Xuanduan (), also known as yuanduan (), is a form of Chinese court dress (and/or ritual garment) which was made of dark or black fabric. It is a form of

yichang Yichang ( zh, s= ), Postal Map Romanization, alternatively romanized as Ichang, is a prefecture-level city located in western Hubei province, China. Yichang had a population of 3.92 million people at the 2022 census, making it the third most pop ...

(i.e. a set of attire composed of upper and lower garment). It was worn since the

Western Zhou dynasty The Western Zhou ( zh, c=西周, p=Xīzhōu; 771 BC) was a period of Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended in 7 ...

. During 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 ...

, under the reign of Emperor Jiajing, the xuanduan became a model for the regulations reforms related to ''yanfu'' (casual or leisure clothing) worn by the emperor and officials.

Terminology

The term ''xuanduan'' appears in the ''

Liji The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''B ...

'' in the section ''Yuzao'' (玉藻) and in the ''Zhouli''. The ''xuanduan'' is named after its shape (端, duan) which is angular (i.e. it is made by using the whole width of a squared-shape fabric) and by its colour. The character ''xuan'' (玄) can literally be translated as 'dark' or 'black'. The term xuanduan is literally translated as 'dark coloured Square-cut', or 'Black and square-edged', although some authors have also translated it as 'dark solemn' or 'black straight'.

History

During the

, it was a form of a daily clothing which was worn by the emperor and ordinary commoners. In the Zhou dynasty, it was worn by emperor when they were not at court, on sacrificial occasions by princes, and by scholars when they would pay their respects to their parents in the morning. According to the

in the section ''Yuzao'', it was also a form of ritual clothing for the emperor, who wore it to salute the appearance of the sun outside the eastern gate and when he would listen to notification on the first day of the first month outside the southern gate; and by the ''Princes of States'' who wore xuanduan when sacrificing (诸侯玄端以祭).

Ming dynasty

During the reign of Emperor Jiajing of Ming, sartorial reforms took place. Emperor Jiajing reformed ''yanfu'' (i.e. daily casual or leisure clothes, worn at home by the emperor, the officials and by the appointed ladies of the court), especially those he, himself, had to wear when he was not engaged in official duties. Emperor Jiajing therefore sought the help of Grand Secretary Zhang Zong (1476–1539) to investigate the dress regulations which were governing the casual clothing in ancient time. Zhang Zong therefore consulted the Lishu and found out that the xuanduan was most widely worn in ancient times beside the formal court attire,

mianfu Mianfu () is a kind of Chinese clothing in hanfu; it was worn by emperors, kings, and princes, and in some instances by the nobles in historical China from the Shang to the Ming dynasty. The mianfu is the highest level of formal dress worn by ...

; this led the Jiajing emperor to decree that the ''yanfu'' of both the emperor and the officials had to be modelled after the xuanduan: According to the new regulations, the emperor's xuanduan (''yanbian guanfu'', lit. 'Dress of the Casual Hat') was black (玄) in colour and was decorated with 143 dragons, including a large dragon medallion at the front of the garment; it was also decorated with a green trim border. The royal princes had to wear a green xuanduan which was decorated with a green trim and decorated with two ranks badges of dragon design (''baohe guanfu'', lit. 'Dress of Preserving Harmony'). The xuanduan used as the yanfu of the officials (''zhongjing guanfu'', 忠靖冠服, lit. 'Dress of Loyalty and Tranquility') were dark green in colour. Officials of the third rank and above had xuanduan decorated with cloud patterns while the xuanduan worn by the officials who ranked fourth and below wore plain xuanduan.

Design and construction

The xuanduan is a form of

, which is composed of an upper garment called '' yi'' and a lower garment called ''chang'' (skirt). According to the Zhouli, the standard xuanduan had sleeves and body of equal size (two chi, two cun long) and the sleeve opening was made of one chi, two cun. It was made of a whole width of square fabric which was dyed black (or dark) in colour. The colour of the skirt (chang) which matches with the upper garment varied depending on rank: i.e. Shi (士) officials of high rank wore black lower garment, middle-rank Shi officials wore yellow lower garment, while the low-rank Shi officials wore lower garment in motleys.

Gallery

File:Imperial Encyclopaedia - Ceremonial Usages - pic334 - 士元端.png, Illustration of ''Shi Yuanduan'' (士元端), from the illustration from the Chinese encyclopedia

Gujin Tushu Jicheng 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 ...

, section "Ceremonial Usages" File:Imperial Encyclopaedia - Ceremonial Usages - pic324 - 元端.png, Illustration of ''Yuanduan'' (元端), from the illustration from the Chinese encyclopedia

, section "Ceremonial Usages"

References