times. Berkeley: Univ of California Press. pp. 67–68. ISBN 978-0-520-94536-4. OCLC 910102855.
  15. ^ a b Shea, Eiren L. (2020). Mongol court dress, identity formation, and global exchange. New York, NY. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-429-34065-9. OCLC 1139920835.
  16. ^ a b c Lee, Lily Xiao Hong (2015). Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II : Tang Through Ming 618-1644. Sue Wiles. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-317-51562-3. OCLC 905984401.
  17. ^ Tackett, Nicolas (2017). The Origins of the Chinese Nation: Song China and the Forging of an East Asian World Order. Cambridge University Press. p. 241. ISBN 978-1108186926.
  18. ^ Dusenberry, Mary M. (2004). Flowers, dragons and pine trees : Asian textiles in the Spencer Museum of Art. Carol Bier, Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art (1st ed.). New York: Hudson Hills Press. p. 109. ISBN 1-55595-238-0. OCLC 55016186.
  19. ^ a b The Mongol empire : a historical encyclopedia. Timothy Michael May. Santa Barbara, California. 2017. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-61069-340-0. OCLC 962752105.CS1 maint: others (link)
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  21. ^ a b c d e f Shea, Eiren L. (2020). Mongol court dress, identity formation, and global exchange. New York, NY. pp. 84–86. ISBN 978-0-429-34065-9. OCLC 1139920835.
  22. ^ a b c Watt, James C. Y. (2010). The world of Khubilai Khan : Chinese art in the Yuan Dynasty. Maxwell K. Hearn, Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 79–82. ISBN 978-1-58839-402-6. OCLC 606786260.
  23. ^ a b Shea, Eiren L. (2020). Mongol court dress, identity formation, and global exchange. New York, NY. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-429-34065-9. OCLC 1139920835.
  24. ^ "Vajrabhairava mandala ca. 1330–32". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  25. ^ Bulag, Uradyn E. (2010), Wearing Ethnic Identity: Power of Dress, 6, Oxford: Berg Publishers, pp. 75–80, doi:10.2752/bewdf/edch6014, ISBN 9781847888556, retrieved 2021-02-28
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  28. ^ Yu, Zhu. "Street Scenes in Times of Peace 太平風會圖". The Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  29. ^ Yu, Zhu. "Street Scenes in Times of Peace 太平風會圖". The Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
  30. ^ Sun, Ming-ju (2002). Chinese fashions. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. p. 19. ISBN 0-486-42053-1. OCLC 55693573.
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  32. ^ a b c d e f g h Kim, Jinyoung; Lee, Jaeyeong; Lee, Jongoh (2015). "Goryeoyang and Mongolpung in the 13 th –14 th centuries *". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 68 (3): 281–292. doi:10.1556/062.2015.68.3.3. ISSN 0001-6446.
  33. ^ a b c Hwang, Kyung Moon (2016). A history of Korea (Second ed.). Basingstoke, Hampshire. pp. 47–49. ISBN 978-1-137-57359-9. OCLC 1191052736.
  34. ^ Choi, Hai-Yaul (2007). "A Study on the Design of Historical Costume for Making Movie & Multimedia -Focused on Rich Women's Costume of Goryeo-Yang and Mongol-Pung in the 13th to 14th Century-". Journal of the Korean Society of Costume. 57 (1): 176–186. ISSN 1229-6880.
  35. ^ Park, Hyunhee (2021). Soju : a global history. Cambridge, United Kingdom. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-1-108-89577-4. OCLC 1198087560.
  36. ^ a b Wang, Guojun (2020). Staging Personhood: Costuming in Early Qing Drama. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231549578.
  37. ^ Finnane, Antonia (2008), Changing clothes in China: fashion, history, nation, Columbia University Press, pp. 44–46, ISBN 978-0-231-14350-9
  38. ^ Schlesinger, Jonathan (2017). A world trimmed with fur : wild things, pristine places, and the natural fringes of Qing rule. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-5036-0068-3. OCLC 949669739.
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