Three main types of traditional Chinese clothing are the pienfu, the changpao, and the shenyi.

The pienfu is an ancient two-piece ceremonial costume of a tunic-like top extending to the knees and a skirt or trousers extending to the ankles.

The changpao is a one-piece garment extending from the shoulders all the way to the heels.

Because of relatively plain design and structure of traditional Chinese clothing, embroidered edgings, decorated bands, draped cloth or silks, patterns on the shoulders, and sashes were often added as ornamentation. These varied designs came to be one of the unique features of traditional Chinese dress.

Darker colors were much more favored than lighter ones in traditional Chinese clothing so the main color of ceremonial clothing tended to be dark while bright, elaborate tapestry designs accented. Lighter colored clothing was worn more frequently by the common people for everyday use.

The Chinese associate certain colors with specific seasons: green represents spring, red symbolizes summer, white represents autumn, and black symbolizes winter. The Chinese are said to have a fully developed system of matching, coordinating, and contrasting colors and shades of light and dark in apparel.

Costume in the Han Dynasty

Costume in the Tang Dynasty

Thanks to the unified and prosperous Tang Dynasty, costume in the Tang Dynasty plays a very essential role in Chinese history of clothing. The dresses of the Tang Dynasty were mainly made of silk, so they were famous for softness and lightness. The dresses of the Tang Dynasty boldly adopted the features of foreign garments in terms of forms and adornments; i.e. they mainly referred to the garments of other countries (such as the Central-Asia countries, India, Iran, Persia, northern countries and the Western Regions) and used them to improve the habilatory culture of the Tang Dynasty.

One of important features of costume in Tang Dynasty is how women's dress and personal adornments of the Tang Dynasty were outstanding in entire China's history. The clothing materials were exquisite, the structure was natural, graceful and elegant, and adornments were splendid. Though the forms of garments were still the continuation of the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) and the Sui Dynasty (581-618), they were influenced by cultures and arts of the Western Regions. The trades and cultural exchanges with Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Persia and other countries gradually became frequent, and they mutually dispatched emissaries and accepted students of other countries. In this way, a special open and romantic style of dress and personal adornments for women was formed.

Because of communication with the Western Regions, the influence of dressing culture of other minorities on the Tang court also reflected the change of thoughts and concepts. Chinese women were seriously restricted by the old Confucian or feudal ethical code before Tang Dynasty. The social status of ancient women was very low. They often served as Jileren (music performer), Guanji (official performer), Gongji (palace performer) and Jiaji (family performer) who were regarded as the playthings and goods that can be sold and bought by rich people for their will. Some females had rebel spirit in the Tang Dynasty, so they climbed or jumped over the walls and went to the nature to view the beautiful sightseeing in the spring by riding horses with men. Just as recorded by many historical materials, some girls therefore dressed as boys in order to go out.

The garments in the Tang Dynasty also greatly affected the garments of neighboring countries. For instance, Japanese kimono adopted the elites of the dresses of the Tang Dynasty in terms of colors and the Hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) also adopted the advantages of the dresses of the Tang Dynasty.

Chinese Cheongsam

The cheongsam, or Qipao in Chinese, is evolved from a sort of ancient clothing of Manchu ethnic minority. In ancient times, it generally referred to long gowns worn by the people of Manchuria, Mongolia and the Eight-Banner.

In the early years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), long gowns featured collarless, narrow cuff in the shape of a horse's hoof, buttons down the left front, four slits and a fitting waist. Wearers usually coiled up their cuff, and put it down when hunting or battling to cover the back of hand. Another feature of Manchu cheongsam was that people generally wore it plus a waistcoat that was either with buttons down the front, a twisted front, or a front in the shape of lute, etc.


When the early Manchu rulers came to mainland China, they moved their capital to Beijing. The Qing Dynasty unified China, and unified the nationwide costume so that cheongsam began to spread in the Central Plains as well. At that time, men wore a long gown and a mandarin jacket over the gown, while women wore cheongsam.

From the 1930s, cheongsam almost became the uniform for women. Folk women, students, workers and highest-tone women all dressed themselves in cheongsam, which even became a formal suit for occasions of social intercourses or diplomatic activities. Later, cheongsam even spread to foreign countries and became the favorite of foreign females.

Why do Han people like to wear the cheongsam? The main reason is that it fits well Chinese female figure, has simple lines and looks elegant. What's more, it is suitable for wearing in all seasons by old and young. The cheongsam can either be long or short, unlined or interlined, woolen or made of silk floss. Besides, with different materials, the cheongsam presents different styles. Cheongsams made of silk with patterns of flowerlet, plain lattices or thin lines demonstrate charm of femininity and staidness; those made of brocade are eye-catching and magnificent and suitable for occasions of greeting guests and attending banquets.

When Chinese cheongsams were exhibited for sales in countries like Japan and France, they received warm welcome from local women, who did not hesitate to buy Chinese cheongsams especially those top-notch ones made of black velour interlined with or carved with golden flowers. Cheongsam features strong national flavor and embodies beauty of Chinese traditional costume. It not only represents Chinese female costume but also becomes a symbol of the oriental traditional costume.

Clothes of Chinese ethnic minorities are flowery, colorful, extremely exquisite, and highly distinctive. They play an important role of the rich history and culture of the ethnic groups.

As we mentioned above, red is favorite for all Chinese people for red is considered as good luck that can keep evil spirits away. So you will find the bride and groom wear in red in their wedding part. The traditional Chinese wedding dress in northern Chinese usually is one piece frock named Qipao, embroidered with elaborate gold and silver design. Brides in Southern China prefer to wear two-piece dress name Qungua or Kwa, which also elaborately adorn with gold dragon and phoenix.

During the traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, the bride is handed by her groom. Her head is covered by a red veil which is falling down to her shoulder for whole period. The veil is not taken off until all the relatives and friends have left. The groom needs to put the veil off by himself only. Imagine the special and sweet moment when groom takes the veil off and see a blush and exciting face with the timid candlelight while they sit on the edge of new bed. The bride covering veil is connected with the special occasion the lovers are eager for their life.