Cheongsam

A model of the Qing-style Han Chinese dress that Han women wore around the 19th to 20th centuries. Noticeably, the Han women wore skirts below their Qing-style tops, which was inherited from the Ming dynasty style dress

Lady Aisin-Gioro Hengxiang, the birth mother of Wanrong, wearing the traditional Manchu one-piece robe that later inspired the qipao

The Manchus are an ethnic minority that founded the last of China's imperial dynasties, the Qing Dynasty, which lasted from 1644 to 1911. When the dynasty was first established, dress regulations were implemented as a way of expressing their identity as a people and create social order. They used an administrative division called the Eight Banner system. Originally only the Manchu households were organised within this system, but over time naturized Mongols and Han Chinese were incorporated. The Manchus, and anyone living under the Eight Banners system, wore different clothing from ordinary civilians. Thus they became known as Banner People (旗人 pinyin: qí rén). The Manchu clothing that they wore consisted of similar long robes for both men and women. These were called changpao (長袍). The Manchu people were originally nomadic and their clothing was designed for ease of mobility when riding horses, which is where the two side slits of the qipao came from.

For a period of time under the dynastic laws during transition from Ming to Qing, all Han Chinese were forced to adopt the Manchu male queue hairstyle (see Queue Order) and the Manchu changpao instead of traditional Han Chinese clothing under a policy threatening the penalty of death called tifa yifu (Chinese: 剃发易服; pinyin: tìfāyìfú). However, the order for ordinary non-Banner Han civilians to wear Manchu clothing was lifted, and only those Han who served as officials or scholars were required to wear them. Over time though, some Han civilian men voluntarily adopted changshans. By the late Qing, not only officials and scholars, but a great many Han commoners wore Manchu male attire.[3][4] Until 1911, the Manchu changpao was required clothing for Chinese men of a certain class.

For women, Manchu and Han systems of clothing coexisted.[5] Throughout the Qing dynasty, Han civilian women continued to wear traditional Han clothing from the Ming dynasty.[6] As a result, Ming dynasty style clothing was retained in some places in China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911.[7]

Throughout China’s multicultural history, clothing has been shaped through an intermingling of Han clothing styles, Han being the dominant ethnicity, and the styles of various ethnic groups. Some examples of this include the standing collar of the qipao, which has been found in relics from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD), ruled by Han Chinese, and was subsequently adopted in Qing Dynasty Manchu clothing items.

Chinese singer and actress Zhou Xuan wearing a cheongsam in the 1930s in Shanghai

The predecessor of the more well known qipao resembled the men’s changpao. The changpao was a long gown commonly associated with the male literati class. The first 1920s iteration was androgynous and had a “wide, angular and puritanical cut”[8] This version was adopted primarily by activists and students who had studied abroad. This cross-dressing reflected, among other things, a desire for women to be seen as equals in the public sphere.

The version seen as the typical cheongsam in China today was popularized by the celebrities, socialites and politicians of the time in Shanghai from the 1920s to the 1940s. Former First Lady of China Madame Wellington Koo (Oei Hui-lan) was a prominent figure among them.[9][10] Voted several times by Vogue into its lists of the world's best-dressed women, Madame Wellington Koo was much admired for her adaptations of the traditional Manchu fashion, which she wore with lace trousers and jade necklaces.[9][10] Cheongsam dresses at the time had been decorously slit a few inches up the sides, but Madame Koo slashed hers to the knee, 'with lace pantelettes just visible to the ankle'.[10] Unlike other Asian socialites, Madame Koo also insisted on local Chinese silks, which she thought were of superior quality.[9][10]

Two women wearing cheongsam and high-heel shoes in a 1930s Shanghai advertisement

Starting from the early 1930s, there was a further feminization of the qipao as it became increasingly shorter and tighter and thus arose an emergence of the female body. Consumer culture was also on the rise as Western and Chinese merchants co-operated to move towards capitalism.[11]

People eagerly sought a more modernized style of dress and transformed the old cheongsam to suit new tastes. Slender and tight-fitting with a high cut, it had great differences from the traditional cheongsam. High-class courtesans and celebrities in the city made these redesigned tight fitting cheongsam popular at that time.[12] In Shanghainese, it was first known as zansae for 'long dress', rendered in Mandarin as chángshān and in Cantonese as chèuhngsāam; it is the last of these spoken renditions of 長衫 that was borrowed into English as "cheongsam".

According to the Clothing Regulations, the cheongsam needed to be worn with trousers and be calf-length, but with the introduction of Western fashion many people replaced trousers with stockings and added matching accessories. The side slits were re-purposed into an aesthetic design reaching the top of the thighs to reflect the new fashion trend. By the 1940s, trousers had completely fallen out of use, replaced by different type of hosiery. High-heeled shoes were another fashion trend introduced to Shanghai at the same time, and it became an essential part of cheongsam fashion set, which continued into modern days.[13] As trend of hosiery in turn declined in later decades, women started to wear cheongsam more commonly with bare legs. While this development settled the cheongsam as a one-piece dress, by contrast, the related Vietnamese áo dài retained trousers.

