着我汉家衣裳；兴我礼仪之邦
Hanfu - Traditional Han
Chinese Clothing
汉服
2
Aril 2007
If
somebody tells you the clothing shown in the
picture above could become the ceremonial
uniforms of the Chinese athletes in the 2008
Beijing Olympics, surely you won’t feel
surprised – traditional dress parade has
always been one of the highlights on the
opening ceremony, and Chinese are yet to make
their contribution in this field.
These
fanciful Olympic uniforms are designed by
some Chinese netzens based on a clothing
style that has thousands years of history,
worn by Han Chinese ever since the time of
Yellow Emperor who is considered to be the
founding father of the Chinese nation and the
common ancestor of all Han Chinese.
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Contemporary
Chinese in the traditional Han
clothing
Click on the
image to view enlarged version
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Han
people are the biggest ethnic group in China
and the prime creator of the Chinese culture.
In the recent decades, as the result of the
one-child policy imposed solely on the Han,
its proportion has fallen, but still it
consists of 92 percent of the total
population in the mainland. As for in Hong
Kong, Macau and Taiwan, it is said to be
between 94 and 98. The Han is also the
biggest ethnic group in the world, counting
19 percent of the global population, meaning
nearly one in every five people on the planet
has a Han background.
Han
dress’ flowing style and integrated ties
for fastening wonderfully reflecte a rich,
flexible and inclusive spirit of the Chinese
culture, while its close association with
silk makes it one of the most visually
appealing garments in history.
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Han Dress In the
Chinese Paintings illustrated by
Chinese artists
Click on the image to
view all paintings
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A
thousands-year old cultural tradition, sadly,
was brought to a brutal halt more than three
hundred years ago by the Manchurians who
demanded the locals, Han and other ethnic
people, giving up their way of living and
adopting that of Manchus. Hundreds and
thousands of people were massacred in
defending their dress code their hair style
and their honour, echoing the events of
carnage conducted under the similar mentality
in the other parts of the planet at the time.
It would be
nice if one day 1.3 billion Han Chinese, or
say 20 percent of the total population on
earth, once again bear their own unique
expression based on Han’s distinctive
physical features and wealthy cultural
heritage - like what other 55 ethnic groups
have done in the mainland. If that could be
the case, then China’s streetscapes will be
much more interesting and inviting, so are
the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
A little
Chinese girl in the traditional
Han dress holding a traditional
Chinese fan posing in the
traditional Chinese veranda
A newly
opened theme restaurant called
Han Style Eatery (汉风食邑) in Beijing’s
Fengtai district
China stories are told at wenhousecrafts.com
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