Paofu

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Paofu
Han Tomb Mural, Luoyang.jpg
Men and women dressed in cross-collar paofu, Han Tomb Mural, Luoyang
1a Zhao Mengfu Man Riding a Horse, dated 1296 (31.5 x 620 cm) Palace Museum, Beijing.jpg
Zhao Mengfu wearing a round collar robe (yuanlingpao), dated 1296.
Chinese name
Chinese袍
Literal meaninglong gown; robe
Korean name
Hangul포
Hanja袍

Paofu (袍服), also known as pao (袍; literally translated as "robe")[1] for short, refers to a type of "long robe" worn by ancient Chinese.[2][3][4] It was worn since the Zhou dynasty[1] and became prominent in the Han dynasty.[2] The paofu is a unisex, one-piece robe.[5] It was worn mainly by men, but women could also wear it.[2] It initially looked similar to the ancient shenyi; however, there are differences between those two types of clothing.[2] With time, the shenyi disappeared while the paofu evolved gaining different features in each succeeding dynasties; the paofu remained up to present day.[2]

History[]

Zhou dynasty[]

In Zhou dynasty, the pao was one of the basic clothing worn by the Han Chinese people, along with the trousers (kuzi).[1] In Zhou, the pao which was widely worn in this period is the jiaoling pao (i.e. a long robe with a cross-collar closing) which closes to the right.[1]

The jiaoling pao was made with 2-length of fabric which started from the back hem and continued down to the front hem without discontinuity over the shoulders; they were then sewed at the central region of the back and under the arms which often allowed for side vents on the lower side seams to be formed.[1] To form the sleeves, 2 additional pieces of fabrics were sewed together at the shoulder regions of the garment.[1] It was left open in the front, and it could be closed at the waist with a tie or with a belt.[1] Other pieces of fabric could be added to make the width at the sides bigger or to create the overlapping front of the robe.[1]

Han dynasty[]

See also: Shenyi

The paofu became a prominent attire in the Han dynasty; it was mainly worn by men, although it was sometimes worn by women. Even with the rising popularity of paofu, women continued to wear shenyi.[2] In the Han dynasty, paofu was typically worn by the members of royalty and by the aristocrats as an outerwear.[6] It was also the uniform of government officials.[6] Around the 206 BC, the paofu worn by elders had large sweeping sleeves which would be tied tightly to the wrist.[7] The paofu could be found in different length.[2] The paofu which could reach down to the ankles were usually worn by scholars or elderlies whereas knee-length paofu were worn by warriors and heavy labourers.[2][3] Elderlies started to wear the ankle-length paofu after 206 BC.[3]

The paofu in the Han dynasty had linings; and it could be called jiapao or mianpao based on whether it was padded.[2][5] It was padded or quilted for warm.[3] The sleeves were typically very wide and would become cinched at the wrists.[2] It was cross-collared and was cut lower than the shenyi; its cut was low enough to expose the undergarments of its wearer.[2][5] It was also typically decorated with an embroidered dark-coloured band at the collar, front hem, and at the wrists.[2]

Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties[]

See also: Swallow-tailed Hems and Flying Ribbons clothing
Seven Sages of the Bomboo Grove; Rubbing 1 - found in a tomb of the capital region of the Southern dynasties (5th-6th. c.).

By the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties, the paofu of the Han dynasty evolved into the baoyi bodai (褒衣博带; a type of loose robes with long ribbons) for men which had a casual and simple look and into the complex and elaborate women's gown, guiyi.[2] Loose type of clothing was often worn during leisure times as found in the depictions of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo groove where men had their upper clothing open, allowed their inner garment to be exposed, a knotted belt or sash which would tied to the upper garment at the chest level, and their skirts and lower garment would be held by a belt made of clothing which would be knotted at the front of the lower garment.[8] The baoyi bodai style appears to have been a Northern Chinese style instead of a Southern Chinese style.[8] The baoyi bodai style eventually became fashionable in the South.[9]

