Zhang Ruying’s Notes: From《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》Clothing (Sui Dynasty — Early Tang Dynasty)
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- About《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》
- Sui Dynasty – Early Tang Dynasty: Two Elegant Styles in South and North
- Northern Style Daily Clothing
- Southern Style Formal Clothing
Introduction
Hello,
My name is 张儒英 Zhang Ruying, and I am a traditional Chinese clothing enthusiast. Recently, I had the opportunity to read a book about traditional Chinese attire, especially for the Tang dynasty (618-907), written in Chinese, titled《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》by 左丘萌 and 末春. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and to better understand parts of it, I translated sections that I found challenging. I also made notes along the way to help deepen my understanding.
And I’m excited to share these notes with you! I hope they help deepen our understanding of traditional Chinese clothing, which is so rich in history and beauty. The information in this note comes from the book《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》.
About《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》
《中国妆束：大唐女儿行》(Zhōng Guó Zhuāng Shù: Dà Táng Nǚ’ér Xíng) by 左丘萌 (Zuǒ Qiūméng) and 末春 (Mò Chūn) attempts to reinterpret the true fashion of women’s makeup and attire during the Tang dynasty, based on archaeological findings of Tang artifacts.
It contrasts these findings with historical records and unearthed documents to reframe how the Tang people themselves might have viewed fashion in their time.
The book covers from the Sui dynasty to the Five dynasties, and is divided into four sections: Qi Luo 绮罗 (clothing), Lin Lang 琳琅 (accessories), Fen Dai 粉黛 (makeup), and Ji Huan 髻鬟 (hairstyles).
Each section carefully examines and details the names, styles, and combinations of different makeup and attire from that period.
The book selects well-known historical figures, such as Yang Guifei, Wu Zetian, Shangguan Wan’er, Nie Yinniang, Princess Tongchang, and others, based on existing archaeological findings, makes informed speculations to restore the possible makeup and attire of these figures. The book reconstructs their clothing, accessories, hairstyles, makeup, and scenes, all supported by historical sources.
No more words, let’s begin our journey!
隋——初唐：江南江北两风流
Sui Dynasty – Early Tang Dynasty: Two Elegant Styles in South and North
As seen in《颜氏家训·音辞》(yán shì jiā xùn · yīn cí) and《隋书·文学传叙》(suí shū · wén xué chuán xù) , the differences between the North and South are explained in terms of tone, vocabulary, and literature.
In the North, due to being under the rule of the Hu tribes for a long time, the culture of the people was more open. Women could often break free from the confines of domestic life and engage in social interactions outside. To facilitate socializing and travel, most of their everyday clothes included “夹领小袖 short-sleeved, collared shirts” and “冠帽而着小橘袄 orange hats and jackets,” which were considered “Hu-style clothing.”
Meanwhile, women in the South were often bound by a complex system of etiquette. As mentioned in《颜氏家训·音辞》, “Women in Jiangdong rarely socialize; in terms of marriage, they may not even know each other for ten years, relying only on letters and gifts to express sincerity.”
Their clothing inherited the styles of the Han, Wei, and Six Dynasties, with “long shirts and wide belts.” To adapt to the humid and hot climate of the South, the sleeves of their garments became wider to help with air circulation.
With the increasing cultural exchanges during the Northern and Southern dynasties, clothing from the South was regarded as “Han-style clothing.”
When the Northern dynasty rulers asserted their legitimacy as successors to the Central Plains and established their clothing system, they often imitated the Southern style, making loose, wide-sleeved clothing from the South the formal attire for important events.
Fashion trends began to show a tendency toward integration between the North and South.
After the Sui dynasty unified the North and South, clothing essentially formed a dual system that combined both styles.
Thus, at that time, women’s clothing could be divided into two categories:
- One category inherited the “Han-style” clothing from the South, with wide sleeves and long skirts trailing on the ground, often paired with shoes, worn for formal events or ceremonies, and not for everyday use.
- The other category inherited the “Hu-style” clothing from the North, with a narrow top and long skirt, a silk draped over the shoulders, and short boots, worn as everyday attire.
Among the murals from the Sui dynasty that have been unearthed, very few feature female figures, and most of the line carvings or ceramic sculptures have lost their color. However, fortunately, many murals in the Dunhuang Caves depict female donors from the Sui dynasty. Additionally, Japan has several volumes of《过去现在因果经绘卷》(guò qù xiàn zài yīn guǒ jīng huì juǎn ; Scroll of Cause and Effect from the Past and Present).
Among them were female officials standing in formal clothing, attendants holding fans or equipment, and musicians/dancers performing music and dance.
Northern Style Daily Clothing
In general, the everyday clothing of women from the Sui dynasty to the early Tang dynasty continued the styles from the Northern dynasties.
The upper garments worn by women at that time included types such as Shan (衫 ; shān), Ao (袄 ; ǎo), and Ru (襦 ; rú), with “Shan” being the most common.
Unlike full-body coverings, “Shan” was a short design, in line with the fashion of the time, with narrow, slim sleeves. Because of its shorter length, it was also called “half-clothing (半衣 ; bàn yī)”.
“Shan” was usually a single layer, made from thin and soft fabric, sewn without edges at the sleeves, making it suitable for wearing in the spring and summer. For winter, the upper garments included a double-layered “Shan” or “Ao”, which was lined with cotton material.
