The differences in economy and culture led to differences in the costumes of the two dynasties.
Tang Dynasty Clothing
The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of my country's feudal society. Both people's thoughts and material production reached the peak of history. Starting from the Tang Dynasty, floral patterns were commonly used in craft decoration, and their compositions are lively and free, dense and well-proportioned, plump and round. Especially when the wavy continuous pattern is combined with flowers and plants, it becomes the twining branch pattern that was popular in the Tang Dynasty. The clothing patterns of the Tang Dynasty changed the past creative thinking based on the divine right of genius, and used real flowers, grass, fish, and insects for sketching. However, the traditional dragon and phoenix patterns were not rejected. This was also influenced by the divine right of the emperor. decided. At this time, the design of clothing patterns tended to express free, plump and fat artistic styles.
The Tang Dynasty was an era when my country's politics and economy were highly developed, culture and art flourished, and it was an era when feudal culture was splendid. The Tang Dynasty unified the chaotic and divided states of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui Dynasty, and established a unified and powerful country. Its foreign trade was developed, productivity was greatly developed, and the country was peaceful and the people were safe for a long time. Especially when the prosperous Tang Dynasty became the center for economic and cultural exchanges among various ethnic groups in Asia, it was the most glorious page in the cultural history of our country. During this period, Indian and Iranian culture was absorbed and integrated into Chinese culture, which is fully reflected in murals, stone carvings, sculptures, calligraphy, paintings, silk embroidery, pottery figurines and costumes.
By the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the most obvious feature of Chinese clothing was the dual-track system. In large sacrificial scenes, traditional Han clothes are worn. In normal times, the common clothing in the Tang Dynasty was the Hufu (i.e. Xianbei clothing) system.
In the Tang Dynasty, the country was unified, the economy was prosperous, the style was more open, and the costumes became more and more gorgeous. The characteristic of women's clothing in the Tang Dynasty is the unity of skirt, shirt and belt. Among women, the image of bare breasts and arms appeared. On the mural on the east wall of the tomb of Princess Yongtai, there is an image of a Tang Dynasty woman with a high bun, exposed breasts, a red silk draped over her shoulders, a yellow narrow-sleeved blouse, a green floor-length skirt, and a red belt hanging from her waist. "Pink breasts are half hidden by doubts and snow", and "when I sit, my belt lingers in the grass, when I walk, my skirt sweeps away the fallen plum blossoms", I have a more vivid understanding. Wearing a slow-skirted skirt with half-revealed breasts is not something everyone can do. In the Tang Dynasty, only those with status could wear open-breasted shirts. Princess Yongtai could be half-naked, and singers could be half-nude to please the ruling class. However, women from common people were not allowed to be half-nude. At that time, the half-breasted skirts of the Tang Dynasty were somewhat similar to modern Western evening dresses, except that the shoulders and back were not allowed to be exposed. The collars of women's clothing in the Tang Dynasty include round collars, square collars, oblique collars, straight collars and sweetheart collars. The characteristic of the long skirt is that the waist is tied higher, usually above the waist, and some are even tied under the armpits, giving people a pretty and slender look.
"The leaves of the Luo shirt are heavily embroidered, with a trace of gold, phoenix and silver goose each." "The eyebrows with black eyebrows capture the color of daylilies, and the red skirt kills the pomegranate flowers with jealousy." The skirts of the Tang Dynasty were colorful, with red, purple, yellow and green competing for beauty, with the red skirt being the most beautiful. The popularity of red skirts on the street is not exclusive to modern people. As early as the prosperous Tang Dynasty, dance skirts were already dyed with pomegranate flowers everywhere.
Perhaps influenced by the theory of yin and yang and the five elements, Concubine Yang likes yellow skirts the most, which is a symbol of status.
"Slowly wearing skirts and half-revealing breasts" reflects the degree of open-mindedness of society at that time. A social ideology formed on a certain economic basis. It is an important factor affecting social fashion and clothing. Clothing is a barometer of the sociopolitical climate. The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of China's feudal society, especially during the Zhenguan and Kaiyuan years, when the political climate was relaxed and people lived and worked in peace and contentment. Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, was the center of politics, economy, and culture at that time, and it was also the center of cultural exchanges between the East and the West.
