China During the Times of Marco Polo

The Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) was established by the Mongol leader, Kublai Khan, who was the grandson of Genghis Khan—founder of the largest and most contiguous empire in recorded history.

Kublai Khan rose to legendary fame in Europe, since he was the emperor who entertained Marco Polo (photo above)!

The clothing of the Mongols was simple, owing to a less-developed culture and economy. Instead of influencing the Han, therefore, the Mongols benefited greatly from their lifestyle.

The predominant garment during this period for Han men was the robe, which was a bit looser than the previous dynasty.

Besides the prominence of the dragon and phoenix on clothing, colors expanded into numerous shades. Brown totaled 20 in all with descriptive names like “onion white brown.” At times, a gold thread was woven through the colors.

The Mongols wore long robes with tight sleeves and a pleated, flared section from the waist down. They donned a very wide, corrugated belt at the waist, which was sown to the garment.

As for headgear, the Han men wore the fu tou, which, fashioned out of lacquered gauze, contained two tails that fell behind the head.

The Mongols parted their hair into the form of a cross, shaving the head in the back and trimming the front into various shapes. They wore rattan hats, which were either round or square.

Photo Public Domain at Wikipedia.
Photo by smartneddy, GNU Free Documentation License at Wiki Commons.

Focus on China—From Ming to Qing

In yesterday’s article, Menswear Before Mao, I mentioned how the Qing Dynasty imposed the “long shirt,” or chang shan, replacing the common menswear of the previous dynasty, which was the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

In turn, the Ming Dynasty had led massive reforms concerning dress—abolishing the traditional men’s attire of the previous dynasty, which was the Mongolian-led Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).

The Ming Dynasty spent 20 years restoring and codifying the traditional dress of the Han people.

Interestingly, the Ming Dynasty was the last dynasty led by the Han Chinese, whose attire was termed the hanfu.

Menswear consisted of loose robes with wide sleeves and a round neckline. The unique item, however, was the embroidered square patch across the chest, the design and stitching of which varied with rank and status.

The headwear of the Ming officials is of particular interest, consisting of 2 winged flaps on each side and called the futou.

Throughout both the Ming and Qing Dynasties, men’s attire not only marked a man’s social class but also ethnicity.

Photo of official Jiang Shunfu, Public Domain at Wikipedia.

Focus on China—Menswear Before Mao

Although there were periods in Chinese history when men wore pants, such as in the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC) and the Southern and Northern Dynasty (420-589), Chinese menswear has followed an interesting pattern for millennia.

The key elements include a type of robe with lapel (sometimes adjoined by a collar), waistband or belt, and sleeves. The changes in these characteristics set the trends for each dynasty. The most predominant change occurred in the sleeves, which ranged anywhere from narrow to enormous wing-like flaps.

Picking up where we left off in the last article, Han Fashion, prior to 1912 Chinese men wore the chángshān, which can be seen by Sun Yat-sen’s attire (photo left).

The changshan was originally imposed on Chinese men by the Qing Dynasty, China’s last dynasty (17th-20th centuries), replacing the traditional male dress of the previous dynasty. Changshan simply meant “long shirt.”

Eventually the changshan became the formal dress of Chinese men, who sported it with the magua, or ‘riding jacket’. First called the “victory jacket,” the magua has also become known as the “mandarin jacket” (photo left).

As for grooming during the Qing Dynasty, Han men adopted the practice of shaving part of their heads, braiding the remaining hair into a ponytail.

The men then sported different types of conical caps, depending on the occasion. Color and shape, however, was determined by the man’s grade and social status.

Interestingly, the Qinq Dynasty was founded by the Manchu clan, which was actually not Han but rather Tungus. Manchu menswear differed entirely from that of the Han (photo top).

Today, the Manchu have been completely assimilated and are nearly extinct, although many Han can claim Manchu ancestry.

Photo Sun Yat-sen Public Domain at Wikipedia.
Photo Outu GNU Free Documentation License at Wikipedia.

Han Fashion—Focus on China

(Guizhou, China 1986) As you can see by the photo above, when I lived in China many Han Chinese still wore a traditional form of dress, whereas I dressed in what the Han men considered modern Chinese clothing. But, before we get to their clothing, who are the Han?

Most Chinese are descendants of the Han majority, which is actually the largest ethnic group in the world, sometimes referring to itself as “Descendants of the Dragon.”

The name Han comes from the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), which was preceded by the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE). Some southern Han Chinese even call themselves “the people of Tang,” referring to the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Nevertheless, most Han Chinese today label themselves “the Hua people” (húarén) or “the Middle Kingdom people” (Zhōnggúorén).

As for dress, almost all Chinese Han men have adopted modern western clothing; but this was not always the case. As a matter of fact, when I was living in the more remote areas of China in the 1980’s, men were just beginning to make the transition from traditional to Western looks.

For decades, the attire for men was what Westerners have come to term the “Mao suit,” which was still being sported by the majority of men in Guizhou, where I was living. Despite the name, however, the Mao suit did not completely originate with Mao Ze Dong.

The original name of the Mao suit is the Zhongshan suit, from Sun Zhongshan or Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), the revolutionary leader who pioneered the Republic of China in 1912 by overthrowing the last of the Chinese emperors.

Previously, Sun Yat-sen had worn the clothing of the Qing dynasty, the last dynasty of China. At that time, men sported the chángshān (‘long shirt’). But due to the unpopularity of the Qing Dynasty with the masses, the “long shirt” was already being combined with Western jackets and the like.

When Sun Yat-sen established the Republic of China, he united elements from both Eastern and Western fashion. He demonstrated Eastern sensibilities in the new suit by placing 4 symmetrical pockets to portray balance and 5 buttons, which later came to symbolize the branches of the new government.

When Sun Yat-sen permitted the Chinese Communist Party to join his Nationalist Party, Chinese communist men adopted the new look as a symbol of their adherence. Later under the leadership of Mao Ze Dong, the suit emerged as symbol of proletarian unity.

Although considered formal attire by some older men and a casual outfit by the so-called peasants, the Mao suit was largely replaced in the 1990’s by Western suits and styles.

Photo top center Copyright Men's Fashion by Francesco.
Photo middle left, Sun Yat-sen, by Militaryace, Public Domain at Wikipedia.
Photo bottom, Hurley, Zhang, and Mao, Public Domain at Wikipedia.