In the Book of Songs, it is said, "The peach blossoms are in full bloom, their colors are bright and vivid like fire. This girl is getting married and will make her husband's family happy and harmonious. (桃之夭夭，灼灼其华。之子于归，宜其室家。)" With a few words, it outlines a prosperous scene of joyfulness and marriage of men and women. Chinese marriage rituals were formed during the Xia and Shang dynasties, and because the ancient ritual of marrying a wife was often held at dusk, it was known as the "Hun Li (昏礼)". Since ancient times, people have attached great importance to weddings, and on this day people dress up to celebrate this important event in their lives and gather many good wishes on their wedding clothes. In recent years, more and more people are choosing traditional Chinese wedding dresses for their weddings, and the beauty of the Feng Guan (凤冠, phoenix crown) and Xia Pei (霞帔) has stunned countless people. Chinese traditional wedding dresses are not only beautiful, but also have the weight and uniqueness of the ancient oriental culture, let's follow ArtMoment to explore the romance that has lasted for thousands of years and belongs to the Chinese people.   Tang Dynasty: warmth…

Seeing many people posting beautiful photos and videos of them wearing hanfu on the Internet, you want to try it too, right? Here are some poses you can try.   1. Dynamic photography If you always sit in one place or stand still while taking pictures, your expressions and movements will easily become stiff, and the pictures you take will not look good. At this time, dynamic photography methods had to be adopted, and photographers had to take pictures by rotating a semi-circle. The dynamic photo method is not only rotating, but can also use a more daily walking photo method. Holding some flowers in one hand and a dress in the other, stepping on the grass path, lifting the eyes for a moment, freezing the beautiful moments and leaving behind precious memories. Or choose to take a picture in the garden, stroking the leaves with your hands and twisting slightly to capture the side of the face, is also a good choice.   2. Using props for static photos Usually I always feel a little monotonous when taking pictures, I don't know where to put my hands, and even the whole body and expression is unnatural? At this time,…

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…

Armor was an important war material in the cold weapon era, and its quality and quantity were crucial to the combat power of ancient armies and the rule of feudal dynasties. The Chinese emperors paid attention to improving the ability and quality of armor manufacturing, but also strictly controlled the private possession of armor by strict penalties and laws. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, this restriction was even stricter, and those who hid the whole set of armor privately would be regarded as having conspiracy to commit rebellion to be executed. The armor could only be handed out during the war and collected into the national treasury after the war. These military treasures were eventually destroyed and lost during the war between the dynasties, so except for a few surviving artifacts from the late Qing Dynasty that have been preserved as cultural relics, the rest of the dynasties have rarely survived to this day. However, after the death of the royal family and the senior military class, armor could be buried in the burial chamber as burial goods. For example, the Qin Dynasty, the images of armor portrayed on the terracotta warriors and the stone armor excavated from the…

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…

When wearing hanfu, everyone will usually do the hanfu hairstyle. With a beautiful hairstyle, it will indeed be very photogenic when taking photos. However, it does take time and energy to do a beautiful hanfu hairstyle. When you usually go out, you may not have enough time to do a beautiful hairstyle. In fact, some hairstyles can be used to match hanfu in addition to ordinary clothes, as long as you match them properly, they will naturally look good.    1. Low ponytail If you don't want to create an overly complicated hanfu hairstyle, a simple low ponytail that goes well with the hanfu will suffice. Of course, everyone should pay attention to the feeling of laziness when wearing this type of hairstyle. That is, when a low ponytail is tied, it should not be too close to the scalp and should be tied a little looser. Also, it is best to leave some bangs in the front to complete the face shape. If you don't have neat bangs, you can also leave two strands of hair at the temples, which will make the hairstyle softer, and more suitable for matching hanfu.   2. High ponytail The low ponytail mentioned…

