Reblogged ziseviolet
Reblogged
I posted 5,832 times in 2022
That’s 1,413 more posts than 2021!
30 posts created (1%)
5,802 posts reblogged (99%)
Blogs I reblogged the most:
I tagged 5,828 of my posts in 2022
- #r - 5,765 posts
- #hanfu - 3,786 posts
- #art - 1,187 posts
- #tang dynasty - 810 posts
- #audio - 791 posts
- #ming dynasty - 738 posts
- #video - 734 posts
- #mens hanfu - 576 posts
- #drama - 572 posts
- #art by op - 558 posts
Longest Tag: 96 characters
My Top Posts in 2022:
#5
In wuxia I see that they have half their hair up and the other half down. Is there a certain period where this hairstyle directs from?
Hi, thanks for the question, and sorry for taking ages to reply!
The half-up, half-down hairstyle that you often see on both male & female characters in Chinese guzhuang (period costume) dramas is not based on historical hairstyles. Rather, it is a fairly recent styling convention, most likely originating from late 20th century wuxia TV shows from Hong Kong (x). Over time the hairstyle has become normalized and commonplace in Chinese costume dramas, especially in the wuxia and xianxia genres (because these genres are not necessarily aiming for historical accuracy in the first place).
Below, from left to right: Wang Hedi in Love Between Fairy and Devil, Deng Wei in Miss the Dragon, Xiao Zhan in The Untamed, Gong Jun in Word of Honor:
As @niteshade925 explains in this post, for male characters, the main idea of the hairstyle is to make the character look attractive, and also in some shows/context, to hint at the character’s personality, as in maybe they do not adhere to traditional customs and are free-spirited/spontaneous. For female characters, it is usually just a regular hairstyle without deeper meaning :P
For more information on this half-up half-down hairstyle, and historical hairstyles in general, please see the following posts:
- The historical accuracy of half-up half-down hairstyles
- The historical accuracy of ponytails
- Historical hairstyles for men
Hope this helps!
#4
Dior Mamianqun Controversy
I received the following message via chat from a follower, that I would like to share here:
Hi, 小紫, do you know that Dior appropriates the modernized mamianqun designed by some hanfu brands in china? link of discussion about Dior 2022 A/W show on weibo: https://weibo.com/6323095999/LChcJyPTa?refer_flag=1001030103_&type=repost#_rnd1657858224778 , I think Dior indeed directly referenced the structure of how it’s pleated and inner cutouts of mamianqun which has a long history dated back to ming dynasty and influenced the shape of qing dynasty skirts as well, it is sussy, look how the DIOR model turned around when the skirt spread to reveal the split style, this is indeed the unique inner structure of mamianqun, a more rigorous examination requires DIOR to show the flat design, but Dior is not responding, it claims on the official website that this is their exclusive style launched this year, yet the same style of mamianqun has been prevalent among young people in China for several years, there are several taobao stores making exactly this kind of modernized mamianqun since 2018 or even early (metal leather buckle belt + fabric suitable for autumn and winter + long skirts), such as 四时景, 你好美荔, etc., I don’t know how to make it an anonymous ask for you to post my question but I would like to listen to your and other followers’ comments on this, thank you 小紫(also feel totally free not to post this one, it’s your blog and you make the call ❤️
#3
#2
Hi! I’m really fond of researching about hanfu and its history, and I found a lot of interesting information on this blog. But I can’t help it and keep wondering about the reason for qipao/cheongsang not be considered a hanfu? When I researched about it the most common argument is the Manchu influence on it. However, there are a plenty of hanfu styles that were influenced by other cultures. Is there a more especific reason for not consider the qipao?
Hi, thanks for the question, and glad you like my blog! (x)
I want to start off with an important disclaimer:
The term “hanfu” as we use it today (defined as “traditional Han Chinese clothing”) does not have the exact same meaning as when it was used historically. As @audreydoeskaren explains in this post, “while it is true that the term “hanfu” was used in some historical texts, they were often used in opposition to clothing worn by foreign peoples…and not as a standalone term”. Today, there is no central organizing body or law that states exactly what is & what is not considered hanfu. Rather, such categorization is done by the members of the hanfu community - and the hanfu community is not a monolith. Ever since its inception in 2003, the hanfu revival movement has been a grassroots, bottom-up movement with members of various backgrounds, ideologies, and opinions. It is a movement that is built upon, and driven forward by, constant dialogue and debate among its members. Thus the question of what garments are considered hanfu is under continuous discussion, and is subject to the hanfu community’s views and ideas on culture, clothing, and history.
My #1 post of 2022
What exactly does Dunhuang style mean?
