Panling lanshan (盤領襴衫), also referred as lanshan (襴衫), is a traditional Chinese attire for men. It is a specific form of

round collar robe The Round collar robe, also called () and in China, (; ) in Korea, was a style of , a Chinese robe, worn in ancient China, which was long enough to cover the entire body of its wearer. The Chinese was developed under the influences of the ...

, known as yuanlingpao, which is characterized with the use of hem, called hanglan (横襕), also referred as lan (襕)). The panling lanshan was a new type of garment, developed in the

Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...

through the localization of the round-collar garments which had been introduced by the ethnic minorities, such as the Xianbei. Panling lanshan continued to be worn in the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. The panling lanshan along with the '' futou'' (幞頭; black cap) was used as the Tang dynasty attire of scholars and officials. The scholars' attire in the succeeding dynasties followed the style of the ''panling lanshan'' of the Tang dynasty. It is also a formal attire worn by scholars and students (生員) taking the imperial examination in Ming

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

History

Round collar robes, including the panling (盤領) robes, were introduced during the

by the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

. The panling robes introduced by the Xianbei became a form of daily clothing for the Han Chinese during this period; it was then sinicized and fully integrated into the

Han Chinese Clothing ''Hanfu'' (, lit. "Han Chinese, Han clothing"), also known as ''Hanzhuang'' (), are the traditional styles of clothing worn by the Han Chinese since the 2nd millennium BCE. There are several representative styles of ''hanfu'', such as the (an ...

system through the adoption of Han Chinese tradition, such as the ''lan'' (seam) at the hem and basing itself on the shenyi-making system. It was further developed and standardized in the succeeding dynasties: Tang,

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

, and Ming dynasties. In the Tang dynasty, the lanshan had narrow sleeves inheriting the northern dynasty clothing system. The lanshan worn with by scholars and officials in this period was red in colour, and it was worn with a hat called futou. In the Song dynasty, the lanshan developed wide sleeves and the robe became increasingly wider as it returned to a more traditional Han Chinese style due to the shift in preferences for civilization over militarism. The lanshan also changed in colour becoming white or off-white. White lanshan continued to be worn in the Ming dynasty. A new form of lanshan also appeared in the Ming dynasty and was blue in colour'

Design and construction

Panling lanshan for scholars

The panling lanshan lanshan for scholars is wide sleeved, has black edges, and has a round collar secured with a button. A crossed-collar undergarment must be worn beneath it. It may or may not have side slits (with side panels (暗擺) to conceal the undergarment). File:Imperial Encyclopaedia - Ceremonial Usages - pic475 - 襴衫.png, Lanshan (襴衫), a vectorization of an illustration from the Chinese encyclopedia ''

Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China The ''Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China'' (or the ''Gujin Tushu Jicheng'') is a vast encyclopedic work written in China during the reigns of the Qing dynasty emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng. It was begun in 1700 and completed in 1725 ...

'' (《古今圖書集成》). File:Artifact hanfu8.jpg, Artifact of panling lanshan File:Panling5.jpg, Portrait of man wearing Song-style panling lanshan File:士人襴衫像.jpg, Ming dynasty man wearing panling lanshan. File:戴昕.jpg File:Panling lanshan.jpg, Man wearing panling lanshan File:王元瑞.jpg File:馮從吾.jpg, Feng Cong Wu (1556－1627 AD), politician of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

Korean version

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, the lanshan was called ''nansam'' (난삼/襴(幱/欄)衫)''.'' The ''nansam w''as adopted from the ancient Chinese system and was worn as the official costume of students who had passed the civil service examination in

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

by King Yeonjo. In

, students also wore a similar robe called ''aengsam'' (앵삼/鶯衫). The ''aengsam'' appears to be similar to the Chinese ''nansam'' but with a different colour. The word ''aeng'' from ''aengsam'' is lit. translated as"nightingale" due to its yellow colour which is the same as the colour of the

nightingale The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale (''Luscinia megarhynchos''), is a small passerine bird which is best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, ...

. The ''aengsam'' was worn during the national government examination and governmental ceremonies as a type of formal clothing. It appears that the ''aengsam'' started to be worn in the late Joseon period.

Similar looking garments

Yuanlingshan A yuanlingshan () is a type of Round collar robe, round-collared upper garment () in the traditional Chinese style of clothing known as ; it is also referred to as a () or a () when used as a robe (called ). The and were both developed under t ...

* Shenyi

References