In the past two years, there have been countless cultural variety shows that got public praise, but the most impressive estimates are "Tang Palace Night Banquet", underwater Flying Dance "Pray", and "The Painting Journey—The Legend of A Panorama of Mountains and Rivers", and most of them are showcased in gorgeous and beautiful dances. Recently, the variety show "The Mews (美好年华研习社)" has once caused a frenzy among hanfu lovers in the form of a brand-new program.   The Highlight of "The Mews" "The Mews" was initiated by famous hosts Wang Han and Ma Ke. It gathered 12 young members and divided them into two groups. With historical figures as the topic, the members of the two groups studied separately, designed a show for the two ancient women, and participated in it. Therefore, each episode is about the process of the groups members from getting the questions to completing them. It combines almost all stage forms: drama, musical, stand-up comedy, dance, and hanfu show, through the stories of ancient women, to tell the aesthetics and culture of their times. The program is aimed at the majority of young audiences, promotes and popularizes the traditional aesthetics of the Chinese represented by "Chinoiserie" and…

  Vocabulary Velvet Flower - 绒花 (rónghuā) - a realistically made flower made artificially from silk threads and copper wire. Palace Flower - 宫花 (gōng huā) - another way to call ronghua with the rise in popularities of ronghua to females in the palace. Untwisted Silks - 无捻蚕丝 (wú niǎn cánsī) - when it comes to silk threads, depending on the type and material of the threads, one single thread can be made up of thinner threads twisted together. Untwisted silk thread means there are no smaller twisted threads. You can directly skip to the brushing steps in ronghua making process. Hunan Embroidery Thread - 湘绣线 (xiāngxiù xiàn) - another type of thread used in ronghua making. Suzhou Embroidery Thread - 苏绣线 (sūxiù xiàn) - another type of thread used in ronghua making.   History 绒花, rónghuā, an artificial handcraft head accessories made from materials such as silks and coppers. It existed since the Qin Dynasty. There are many known “brands” of ronghuas, such as Nanjing Ronghua. In the Tang era, Wu Zetian listed Nanjing Ronghua as a royal tribute to the Yangzhou area becoming a luxury only princes and princesses can use. Eventually, Nanjing Ronghua became something that represents Nanjing but also…

The beauty of autumn is that you can apply different dressing rules even though the seasonal temperature changes. Blending hanfu and fashion elements together to explode with an unforgettable sense of tradition and fashion. In this article, Hanfu Times recommends three types of hanfu items and the best dressing principles for fall to find your own fall hanfu street fashion.   Round Neck Shirt/Robe The round neck shirt/robe is the most suitable hanfu item for all skin types and body types. The collar can be decorated with nice buttons and can be folded into different lapel styles, which can be worn as a top or as a windbreaker jacket depending on the thickness of the material. The cuffs can be added or modified with cufflinks, turning them into arrow sleeves or bubble sleeves, suitable for a mix of different personalities. The lower skirt can be mixed with a Poqun, or a Mamianqun. If it is a solid color, the waist and then add a medium width belt, can cover the original skirt waist, but also to trim the body shape. The bottom can also be mixed with fashion pants, fashion chinos, lantern pants, or wide-legged pants.   Stand Collar Shirt…

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.…

The 馬王堆漢墓/马王堆汉墓/ma3 wang2 dui1/Mawangdui Han tomb is one of the most famous Han dynasty archaeological sites in China. Located in Mawangdui, Changsha, this elaborate tomb was found in 1968 and excavated in 1972 to reveal the remains of an incredibly well-preserved noblewoman that we now know was the wife to the Marquis of Dai in the Han Dynasty Kingdom of Changsha, Li Dai. A multilayered burial site containing furniture, food, art, accessories, and other belongings, the tomb contained her personal seal, which was found with the name 辛追/辛追/xin1 zhui1/Xin Zhui engraved in it; thus we know her as 辛追夫人/新追夫人/xin1 zhui1 fu1 ren2/Lady Xinzhui.  (A quick disclaimer—this series of articles is a result of my own research. I’m not a trained historian or archaeologist, I’m an inexperienced student with an interest in hanfu and chinese history. I don’t have a works cited page for these (though I can point you towards some of the resources I used off the top of my head if you really want them), and I didn’t spend a long time verifying my sources beyond checking with multiple sources to make sure the information was consistent, because frankly I don’t have the time to do that. All…

