Sinology Sunday: May 15, 2016

This week, take a look at clothing from the later Eastern Han dynasty from Wenliang Jiade ZiXiaoShu‘s 溫涼家的紫小薯 (Warm and Cool Home’s Purple Yam?!?) weibo.  Remember that this general style of dress persisted from the late Eastern Han dynasty through the Three Kingdoms period (Kingdom of Wei) and Jin Dynasty but also seems to have had some influence during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

Just going to make a note here that sometimes, clothing styles persist in different eras and groups go on a limb and do things like be creative or combine elements from different eras (This one being an example with some of the styling and stuff).  Therefore, every now and again, some clothes get kind of hard to classify into a time period and we are left to rely on factors like fabric choice, style of the sleeves, make-up, adornments, etc. to guesstimate a time period.  That being said, not everything we assign may be completely correct despite how much we try. DX

More pictures below the cut.

Hanfu groups seem to work together so I apologize ahead of time in case there are any repeats.  Also, please understand that sorting Hanfu by era can be hard due to similar styles carrying over into different eras, lack of historical evidence or knowledge, and various other factors.

The following are some links that may help you get some background information.  Please let us know in the comment section if there are any other sites you may be able to recommend for more pictures.

Chinese History Timeline

General Chinese Clothing Timeline

Hanfu: General Information, Hanfu List

Make-up: Lips, Eyebrows

3 thoughts on “Sinology Sunday: May 15, 2016

  1. Hanfu is so flattering and elegant on both men and women. I don’t understand the disparaging remarks and resistance many Chinese have for this icon of traditional beauty.

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