Beizi

Beizi (), also known as beizi () and chuozi (), is an item worn in traditional Chinese attire common to both men and women; it is typically a large loose outer coat with loose and long sleeves. It was most popular during the Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and from the early Qing to the Mid-Qing dynasty. The beizi originated in the Song dynasty. In the Ming dynasty, the beizi was referred as pifeng (). When worn by men, it is sometimes referred as changyi (), hechang (), or dachang () when it features large sleeves and knotted ties at the front as a garment closure.

Terminology

Beizi (背子) literally means "person sitting behind". According to Zhu Xi, the beizi may have originally been clothing worn by concubines and maidservants, and it was then named after these people as they would always walk behind their mistress.

History

Origins

The beizi originated in the Song dynasty; it is assumed that it was derived from the banbi, where the sleeves and the garment lengthened. According to Ye Mende, the beizi was initially worn as a military clothing with "half-sleeves"; the sleeves were later extended and hanging ribbons were added from the armpits and back. In earlier times, the beizi did not exist according to both Zhu Xi and Lu You, and it only became popular by the Late Northern Song dynasty.

Song dynasty

In the Song dynasty, the beizi was worn by all social strata regardless of gender; however, it was a more prevalent in people of the higher social status. Emperor Zhezong and Emperor Huizong both wore yellow beizi while the Grand Councillors of the Northern Song period would wear purple beizi with a round collar; this form of fashion remained until the Xuanhe period.

The beizi had a straight silhouette, and the Song dynasty people liked its elegance which reflect the cultural and psychological development of the Song dynasty people who liked simplicity. Zhu Xi also created some rules for dressing, which included the wearing of beizi by unmarried women and concubines. While women were prescribed to wear beizi as a regular dress, men could only wear it in informal situation. The male Song dynasty beizi was worn as informal clothing at home because it could be left unfastened in the front, because of the relaxed waistline and as the beizi could come in variety of length and width. Examples of beizi artefacts worn by women dating from Song dynasty were unearthed from the tomb of Huang Sheng.

During the Song dynasty, the hechang () was worn as a casual form of clothing by the recluse and retired officials; it could be worn over a zhiduo. Hechang was long and loose, and it could be made of down of crane and other birds, it was long enough for its lower hem to reach the ground.
File:Gauze Robe, Southern Song (33548426031).jpg, Unearthed beizi with narrow sleeves from the tomb of Huang Sheng, Southern Song dynasty.
File:蠶織圖局部2.jpg, Commoner women wearing beizi, Song dynasty.
File:Looking in the Mirror and dabs on Rouge Powder.jpg, Song dynasty women wearing beizi (褙子), Northern Song dynasty (960–1127 AD).
File:CMOC Treasures of Ancient China exhibit - pictorial brick depicting a woman cleaning and drying vessels, print version.jpg, Song dynasty relief of a woman wearing a beizi.
File:Sung Dynasty Tomb Painting Found in Tengfeng City 6.jpg, Women wearing beizi, Song Dynasty Tomb Painting Found in Tengfeng City.
File:Court Ladies of the Former Shu by Tang Yin.jpg, Court Ladies of the Former Shu wearing post-Tang Style beizi.
File:Song Beizi.jpg, Song dynasty beizi, 12th century.
File:Beizi song.jpg, A man wearing a "Song Style" beizi.

Ming dynasty

In the Ming dynasty, the women's pifeng became so long by the 16th century that it caused some anxieties to government officials as the women's pifeng started to look closer to the men's clothing; i.e. traditionally, woman's upper garment had to be levelled at her waist with a lower garment which meets the upper garment in order to represent "earth supports heaven". In the Ming dynasty, when the pifeng came to be lengthened to the point that woman's upper garment covered the lower skirts; it was perceived as a confusion between man and woman as it was men who traditionally had their upper garments covering their lower garments to symbolize "heaven embraces earth".

The pifeng was a prominent clothing for women in the late ming dynasty as a daily dress in the 16th and 17th century.
File:Mingbeizi hanfu.jpg, Ming Dynasty portrait of a Woman wearing a "Ming Styled" beizi (also known as pifeng).
File:Mingbeizi2 hanfu.jpg, Ming Dynasty portrait of a man wearing a "Ming Styled" beizi.
File:'Ancestor portrait' by Qian Lizhai. Ming, 16th century, ink, color and gold on silk, HMA.JPG, Men wearing beizi, Ming dynasty, 16th century
File:湯顯祖像mingdynastyhanfubeizi.jpg, A Ming Portrait of a man wearing "Ming styled" Beizi

Qing dynasty

During the Qing dynasty, the Ming-style form of clothing remained dominant for Han Chinese women; this included the beizi among various forms of clothing. In the 17th and 18th century AD, the beizi (褙子) was one of the most common clothing and fashion worn by women in Qing dynasty, along with the ruqun, yunjian, taozi and bijia. The pifeng continued to be worn even after the fall of the Qing dynasty, but eventually disappeared by the 19th century.
File:Yongzheng twelve beauties women 01.jpg, Qing dynasty beizi, illustration d. before 1732 AD
File:Yongzheng twelve beauties women 10.jpg, Qing dynasty beizi, illustration d. before 1732 AD
File:Yongzheng twelve beauties women 03.jpg, Qing dynasty beizi, illustration d. before 1732 AD
File:Domestic Scene from an Opulent Household. Qianlong period. Museum of Fine Arts. Boston.jpg, Woman wearing beizi, ''Domestic Scene from an Opulent Household'', Qianlong period.
File:庄顺皇贵妃.png, Woman wearing beizi, Qing dynasty.
File:Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber (4139329353).jpg, Beizi, from the 18th century novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber''.

