Hello, I really enjoy your Hanfu blog. I'm a Hanfu lover following various Hanfu bloggers on tumblr. I notice there is an article by CNN stigmatizing Hanfu recently. I see young chinese people on weibo are mocking this pretentious article and saying CNN is like a thief crying stop thief because it's this article, not Hanfu, that obviously has conspiracy and political purpose. I agree with them. I'd love to know how you see it.
Hi, I’m glad you enjoy my blog ^^ Thanks for the questions, and sorry for taking ages to reply! (hanfu photo via 玖柯9k):
Like I mentioned in my previous post, I received these asks many years ago, so the CNN article in question is old, but I'm pretty sure I read it (I've read pretty much every article on hanfu in English mainstream media). Although I don't recall the specific details of the article, I'm very much aware of the stigmatizing/disparaging angle and tone that you're referring to, which was commonplace in Western "news" about the hanfu movement at the time. As with a lot of news about China, they used dubious Western "sources" to paint a heavily biased view of the movement, politicizing/weaponizing it and trying to frame it as some kind of dangerous, nefarious plot.
Nowadays, as awareness and visibility of hanfu have grown immensely across real life and social media, this type of "reporting" about the movement has thankfully died down. The news articles that I see now are positive or at least neutral. This shift also occurred for the Wikipedia articles for "hanfu" and "hanfu movement".
Please see my post here for more discussion on this topic.
“Hanfu" as a technical term refers to traditional clothing worn by the Han ethnic group in China （Han = Han ethnic group, Fu = clothing).
The last Dynasty of China, Qing, saw a ruling class of the Manchu ethnic group who had attacked the Ming Dynasty from the North and ultimately achieved victory. This resulted in a forceful change of attire from "Han" clothing to "Man" clothing and fashion:
This included men being forced to shave the front half of their heads, leaving a long braid in the back (those who refused were beheaded)(四爷，借用一下您的盛世美颜😂) :
Therefore, technically, "Hanfu" had not been worn in China since the end of the Ming Dynasty (1616 AD).
Following the establishment of the current People's Republic of China (1949 AD) the country busied itself with development and economic growth. By the early 2000's China had undergone 2 rounds of economic reform and saw an economy that was flourishing. This left people with more time and money to revisit the country's vast history and rich culture (it's difficult to think about culture or history when you're trying to put food on the table).
Hanfu revival movement:
On November 22, 2003, an electric engineer by the name of Wang Letian (王乐天) strode through the streets of Deng Zhou wearing a Quju robe . This was the first time someone wore Hanfu for a casual outing since almost 400 years ago. Although, looking back, the design wasn't historically accurate, and the clothing seemed ill-fitting, this robe had been hand-sewn by Wang Letian and his friends, all of whom had a passion for Hanfu.
At the time, people laughed when they saw him in the streets, it looked so odd and strange among the sweaters and jeans that had become the norm, but Wang Letian had started a snowball of Hanfu revival. The internet spread photos of him wearing Hanfu through the streets and by chance, a Singaporean reporter, Zhang Congxing (张从兴), came across the photos. He wrote an article in the newspaper Lianhe Morning Report (联合早报) which became the first news article recorded of the current movement to revive Hanfu.
Following that, interest in Hanfu grew. People (especially young people) dug through history books, visited museums, and broke out the sewing kits. Today, Hanfu can often be seen around sightseeing locations and in historic cities like Xi'an. Although most people still aren't wearing it out and about daily, it's not uncommon to see someone wearing a Mamian Skirt (from Ming dynasty) with a blouse heading to work.
There are still some who think it's odd and strange (including my dad 😑), but the revival in Hanfu indicates a confidence and pride many young people have in China's own history and culture, something that had been often neglected over the past 100 years due to continuous wars and political chaos.
As a kid, I loved period dramas and would drape a bed sheet around my shoulders pretending it's a cape. I'd admire the beautiful hair styles on TV, wondering how it was done. Never did I dream one day I'd be able to purchase my own Hanfu and have a suitcase of hair buns and accessories 🤣🤣
I was watching The Double and it made me think. Can a hairpin ceremony (specifically one for women) be shared? For example, if a family has several daughters turning 15 in the same year, wouldn't it be economical for them to share one? Or is it a taboo and everyone gets one for themself?
I don't know for sure, but my assumption is that historically the Ji Li (hairpin ceremony) would be specific for one girl, as @guzhuangheaven mentions. Perhaps @fouryearsofshades has more info?