In the ancient city of Xi'an, the morning bells of the Wild Goose Pagoda, the smoke in the thatched cottage, the wind and snow in the Willows, the evening light on Lishan Mountain, the Huayue Cactus, and the stone carvings in the Forest of Steles seem to still be lingering with the sound of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. There were more than 300 countries that had friendly relations with the Tang government. The splendid Chinese culture has been spread to all over the world through them. To this day, some countries in East Asia still use costumes from the Tang Dynasty as formal dresses, which shows the long-lasting influence. Foreign friendly envoys gathered in Chang'an and spread the seeds of their culture across the eight hundred miles of Qinchuan. Tang Dynasty painting, sculpture, music, dance and other arts all attracted foreign techniques and styles. The eclectic collection of exotic clothes made the costumes of the Tang Dynasty more colorful and dazzling.
Because the Tang Dynasty adopted an open policy and adopted an eclectic mix of costumes from the Western Regions and Tubo, "Hundred Hats" and "Shishizhuang" became popular. This is the third major change in the history of ancient Chinese clothing. What is different from the previous two major clothing changes is that this time the clothing exchange flows from north to south to east to west.
Song Dynasty Clothing
The colorful Tang Dynasty declined and was replaced by the Song Dynasty. Although politically open and democratic, "due to the ideological constraints of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism" and the compromise of foreign policy, the clothing culture is no longer gorgeous and luxurious, but simple and simple. Women's clothing in the Song Dynasty was restrained and conservative, with elegant and quiet colors. The "covering" function of undershirts and jackets was strengthened, and all "arrogance" was instantly restrained. In the Song Dynasty, both the dignitaries and the common people liked to wear straight-collared and double-breasted backs, because they were comfortable, elegant, and elegant.
The clothing colors and styles of the Song Dynasty are mostly inherited from the Tang Dynasty, but the integration with tradition is better and more natural, giving people the feeling of restoring the Chinese style.
Clothing in the Song Dynasty Men's clothing in the Song Dynasty generally followed the style of the Tang Dynasty. Common people usually wore robes with cross-collar or round collars. When doing work, they would put the clothes up on their belts. The clothes were black and white. color.
Retired officials and scholar-bureaucrats at that time wore a kind of double-breasted gown called "Zhidu", with large sleeves, cuffs, collars, and corners of the shirt with black edges, and a square bucket on their heads. The shaped hat is called "Dongpo scarf".
There are three types of clothing in the Song Dynasty: one is the "public clothes" used by queens, concubines and women at all levels; the other is the "dress" used by ordinary people for good and bad luck; the other is regular clothes used for daily use. Most of the official uniforms of the Song Dynasty were inherited from the early Tang Dynasty. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, due to the lack of customization of clothing and external influences, Khitan clothing with "felt hats" and "hoo (dunxia+tu)" (socks [clothing beside + boast]) appeared, and people called it Outlandish costumes. In the Song Dynasty, official clothing was generally very luxurious, and private clothing was also very particular. In the third year of Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty (the Qiande period), it was stipulated that the color of women's clothes in the palace should change with that of the officials, and it was also stipulated that ordinary people were not allowed to wear silk and silk five-color clothes. During the reigns of Renzong, Yingzong, Shenzong and the seventh year of Zhenghe, the government promoted improved clothing and made it more luxurious. The common people turned a deaf ear to these regulations and took them at will. Some aristocratic boudoirs in the capital also designed many unique ways to dress up, pursuing novelty and uniqueness. Not only the choice of clothing materials is exquisite, but also the dressing is very special. Some have a square forehead, some have their hair tied down to the shoulders, some have a beautiful cloud and a golden phoenix on their temples. The poor also use paper cuttings to decorate their hair, apply incense on their bodies, and embroider their feet. .
The two dynasties each have their own characteristics, and even in the same dynasty, the costumes of different classes are also different.