Hanfu - Tumblr Posts

Outfit set 👗

It's nice to be getting back into art so to ease myself in, I did a simple outfit set for my OC Yue! Was fun to design the outfits based on Chinese hanfu and add little touches of stars to it :D

Unfortunately, I won't be able to post often because uni really drained my motivation and my mental health this year has been garbage which has sadly also contributed to my lack of motivation so please bear with me while I slowly find my motivation to do more art! 💜

Genshin Impact x Hanfu - Beidou 🐉⚡

Redbubble Store

Highkey had this concept living in my head rent free and I finally drew it out! Very happy with how it turned out.

I wanted Beidou's hanfu to reference her vision story so drawing Haishan was a huge challenge. But it did unlock a memory of child me literally drawing nothing but dragons djadkamdm.

Also be proud of me bc I did somewhat of a scenic background and learned how to digitally paint a bush. I even made my own brush for it 😤

Genshin Impact x Hanfu - Ningguang 🍂💎

To complement Beidou's part, I had to draw Ningguang in Ming dynasty hanfu :)

I decided to keep Ningguang's hanfu design more simple just because if I have to draw something remotely detailed again, I will have to pass away 💀

Wearing hanfu. The half-shouldered style resembles what would've been worn for ease of archery and the like during the Tang Dynasty

Dressing up as the God of Wealth for Chinese New Year

[eng by me]

quartet of muses 🩸🥁

Tang Dynasty Princesses

Tang Dynasty princesses could have been said to be some of the most lucky and unlucky princesses in written history. Pampered with all kinds of wealth and luxuries yet some had to live in deserts due to political alliances while others died due to failed rebellions. Most importantly, this was the era where princesses could dream of holding unlimited power. Let’s get a basic idea of what their lives looked like.

The rankings for princesses of the Li clan were as follows:

Taizhang gongzhu - This title was reserved for an aunt of the Emperor, ranking as one of the highest princesses. Translates to Senior Grand Princess. Held a fiefdom with a minimum of 2000 families.

Princess Taiping (pictured below): the daughter of Wu Zetian and Emperor Gaozong.

A powerful regent during the reign of her brother Emperor Ruizong and nephew Emperor Xuanzong, held this title.

Zhang Gongzhu - This title was reserved for the sister of the Emperor, ranking on par with a Taizhang gongzhu. Translates to Grand Princess. Held a fiefdom with a minimum of 1000 families.

Princess Gaoyang (pictured below): the daughter of Emperor Gaoyang and a half-sister of Gaozong.

Infamous for her affair with a monk and also attempted to overthrow her half-brother; she held this title until she was hanged.

Gongzhu - This title was reserved for the daughter of an Emperor or in special circumstances, women of the imperial clan who were adopted for the sake of political marriages, ranking on par with a Taizhang gongzhu and Zhang Gongzhu. Translates to Imperial Princess. Held a fief of about 300 people.

Princess Wencheng (pictured below): a daughter of Prince Jiangxia (Li Daozong). 

Was made a Gongzhu to marry King Songtsen Gampo of the Tibetan Empire. Known for her great efforts and sacrifices to establish a relationship between Tibet and Tang China.

The following princesses did not hold any fiefdoms.

Junzhu- A title reserved for the daughter of the crown prince. Translates to commandery princess.

Xianzhu - A title reserved for the daughter of a prince. Translates to county princess.

Though princesses were considered as titled ladies of the outer court, after they married, their families were not considered royalty. Their descendants, however, could claim nobility titles based on their birth. They did not have any household management staff with the exception of those princesses who were married off for political alliances (heqin). 

The consorts of royal princesses were from high aristocracy and held great political power unlike princesses of other dynasties.

Are you watching The Rise of the Phoenixes on Netflix? If so what’s your fav outfit so far?

Hi, thanks for the question!

I’m going to combine this question with another one I received that mysteriously disappeared (tumblr must’ve eaten it…), which asked to identify the clothing in “The Rise of Pheonixes”. Disclaimer that I haven’t watched the actual show, so everything here is going to be based off of photos. 

Similar to “The Empress of China”, the costumes in “The Rise of Phoenixes” are mostly based on Tang dynasty hanfu, with some creative liberties taken by the designers. Female lead Feng Zhiwei’s most commonly worn female outfit is the chest-high ruqun, an outfit consisting of a top (ru) and skirt (qun), in which the skirt is tied above the breasts or at the bust point. It’s often accessorized with a large-sleeve outer robe called daxiushan.