Regardless of how it was done in the past, modern-day Ji Li often involve multiple girls at once. Below - some photos of modern-day Ji Li (1/2/3/4):
Hello! I'm from a West European country and have been interested in learning about Chinese culture for the past few months, specially it's religions and traditional clothing, since I started reading different lgbt Chinese novels and series,like Word of honor and Tgcf, and listening to YouTubers like Xiran Jay Zhao.
I find it fascinating the difference of styles between dynasties and places, and the way it differs or reminds me of my culture. The revival that traditional clothing has had in this last few years has also deeply interested me. But there's something I'm kind of confused about.
I know that hanfu refers to traditional han clothing, and that the hanfu revival occurring is about that, but has this also affected in any shape or form the traditional clothing of other Chinese ethnic groups? By that I mean if they have also gained popularity in Chinese society or could even be included in this hanfu revival movement. What about their traditions?
And to all this, are there any works about them that could be read by English or Spanish speakers? I know there are so many different ethnic groups in the country to just be treated as one lump, but even if they talk about a specific one it would be nice to read about them.
Sorry if you have been asked/already talked about this in another post, I have tried to look around but didn't see anything (maybe I'm just blind lmao). Also sorry again for my rambling, I don't know if I'm supposed to ask though here or how to do so exactly, I've only actively used Tumblr since the end of the Summer and I'm still kind of unused to all this.
I know that hanfu refers to traditional han clothing, and that the hanfu revival occurring is about that, but has this also affected in any shape or form the traditional clothing of other Chinese ethnic groups? By that I mean if they have also gained popularity in Chinese society or could even be included in this hanfu revival movement. What about their traditions?
One of the reasons that inspired the hanfu revival movement back then was a picture of a Han Chinese wearing a white t-shirt among all other ethnic groups in their colourful ethnic clothing. So no, other Chinese ethnic groups aren't included in the hanfu revival movement because they weren't prosecuted under the Tifayifu ('shaving hair and changing costume') policy, so there isn't really a need to revival because they have always been able to dress in their ethnic garments.
However, the garments of all ethnic groups are threatened by mass-produced costume-type things. Properly crafted traditional wears are often expensive on Taobao, so if they have moved away to the cities it is very difficult to get authentic garments in more reasonable price unless they travelled back to their home town. In addition, homogenization occurs because of commercialization, such as the Josean wear is heavily influence by Korean Hanbok because Hanbok is more readily available.
And to all this, are there any works about them that could be read by English or Spanish speakers? I know there are so many different ethnic groups in the country to just be treated as one lump, but even if they talk about a specific one it would be nice to read about them.
I am sorry I am not familiar with English or Spanish works... I am not even good at finding resources in Chinese. Perhaps you could check out @beehunni62 and @audreydoeskaren. @rongzhi also posted a lot of douyins of different ethnic groups under #少数民族. Not sure if @ziseviolet knows more about this.
Sorry if you have been asked/already talked about this in another post, I have tried to look around but didn't see anything (maybe I'm just blind lmao). Also sorry again for my rambling, I don't know if I'm supposed to ask though here or how to do so exactly, I've only actively used Tumblr since the end of the Summer and I'm still kind of unused to all this.
Hello! I'm from a West European country and have been interested in learning about Chinese culture for the past few months, specially it's religions and traditional clothing, since I started reading different lgbt Chinese novels and series,like Word of honor and Tgcf, and listening to YouTubers like Xiran Jay Zhao.
I find it fascinating the difference of styles between dynasties and places, and the way it differs or reminds me of my culture. The revival that traditional clothing has had in this last few years has also deeply interested me. But there's something I'm kind of confused about.
I know that hanfu refers to traditional han clothing, and that the hanfu revival occurring is about that, but has this also affected in any shape or form the traditional clothing of other Chinese ethnic groups? By that I mean if they have also gained popularity in Chinese society or could even be included in this hanfu revival movement. What about their traditions?
And to all this, are there any works about them that could be read by English or Spanish speakers? I know there are so many different ethnic groups in the country to just be treated as one lump, but even if they talk about a specific one it would be nice to read about them.
Sorry if you have been asked/already talked about this in another post, I have tried to look around but didn't see anything (maybe I'm just blind lmao). Also sorry again for my rambling, I don't know if I'm supposed to ask though here or how to do so exactly, I've only actively used Tumblr since the end of the Summer and I'm still kind of unused to all this.
Hope you're having a nice day/night! 🥰
Hi.
