Song of the Taoist Immortal is a simple introductory piece to help you familiarize with some basic Guqin finger structures. In this tutorial I go note-by-note to teach how to play this piece.
(DISCLAIMER: I am still a student myself, to fully learn Guqin I recommend finding an in-person teacher but I realize this is difficult if you’re outside of China. I hope these videos can help give some basic understanding of how to play this instrument.)
Finally finished this video on buying a Guqin, it’s one of the most common asks I get 😅 If you’re curious about where to start when buying a Guqin, have a look!!
Hello, I'm a Brazilian girl who is currently passionate about Chinese culture, but I'm having trouble finding historical male anfu figures (I've only found some from the Ming Dynasty; I'd like to explore others), especially from the Tang, Song, Han, Southern and Northern Dynasties, if possible. Do you have any links or images?
I’ve posted some men’s Hanfu throughout the dynasties (if you go through my Masterlist all the men’s hanfu posts are marked, but I’ll link them here for easier access):
There’s also this video of men’s Hanfu throughout the dynasties.
Here’s another men’s Hanfu video on Bilibili: 中国汉服的千年传承 This video displays some workers’ Hanfu, they didn’t specify the time period but going by the clothes I’d put it around the Song Dynasty: 2025广州汉服节，烟火人间劳动平民方阵来啦！
As for Wuxia/Xianxia shows and their costumes, I posted about it here, it’s a very common question I think a lot of people have (especially if they’re unfamiliar with historical Hanfu :D).
I hope that’s helpful! (And I hope the translations work ok…)
hello! I came across your blog while looking for guqin information, I really appreciate you publishing so much of it in an accessible way.
I am pretty new to music, and therefore probably years off from being able to start learning to play, especially since I don't think I'll be able so see one in person without buying it myself, but I was wondering if you think there's any western instruments that are a good precursor to learning guqin? something that might teach at least some transferable skills?
I was also wondering, how is the guqin able to play notes when the strings are pressed down without frets underneath? western instruments make it seem like pinching a string between wood and finger would silence the note, but clearly that's not the case with guqin, why is that?
No western instrument is very similar to the Guqin, whether in playing techniques or the musical score used. The closest I think might be the Zither (at least according to Google). The Guqin is sometimes translated as a Chinese zither. But I’ve never played the zither, never even seen one in person so I can’t speak on personal experience (and even Google states the similarities are sparse aside from the fact they’re both stringed instruments played using the fingers).
Honestly, I think if you’re end goal is to play the Guqin then just dive right in rather than trying to learn a western instrument first to ‘transition’. None of the skills are going to be very transferrable. More than anything, you might have to 'unlearn’ some things to go from a western instrument to the Guqin, which is what’s happening to me since I learned the piano when I was younger. Western instruments tend to be quite strict in following the score, the Guqin is much more flexible and allows a lot of room for personalization. A lot of people who learned western instruments forget that and will try to follow a Guqin score stringently…which doesn’t work well (if you watch my latest video on Youtube or Tiktok you can see why):
If, at the moment, you’re unable to get a Guqin, I’d recommend familiarizing yourself with how to read the score, and also listening to Guqin music (traditional Guqin music, not pop music played on the Guqin, a lot of teachers will start you off with traditional Guqin pieces to learn technique so it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with how traditional Guqin pieces tend to sound).
When you learn the Guqin the first big learning curve is going to be reading the score. It’s so different than the western music score, and even different than any other Chinese instrument’s score. Memorizing 一二三四五六七八九十 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10) in Chinese is going to be very useful, as well as the symbols for some of the basic finger structures (again, check my Youtube or Tiktok for more complete videos, I’m slow to update Tumblr sometimes ^^;;).
And if you go on Youtube or Bilibili you can search some introductory Guqin pieces. Get your ear familiar to how the Guqin sounds, how the pieces flow. You can try searching for ; 仙翁操， 秋风词， 凤求凰， 良宵引， 酒狂， 归去来辞， 关山月， 阳关三叠， 高山， 醉渔唱晚， 平沙落雁， 沧海龙吟， 梅花三弄， 流水， 广陵散
These are all popular traditional Guqin pieces (add 古琴/guqin to the end of the name and your top results will be Guqin versions of these pieces). You can also through 卧龙吟 in there, it’s not a traditional Guqin piece but a lot of teachers will teach some version of it.
