Vocabulary Ji, 笄 (jī) - the most simplistic hair accessories to secure updos used by ancient Chinese.  Zan, 簪 (zān) - a more complex version of Ji. What hanfu hairpins are now called. On one end are accessories, and the other is a pin that is inserted into a hair bun. Chai, 钗 (chāi) - also a hairpin quite similar to Zan. Chāi have two split pins on one end. The two pins will get pushed into the hair bun and stay much more securely than one pin in Zan and Ji. Guan, 冠 (guān) - literal translation is "crown". The crown in ancient China looked more like a net hat that encompassed hair buns within. Based on the crown, any sort of hairpin can be used to further secure the hat to the head.   Materials and Purpose Ji are considered the earliest and plainest hair accessories. It takes on the shape of a stick with or without a simple carved out design on one end and a single stick on the other. It is often carved out of a single piece of material or cut out separately then assembled at the end. This accessory is said to exist even…

Entering autumn, in addition to adapting to the weather, we also should change the style of clothes we wear. Temperatures in autumn are around 60% cold and 40% hot, because the sun doesn't last long and the weather tends to seem dark. It often rains but not heavily, when in early autumn there is a lot of fog that appears in the morning. So, warm clothes are more suitable to wear during this season. Now, the spread of hanfu is getting more and more widespread, and everyone can definitely see many people wearing hanfu in everyday life. Be it male or female, young or old, there are many people who wear Hanfu. So, what kind of hanfu should you wear in autumn? It's early fall, and the weather is a little cooler than summer, but not too cold. Therefore, hanfu worn in summer can still be worn today. For example, qixiong ruqun. In addition, Song dynasty hanfu, such as xuanqun, beizi, baidiequn, and others are also very suitable to be worn in autumn. When autumn is a little deeper, everyone can wear thicker hanfu. For example, the Ming dynasty hanfu which is very suitable to be worn in autumn. Of…

Haha so I lied in the last article, we’re actually doing the Tang Dynasty next! This is for sure going to be a favorite of everyone—after all, who can resist the flamboyant, vibrant beauty of the Tang Dynasty? Let’s get right to it and see where some of our favorite Tang Dynasty hanfu comes from. The Tang Dynasty was a period of time (618–907CE) preceded by the Wei/Jin Northern and Southern Dynasties and proceeded by the Five Dynasties Ten Kingdoms period, and then the Song Dynasty (the Five Dynasties Ten Kingdoms period is often regarded as part of the Tang fashion period for hanfu purposes because the fashion trends followed pretty closely). A flourishing golden age for China, the Tang Dynasty saw leaps and bounds in art, poetry, and exchange of culture—the most open-minded society that has existed in the world in a very long time. People freely exchanged cultural norms, aesthetics, and ideas between nations from the Silk Road and beyond, resulting in a blossoming of the world of clothing as well, and a rich collection of art for us to reference our hanfu off of.   Astana Cemetery Interestingly, not a lot of clothing of the Tang Dynasty…

Hey everyone, thanks for waiting! Our next topic is gonna be pretty exciting for most of you who love the classic ruqun aesthetic: we’re going to be going over the historical relics for the Wei/Jin and Northern/Southern Dynasty! Since there are so few of these relics, this article is going to focus on the Wei/Jin Dynasty as a whole, including restored relics, art references, and misconceptions about the Wei/Jin Dynasty. It might be a bit of a shorter article due to little material, but I know that people are really interested in this period of time, so let’s get to it! 魏晉南北朝/魏晋南北朝/wei4 jin4 nan2 bei3 chao2/Wei/Jin and Northern/Southern Dynasties refers to the period of time between 220 and 589CE. Also known as 六朝/六朝/liu4 chao2/Six Dynasties, this set of dynasties are compressed into one general block of time by historians because of the rapid exchange of power. Following the Eastern Han dynasty, the Three Kingdoms period had the Cao Wei kingdom at its forefront, with the Western Jin Dynasty coming right after ruled by Sima Yan. This was followed by the Northern Dynasties, when the Northern Wei, Western Wei, Easter Wei, and Northern Zhou and Qi Dynasties followed each other rapidly,…

Recently, Dragon Television announced that China's first documentary to briefly describe the creation story of China and Chinese civilization with national archaeological discoveries, "He Yi Zhong Guo (何以中国)", will officially meet with the audience in the near future. The program team spent more than 400 days and nights photographing more than 40,000 kilometers, which is equivalent to more than one week around the equator, and photographing more than 230 archaeological sites, archaeological workstations, museums, and other sites across the country. In the "He Yi Zhong Guo" Special Program: Talk About Archaeological History, the program team invited the Chinese Hanfu restoration team  (中国装束复原小组). In the program, they took the audience on a tour of "fashionable clothing" from the Spring and Autumn period to the Three Kingdoms period through a hanfu show. The first is the long dress from the late Spring and Autumn periods to the early and mid-Warring States Period. It is characterized by the hollowing out behind the long dress, revealing the long skirt dragging on the ground. Red is the right color, which is suitable for the attendance of some important occasions. The hairstyle is a chic and delicate combed bun, showing the slender neck behind the head.…