I know that hanfu refers to traditional han clothing, and that the hanfu revival occurring is about that, but has this also affected in any shape or form the traditional clothing of other Chinese ethnic groups? By that I mean if they have also gained popularity in Chinese society or could even be included in this hanfu revival movement. What about their traditions?
One of the reasons that inspired the hanfu revival movement back then was a picture of a Han Chinese wearing a white t-shirt among all other ethnic groups in their colourful ethnic clothing. So no, other Chinese ethnic groups aren't included in the hanfu revival movement because they weren't prosecuted under the Tifayifu ('shaving hair and changing costume') policy, so there isn't really a need to revival because they have always been able to dress in their ethnic garments.
However, the garments of all ethnic groups are threatened by mass-produced costume-type things. Properly crafted traditional wears are often expensive on Taobao, so if they have moved away to the cities it is very difficult to get authentic garments in more reasonable price unless they travelled back to their home town. In addition, homogenization occurs because of commercialization, such as the Josean wear is heavily influence by Korean Hanbok because Hanbok is more readily available.
And to all this, are there any works about them that could be read by English or Spanish speakers? I know there are so many different ethnic groups in the country to just be treated as one lump, but even if they talk about a specific one it would be nice to read about them.
I am sorry I am not familiar with English or Spanish works... I am not even good at finding resources in Chinese. Perhaps you could check out @beehunni62 and @audreydoeskaren. @rongzhi also posted a lot of douyins of different ethnic groups under #少数民族. Not sure if @ziseviolet knows more about this.
Sorry if you have been asked/already talked about this in another post, I have tried to look around but didn't see anything (maybe I'm just blind lmao). Also sorry again for my rambling, I don't know if I'm supposed to ask though here or how to do so exactly, I've only actively used Tumblr since the end of the Summer and I'm still kind of unused to all this.
Hi, thanks for the question, and sorry for taking ages to reply! (hanfu photo via)
The term “hanfu” (traditional Chinese: 漢服, simplified Chinese: 汉服) literally means “Han clothing”, and refers to the traditional clothing of the Han Chinese people. “Han” (漢/汉) here refers to the Han Chinese ethnic group (not the Han dynasty), and “fu” (服) means “clothing”. As I explained in this post, the modern meaning of “hanfu” is defined by the hanfu revival movement and community. As such, there is a lot of gatekeeping by the community around what is or isn’t hanfu (based on historical circumstances, cultural influences, tailoring & construction, etc). This isn’t a bad thing - in fact, I think gatekeeping to a certain extent is helpful and necessary when it comes to reviving and defining historical/traditional clothing. However, this also led to the need for a similarly short, catchy term that would include all Chinese clothing that didn’t fit the modern definition of hanfu -- enter huafu.
The term “huafu” (traditional Chinese: 華服, simplified Chinese: 华服) as it is used today has a broader definition than hanfu. “Hua” (華/华) refers to the Chinese people (中华民族/zhonghua minzu), and again “fu” (服) means “clothing”. It is an umbrella term for all clothing that is related to Chinese history and/or culture. Thus all hanfu is huafu, but not all huafu is hanfu. Below are examples of Chinese clothing that are generally notconsidered hanfu by the hanfu community for various reasons, but are considered huafu:
1. Most fashions that originated during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), especially late Qing, including the Qing aoqun & aoku for women, and the Qing changshan and magua for men. I wrote about whether Qing dynasty clothing can be considered hanfu here. Tangzhuang, which is an updated form of the Qing magua popularized in 2001, can also fit into this category. Below - garments in the style of Han women’s clothing during the Qing dynasty (清汉女装) from 秦綿衣莊 (1, 2).
Below - Xiangsheng (crosstalk) performers Zhang Yunlei (left) & Guo Qilin (right) in minguo-style men’s changshan (x). Changshan is also known as changpao and dagua.
3. Qungua/裙褂 and xiuhefu/秀禾服, two types of Chinese wedding garments for brides that are commonly worn today. Qungua originated in the 18th century during the Qing dynasty, and xiuhefu is a modern recreation of Qing wedding dress popularized in 2001 (x). Below - left: qungua (x), right: xiuhefu (x).
4. Modified hanfu (改良汉服/gailiang hanfu) and hanyuansu/汉元素 (hanfu-inspired fashion), which do not fit in the orthodox view of hanfu. Hanfu mixed with sartorial elements of other cultures also fit into this category (e.g. hanfu lolita). From the very start of the hanfu movement, there’s been debate between hanfu “traditionalists” and “reformists”, with most members being somewhere in the middle, and this discussion continues today. Below - hanyuansu outfits from 川黛 (left) and 远山乔 (right).