China has a long history of five thousand years. The history written in this vast land by Chinese people flourishing, eating, clothing, housing, and transportation is every bit as colorful and splendid. National dress is the most intuitive expression of national style. For example, when we talk about Japan, people can quickly think of kimonos. What would come to mind if we were to find a synonym for Chinese costumes? In the heart of craftsman Zhong Yi, the word is definitely: Hanfu. In May 2017, Lin Chi-ling in hanfu appears in a large advertisement in Times Square, New York, wearing a simple and elegant bean green hanfu dress. The soft and gentle, exquisite craftsmanship is hidden in the details, showing the restrained and dignified beauty of oriental women. The Chinese culture was promoted intuitively and fully, stunning the world. As a sharer of the second season of the program "THE GREAT SHOKUNIN", Lin had this to say in the program. "China, with its greatness of manners, is called Xia, and the beauty of its costumes is called Hua. Costumes and manners are traditionally the most external cultural heritage of a nation. Hanfu, is not the old clothes that stay in…

We often say that fashion is a cycle, but have you ever wondered what fashion items were popular in ancient China? What kind of clothes are popular in different periods?   The ancient pleated skirt The preppy style has been really popular in recent years, various brands have also repeatedly used retro college style as the main style of the season. Kinds of pleated skirts and white shirts can be seen everywhere. However, in the Han Dynasty of China more than 2,000 years ago, there was already such a "pleated skirt" design. According to legend, its origin is related to Zhao Feiyan, one of the top ten beauties of ancient times. In the records, Zhao Feiyan was slim and likes to dance in long skirts. One time, a strong wind suddenly blew while she dancing on the lake. Zhao Feiyan was almost fly into the sky by the wind, and the palace maid hurriedly pulled her skirt to save her. The skirt was pulled out a lot of folds, but everyone felt that these folds made the skirt look more beautiful. The fairy-like Zhao Feiyan was not only not blown away by the wind, but also left the beautiful name…

Fabric and craftsmanship are both very important aspects of hanfu making. In this article, several common hanfu fabric processes will be briefly introduced to you.   Zhuang Hua Zhuang Hua (妆花) is the most complex variety of weaving technology in Nanjing cloud brocade, and also the representative jacquard silk weaving variety with the most local characteristics of Nanjing, was popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Traditional Zhuang Hua is made of artificial weaving, and the Zhuang Hua on nowadays are all "imitation Zhuang Hua", which are made by machines. The Zhuang Hua fabric is characterized by many colors and is rich in color changes. In terms of the weaving method, the pattern on the fabric is partially painted by using a colored fleece weft bobbin. The color matching is very free and there are no restrictions. The main pattern of the design is usually expressed in two or three levels of color, and some patterns are expressed in simple color (such as pedicels, leaves, and buds). A piece of Zhuang Hua fabric with patterns and colors can be matched in more than a dozen or even 20 or 30 colors. Although there are many colors of Zhuang Hua, but…

October 4, the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, is the traditional Chinese holiday of Chongyang Festival (重阳节, Double Ninth Festival), also known as Old People's Day. In ancient times, there were customs such as climbing up high and placing dogwoods, worshipping ancestors, enjoying chrysanthemums and putting paper kites, etc. In modern times, Chongyang Festival has been given the meaning of respecting the elderly. It must be a wonderful thing to let the elderly wear hanfu on this day. "White hair wearing flowers, you should not laugh, the years never lose beauty. If you have a poetry book hidden in your heart, you can pick up the fragrance to become the most real." This poem will also be proved in the seniors.   Seniors in Hanfu who promotes traditional culture Liu Weixiu (刘维秀), a 78-year-old hanfu granny, is a retired actress from the Hunan Provincial Peking Opera Troupe, and now she is a short video blogger who first wore hanfu in 2016 because she helped her students with their short video assignments, which brought her attention on the Internet and became an opportunity for her to fall in love with hanfu and spread its culture. Liu's…

I made my first real Hanfu based on patterns from this website. First outing at the beach, with dragons and all. Here is an article with much details on my sewing journey.