The modernized version of cheongsam is noted for accentuating the figures of women, and as such was popular as a dress for high society. As Western fashions evolved, so does the cheongsam design, with introduction of high-necked sleeveless dresses, bell-like sleeves, and the black lace frothing at the hem of a ball gown. By the 1940s, cheongsam came in a wide variety of fabrics with an equal variety of accessories.

The 1949 Communist Revolution curtailed the popularity of the cheongsam and other fashions in Shanghai, but the Shanghainese emigrants and refugees brought the fashion to Hong Kong and Taiwan where it has remained popular. Recently there has been a revival of the Shanghainese cheongsam in Shanghai and elsewhere in Mainland China; the Shanghainese style functions now mostly as a stylish party dress.

The Republican period is the golden age of cheongsam. In exploring reasons behind its prevalence in Republic of China, many scholars relate it to the women's liberation movements. After the feudal Qing dynasty was overturned, Chinese feminists called for women's liberation from traditional roles and they led several movements against the Neo-Confucian gender segregation, including a termination of bound feet for women, cutting off long hair which was conventionally symbolized as women's "oriental" beauty, and encouraging women to wear men's one-piece clothing, Changshan or "changpao".

"Changpao" was traditionally taken as men's patent throughout the long history since Han dynasty (202 BC to 220) to Qing dynasty (1616–1911). During that time, Chinese Han female's clothing gradually developed into two pieces. Women were forbidden to wear robes as men did and instead had to wear tops and bottoms known as "Liang jie yi". After the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 (which overthrew the Qing dynasty), young Chinese people began to learn Western science and cultures in order to seek a way of saving the nation. Also, the opening of several ports and ceding territories of China to Western powers imported some Western ideas to mainland China. Among all these Western thoughts, the idea of gender equality quickly gained its followers, among whom young female students became its prime advocates.[14]

It was the May Thirteenth Movement of 1925, where anti-Westernization demonstrations persisted throughout the country, that served as an important push in the qipao’s institutionalization. The Republicans declared the qipao a formal dress in the Clothing Regulations of 1929. The dress was meant to assert the importance of nationalism through rejecting Western forms of dress. That being said, there were still strict rules regulating how the dress needed to be worn including specifications about length, material, accessories, collar, buttons and sleeves, but curiously enough, none of these were followed.[15]

From the start, there was no unifying style for the dress like the Republicans intended; Chinese women had no respect for the Clothing Regulations of 1929 which tried to control individuality. There were endless variations in style, with adaptations to length, material, hemlines, collars, fabrics, patterns, colours and with the accessories it was paired with. It was worn by everyone from Shanghai sociolites to students, housewives, and prostitutes. [16]The style of the qipao was often in tune with fashion cycles and was influenced by Western trends seen through women styling it with matching scarves, fur coats and leather heels. Magazines such as LingLong also gave women access to dressmaking knowledge and normalized it for women to make their own dresses in their own style. The base form of the qipao is rather simple to sew, which makes it easily accessible and economical.

The style of cheongsam also varied due to Western influence. It changed from a wide and loose style to a more form fitting and revealing cut, which put more emphasis on women's body line. The length of cheongsam was also reduced from ankle reaching to above the knee.

The design of cheongsam got various inventions like ruffled collar, bell-like sleeves and black lace frothing. Starting from that, the priority of cheongsam moved from a political expression to aesthetic and ornamental emphasis.

The uniform of Hainan Airlines cabin attendants based on cheongsam debuted in 2017, with a coat worn outside.

Cheongsam worn as a uniform by a restaurant hostess

Some airlines in Mainland China and Taiwan, such as China Airlines[20] and Hainan Airlines,[21] have cheongsam uniforms for their women flight attendants and ground workers. These uniform cheongsams are in a plain colour, hemmed just above the knee, with a close-fitting wool suit jacket of the same colour as the cheongsam. It is also common for these uniforms to only borrow certain elements, such as the standing collar and frog clasps without adopting the whole design.

In the 1950s, women in the workforce in Hong Kong started to wear more functional cheongsam made of wool, twill, and other materials. Most were tailor fitted and often came with a matching jacket. The dresses were a fusion of Chinese tradition with modern styles. Cheongsam were commonly replaced by more comfortable clothing such as sweaters, jeans, business suits and skirts. Due to its restrictive nature, it is now mainly worn as formal wear for important occasions. They are sometimes worn by politicians and film artists in Taiwan and Hong Kong. They are shown in some Chinese movies such as in the 1960s film The World of Suzie Wong, where actress Nancy Kwan made the cheongsam briefly fashionable in Western culture. They are also commonly seen in beauty contests, along with swim suits. Today, cheongsam are only commonly worn day to day as a uniform by people like restaurant hostesses and serving staff at luxury hotels.