5. Performance costumes, such as Chinese opera costumes (戏服/xifu) and Chinese dance costumes. These costumes may or may not be considered hanfu depending on the specific style. Dance costumes, in particular, may have non-traditional alterations to make the garment easier to dance in. Dunhuang-style feitian (apsara) costumes, which I wrote about here, can also fit into this category. Below - left: Chinese opera costume (x), right: Chinese dance costume (x).
6. Period drama costumes and fantasy costumes in popular media (live-action & animation, games, etc.), commonly referred to as guzhuang/古装 (lit. “ancient costumes”). Chinese period drama costumes are of course based on hanfu, and may be considered hanfu if they are historically accurate enough. However, as I wrote about here, a lot of the time there are stylistic inaccuracies (some accidental, some intentional) that have become popularized and standardized over time (though this does seem to be improving in recent years). This is especially prevalent in the wuxia and xianxia genres. Similarly, animated shows & games often have characters dressed in “fantasy hanfu” that are essentially hanfu with stylistic modifications. Below - left: Princess Taiping in historical cdrama 大明宫词/Palace of Desire (x), right: Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in wuxia/xianxia cdrama 陈情令/The Untamed (x).
7. Any clothing in general that purposefully utilizes Chinese style elements (embroidery, fabrics, patterns, motifs, etc). Chinese fashion brand Heaven Gaia is a well-known example of this. Below - Chinese-inspired designs by Heaven Gaia (x).
8. Technically, the clothing of China’s ethnic minorities also fit under the broad definition of huafu, but it’s rarely ever used in this way.
From personal observation, the term “huafu” is mainly used in the following situations:
1. Some large-scale events to promote Chinese clothing, such as the annual “华服日/Huafu Day”, will use “huafu” in their name for inclusivity.
2. For the same reason as above, Chinese clothing including hanfu will often be referred to as “huafu” on network television programs (ex: variety shows).
3. A few Chinese clothing shops on Taobao use “huafu” in their shop name. Two examples:
With the exception of the above, “huafu” is still very rarely used, especially compared to “hanfu”. It has such a broad definition that it’s just not needed in situations for which a more precise term already exists. However, I do think it’s useful as a short catch-all term for Chinese clothing that isn’t limited to the currently accepted definition of hanfu.
If anyone wants to add on or correct something, please feel free to do so! ^^
Space buns are very popular right now but they look like Odango hairstyle, but I heard that 牛角头 actually originated from China?? Are hairstyles an important part in the Hanfu movement.
Hi, thanks for the question, and sorry for taking ages to reply!
The double bun hairstyle you’re referring to has a long history in China, where it goes by several different names (depending on the specific style). It is most commonly know as Shuang Ya Ji/双丫髻 (lit. “double maiden bun”), so-called because it was mainly worn by girls & unmarried women. It was also worn by young boys, maids, and dancers. It is a hairstyle associated with youth. Niu Jiao Tou/牛角头 (lit. “ox horn head”) is a type of double bun hairstyle, but its shape is more angular and pointed. You can read more on the history and different types of double bun hairstyles here and here.
Below - Tang dynasty artifact depicting a maiden with a double bun hairstyle. Note the cute flower ornament on each bun! (x):
The hairstyle is still commonly worn today, mainly by young girls for festive occasions. Below - young girls in hanfu with double bun hairstyles:
As for your second question - yes, hairstyles are definitely an important part of the hanfu revival movement! After all, you can’t revive hanfu without also reviving the hairstyles to wear with it. The hanfu movement isn’t only about reviving clothing - it also involves reviving hairstyles, makeup, accessories, art, customs, etiquette, etc. And out of all of these, I’d say hairstyles get the second most amount of attention after clothing.
