Women's Clothing Culture of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

Yan Tszin PhD in Art History Department of Art Theory and History, Moscow Pedagogical State University 109052, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Ryazan str., 9 yangjing@bk.ru Other publications by this author

Artina Gu Kaizhi illustrates the beautiful love story of Cao Zhi and Fairy Luo. The scroll painting itself is distinguished by its detail, the characters are dressed naturally and at ease, their long robes seem to float in the wind, free and elegant. This work broadly demonstrates the peculiarities of the costume culture of the Wei and Jin dynasties in the context of the fusion of national cultures and new ideas (Fig. 1).

Fig.1. Fragment of the painting "Fairy of the Lo River" (source: Search results for "Fairy of the Lo River" (baidu.com ))

1) Diversity of social backgroundIn every period of Chinese history, the peculiarities of costume culture are closely intertwined with the social environment.

During the Wei-Jin era, wars were often fought, and the Eastern Han was disintegrating, and people lived in difficult conditions. On the basis of Taoism, developed by the great philosophers Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, a new Xuan-xue thinking appeared, which used a discursive approach to discuss the basis of everything in heaven and earth. The teaching promoted following nature, one's desires, declaring the originally beautiful nature of man, brought a new incomprehensible, transcendent, creative grain into the minds of scholars in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties and became part of the overall picture of the values of that time.

Under the influence of the new Taoist teaching of Xuan-xue, Buddhism was gradually introduced in the era of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties. He promoted purity of thought, simplicity, and the laws of karma, which had much in common with Taoism. This became the subject of discussion of the highest court officials of that time and thus penetrated deeply into the society of that time, and, of course, had a significant impact on culture and art. In this study, based on the clothing of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties, among which women's clothing is the most representative, a comprehensive analysis of the features of clothing of these eras will be carried out. 

2) Artistic forms of costume culture of the Wei-Jin erasWomen's clothing of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties was based on the clothing of the Han era.

The robes of the Han era were tight-fitting wide shirts with long sleeves and tightened cuffs. In women's clothing of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties, the influence of the previous era can be traced, but the cuffs have become wider: "one sleeve is like two." 

The collar was free, and the upper and lower garments were worn separately. Shirts, half-coats and jackets were worn on the upper part of the body. The shirts had straight lapels and wide sleeves, and the petticoats were wider. Women's clothing of the Wei and Jin era with large sleeves and wide clothes liberated not only the female body, but also the female mind. It was comfortable in these clothes, she followed natural laws and was the living embodiment of the Taoist principle of non-action ("wuwei"), demonstrated elegance and lightness. The short top and long bottom of the garment better emphasized the beauty of the female body than the relatively shapeless clothes of the Han Dynasty. 

The new clothing structure freed Wei and Jin women from the need to wear robes with shenyi assemblies. Despite the fact that they still wore a combination of a shirt, outerwear, and a long skirt, the upper garments became shorter and shorter. The overall silhouette became more and more elongated and thin, liberating movements, the neck also became more and more open. (Fig.2). In the image of the "Seven Wise Men from the Bamboo Grove", some people have their necks open, which illustrates the support of educated people for the teachings of Xuan Xue, as well as a certain adherence to natural laws. Women's dresses were diverse, they incorporated the clothing culture of other ethnic groups in addition to their own innovations. The lower garments were a double skirt and a robe skirt, they were wide at the top and thin at the bottom, had thin folds, which is more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing than the wide robes adopted in the Han era. 

Fig.2. Women's attire with large sleeves of the Wei-Jin era Fig.3. Skirts of the Wei-Jin era with pendants and a decorative belt

(sources: Search results for "Clothing in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties" (baidu.com ))

Progress in the development of the culture of clothing of the Wei-Jin epochs consisted in the creation of an apron, the floors of the dress "in the shape of a swallow's tail" won the love of women of that time: they demonstrated freedom, spirituality, lightness, strengthening the tradition of wearing a wide robe and belt. The main feature was that there were cascading strokes on the skirt floors, creating the illusion of sharp corners, as well as pendants and a decorative belt (Fig.3). Based on a number of artifacts found and existing wall paintings, it can be assumed that the costumes had a functional and ritual purpose. It can be seen that dresses "in the shape of a swallow's tail" were worn at the ceremony.

In addition to the apron and the dress "in the shape of a swallow's tail", innovative in the clothing of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties was that it simultaneously intertwined elements of the culture of the northern tribes and Han, which led to the fact that the military clothing of the Kusi began to be worn in everyday life. At the beginning of the Han era, these clothes were tight and constrained movement. Later, trousers were tied below the knee with a cloth, for example, a brocade ribbon to tie the legs for riding a horse. (Fig. 4) Vests distinguished by practicality and aesthetics began to be worn in everyday life (Fig. 5). In the Han Dynasty, the vest was present as women's underwear, but during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties, the vest was perfected as a functional outerwear that could be worn over a dress to give visual appeal. Underwear of the Wei-Jin era was the ancestor of modern underwear and was a military vest that protected the chest and back. (Fig.6) The use of various materials to protect against sharp weapons has changed over time as the ancient culture of clothing has evolved. The richness of Wei and Jin costume culture is also reflected in the characteristic use of color.