Quju is a type of hanfu that belongs to the Shenyi dress system and was common during the Qin and Han dynasties, with characteristics such as "overlapping and hooked edges". In ancient times, the more grand the occasion, the more gorgeous the overall look of the Quju was, giving it a sense of grace and elegance. There is a wide variety of accessories and items that can be matched with Quju, and different types of accessories can create different effects with Quju dress. Let's follow Hanfu Shidai (汉服世代) to learn more about it.   01 Dao Shan Dao Shan (刀扇), also known as Bian Shan (便扇), Bian Mian (便面), is a kind of Chinese traditional fan, used to cover the face, shaped like a door. Book of Han - Zhang Chang's Tale has recorded: "自以便面拊马 (patting a horse with a Bian Mian by himself)". Yan Shigu, the historian of the Tang Dynasty, also explained the function of the Bian Mian in his commentary on the Book of Han: “便面，所以障面，盖扇之类也。不欲见人，以此自障面，则得其便，故曰便面，亦曰屏面。” We can learn that the "Bian Mian" can be classified as a fan, but its focus is different, the main function of is not to fan the wind and cool, but to…

In recent years, with the rise of the China-Chic trend, many gold stores have also begun to favor products of traditional culture and launched the so-called ancient gold craft and inheritance series of Chinese gold jewelry. The ancient Chinese used goldware as body decoration, dating back to the Xia Dynasty 4,000 years ago. The gold eardrops unearthed in Gansu is the best proof. The simple circle obviously cannot reflect the skill level of the ancients, so today let’s take a look at the gold earrings and gold bracelets in the museum’s collection of cultural relics. Let’s experience the luxury aesthetics of ancient Chinese gold jewelry.   Eardrop Eardrops (Er Zhui, 耳坠) is a kind of traditional Chinese earrings, with an additional part of the drop than earrings. This pair of gold eardrops in the Warring States Period adopts a cone and spring design, and the color matching of gold and turquoise is even more ingenious. This pair of gold eardrops from the Northern Wei Dynasty is composed of amber, silver ring, gold ring, silk column, hollow gold beads, wheat ear flower and other elements. Through weaving, welding, hammering, wire drawing, and other technologies, it creates a complicated but not messy…

The popularity of hanfu has also led to new hanfu-related professions such as "Hanfu Makeup Artist (Zhuang Niang, 妆娘)" and "Hanfu Hairpin Maker (Zan Niang, 簪娘)".   Hanfu Makeup Artist Light and elegant hanfu, shiny hairpin, walked into the hanfu experience hall, and the classical atmosphere came to face. The scissors lane at the Laomen East Pedestrian Street in Nanjing can be said to be "Hanfu Street", and nearly 20 Hanfu stores are gathered. Every holiday, lots of beautiful ladies in hanfu can be met here. Xiao Yang is a hanfu makeup artist in hanfu experience hall. She has just entered the industry for half a year, but has long felt young people’s love for hanfu. "I’m very busy every day during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, and I need to styling for more than ten ladies." Before entering the industry, Xiao Yang was a teacher. After working for several years, she wanted to change careers, so she studied makeup. "Because hanfu has been relatively popular in recent years, I want to specialize in hanfu makeup, and occasionally make makeup for the bride. I think the makeup of hanfu is lighter and more elegant than that of daily makeup. The eyebrows…