Hanfu sparked debate in 2007, when Chinese political advisor Ye Hongming proposed adopting Hanfu as China’s national clothing. Only in the past 10 years have people started to call for a revival of Han Chinese clothing, donning such clothing in daily life, during festivals or on other special occasions, according to Li Baichuan. Hanfu is the traditional dress of the Han Chinese people, and nowadays, the costume is worn during festivals or ceremonies like coming-of-age and rite-of-passage by hobbyists or performers at touring sites. Undergraduates from the Fujian Normal University show the process of ancient coming-of-age ceremony to tourists by wearing Hanfu, or traditional Han Chinese clothing, at Fuzhou Folk Museum in Fuzhou, capital of Southeast China’s Fujian province, on Saturday. Others said the move was unnecessary and a symbol of Han chauvinism. In ancient Chinese poetry, xinyi often appears as a symbol of spring. The Hanfu was more than just a piece of clothing; it was a symbol of status, with different designs and colors representing different social ranks. More moving geometric patterns covered the screens before revealing the rooftops of Agrabah at nighttime and a silhouetted Aladdin and Jasmine riding the magic carpet.
The show utilized pyrotechnics, choreographed water fountains, water curtains, lasers, searchlights, and LED screens to present a 360° audio-visual experience on the park’s World Showcase Lagoon. The hanfu style was gradually replaced by Manchu style, which offered the cheongsam, or qipao, for women and the changshan for men. After feudalism was overthrown in 1911, the changshan and other similar clothing styles were gradually replaced by Western fashion in China. With time, Han Chinese men eventually adopted Manchu-style clothing, such as changshan and magua, and by the late Qing, officials, scholars, and many commoners wore Manchu-style clothing. It gradually formed distinctive features and styles of Han ethnic and was different from the costumes of other ethnic groups. From classic to trendy, the fashion cheongsam industry has introduced a plethora of styles and trends that have been adopted by the general public. Li has found it difficult to convince the public in China, which is largely Han, to accept and adopt the traditional clothing of their ancestors.
In 1644, the Manchu rulers of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) ordered all Han people to adopt Manchu-style clothing or face harsh punishment. The jiaolingpao in the Han dynasty had linings; and it could be called jiapao or mianpao based on whether it was padded. Hezi is worn in the Tang dynasty, Song dynasty and Ming dynasty. Aoqun/袄裙 – a type of ruqun that became fashionable during the Ming Dynasty. Ruqun/襦裙 – the most basic type of hanfu consisting of a top and a wrap-around skirt. Generally speaking, people divide ruqun into two types based on the height of the skirt: “Qiyao Ruqun/ 齐腰襦裙” (waist-high ruqun) and “Qixiong Ruqun/ 齐胸襦裙” (chest-high ruqun). Quju/曲裾 (curved-hem robe) and Zhiju/直裾(straight-hem robe) are two types of shenyi. The quju (left, middle) is a robe in which the bottom hem of the left lapel spirals its way up to the waist of the wearer. Quju and Zhiju are worn by both men and women. Extremely versatile, it can be long or short, have narrow or wide sleeves, and is worn by both men and women.
Both men and women can wear it. The gender difference is that while wide-sleeved beizi were considered formal wear for women (narrow-sleeved beizi were casual wear for women), both wide and narrow-sleeved beizi were only used as casual wear for men. During the Song Dynasty, it was popular to wear narrow-sleeved beizi over a chest undergarment and skirt/pants (middle). “Qixiong Ruqun”, on the other hand, has its waistband above the chest. One difference from the qungua is the use of Betawi Lotus, also known as Betawi pomegranate, a separate ornamental garment which covers the chest and shoulder areas (similar to the yunjian of the Chinese people). The conservative Chinese curriculum was reaffirmed in the 1950s when the colonial government appropriated Chinese traditionalism to counter Communist influences. In 2014, the conservative constitutional reform proposals and National People’s Congress Standing Committee’s (NPCSC) restriction on the nomination process of the Chief Executive also triggered the 79-day occupy movement, as proposed by the pro-democracy group Occupy Central with Love and Peace. A Non-British Han Chinese however may wear whatever they feel fit, including Hanfu if they subscribe to that as their national dress but not Hanfu court dress as they are not entitled to it by virtue of no regining Emperor of China to give entitlement to wear it, otherwise it would be classed as ‘fancy dress’.