The baoyi bodai style also appeared on the images of Buddha which dates from the late 5th century AD.[8] The baoyi bodai style appears to have been a direct consequence of Emperor Xiaowen's Sinicization reforms in 486 AD.[9] The popularity of the baoyi bodai style was very high, and it eventually replaced the Indian-style clothing (i.e. sanghati) which used to be depicted on the Buddha.[10][9]

Tang dynasty[]

In Tang dynasty, the paofu evolved into the round collar gown.[2] However, Tang dynasty women also continued to wear long, loose cross-collared robe which was tied and knotted with a large sash at the hipline.[11]

  • Tang dynasty woman wearing a cross-collared robe

Ming dynasty[]

In Ming dynasty, the cross-collar robe continued to be worn by commoner men; it was worn with an undershirt, loose trousers, and a sash around the waist.[12] Other forms of robes also coexisted; for example, the yesa, daopao, round-collar robe, zhiduo, panling lanshan.[13]

Types of Chinese Paofu[]

Derivatives and influences[]

Japan[]

The Japanese kimono was based on a type of Chinese pao (robe) which was popular in the 8th century AD Japanese court.[14]

Korea[]

Chinese-style po influenced by the Han dynasty coexisted together with the native Korean po during the Three Kingdom period.[6] The po influenced by the Han dynasty either had jingnyeong gyoim (i.e. straight collar crossing at the front) or jingnyeong daeim (straight collar which does not cross at the front); the sleeves were long covering the back of the hands; the robe could reach the ankle-level or longer, and could even trail on the ground.[6] Dallyeongpo (i.e. yuanlingpao) from the Tang dynasty was introduced during the Silla period.[6]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bonds, Alexandra B. (2008). Beijing opera costumes : the visual communication of character and culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. pp. 52–54. ISBN 978-1-4356-6584-2. OCLC 256864936.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Hua, Mei; 华梅 (2004). Chinese clothing. 于红. Beijing: China International Press. pp. 12–14. ISBN 7-5085-0612-X. OCLC 61214922.
  3. ^ a b c d Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2015). World Clothing and Fashion An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Social Influence. Taylor & Francis. p. 217. ISBN 9781317451679.
  4. ^ Zhou, Fang (2019). "On the Differences between the "Paofu" and "Ruqun" Types of Men's Costumes in the Cave Murals of Dunhuang--《Dunhuang Research》". en.cnki.com.cn. Retrieved 2021-04-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ a b c Heather, Langford (2009). The textiles of the Han Dynasty & their relationship with society. Australia: The University of Adelaide. p. 234. OCLC 749107460.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Po(袍)". Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture.
  7. ^ Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2015). World Clothing and Fashion : an Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Social Influence. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 529. ISBN 978-1-317-45167-9. OCLC 910448387.
  8. ^ a b c Dien, Albert E. (2007). Six dynasties civilization. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-300-07404-8. OCLC 72868060.
  9. ^ a b c Tsiang, Katherine R. (2002). "Changing Patterns of Divinity and Reform in the Late Northern Wei". The Art Bulletin. 84 (2): 222. doi:10.2307/3177267. ISSN 0004-3079.
  10. ^ Early medieval China : a sourcebook. Wendy Swartz, Robert Ford Campany, Yang Lu, Jessey Jiun-Chyi Choo. New York. 2014. p. 435. ISBN 0-231-53100-1. OCLC 873986732.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. ^ Sun, Ming-ju (2002). Chinese fashions. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. p. 4. ISBN 0-486-42053-1. OCLC 55693573.
  12. ^ Sun, Ming-ju (2002). Chinese fashions. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. p. 28. ISBN 0-486-42053-1. OCLC 55693573.
  13. ^ "Hanfu History | The Development of Chinese Robe System - 2021". www.newhanfu.com. 2020. Retrieved 2021-05-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Sun, Ming-Ju (2007). Japanese kimono paper designs : coloring book. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-46223-3. OCLC 271671537.
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