- 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! ^^
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:
regarding non chinese ppl wearing qipao/hanfu, and cultural appropriation ™ in general (although I can’t speak much on it bc I only really know about my own roots haha) I think it tends to be more complicated than ‘yes you can wear it go crazy : )’ and ‘no you absolutely can’t ever touch it : (’. So i will ramble into the void <33
The very basic things to consider are
1) the original purpose of the garment and the culture behind it, do some research!! This includes not wearing religiously/culturally significant clothing, and more careful consideration over styles of clothing that have been presented in a fetishized way (qipao im talking about qipao dsjlghf which CAN be very intentionally sexy ™ in terms of silhouettes, which is fine bc that’s just the clothing, but like… there are limits), and making sure you are wearing it correctly, etc. Also, don’t sdjlkhgjdfl don’t try and make yourself look asian LOL that post with ppl using the cat eye trend and trying to look asian bc kpop popular ig is funny but also like please don’t
2) When you’re wearing it. Don’t wear historical clothing for halloween please unless you’re cosplaying a specific character or person. An entire culture isn’t a costume. Don’t wear it to dress up unless you’re dressing up as a specific person or character. Also, please be aware of what character you’re dressing us. Wei Wuxian or smthn - OK. fu manchu - Way less okay.
3) Where you’re wearing it!! When you’re in the country, assuming you have research down and are wearing it properly, most local people will be flattered you’re taking interest in the culture. This is more complicated for diaspora communities - and I think that’s where a big divide comes in. Generally, it’s a very case by case basis outside of China - invited by a Chinese person to wear one? Go ahead. Wanna wear a tasteful qipao to a formal event? A tiny bit shaky depending on who you ask, but most people don’t mind. Hanfu/hanyuansu (hanfu styled modern) clothing? Also a little shaky depending on who you ask, I personally don’t mind but many people do, and the people who are uncomfortable shouldn’t be ignored. I think hanyuansu clothing is totally fine because it’s very much an aesthetic thing, but hanfu itself is a little more complicated. I PERSONALLY FEEL that in the current year of 2021 with everything going on in the US and Canada re: views on and actions towards e asians (and many SEA these POS literally can’t tell us apart) in these places, it’s a little shakier : ) Feels a little bad to see people dressed like us while we get yelled at on the streets haha
4) On appropriation. Most people in china, in my experience, would be happy when people take enough interest in the style to wear it! But diaspora voices saying they’re uncomfortable aren’t less valid - in many ways they matter *more* to this specific topic because they’re closer in terms of experience. For Chinese people in mainland, if they are Han (which is where. hanfu came from) they are the majority and not discriminated against for their clothing and ethnicity, whereas diaspora are more intimately aware of uh how it feels to be a minority, in many places a marginalized minority, which affects the way they interact with cultural appropriation - they’re also likely more familiar with it and will be the ones ‘suffering the outcomes’ ig of cultural appropriation. Not everyone is the same, some diaspora might not care! And some diaspora might find it offensive, especially if they’ve faced mockery or racism over their clothing or food. That’s like, not something that’s okay to invalidate or w/e lol if you’re in a situation with a Chinese person who feels uncomfortable with you wearing hanfu/qipao, you probably shouldn’t :/. Like… on a personal level I Do Not Care as long as it’s respectful but yk in general it’s like… don’t argue about this pls
5) Final notes. It’s good to do a little research! Hanfu can be a complicated topic because like… the revival movement is not only relatively recent, it’s also a result of a broader cultural revival movement promoting stuff like traditional dance (a mix of martial arts and ballet i think?) and art and music, my parents always comment that they didn’t have any of this growing up, they barely knew this much culture ™ existed. Culture and identity has always been a big topic, and the current issues I’d argue had their roots sown when macartney sailed over to china in the late 1700s and totally failed to make any progress re: trade with the emperor, and then the issues really started to show during the fall of the qing dynasty and the later eras including republic and communist which existed in a post imperial world where western = modern, and china = backwards. but. history rambles aside. Research ✨
Sure! From my understanding, the word 汉服 hanfu in the meaning we know it as today was first used in the 1990s, when some nationalist historical costume enthusiasts decided to start a movement to revive “traditional Chinese clothing” (in quotation marks because the definition is kind of vague), giving birth to the Hanfu Movement. “Han” is the majority ethnicity in China, and “fu” just means “clothing”, “garb” or “costume”, therefore “hanfu” linguistically refers to clothing worn by Han Chinese people.
A common explanation for why they picked the word hanfu was that it was selected from ancient texts describing clothing worn by Han Chinese people. The controversy surrounding this view is that 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 or 胡服 hufu (literatlly “foreign garb”) and not as a standalone term. Kind of like how we humans wouldn’t refer to our clothing styles as “Earth clothing” unless we come into contact with alien peoples whose ethnic dress is significantly different to ours. Ok forget about aliens, there’s a better analogy. The word “kimono” or 着物 just means “clothing” in Japanese, and it wasn’t until Japan came into contact with the West, whose clothing styles were very different, that kimono came to refer to Japanese clothing specifically. If you asked a Chinese person from, say, the 1580s to describe their fashion, they would probably go into detail about whatever garment or style was trendy at the moment and not respond with a simple “I wear hanfu”. Whereas if you asked the same person to describe the differences between Chinese fashion and Spanish fashion, they might use the term hanfu. This is not how we use this word today, though.