The concubine (贤妃 ; xián fēi) of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Xu, wrote a poem titled《赋得北方有佳人》(fù dé běi fāng yǒu jiā rén ; Describing Beauty in the North). One of the lines reads, “A slender waist matches the precious Wa (袜 ; wà), a red tunic made from beautiful weaving,” describing the layers of the upper garment of women in the early Tang dynasty.
The “Wa” mentioned in the poem is not the socks worn on the feet, but an undergarment typically worn by women at the time.
When wearing the short and narrow “Shan”, they would first wrap the “Wa” around the chest and waist.
As stated in the poem, the upper garments could also use bright and thick silk as decoration around the neck, referred to as “Jin Biao (锦褾 ; jǐn biǎo)”.
As for collar styles, there were two main types at that time: the straight collar (直领 ; zhí lǐng) and the curved collar (弧领 ; hú lǐng), with various ways of wearing, such as overlapping sides or double collars.
For lower everyday clothing, there were pants and skirts.
The undergarments in the form of pants could be divided into two categories: Kun (裈) and Ku (袴).
Kun (裈 ; kūn) was a type of undergarment worn close to the body, so even though there are written records, it is difficult to determine its exact form from clay statues, murals, or carvings.
Ku (袴 ; kù), on the other hand, was long pants worn over the “Kun 裈”.
In the painting《步辇图》(bù niǎn tú ; Emperor Taizong Receiving the Tibetan Envoy), the attendants lift their skirts, revealing that they are wearing long pants with a striped pattern, narrowing toward the bottom.
The popular skirt style at that time was the “Jianqun (间裙 ; jiān qún)”, which was made from fabric that was narrower at the top and wider at the bottom, sewn in a combination of two or more colors.
Since the Wei, Jin, and Northern & Southern Dynasties, people often used color names as names for skirts, such as “red-green skirt” and “purple-green skirt.”
Women during the Sui and early Tang often tied their skirt waists high, from the waist to just above the chest.
In addition to the clothing and skirts, there was also the Peizi (帔子 ; pèi zǐ) or shawl.
This was a long, light, and soft shawl first worn around the neck and shoulders, then freely arranged between the chest and arms, and finally draped down the side of the body.
This style first appeared on the garments of gods in the Hellenistic period before BC, and later became part of Buddhist art as a decoration on the bodies of gods and goddesses, fluttering in the wind. When it entered the Central Plains during the Northern and Southern dynasties along with the spread of Buddhism, the Peizi gradually integrated into everyday clothing.
Because of its distinctive feature of being worn on the shoulders, it was called by its ancient Chinese name for a shawl, Peizi or Lingjin (领巾 ; lǐng jīn).
In the early Sui dynasty, the use of the shawl by women of noble families was considered odd and was dubbed “Fuyao (服妖 ; fú yāo)”, meaning “to conquer demons”, because it resembled the flags and banners of war, symbolizing impending disaster.
However, soon after, the Peizi became widely used by women. In a legend written around the early Tang,《补江总白猿传》(bǔ jiāng zǒng bái yuán chuán), it mentions, “Dozens of women, wearing brightly colored Peizi.” Here, “Peizi” is directly used as a term for women’s clothing.
During the Sui to the peak of the Tang dynasty, “Peizi” was often made as long shawls with curved ends.
Women’s fashion in the early Tang dynasty
Hairstyle and makeup: Drawn with reference to the murals and line carvings of the same period
Clothing:
- Daily clothing, light green Shan, red and green Jianqun, red and yellow Peizi on shoulders
- Ceremonial/Ritual clothing, wearing a flower hairpin on the head, a wide-sleeved cloth, and high-top shoes
Southern Style Formal Clothing
In addition to the usual narrow-sleeved tunics, there were also wide-sleeved robes paired with long skirts, worn for formal occasions by noblewomen.
As mentioned in the Song dynasty work by Gao Cheng,《事物纪原》(shì wù jì yuán), “In the Tang dynasty, wide-sleeved robes and skirts were formal/ceremonial attire.”
In the tomb of Li Shou from the early Tang dynasty, line carvings depict a group of female officials wearing formal clothing, where the wide sleeves are adorned with knee decorations and a wide belt hanging beneath.
Formal attire for dancers also suited the wide-sleeve robes.
In the early Tang dynasty, the work《功成庆善乐》(gōng chéng qìng shàn lè) compiled by Emperor Taizong of Tang states, “64 dancers wear wide-sleeved purple robes, with hairpins and leather shoes. Their dance performed calmly, symbolizes culture and morality, and the world will be peaceful and happy.”
The fluttering wide sleeves and flowing skirts reflect the graceful and elegant posture of the dancers.
In a set of carvings from the tomb of Li Shou, there is an image of a group of female dancers performing together.
Since they raise their arms, different from the formal female officials, we can see the style of the wide-sleeved robe—the short bottom of the robe is decorated with a short piece that covers the skirt, and the sleeves widen from the elbow to become wide sleeves, where the inner sleeve appears long and narrow.
In Shosoin, Nara, Japan, there are well-preserved fragments of wide-sleeved robes. Although the body part of the robe is no longer present, the remaining sleeves are quite complete and can be used together with the carvings to estimate a reconstruction of the garment.
And there you have it—
I hope these notes are helpful and inspire you to explore more about traditional Chinese clothing, especially from the Tang dynasty. If there is incorrect word/translation, or if you have any suggestions, please feel free to reach out to me via email.
Thank you so much for your time, and I’ll do my best to keep these updated for the next part. #ZhangRuying’sNotes
See you in the next notes. And thank you 谢谢!
张儒英 Zhang Ruying