Ru (upper garment)

Clothing style which overlaps and closes to the right (右衽 youren) originated in China.[2] Cross-collar closing to the right upper garment (i.e. y-shaped collar or upper body garment which overlaps and closes to the right) started to be worn in the Shang dynasty in China[4][5] and are known as jiaoling youren (交領右衽).[3] The y-shaped collar had been one of the major symbols of the Sino Kingdom,[3] and eventually spread throughout Asia.[5]

Chinese robes and jackets must cover the right part.[24] The right closure is known as youren (右衽) and is an important symbol of the Han Chinese ethnicity.[24] The traditional way to distinguish between Barbarian and Chinese clothing is by the direction of the collar.[25] In Ancient China, some ethnic minorities had clothing which generally closed on the left side in a way referred as zuoren (左衽).[24] This can be found in the Analects where Confucius himself praised Guan Zhong for preventing the weakened Zhou dynasty from becoming barbarians;[26] "But for Guan Zhong, we should now be wearing our hair unbound, and the lappels of our coats butonning on the left side [微管仲，吾其被髮左衽矣[27]]".[28] Unbound hair and coats which were closed on the left were the clothing customs of the northern nomadic ethnic groups which were considered as barbarians by the Han Chinese.[26] Therefore, the left lapels were used to refer to Hufu and/or refer to the rule of foreign nationalities.[24]

However, the right lapel rule was not always respected: for example, in some areas (such as Northern Hebei) in the 10th century, some ethnic Han Chinese could also be found wearing left-lapel clothing.[29] It was also common for the Han Chinese women to adopt left lapel under the reign of foreign nationalities, such as in the Yuan dynasty; the use of left lapel also continued in some areas of the Ming dynasty despite being Han-Chinese ruled dynasty which is an atypical feature.[30]

Some non-Chinese ethnicities who also adopted Han Chinese style sometimes maintain their left lapels, such as the Khitans in the Liao.[31]^: 267

The only moment Han Chinese is supposed to use zuoren (左衽) is when they dressed their deceased.[24] This is due to ancient Chinese beliefs in the Yin and Yang theory, where it is believed that the left is Yang and stands for life whereas the right is Yin which stands for death.[32] Based on this belief, the left lapel needs to be outside (i.e. youren) to indicate that the power of Yang is suppressing the Yin, which therefore symbolized the clothing of living people.[32] However, if Yin surpasses Yang (i.e. zuoren), then clothing is the clothing worn by the deceased.[32] It is therefore taboo in Chinese clothing for a living person to wear zuoren.[32]

Clothing style which overlaps and closes to the right (右衽 youren) originated in China.[2] Cross-collared upper garment (Chinese: 衣) started to be worn in the Shang dynasty.[4] According to historical documents and archeological findings, the basic form of clothing during Shang was yichang.[33] In the Shang dynasty, the yi were long reaching the knee-level and would be worn over a skirt;[34]^: 22 the yi worn by slaveholders had tight sleeves and were also closed on the right side.[33]

Prior to the Eastern Han, the ru was the most common form of short robe for both men and women; however, the ru was preferred by women afterwards.[10] The long ru could reach the knee-level whereas the short ru was waist-length.[10] The ru could be found unlined, lined or padded.[10] In the Han dynasty, short waist-length ru could be worn with trousers or skirts by men and women respectively.[33]

In the Han and Wei dynasties, the ru sleeves could be wide or narrow; the ru was closed to the right.[10] A form of shan (衫) which appeared in the Han and Wei period was a new type of gown which had equal front pieces which were straight instead of cross-collared and was fastened with a string; it was also a form of unlined upper garment with straight sleeves and wide cuffs.[10] This shan was worn by men and women and became popular as it was more convenient for wearing.[10]

• Chinese jackets with cross-collar (jiaoling youren 交領右衽)
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  Statuette of a Standing Dignitary wearing yi (upper garment) over chang (skirt), Shang dynasty.
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  The Yellow Emperor wearing yi (upper garment) over chang (skirt), AD 151.
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  Guardians of day and night, Han Dynasty.
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  Women wearing jacket (ru) under their skirts. Eastern Han.
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  Jacket (ru), Former Qin.

Ru,[35] shan, and ao were common garment items for women in the Tang dynasty.[36] Ru (short jacket) and shan (unlined short robe) were used for ceremonial and daily clothing by women.[37] Some jackets in Tang dynasty could be found with narrow sleeves,[5] while other upper garments could be found with loose sleeves.[33] The ru in the Tang dynasty could also be a tight jacket or a cotton-padded jacket, which could have embroidered golden line as embellishment at the collar and sleeves or could sometimes be decorated with silk damask.[38] Duijin shan were also worn by women in this period;[39]^: 3[40] a form of duijin shan was the daxiushan which became popular when hufu-style declined in popularity.[41]^: 94

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  Woman wearing jiaoling youren jacket, Tang dynasty.
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  Paintings of women wearing daxiushan (大袖衫) during the Tang dynasty.