Another idea I’ve been fascinated by is the theory that hanfu was invented to make a catchy term for historical Chinese clothing comparable to kimono or hanbok. This was probably true to some extent, since there was quite a bit of nationalism among early hanfu enthusiasts and I can see where the need to be “on a par” with Japan and Korea on this matter of representation comes from.
Since the inception of the Hanfu Movement in the 90s, there have been multiple mainstream definitions for the term, and hanfu is a pretty decentralized and leaderless movement nowadays so everybody could attribute to it the meaning they like. Some people considered hanfu to be specifically clothing worn during the Han Dynasty, which isn’t a common view anymore. Most people consider it every type of Han Chinese clothing worn from Antiquity to the end of the Ming Dynasty, though some people expand hanfu to include Han clothing of the Yuan or early Qing. Some people consider tv and film costumes which aren’t exactly historically accurate hanfu as well. On a side note, hanfu doesn’t appear to be a common word used in academia, where scholars usually just say “historical Chinese clothing”, or refer to specific garment styles by name, further adding to the confusion. Nowadays people commonly use hanfu to refer to the community that developed from the 1990s Hanfu Movement and the clothing styles produced and worn by hanfu enthusiasts, and its exact definitions really depend on who you ask. I personally just use it to refer to anything related to the community or Chinese historical clothing pre Qing in general.
Although hanfu styles are drawn from history, the original aim of the Hanfu Movement was to revive traditional Chinese clothing not conserve, making the concept of hanfu a relatively new one. Throughout the Qing and 20th century, people did have an idea of how Han clothing was a unique system different to Manchu or Western dress, but they just went with the flow and let Han clothing do whatever was considered fashionable. Han clothing was more commonly referred to as 汉装 hanzhuang (also “Han garb”) in this period, not hanfu. Clothing styles with a 大襟 dajin or curved front closure which are commonly considered “too Manchu” in modern hanfu discourse, such as changshan, cheongsam, aoqun and aoku, were the poster children for Han clothing for most of the 20th century. When hanfu came along, it challenged this established notion and proposed a different approach to “traditional clothing”—-looking for older clothing styles prior to the absorption of Manchu influence. Because most hanfu styles popular nowadays are reproductions made by companies established in the 2010s and not directly passed down to us from older generations, we can’t guarantee that they’re 100% authentic. This means that hanfu isn’t so much as a traditional or conservationist community, but rather a modern, revivalist one. Some people get offended by this notion, which I don’t quite understand because it’s not a bad thing at all. I’ll paraphrase this quote about Gothic Revival architecture I read which also fits the Hanfu Movement quite nicely: “it went in search of origins but came back with originality”.
TLDR, the word itself is older, but the use of this term as a standalone word not in opposition to foreign dress is a modern thing. Sorry if this is all a confusing mess, I didn’t make the rules😅
I really like that last quote - “it went in search of origins but came back with originality” - definitely fits the current trajectory of the hanfu revival movement.
Some of my own comments/notes:
The commonly accepted “official” start year of the modern hanfu revival movement is 2003 (x), so I’d say the term “hanfu/汉服” in the meaning we know it as today was first used then, or earliest in the very late 1990s.
There’s been plenty of debate (and still ongoing) on what the term “hanfu” does and doesn’t include ever since the beginning of the hanfu movement, but it has never been considered to be just the clothing worn during the Han dynasty, at least among revivalists (x). This incorrect definition was mainly spread by uninformed journalists (both Chinese and foreign) who didn’t bother to do research on the topic, thereby propagating the misconception even further. Thankfully these days I see less of it, but for a long time it was the number one misunderstanding people had regarding hanfu.
TV and film costumes which aren’t exactly historically accurate are typically called guzhuang/古装 or yinglouzhuang/影楼装 (1, 2), and they are not considered hanfu by revivalists (who are fond of criticizing the historical inaccuracies of guzhuang). Still there is significant overlap, as modern hanfu are often inspired by guzhuang, and many hanfu shops aim to recreate guzhuang looks from popular cdramas.