Feng Zhiwei seems to be fond of wearing sheer ru & matching qun and daxiushan cut from the same cloth:

Sometimes she’ll wear a short outer skirt called weichang over the qun (in the outfit below, the weichang and daxiushan are matching):

This outfit comprises a non-sheer purple ru & dark blue polka-dotted weichang, as well as a light purple beizi (jacket):

Ruqun is often accessorized with a long scarf called pibo, that’s worn wrapped around the arms & behind the back, as can be seen in the photo on the left:

Another style of women’s hanfu on the show is heziqun, an outfit that consists of the hezi (strapless chest cover), skirt (qun), and top (ru). The hezi is worn over the top, and a thin cloth belt is typically used to hide the joint between the hezi and skirt. Heziqun is also accessorized with daxiushan and pibo:

Feng Zhiwei also wears parallel-collar waist-high ruqun:

…and what appears to be a zhiju (straight-hem robe): 

The male costumes worn on the show are mainly based on Tang, Song, and Ming dynasty fashions, and mostly comprise a variety of round-collar clothing based on the hanfu styles of yuanlingpao, yuanlingshan, and lanshan.Feng Zhiwei’s most common male outfit is the yuanlingpao (round-collar robe):

Here are some of the various round-collar outfits worn by the men on the show, including male lead Ning Yi:

Here’s Ning Yi in mianfu, the ceremonial hanfu of the Emperor:

As for the question of what my favorite outfit is - personally, from looking at the photos, I find the male costumes more captivating than the female ones. Still, if I had to choose a favorite outfit worn by Feng Zhiwei, it’d be this ruqun below (the outfit also appears in this gifset). I love the sheer ru and the earthy color scheme:

For favorite male outfits, I really like the dark brown yuanlingpao worn by Ning Yi in this shot. It goes really well with his long black hair and blue tuanshan (fan):

Finally, of course we can’t forget assassin/bodyguard Gu Nanyi’s Wuxia-inspired outfits - they make him look especially stunning!:

Hope this helps!

Photos via: 1, 2

chinese hanfu in huali华丽 or shengui神鬼 style | cr: 云间山泽, 飞光集

🌊 漢服鮫人 Hanfu mermaid

🧜🏻‍♀️妞妞妞 📷當小時 👗須彌閣+靜淞居+遊園驚夢+春山集 🎵夜曲-JayChou

chinese hanfu by 明珠sara

recent genshin impact paintings from my instagram / twitter

Hi! I'm really fond of researching about hanfu and its history, and I found a lot of interesting information on this blog. But I can't help it and keep wondering about the reason for qipao/cheongsang not be considered a hanfu? When I researched about it the most common argument is the Manchu influence on it. However, there are a plenty of hanfu styles that were influenced by other cultures. Is there a more especific reason for not consider the qipao?

Hi, thanks for the question, and glad you like my blog! (x)

I want to start off with an important disclaimer:

The term “hanfu” as we use it today (defined as “traditional Han Chinese clothing”) does not have the exact same meaning as when it was used historically. As @audreydoeskaren explains in this post, “while it is true that the term “hanfu” was used in some historical texts, they were often used in opposition to clothing worn by foreign peoples...and not as a standalone term”. Today, there is no central organizing body or law that states exactly what is & what is not considered hanfu. Rather, such categorization is done by the members of the hanfu community - and the hanfu community is not a monolith. Ever since its inception in 2003, the hanfu revival movement has been a grassroots, bottom-up movement with members of various backgrounds, ideologies, and opinions. It is a movement that is built upon, and driven forward by, constant dialogue and debate among its members. Thus the question of what garments are considered hanfu is under continuous discussion, and is subject to the hanfu community’s views and ideas on culture, clothing, and history.

With that being said, it’s true that there is almost unanimous agreement within the hanfu community that qipao/cheongsam (I will refer to it here mainly as qipao because that is what I’m used to) is not considered hanfu. In my (non-expert & non-academic) opinion, there are two main reasons for this: 1) Unclear origins and 2) Western influence. Let’s examine each (Note: I will be referring a lot to posts by resident qipao expert @audreydoeskaren, who is much more knowledgeable about the subject than I am. Please check out her series on early 20th century Chinese womenswear if you haven’t already):

1. Unclear Origins

It is widely acknowledged that the qipao as we know it today was first popularized during the 1920s, but what led up to that - the origins of qipao - are actually unclear. It is most commonly touted as being derived from Manchu one-piece robes, but “origins of cheongsam are truly unclear and it’s very likely that the many theories attributing it to Manchu fashion were invented after its popularization” (x). The Wikipedia article on cheongsam states that the garment is “of Manchu origin”, but does not give any details on exactly when, why, and how it was adopted by Han women (as during the Qing dynasty Han women wore two-piece garments and did not wear Manchu one-piece robes). The article’s “Controversies on origin” section states that “the cheongsam is generally considered to be adapted from the one-piece dress of Manchu women during the Qing dynasty. However, there has been considerable debate on the origin of the cheongsam in academic circles”, and proceeds to give three alternative theories on the origin of the qipao. 