In the Song dynasty, the daxiushan (shirt with large/broad sleeves) was a form of fashionable formal clothing.[38] Song dynasty, women wore jiaolingyouren jackets and duijin jackets.[39]^{: 9, 11, 13–16} Song-style fashion, including jiaolingyouren jackets, continued to be worn by both Han Chinese and non-elite Khitan women in the Liao dynasty; these jackets were waist-length.[37]

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  Song dynasty women
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  Duijin shan made of luo (罗), Song dynasty.
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  Non-elite Khitan women wearing Song-style fashion, including jiaoling youren jacket over narrow skirt[42] and beizi.

Women jackets closing to the right and closing to the left coexisted in the Yuan dynasty. The left closure (instead of the right closure) was common in the Yuan dynasty.[43]

Following the end of the Yuan dynasty, the style of closing the jacket to the left in women's clothing persisted in the Ming dynasty, for at least Chinese women who lived in the province of Shanxi.[43] Ming dynasty portrait paintings showing Chinese women dressing in left lapel jackets appeared to be characteristic of ancestral portraits from the province of Shanxi and most likely in the areas neighbouring the province.[43]

In the Ming dynasty, the long jacket (ao) became more prevalent at the expense of the short jacket (ru).[6]^: 48–50 According to the Discourse of Northern Learning (Pukhak ŭi; 北學議: 완역정본) by Pak Chega (1750–1805) who visited the Qing dynasty in 1778, in the Ming dynasty, Chinese women's upper garment barely covered the waist during the Hongzhi era (1488–1505); their upper garments then gradually became longer and reached below the knee-level during the Zhengde era (1506–1521).[44]^: 72–74 Pak Chega based his description of Chinese women's clothing by using the Records of Daily Study (Rizhilu) by Gu Yanwu (1613–1682), a scholar from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.[44]^: 194

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  Woman wearing a waist-length jacket, Ming dynasty.
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  Waist-length jacket (ao) with pipa sleeves, Ming dynasty.
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  Waist-length fangling ao (square collared jacket), Changling Tomb of the Ming Dynasty.
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  Waist-length duijin ao (lined jacket), Ming dynasty.
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  Portrait of women wearing long jiaoling youren jacket (chang'ao) decorated with buzi, Ming dynasty.
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  Noble lady wearing a round-collared jacket as upper garment and a skirt as lower garment (front) Lady-in-waiting wearing a short-sleeved round collar jacket with a skirt (left), Ming dynasty.
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  Noble lady wearing a round-collared jacket as upper garment and a skirt as lower garment (front) Lady-in-waiting wearing a short-sleeved round collar jacket with a skirt (left), Ming dynasty.

By the late Ming dynasty, jackets with high collars (known as liling (立领) or shuling (竖领)[21]) started to appear.[6]^: 93–94 The standup collar were closed with interlocking buttons made of gold and silver,[45] called zimukou (Chinese: 子母扣).[46] The appearance of interlocking buckle promoted the emergence and the popularity of the standup collar and the Chinese jacket with buttons at the front, and laid the foundation of the use of Chinese knot buckles.[45] In women garments of the Ming dynasty, the standup collar with gold and silver interlocking buckles became one of the most distinctive and popular form of clothing structure; it became commonly used in women's clothing reflecting the conservative concept of Ming women's chastity by keeping their bodies covered and due to the climate changes during the Ming dynasty (i.e. the average temperature was low in China).[45] There were at least two types of high collar jackets in the Ming dynasty: Liling duijin shan (立领对襟衫) which is jacket with high collar and closes at the front centrally, and Liling dajin changshan (立领大襟长衫) which is a long jacket with stand-up collar, it overlaps from the neck and closes at the right side.[21] The Liling dajin changshan is typically worn with a skirt, called mamianqun.[21]

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  Noble woman wearing a long jacket with right side closure and a high collar. This is style of jacket is referred as liling dajin changshan (立领大襟长衫).[47]
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  Noble woman wearing a long jacket with right side closure and a high collar, Ming dynasty.