Hey everyone—a little busy as of late, but rest assured that I am not dead! I just had to pop back to belatedly report on the 2022 Scholar's Garden Hanfu Outing organized by Yulan/Chlobaltblue in our hanfu discord server community! This half-day event consisted of a photoshoot and group dinner on July 30th, 2022 in the New York Chinese Scholar's Garden with a small group of eight people attending. People from all over New England joined us for this outing, from Conneticut residents to Boston students flying all the way up to Staten Island. Unfortunately I was not one of those people, but I'm here to share with you all the pictures and experience that my sister provided! I'll also be doing a brief summary of some of the outfits that everyone is wearing. Some of our members had their own sets, while others borrowed from each other. A majority of our outfits were Wei/Jin Style (魏晉風)  outfits which consisted of a zhequn, cross collar top, and daxiushan. Ani also wore a Ming-style summer set, with a modified zhuyao with pearl buttons in the front to mimic the zimu buttons of a zhuyao and a Ming helingshan, a style that greatly resembles…

Cultural variety shows and historical dramas have opened up a new trend of Chinese celebrities' traditional costume styling. Starting with "National Treasure" in 2017, celebrities frequently time travel to various dynasties to experience the life of ancient people. Yang Zi acted in many Xianxia dramas (such as Ashes of Love, and Immortal Samsara), but in "National Treasure", she had the opportunity to talk with Princess Wencheng across time and space. The appropriate gold ornaments, together with the flower inlay between her eyebrows, highlight her dignified and luxurious side. Zhang Zifeng, transformed into a Qing Dynasty astronomer, Wang Zhen Yi. With her plain attire and calm and quiet temperament, you seem to be able to see the majestic universe in her heart. The 2019 suspense drama "The Longest Day In Chang'an", the thrilling investigation process, with a rich display of Tang Dynasty styling, adds a lot of features to this drama. In the show "Meet the temple of heaven" 2019, has a number of actresses changing into Qing Dynasty attire, which combined with the scenery of the Temple of Heaven, really gives a feeling of history shining into reality. Compared to Xianxia and Wuxia dramas, cultural shows and historical dramas usually…

Is it appropriate to wear hanfu in summer? Hanfu makers are more concerned with this question. Light fabrics, half-sleeve designs, and fresh colors have become their solution to allow hanfu lovers to wear beautiful hanfu even in the hot summer. Redsugarx in the community has already shared how to choose hanfu in summer. And in this post, I've brought together 10 green hanfu dress styles, I hope will helpful in your next hanfu shopping. They all have one thing in common, give you a touch of freshness in the summer heat. So, let's get started. 1 Modified hanfu top + Bai Die Qun   2 Ming dynasty: square collar Shan + sarong skirt   3 Song dynasty: Moxiong + Shan + San Jian Qun   4 Song Dynasty: Hanfu camisole + Beizi + Bai Die Qun   5 Song Dynasty: Hanfu camisole + Beizi + Zhe Qun   6 Ming dynasty: round-necked Shan + Moxiong + Ma Mian Qun   7 Wei and Jin dynasties: Ruqun   8 Ming Dynasty: sarong Shan + Ma Mian Qun   9 Qixiong Shanqun   10 Song Dynasty: Shanqun + Beizi More about summer hanfu:

Hey everyone! I’m so sorry about how late this is since I promised this like… three weeks ago, but here’s a little outfit analysis of the rainbow pride outfit that I designed and posted a few pictures of last month! Disclaimer: While I design the shapes, fabrics, and combinations of my hanfu designs, I do not sew any of my hanfu designs! This is due to the fact that I could not sew a straight line to sew my life. Instead I work with various small independent tailors, seamstresses and hanfu workshops.   THE BASIC STATS I chose to make this set a Song Dynasty hanyuansu. Song style hanfu has long been known to be the most popular in the summer with its flowy and light layers, and me being in Taiwan for pretty much all of pride month meant that I needed to be able to stay cool in 37+ degrees while hanging around outside for pictures. The main modifications in this set are to the top piece, which is a 吊帶, or camisole, with straps. This is a very simple three-piece set that gives all of its attention to the rainbow skirt. The three pieces include the camisole…

Ready to start deepening your hanfu wardrobe? Start looking into some of your closet staples here: hanfu underlayers!

Want to wear chest-high ruqun but can't seem to figure out how to keep it from slipping? Here are five ways to fix this problem.

