Chinese Culture: Hanfu 中国文化之汉服

Hanfu, also known as Hanzhuang or Huafu, refers to the traditional dress of Han Chinese people before Qing dynasty. The term Hanfu derives from the Book of Han, which says, ”then he(Qu Li) came to the Court many times to pay homage and was delighted at the clothing style of the Han. ” Here Han refers to Han Dynasty, but as a matter of fact Hanfu includes not only clothing in Han Dynasty but also in Shang, Zhou, Tang, Song and Ming.

The beauty of Hanfu lies not only in its appearance but also in that it plays a significant role in Chinese proprieties. In ancient China, garments are used as decoration as well as a symbol of position and situation. Namely, the officials wear differently when they are on the Court and when they are at home; scholar-bureaucrats wear differently with common people; clothing on different rituals such as fetes or rituals diversify; even at different ages people wear different clothing. A man old can start wearing fur coat and silk only after he is above 20 years.

Name:
汉服hànfú: Hanfu
汉装hànzhuānɡ: Hanzhuang
华服huá fú: Huafu
士大夫shìdàifu: scholar-bureaucrats

Words:
来自láizì: derives from
包括bāokuò: includes
礼节lǐjié: propriety
即是jíshì: Namely
官方的ɡuānfānɡ de: officials
不同地bùtónɡ dì: differently
服饰fúshì: clothing