           Rice.4. Wei-Jin Military trousers

Rice.5. Wei-Jin era vest      Rice.

6. Military vest

(sources: Search results for "Military trousers", "Vests of the Wei-Jin era" (baidu.com ))

According to literary monuments, already from the era of Western Zhou to Chun-qiu, the concept of a color scheme in clothing was formed, according to which the upper and lower classes of society had to dress in different colors. After the creation of the system of "etiquette and music" in the era of the Zhou Dynasty, the concept of distinguishing the upper and lower classes in clothing became increasingly important, and color became an expressive part of culture. In ancient times, the most revered colors were black and red, but in the Wei-Jin era, under the influence of the teachings of Xuan-xue and his ideas of following the natural course of things, white was considered the most natural and pure color, or rather, the absence of color. Lao Tzu believed that "five colors make a person blind." Chuang Tzu claimed that "five colors confuse the eye, do not allow the eye to distinguish anything." Most of the costumes of the Wei and Jin eras were made in natural, simple white tones, ranging from the monarch to the people's officials. All the clothes, starting with hats and ending with wedding dresses - everything was white. It is important to note that with the exception of the Wei-Jin era, the Chinese have always avoided white as the main color for festive events, most used red, yellow, black. Before the Wei and Jin dynasties, white was the main color of mourning rituals. The emperor's son wore a white gauze cap during mourning after the emperor's death. Considering all of the above, it is easy to conclude that the color preferences in the Wei-Jin era were unique, reflecting the inner thoughts of the people who aspired to nature, freedom and innovation.

The Wei and Jin dynasties were a period of constant innovation in the style of clothing and its colors, which sought harmony with nature. In the context of such a desire for nature, for the natural state of things, as well as the spread of the teachings of Xuan Yuan, hairstyles and makeup of that period were also natural. Such types of makeup as sehongzhuang, zizhuang, banmianzhuang, mianye, as well as hairstyles such as braids twisted on the head, tied flowers, luxuriously whipped hair — all this expresses attention and concern for the nature of the people of that time. Buddhism also had a profound influence on women's hairstyles of the Wei and Jin eras, as evidenced by the variety of hairpieces popular at that time, which can be seen in cave statues and frescoes of that period. Compared to their predecessors, the costumes of the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern eras were more versatile, practical and innovative, setting a good direction for the development of the art of costume in the subsequent Sui and Tang dynasties, which makes us think about the direction of modern costume culture against the background of a history of five thousand years.

3) Modern trends in the development of clothing cultureCurrently, more is known in the world about Chinese manufacturing than about Chinese design.

From the point of view of Chinese culture with a length of 5000 years, this fact is an incentive for the promotion, renewal and inheritance of clothing culture. However, this will be a completely new topic, we will briefly consider this issue below.

With the rise of China's status in the world, recently the world's leading brands have taken advantage of the huge Chinese market and began to use in their design such elements of traditional Chinese national costumes as fabric buttons, embroidery, stand-up collars, the style of qipao dresses, bright red tones, etc. Podiums are also boldly decorated in the style of the Taihedian pavilion, with jiangzhi patterns, lanterns, kites. Extremely popular in the collections of different brands of tai-dai, knotted batik, hand embroidery. However, the symbols of traditional Chinese culture are used without a full interpretation of traditional artistic and cultural connotations. In order to change this state of affairs and stimulate the entry of Chinese clothing culture to the international level, it is necessary to start with education and reform university programs for training talents for fashion design. Well-developed curricula are only the first step in the training of qualified fashion designers. Currently, there is still a lack of cultural thinking, depth of understanding of Chinese traditional culture, its wealth and heritage. Creating a style of clothing that corresponds to Chinese characteristics, it is important to simultaneously combine national and global, individual and collective, paying special attention to creativity. 

In the process of creating innovations and inheritance, single imitation and copying of costume models should be avoided. It is necessary to emphasize the culture of the nation and the cultural subtext of the costume, while combining them with fashion trends, colors, shapes and fabrics. In other words, relying on the essence of traditional culture, inheritance, and improving the style of clothing with Chinese characteristics is not only the goal of our relentless striving, but also a subject that every designer should pay special attention to.

ConclusionThe cultural and social conditions prevailing in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties contributed to the development and innovation of a rich and colorful costume culture, freeing the bodies and minds of women of that era, contributing to the aesthetic development of women's clothing.

The culture of women's clothing formed in the era considered in this article laid the foundation for the culture of clothing of the next generations, provided directions for the development of modern clothing, continued the path for the development of a culture of clothing with Chinese specifics.