If you are looking for a romantic gift for your lover, you should know that there are many different ways to make it unique. You can get a set of sweet hanfu costumes for lovers, which is a very meaningful gift. There are 10 sets of sweet Chinese Hanfu for lovers. You can choose them to suit yourself or to match your partner’s style.   1 Tang Dynasty Robe   2 Wei Jin Style Ruqun Set   3 Tang Dynasty Robe   4 Tang Dynasty Robe   5 Daopao + Dahu   6 Tang Dynasty Robe + Qixiong Shanqun   7 Qiyao Ruqun Set   8 Hanfu-inspired Robe + Song Dynasty Qiyao Zhequn Set   9 Qiyao Ruqun Set   10 Zhiju In conclusion, The 10 sets of sweet costumes for lovers are made of high-quality material and are durable. The sets are also in different styles and colors. You can use these ideas to create a unique and romantic date for your special someone. And, these costumes are suitable for hanfu parties or other events, too.

It’s prom season! Now, I know that the age group for prom is pretty small, but I’m going to prom in an outfit of my own this year (I’ll be uploading an outfit analysis of it once I’m done arranging everything in a separate article) and I thought I’d compile a few ideas for anyone else to follow in my steps. This doesn’t only include prom, of course—homecoming, other formal or semiformal occasions (if it’s black tie or has a really strict dress code play  it safe and don’t do something too extravagant), etc. are also great places to show off your hanfu. Matching Ming Dynasty Sets One popular tradition for prom is to match your prom date’s outfit when you go to prom. There’s lots of ways to do this—for western clothing, many people match ties to their date’s dress or vice versa, and a couple wearing both feminine and masculine coded clothing also looks very charming—but, luckily, this tradition matches with a common hanfu trend: couple’s outfits, or CP outfits, as they’re often called. This isn’t just for official couples, of course—plenty of friends, siblings, and the like also wear CP outfits for fun. Some of the most…

Although hanfu has a long history, most modern hanfu are restored based on excavated cultural relics, heirloom ancient paintings, and frescoes as prototypes, which can be roughly divided into "style restoration", "pattern restoration", "color matching restoration "and so on. In this article, we will show you 10 beautiful vintage hanfu dresses with rich ancient flavor.   #01 This retro hanfu set is Jiaoling Ruqun, restored from Tang Yin's "Chang'e Holding A Laurel" from the Ming Dynasty. There are six pieces of hanfu in the set, with a double cross-collar upper jacket, a goose yellow jacquard outer layer, black cuffs with cranes in clouds, and a diamond-shaped bean green one-piece pleated skirt underneath.   #02 This is a half-armed, wide-sleeved, cross-necked Ruqun, arestored from the figures in the Yongle Palace murals in Rui Cheng, Shanxi Province.   #03 This Dunhuang mural restoration of a Tang Dynasty Qixiong Shanqun + Pibo is based on the costume in the mural "Donor portrait of Lady Wang from Taiyuan in worship". The upper body is blue light cross-necked upper Shan + dark red light cross-necked Banbi, and the lower skirt is a large red printed two-piece skirt.   #04 This retro Jiaoling Ruqun set is…

Looking to get into the Taobao shops? These are some good jumping-off points!

What hanfu styles are from which dynasties? Can you tell what dynasty the cover photo for this article depicts?

Now that we've talked about gender neutrality and men's hanfu, let's explore some unisex hanfu that are traditionally enjoyed by everyone!

A personal account of what hanfu means to me as a gender fluid person.

For many of us, spring is finally here! Spring means new beginnings, fresh starts, new growth. It’s the perfect time to start looking for new jobs, new opportunities, or even new relationships. If you’re ready to make a fresh start with a spring hanfu look, then take a look at these 12 floral patterns that are guaranteed to get you noticed this spring. You’ll be sure to stand out in a crowd! In Chinese tradition, there is a representative flower for each month. Turning the beautiful floral into embroidered or printed patterns on the spring hanfu attire not only makes the hanfu more colorful, but the best expression of the beautiful symbolism of these flowers.   January - Plum Blossom Look 1 Inner: Hezi Qun Set (诃子裙) Outer: Daxiu Shan (大袖衫) Dynasty: Tang Look 2 Inner: standing collar slash lapel Changshan (立领斜襟长衫) Outer: Bijia (比甲) Skirt: Mamian Qun (马面裙) Dynasty: Ming   February - Apricot Blossom Look 3 Inner: Qiyao Shanqun set (齐腰衫裙) Outer: lapel Changshan (对襟长衫) + Xiapei (霞帔) Dynasty: Song Look 4 Inner: standing collar wide sleeve Changshan (立领广袖长衫) Outer: Yunjian (云肩) Skirt: Mamian Qun Dynasty: Ming   March - Peach Blossom Look 5 Inner: Qiyao Shanqun set…

What are some styles of hanfu for men? Read about six of the most popular types!