But honestly, the Guqin’s not THAT difficult to dive into. I think sometimes there’s this…mysterious aura surrounding this instrument because of the history and cultural significance behind it (and also period dramas). People who know about it from its reputation get this idea it must be some amazing, super cultured, incredible instrument that you thrum the strings and waves of heavenly music vibrate out connecting the Earth to the Heavens, causing hearts to skip a beat and breaths to pause. It’s not…it’s just like any other instrument where the first time you try to play it it sounds like utter cr*p. The first time I played it I was like, “There’s no sound…how come there’s no sound???” xD
The only time my heart’s skipped a beat for the Guqin is when I accidentally dropped one of my teacher’s Qin…x__X
I honestly think it’s easier than when I learned piano. I had to learn scales and tempo and clefs and all these different types of notes for piano. For Guqin, once I got used to how to read the score, I just dived into playing pieces. My teacher taught finger structures through the pieces, kind of a 'learn as you go’ sort of thing, we don’t count beats, he plays, I copy whatever melody he’s playing. So don’t be intimidated to jump in if you get the chance.
Just make sure if you buy a Qin you get what you paid for (as in, don’t pay 1K for a Qin only worth $500, there’s nothing wrong with a $500 Guqin for a beginner but don’t get scammed into overpaying).
As for your second question…pressing the string down to the surface of the Qin isn’t any different than a violinist pressing the strings down I think (never played the violin, but I see violinists moving their left hand fingers around on the strings…). It just changes the pitch of the note. At the slender end of the Guqin the strings are pressed against the wood anyway (the strings wrap around the slender end of the Qin, underneath, then wrapped around the little foot stools on the bottom):
So when you press the string down you’re just shortening the length of the string that vibrates :D
Anyway! That was a long answer to your ask, but I hope it was helpful!! If there’s anything else you want to know about the Guqin feel free to left me know <3
These mannerisms and movements help avoid stepping on the clothing, or having the hair ornaments whip around and slap you in the face (which hurts a LOT…). The main purpose for the women’s walk is to appear dainty and elegant, like you’re floating on air when you walk. For men, the walk is supposed to display dignity, power, steadfastness. There’s a saying in Chinese, 走如风，坐如钟，站如松, meaning: Walk like the wind, sit like a bell (still), stand like a pine tree (straight) relating to the ideal posture in each situation.
A lot of the walking styles in period dramas (in the past…not so much these days) originated from Chinese opera. Chinese opera, regardless if it’s Peking Opera (京剧), Yue Opera (越剧), Huangmei Opera (黄梅戏), etc. all have very stringent requirements for each movement, how to sit, walk, pick up things, show urgency in movement, how to show anger, how to laugh, etc. And each movement is different for different characters, a mid-aged woman, a maid, a young woman, an older woman, a young man, an older man, etc.
You’ll notice the clips in the videos seem quite old, this is because a lot of the new period dramas actually lack attention to body movements and mannerisms, giving this feel of modern people cosplaying. These clips are all from movies/shows pre-early 90s, back then a lot of actors had Chinese opera training (or used to be Chinese opera actors who transitioned to movies/TV), some of these clips are directly from Chinese opera movies.
Back to the ask, most people categorize the little small steps women take as 碎步 (Suibu) or broken steps (broken like, itsy bitsy pieces).
Men’s steps are categorized as 四方步 (Sifang bu) or square steps.
In actuality there’s differences within each category as well in the opera world, as displayed in this video (clips are from Chinese opera performances):
Just as an aside, I personally think it would be very beneficial for basic Chinese opera mannerisms and movement to be taught in drama schools in China. Considering the amount of period dramas are tossed out every year, a lot of the actors nowadays could really do with some training in how to walk when wearing these robes.
Today I’m visiting the Lion Forest Garden (狮子林) in Suzhou 😀❤️ Which dynasty’s hanfu am I wearing? Take a guess 😁
It’s about 10C today so a bit chilly, luckily this style allows lots of room for layering. You’d never know I got a pair of jeans and a sweater under the robes 🤣 (The rental store also gave me a cape to wear as well 🥰)
Back to my comfort zone 😁✨💖💖 I’m in Suzhou (苏州), a city known for its historic Chinese gardens 🥰 These gardens used to be private residences of the wealthy, but nowadays they’re open for the public to visit.
