2. Costumes of the Han people in Modern Times

After the 1911 Revolution, the Han people's clothes for the male mainly took the following forms:Changpao(long gown) plusMagua(mandarin jacket),ChangpaoplusKanjian(sleeveless jacket), Sun Yat-sen's uniform, school wear and western-style clothes, etc. While Chinese-styleShan'ao(coat) andMindangku(trousers with the waist tucked together without buttons) were the major garments of laborers. Such a difference resulted from different economic conditions and life styles.

In modern times, women's clothes mainly consisted of cheong-sam, waistcoat, upper coat with lower skirt, and trousers.

After the 1911 Revolution, there were two kinds of formal clothes for men -- Western-style suit and Chinese-style suit. The latter is classified intoDalifu(grand suit) andChanglifu(casual suit), andDalifuhas two subcategories: day suit and night suit. The day suit reaches the knees, and its sleeves reach the wrist, with buttons down the front, a slit in the back end and black in color, to be matched with black boots over the ankles. The night suit is similar to the western-style tailcoat, to be matched with short boots, with a black knot in the front for decoration.

TheDalifushould be matched with a high, flat-topped and brimmed hat. Chinese-style long robe refers toChangpaoandMagua. The design of the western-style casual suit is basically the same as that of theDalifu, except that it should be matched with a low and brimmed round-topped hat.

The female suit has the lower hem reaching the knees, a collarband, buttons down the front, kick pleat at the back end and full of brocade all over it. The lower garment is a skirt with a horse face pattern both in front and in back, with kilting on both the left and right sides. It was basically the suit-dress of the Hans in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Women's wedding suits included the Chinese-style bright redXiu'ao(Chinese jacket with embroidery),Xiuqun(Chinese skirt with embroidery), and the western-style white draggle-tail with puff sleeves.