Hi, thanks for the question! (x)
Dunhuang/敦煌 style refers to the art, fashion, and culture depicted in the Dunhuang Murals/敦煌壁画 of China, which are located in the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Gansu Province. From the 4th to 14th century, the caves were constructed by Buddhist monks to serve as shrines with funds from donors. These caves were elaborately painted, the cave paintings and architecture serving as aids to meditation, visual representations of the quest for enlightenment, and teaching tools for Buddhist beliefs and stories. The major caves were sponsored by patrons such as important clergy, local ruling elite, foreign dignitaries, as well as Chinese emperors (x). Below - painting from the Dunhuang Murals (x):
Reblogged
Anonymous asked:
That's great that the hanfu revival movement is growing! What direction do you think it will take?
Hi, thanks for the question!
To get a better sense of what direction the hanfu movement is going to take, I highly recommend reading the following two recent 2019 news articles on the current state of the hanfu movement/industry: 1) Culture Lovers Dress to Impress & 2) Entrepreneurs Thrive on Revival of Traditional Han Chinese Garb. Here are some of the statistics they provide:
- The hanfu sector’s revenue reached some 1.08 billion yuan in 2018, with about 75% coming from online sales. The sales of the top hanfu stores in a single month go well beyond 10 million yuan. Sales are expected to rise significantly in 2019.
- The top 10 hanfu stores on major Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao made 98 million yuan in transactions in April 2019, up 385% from the previous year. On Taobao, hanfu has been the third most searched keyword among female shoppers in 2019 so far. It’s also among the top 10 searches for male shoppers.
- On major Chinese e-commerce platform Tmall, hanfu purchases rose in 2018 by 92% year-on-year. There were more than 815 hanfu stores on Tmall in 2018, up by just over 24% on 2017.
- Some 18% of the hanfu sector’s revenue comes from related products and businesses, including traditional Chinese makeup, hairstyles and accessories.
- The average age of hanfu devotees is 21, and some 88% of them are female.
Of course the hanfu movement isn’t simply about consumerism, but these numbers do provide a quantifiable way to measure growth. As you can see, growth is very impressive & still has a long way to go, considering: 1) the demographics, 2) the high & fast-increasing market demand, and 3) the fact that the sector is far from mature, due to its relative youth & the complexity involved in making hanfu. In addition, there’s been more government support for hanfu ever since 2018, when the first official China Huafu Day was established.
The main driving force behind this impressive growth is the increasing interest, especially among young people, in traditional Chinese culture. More people increasingly favor items that are unique, artistic, and linked to a rich historical legacy.
My prediction for the next few years is that hanfu will become increasingly mainstream, as more people wear hanfu for various occasions such as: celebrations, holidays, weddings, graduations, travel, and for everyday wear. There will be growth in physical stores for buying & renting hanfu, as well as studios for taking hanfu photoshoots. We may even get to see celebrities wearing hanfu/hanfu-inspired outfits on the red carpet, as hanfu gains more influence in the fashion world.
I’m really looking forward to what the future brings for the hanfu movement. Hope this helps! ^^
(Chinese hanfu street style photos via 她街拍)
The above post was made 3 years ago in 2019, so I’m adding an update since it’s now 2022. The below statistics come from this report on the current state of the hanfu industry (the page is in Chinese, but you can easily translate it into English):
- From 2015-2020, China’s annual hanfu sales grew from 190 million yuan ($28 million USD) to 6.36 billion yuan ($954 million USD). The estimate for 2021 exceeds 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion USD). There is still a lot of room for growth in the future, since the current hanfu market is actually still small, relative to its potential size:
- Social media is the main way to obtain information on hanfu. Social media platforms such as Weibo & Douyin (TikTok) have become the main source of hanfu information for consumers at 58.45%, with film/television taking second place at 57.77%:
- 64.8% of hanfu consumers are female, and 35.2% are male. Men now make up a greater percentage of hanfu consumers compared to 2019, which is great news. More than 60% of consumers are in the age range of 26-40 years.
As far as my predictions on hanfu becoming more mainstream, those definitely came true! Something I’d love to see more of, though, is celebrities wearing hanfu or hanfu-inspired fashion on the red carpet, like actress Lou Yixiao/娄艺潇 (wearing Tang dynasty hanfu) did in the photo below. It’ll be so much more interesting than the usual Western luxury brands, and it’ll be a great way of promoting hanfu too:
At the same time, I do see hanfu being more commonly worn on non-drama TV shows such as variety shows, which is awesome. Below - hanfu in variety show 天天向上. The men are wearing Ming dynasty hanfu, the lady is wearing Tang dynasty hanfu:
Below - actors Liu Shishi & Jing Boran wearing Song dynasty hanfu for a mid-autumn festival gala:
See how good they look! More of this, please <3