Below, from left to right - 1. Manchu women’s one-piece robe during the Qing dynasty, 2. qipao from 1932, 3. 1930s-style qipao (x)

While there are various theories, the Manchu one-piece robe origin theory is still the most widely accepted, and thus is a major reason for why the qipao is not considered to be hanfu. @audreydoeskaren explains in detail the arguments for the Manchu origin theory here. 

2. Western Influence

The qipao’s silhouette and style changed rapidly during its heydays in the 1920s-1950s. During these years there was significant Western influence on Chinese fashion, and that influence was reflected in the evolution of the qipao. Below is an (very simplified) illustration of the evolution of qipao style from the 1920s-1940s (x). Note how the silhouettes correspond to what was trendy in Western fashion at the time:

1920s - loose, flat, and boxy

1930s - long, slender, and streamlined

1940s - shorter, squared shoulders, and cinched waist

Arguably the greatest lasting impact of Western fashion on qipao was that of Christian Dior’s extreme hourglass New Look silhouette on 1950s & 1960s qipao. To achieve this new fashionable silhouette, qipao makers in the 1950s starting using Western tailoring techniques such as darts, shoulder seams, and zippers. Below - Dior’s New Look (left) & 1950s qipao (right):

The use of darts, shoulder seams, and zippers continues today to create the curvy, form-fitting silhouette of contemporary qipao. The westernization of the silhouette, along with the usage of these relatively modern tailoring techniques, are further reasons for qipao to be categorized separately from hanfu by the hanfu community. Even hanfu that use nontraditional techniques such as shoulder seams and zippers are not recognized as “authentic” hanfu by many in the hanfu community. Rather, they are categorized as modified hanfu/改良汉服 and/or hanyuansu/汉元素 (clothing with elements of hanfu).

Now as you mentioned, it is true that several hanfu styles were influenced by other cultures (one notable example is the Yuan dynasty’s Mongolian influence on Ming dynasty hanfu: 1, 2). Furthermore, while the qipao might possibly be derived from Manchu robes, it was ultimately mainly created, worn, and innovated by Han people. So why not consider qipao a type of hanfu? My view is that it is the combination of the abovementioned factors (unclear origins, westernization, tailoring techniques) that places qipao outside the classification of hanfu, from the perspective of the hanfu community. For more details on the differences between hanfu and qipao, please check out this article.

I want to be clear, however, that this separate classification is not a value judgment. Qipao may not be classified as hanfu under the current definition of hanfu, but that does not in any way take away from the qipao’s importance, significance, and value to Chinese fashion history & culture in general. The most iconic Chinese garment of the 20th century, the qipao reflects the tastes and values of its time, and to this day is an ubiquitous part of a Chinese woman’s wardrobe. There are many people (such as myself) who like and wear both hanfu and qipao.

In fact, it makes me happy to see that there appears to be a growing interest in reviving & taking inspiration from vintage qipao styles. I see this as a part of the general trend of interest in historical Chinese clothing that the hanfu revival movement belongs to. Below are a few vintage-inspired qipao that I find appealing (1/2/3/4/5/6):

For more information, please see my “qipao” tag.

Hope this helps!

(Note: if anyone wants to add information, share thoughts, or correct a mistake, please do! I welcome it ^^)

chinese hanfu by 有香如故

[Hanfu · 漢服]China Tang Dynasty Chinese Traditional Clothing Hanfu Photoshoots

📷 Photo By：@赵橙Cc

💄 Makeup By ：@清泽Makeup

🧚🏻‍♀️Model ：@党党党玉

👗Hanfu By ：@嵠上

Weibo🔗https://m.weibo.cn/7016881723/4755204182378485

She looks like an actual fairy!

Shut up I'm in love.

Sources: ♡ ♡

Song dynasty hanfu and autumn leaves

model/editing: me (@hanfufairy)

photo: 柿子@小红书