In ancient costumes, the robe is a mainstream clothing, most men like to wear robes, then the robes are also divided into different types, such as according to the neckline, the round neck robe is one of the most important styles. Round collar robe round neck narrow sleeves, wearing is very convenient, ancient men's clothes are often somewhat complicated, there are many inconveniences when acting, the emergence of round collar robes, is also a product of Hu and Han fusion, from the zhao Wuling king period, the northern regime began to learn from some of the hu people's clothing, and later in the southern and northern dynasties, many foreign invasions, costumes underwent great changes, round collar robes also appeared.
The robe is draped over the chest with a rounded collar, a hard lining and buttons at the neckline. It is not only relatively convenient to wear, but also has a good wind resistance, the round neck robe has some differences with the early Hanfu, it is also a new product that borrows from hufu, so what is its status in ancient clothing?
First of all, the round neck robe in the ancient costume belongs to the top one, and can even represent the ancient men's clothing, because the round neck robe from the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, it belongs to the domestic formal dress, in the Song Dynasty, the imperial court officially determined the round neck robe as the official dress, and the yuanming has also been used after that.
It began to rise from the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, in the Sui and Tang Dynasties reached a peak period, which also has historical factors, the Northern Dynasty and the Sui and Tang Dynasties of these regimes, the royal family, have Hu blood, so they have similarities with the Hu people in terms of clothing and habits, the traditional Hanfu will certainly not be completely accepted by them, it must be improved, like the round collar robe, convenient for riding horses and hunting, daily actions are also very convenient.
If you want to wear other Hanfu, it is really too much trouble. However, at that time, most of them were worn by nobles, and even the emperor would have a round collar robe standard regular dress, which shows how lofty it is in the country, and later the round neck robe was also released for use, the Tang Dynasty itself was open, and the clothing constraints of the people were not so strict, so folk men also liked to wear round collar robes. It began to affect people's formal and regular clothes, and success had its own place in the Hanfu system.
After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, most of the Tang Dynasty culture was interrupted, and many Tang style costumes were changed. The round collar robe was inherited, but some changes also occurred, such as the original narrow sleeves were changed to large sleeves, the Song and Ming Dynasties made many improvements to the round neck robe, and some signs were added to distinguish the official ranks. This also established the status of the round collar robe, and it truly became the representative of formal wear. Gradually integrated with the official dress, we see a lot of Song Ming murals, of which the style of the official dress is mostly a round collar robe, which shows how much it was valued at that time, relatively speaking, the folk are not as keen on the round neck robe as the Tang Dynasty, which is not that this kind of clothing is inappropriate, but its status has been changed.
The hierarchical system of the Song and Ming dynasties began to become more and more strict, and the gap between officials and ordinary people was constantly widening, and these officials were naturally unwilling to dress like ordinary people, they definitely wanted to wear some better clothing, so the ordinary people with round neck robes could not afford to wear.
Up to now, when people try to wear Hanfu, they will still complain that some Hanfu is a bit cumbersome, and it is too troublesome to wear, but wearing a round collar robe is more comfortable, not so complicated. Why has the round collar robe been valued by successive governments and people? I think the main factor is the practicality of the round collar robe itself, it is used as a formal dress, generally need to reflect the majesty, after the improvement of the round neck robe, it looks majestic to wear, like the Ming Dynasty also added supplements, adding some patterns on it, it will show the majesty of these officials even more. The round collar robe itself can also add some patterns to reflect the identity of the owner, after all, it also has the style of the dragon robe.
With this feature, it has the capital to be used as a formal dress, and it is also a point that the round neck robe originated from the military uniform in the first place. The early foreigners fought immediately and needed to move quickly, so the costumes of these Hu people were very light to wear and easy to fight. In the process of fighting, they can help the warriors to play a better role, so the Zhao Wuling King and these people continue to introduce Hufu in order to increase their combat effectiveness, but they not only changed the military uniforms in this way, but also changed the official uniforms of the DPRK, such as the Zhao Wuling King himself wore the Hu costume, and also required officials throughout the country to wear it in this way. He did this for his own political purposes, but it also showed that the effect of officials wearing Hufu was better than that of the previous Hanfu.
Originated from the military uniform, it is naturally very simple and lightweight, and later after continuous improvement, the round collar robe is more in line with the requirements of the Han people. Combined with the characteristics of various ethnic groups, the round collar robe is welcomed at all levels, then for officials, the traditional Hanfu is indeed very cumbersome, not to mention the daily dynasty, that is, they are also a little tired when they wear this kind of clothing in the office, it is not convenient to take off, and wearing the round collar robe solves many problems.
Of course, after a long time, everyone has formed a habit, because since the Sui and Tang dynasties, the imperial family and many officials have respected the round neck robe, once the emperor is so fond, then there will be more people who follow the trend, the effect of the royal family leading the trend is very obvious, which also promotes the development of the round neck robe, most of the system of the Tang Dynasty was continued by the Song Dynasty, so the round neck robe continued to be reused in the Song Dynasty, and became a formal dress.
This is due to the long-term chaotic war of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the initial capital of the Song Dynasty is indeed not good, they do not have the ability to rebuild a political system, they can only follow the path of the Tang Dynasty, the society has also been hit hard, and if you want to develop, you must learn from the Tang Dynasty. Of course, the good aspects will be passed down by them, and the round neck robe is thus fortunate to be favored by later regimes.
In addition to the dynasties attach importance to the round collar robe, many of the folk clans also attach great importance to this kind of clothing, for example, we often hear a class of people called members, these people are all status, but also have a lot of wealth in the local strong, their clothing will also be affected by the round neck robe, people go out to do things, or engage in some other work, wearing the round neck robe is more convenient, can get the support of all classes, indicating that the characteristics of the round neck robe is indeed incomparable to other clothing, both simple and light, You can also make different patterns and styles, don't worry about the beauty of the problem, such clothing everyone will of course like.
There is also a proof of the lofty status of the round neck robe, that is, the traditional costumes of other countries in East Asia, the cultural output of the Tang Dynasty to the outside world is very powerful, ancient China has always been in a leading role in East Asia, during the Tang Dynasty, Japan, Korea and other countries have continuously come to the Tang Dynasty to learn from the scriptures, bringing a lot of the Tang Dynasty culture to the past. Among them, the tang dynasty's symbol costume round collar robe, naturally was brought over, Japan has fully studied the Tang Dynasty, and has also begun to use the round neck robe as the mainstay, and a considerable part of their current traditional costumes have the shadow of the round neck robe. At the beginning, they directly followed the round collar robe, but later they also felt that there was some plagiarism, so they thought of ways to improve and add some of their own style.
North Korea has also learned a lot, and many of their official uniforms are also round neck robes, but there have been many changes in some specific places. Obviously, the round collar robe has a great influence in various countries, and many of the traditional costumes of their nation are based on the round neck robe, so the round neck robe is definitely the representative costume of the Chinese nation.
In fact, now we see that many foreigners like to wear qipao, which is due to the very strict control of clothing during the Qing Dynasty, the original Hanfu was basically banned in the Qing Dynasty, and the round collar robe could not be used as widely as before, and the qipao was gradually used on a large scale. But in fact, the qipao really can not represent the traditional Chinese costumes, compared with the round collar robe is a huge gap, but because of the different times of popularity, so the round neck robe did not play a greater role, which has to be said to be a very regrettable thing.
bibliography:
History of Chinese Clothing