21st Century: Modern beizi and pifeng

The beizi and pifeng which are based from various dynasties regained popularity in the 21st century with the emergence of the Hanfu Movement and were modernized or improved.
File:Beizi 1.jpg, Modern pink pifeng.
File:Yellow and green hanfu.jpg, Modern green beizi.
File:Hanfu002.jpg, Green pifeng worn over aoqun.

Construction and Design

The beizi has a straight silhouette with vents and seams at the sides. It has a parallel/straight-collar (); i.e. there is a pair of disconnected foreparts which were parallel to each other. The beizi could also be found with side slits which could start at beginning at the armpit down its length or without any side slits at all. In the song dynasty, the beizi was not fastened so that the inner clothing could be exposed. The beizi also came in variety of length, i.e. above knees, below knees, and ankle length, and the sleeves could vary in size (i.e. either narrow or broad).In the Song dynasty, other styles of beizi were also found in addition to the aforementioned style:

# There is a style of beizi wherein ribbons could be hung from both the armpits and the back, with a silk belt which fastened the front and back of the beizi together, or the front and back parts of the beizi could also be left unbound. According to Cheng Dachang, the use of ribbons under the armpits was assumed to have been a way to imitate the crossing ribbons of earlier ancient Chinese clothing in order to maintain the clothing of the ancient times.
# A "half-beizi", a beizi with short sleeves; it was originally worn as a military uniform but it was then worn by the literati and the commoners despite being against the Song dynasty's dressing etiquette.
# A "sleeveless beizi", which looks like a modern sleeveless vest, was used as a casual clothing and could be found in the market. They were made of ramie or raw silk fabric.

The beizi also developed with time. The earlier Song dynasty beizi had a band which finished the edges down to the bottom hem, but with time, it developed further and a contrasting neckband which encircled the neck down to the mid-chest; a closing was also found at the mid-chest. In the Song dynasty, the sleeves of the beizi was fuller, but it became more tubular in shape in the Ming dynasty.

By the late Ming dynasty, the beizi (also known as pifeng) had become longer and almost covered the skirts completely which came to look almost like the men's clothing and the sleeves grew larger trailing well below the finger tips. The neckband, however, was shortened to reach mid-chest and the robe was made wider. In the Ming dynasty, beizi can be secured at the front either with a metal or jade clasp button called ''zimu kou'' ().

Gender Differences

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.

Depictions and media

* In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang is said to be wearing hechang.

File:Kongming Leaving the Mountains (cropped).jpg, Zhu Geliang wearing a hechang (also known as beizi).

Influences and derivatives

China

In Chinese opera, costumes such as ''nüpi'' (; a form of women's formal attire) and ''pi'' (; a form of men's formal attire) were derived from the beizi worn during the Ming dynasty (i.e. pifeng). Both ''pi'' and ''nüpi'' had tubular sleeves which were longer than then wrist length. Water sleeves were also added to the sleeves for both ''pi'' and ''nüpi''; the water sleeves worn with the ''nüpi'' are longer than those worn with the ''pi''. The ''nüpi'' had straight sides and vents and was knee length; the length of the ''nüpi'' was historically accurate. The ''pi'' had a flared side seams with vents and was ankle-length. It could be closed with a single Chinese frog button or with a fabric tie.
File:清中期 納紗繡戯服男帔-Theatrical Robe for a Male Role MET DP241377.jpg, Qing dynasty period ''pi'' costume (front view).
File:清中期 納紗繡戯服男帔-Theatrical Robe for a Male Role MET DP241381.jpg, Qing dynasty period ''pi'' costume (back view).

Korea

The hechang (known as hakchang in Korea) was introduced during the 17th and 18th century in Joseon by people who had exchanges with Chinese or liked Chinese classic styles and gradually became popular among the Joseon people; Joseon scholars started to borrow the looks of Zhuge Liang due to the popularity of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms; and thus, the hakchangui was increasingly worn by more and more Joseon scholars. In Joseon, fans with white feather and the hakchangui became the representative clothing of Zhuge Liang, hermits, and scholars who followed taoism.

Vietnam

The Ao Nhat Binh (, ), which was a casual outer garment worn by the female royal family, female officials, and high noble ladies of the Nguyen dynasty during informal occasions, originated from the Ming dynasty pifeng () which was popular in China. The Ao Naht Bihn was further developed in the Nguyen dynasty to denote social ranking of women through the use of colours and embroidery patterns.
File:Vietnamese woman wearing Áo Nhật Bình.jpg, Vietnamese woman wearing Áo Nhật Bình

Similar items

* Daxiushan
* Daopao in the form of hechang (crane cloak) - a form of Taoist clothing

Related items

* Banbi

See also

*Hanfu
*List of Hanfu
* Hanfu movement

References

{{Folk costume

Chinese traditional clothing