A few primary schools and some secondary schools in Hong Kong, especially older schools established by Christian missionaries, use a plain rimmed sky-blue cotton and/or dark blue velvet (for winter) cheongsam with the metal school badge right under the stand-up collar to be closed with a metal hook and eye as the official uniform for their female students. The schools which use this standard include True Light Girls' College, St. Paul's Co-educational College, Heep Yunn School, St. Stephen's Girls' College, Ying Wa Girls' School, etc. These cheongsam are usually straight, with no waist shaping, and the cheongsam hem must reach mid-thigh. The cheongsam fit closely to the neck, and the stiff collar is hooked closed, despite the tropical humid and hot weather. Although the skirts have short slits, they are too narrow to allow students to walk in long strides. The seams above the slits often split when walking and are repeatedly sewn. Many schools also require underskirts to be worn with the cheongsam. The underskirt is a white cotton full slip, hemmed slightly shorter than the cheongsam, and have slits at the sides like the cheongsam, although the slits are deeper. A white cotton undershirt is often worn underneath the cheongsam. The cheongsam's length, styling, color and sleeve length varies between schools. Many students feel it an ordeal, yet it is a visible manifestation of the strict discipline that is the hallmark of prestigious secondary schools in Hong Kong and many students and their parents like that. Some rebellious students express their dissatisfaction with this tradition by wearing their uniform with the stand-up collar intentionally left unhooked or hemmed above their knees. The Ying Wa and True Light Schools have sent questionnaires to their students about uniform reforms but have not altered their policies.[22] However, Madam Lau Kam Lung Secondary School of Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery ended their cheongsam uniform in 1990 after receiving suggestions from its student union.[23]

Cheongsams are a popular choice of outfit for festive seasons like Chinese New Year. In countries with significant Chinese populations such as Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, it is common for women to have new cheongsams tailored in preparation for the New Year. Cheongsams are also a popular choice of outfit for older women on formal occasions or family reunions. Upmarket fashion labels such as Shanghai Tang specialize in modern versions of the cheongsam as occasion wear.

In Western weddings, Chinese brides or brides marrying into a Chinese family, will often wear cheongsam for a portion of the wedding day. It is common for many brides to have both a traditional white wedding dress and a cheongsam or kwa to be worn during the tea ceremony. Cheongsam styles have also evolved to be more modern from mermaid silhouettes to semi-traditional styles that feature a cheongsam top with softer details like lace and a looser skirt.[24]

Some Lolita dresses are styled like a cheongsam. The dresses or jumper skirts are designed after traditional Chinese dresses. This style of Lolita fashion is called Qi Lolita.[25]

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  Indonesian actress Aminah Cendrakasih in cheongsam
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  Typical modern cheongsam with high-slit cuts reaching top of the thigh
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  Typical modern cheongsam in short style above the knee
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  A variant of qipao, taken at the Tokyo Game Show in Japan.

In the 2008 Summer Olympics, the medal bearers wore cheongsam. Similar attire was worn by female members of the Swedish team and of the Spanish team in the opening ceremony, with the national colors.

For the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens tournament, sportswear brand Kukri Sports teamed up with Hong Kong lifestyle retail store G.O.D. to produce merchandising, which included traditional Chinese jackets and cheongsam-inspired ladies' polo shirts.[26][27][28]

Cheongsam belonging to the wives of past Singaporean political leaders on display in an exhibition entitled In the Mood for Cheongsam: Modernity and Singapore Women at the National Museum of Singapore in 2012

In contemporary China, the meaning of cheongsam has been revisited again. It now embodies an identity of being ethnic Chinese, and thus is used for important diplomatic occasions.

Since 2013, Peng Liyuan, the first lady of China, has worn cheongsam several times while on foreign visits with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

In November 2014, cheongsam was the official attire for the political leaders' wives in the 22nd APEC meeting in Beijing.

With the growth of the Chinese economy, cheongsam has experienced a renewed popularity. Many Western designers have integrated elements of cheongsam in their fashion collections. French designer Pierre Cardin once said that cheongsam was his inspiration for many of his evening dress designs.[29] In many films and movies, cheongsam is used to make a fashion statement. The varied interpretations of this ethnic dress brings in debates of cultural appropriation and the designs being linked to Orientalism. In the 2011 movie One Day, Anne Hathaway wore a set of dark blue cheongsam as evening dress. Many western stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Nicole Kidman, Paris Hilton, Emma Watson, Deepika Padukone, and Celine Dion have also made public appearances wearing cheongsam.