As Han women were not forced to change into Manchu clothing in the Qing dynasty, Han women of the Qing dynasty followed the style of female jacket worn in the Ming dynasty.[1] The Han Chinese women carefully maintained their pure Han Chinese ethnicity and did not wear Manchu clothing.[20] Over time, the Ming dynasty customs were gradually forgotten.[20] The clothing of the Han and the Manchu eventually influenced each other.[48] However, Manchu women and Han Chinese women never emulated each other's clothing; and as a result, by the end of the nineteenth century, Manchu and Han Chinese women had maintained distinctive clothing.[49]

In the mid-Qing clothing, fashionable styles were associated to those worn in the late 16th and early 17th century.[50] According to the Discourse of Northern Learning (Pukhak ŭi; 北學議: 완역정본) by Pak Chega (1750–1805) who visited the Qing dynasty in 1778, Chinese women wore upper and lower garments which were similar to those worn in ancient paintings.[44]^: 72–74 Pak described the jackets had collars which were round and narrow and were fastened just below the chin; he also described them as being typically long enough to conceal the entire body although in some cases, the jacket would be long enough to be just below the knee-level.[44]^: 72–74 Pak also observed that the Chinese women's clothing preserved the old traditions (which were mostly intact) and which he contrasted with the Joseon women's clothing trend which he claimed to be taking more after Mongolian in style, an influence which he attributed to the close relationship between Goryeo and the Yuan dynasty and continued to exist in Joseon during his lifetime.[44]^: 72–74

In the late 18th and 19th century, there was a dramatic shift in fashion aesthetics.[50] New silhouettes were recorded in various pictorial and written sources, which were different from those worn in the Ming dynasty (i.e. loose and long layered jackets and skirts which were more unstructured[50]), with the appearance of wider and more structured forms of Han Chinese women's jackets (including shan, ao, and gua).[17] The trend in this period was characterized on the emphasis on decorative trims and accessories which were modular and could be easily produced, purchased and then applied on the clothing (including robes, jackets, and skirts); those forms of modular features included collars, sleeve-bands and border decorations.[17] The borders decoration in contrasting colours were used throughout the clothing history of China and were recorded early on in history (e.g. in the Liji).[51] During this period, auspicious symbols and narrative scenery were especially made into embroidered roundels and borders and became fashionable in Han Chinese women's clothing; this new trend was an influence of the late imperial secularization of arts and culture on textiles.[17] They were also lavished with embroideries which were based on the Chinese symbolic system, which was itself based on Chinese language, mythology, customs, and literature, and belief system (e.g. Confucianist and Taoist motifs).[51] The wide sleeves used in the upper garment were a heritage of the Ming dynasty and a distinctive feature which differentiated Han Chinese clothing from Manchu clothing.[48] In terms of length, the long jacket (ao) (about below the hip level or at the knee level[51]) were never as long as the Manchu robes, but it was longer than the waist-length jacket (ru) which appeared to have fallen from popularity during the 18th century.[48]

The dajin youren ao (大襟右衽袄; jackets with overlapping front which closes to the right) were worn.[17] In the late Qing, these jackets had neither darts nor shoulder stitching.[1] The front and back panels are connected by the shoulder, and the left and right pieces are more or less symmetrical.[1] It has a front centre closure and then curves crossover to the right before secured with frog buttons.[6]^: 48–50 The front closing, collar, hem, and sleeves cuff have edging of contrasting pipings and side slits.[6]^: 48–50 The jackets could also be decorated with yunjian appliqué.[17]

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  Woman's short coat decorated with a Yunjian appliqué, early 19th century. There is a small round neck opening, and overlap buttoned at neck with two ball buttons and at right side seam with three buttons
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  Han women's ao, late 19th century
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  Chinese women wearing different forms of ao, images extracted from Geschichte des Kostüms, published 1905.
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  Wedding jacket and skirt (aoqun), c. 1900.

The duijin ao (对襟袄; jackets with front opening) were also worn.[1][17] Duijjin ao in the 19th century could be round neck with no collar or have small stand-up collars.[17]

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  Child's jacket with front opening, Qing dynasty.

Cross-collar jackets (jiaoling youren; 交領右衽) continued to be worn in the Qing dynasty even in the 19th century by children.[20]

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  Woman's theatrical jacket, Qing dynasty, 19th century.
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  Child's cross-collared jacket, Qing dynasty.
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  Child's cross-collared jacket, Qing dynasty.

In the early Republic of China, the dajin youren jackets (ao) were found with narrow sleeves; the length of the sleeves could be found wrist-length,[1] and higher standing collar (e.g. saddle/ingot collar or ear-length collar).[1] These high collars were gradually lowered.[1] After the May 4th Movement, these high collars were abandoned due to their inconvenience.[1] In the 1920s, the jackets had curved lower hem at the waist-hip region and low standing collar; it was a component of the civilized new dress (Wenming xinzhuang; 文明新裝).[1][23] After the 1930s, these forms of upper garments lost popularity and decreased in use, as they were replaced by Qipao and Western dress.[1]

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  Woman wearing dajin youren jacket (ao) with skirt, 1920.