November is a good time to come to southern China, it’s about 12-17C everyday, cool enough to walk outside with a light jacket, the leaves are changing colour, and there’s no long holidays this month so the amount of people are fewer.
As soon as I entered the garden today I got surrounded by a group of international guests who asked for photos 😁 And then they said my English is good 🤣🤣
Hello! I’m a little confused when it comes to Chinese sash/belt in Hanfu.
I was under the impression that the Hanfu had a much thinner waist sash, unlike the Japanese that have an obi sash that is very wide.
But I keep coming across images/art with Hanfu having a wide sash, mostly on woman’s Hanfu. Is this accurate or am I correct in thinking it is inaccurate?
Before I dive into it (and this isn’t exactly what you asked), but I’m going to preface this by saying while Hanfu belts had varying widths during different periods, none of it came close to the width of the Japanese obi (for women), and it wasn’t made of the same material or worn the same way either. Some people use the belt as one way of identifying Hanfu vs Kimono, and I just want to say you can’t just go off of pictures (especially drawn ones), there’s a lot of detail and nuance to check.
(Also the writing in the attached picture is Korean…I don’t know the background of the artist or how well they might know about the details of Hanfu.)
The widest belts for Hanfu would’ve been during the Warring States/Qin/Han periods, worn with Zhiju (直裾) robes, worn between the Warring States period through the Qin Dynasty, and also into the Han Dynasty (although not all Zhiju HAD to have a wider belt). So here are two examples:
These are two historically accurate recreations. Worn low on the waist, tied with a HOOK. There have been many belt hooks from the Warring States/Qin/Han dynasties unearthed and they look like this:
I honestly think these are so beautiful, to have been crafted 2000-3000 years ago without the use of machinery, amazing *-*
ANYWAY! Here’s what you’ll see a lot of when you search of Zhiju/直裾:
Putting aside some of the other inaccuracies, you see that string around the waist, holding that belt in place? That’s not historically accurate, and these belts being intricately designed are too narrow. If they used a slimmer belt to casually tie the robe together, it would basically be a strip of fabric, if they used an actual decorated belt it would be wider. BUT, it’s the way most stores (99% of stores) have designed their Zhiju robes. And it looks pretty. And not a lot of people know that’s inaccurate (nor do most people care THAT much) so…you know.
You’ll also notice they’re wearing the belt closer to the natural waist, which, looking at historical paintings and sculptures isn’t accurate, but it accentuates the waist and lengthens the legs which suits our aesthetics today (I also think we’re not really used to having low-sitting belts, I know if my belt went down to my hips I’d feel like lifting it up just naturally). The way worn by the two people up top (the historically replicated way) with the belt sitting lower, lengthens the torso, which doesn’t fit our aesthetics nowadays (in the East or West).
Have a look at these artefacts:
You can see how low the belt sat, and these would be the slim, casual belts. This mural shows a wider belt, you can see it’s also sitting quite low:
Sometimes ruqun/襦裙 （where the top shirt and bottom skirt are separated) also had slightly thicker belts (separate from the skirt, it wasn’t attached), but this wasn’t mandatory:
So, looking at the picture you sent with the ask, that’s a ruqun/襦裙, but that belt is far too wide (and I can’t tell if that’s a bixi/蔽膝 over top of the skirt? Or if that’s an apron? It looks like there’s 2 layers to the skirt. If it’s a bixi/蔽膝 it should be slimmer).
The way this image is drawn (for the woman), if no one told me anything about it, my first reaction would be she’s Japanese. That belt and the hair style makes me immediately think Japanese. But then the silhouette also isn’t quite right for a kimono, and the sleeves and length of the robe is more Hanfu.
For anyone interested (and because I happen to be in Japan right now and did some kimono rentals :D), these are kimono obi (there’s also different types of kimonos and obi, the wide belt worn with kimono):
(Collar is right-over-left because I didn’t mirror the photos. Like Hanfu, Kimono collars SHOULD be left-over-right.)
Pic 1, 2: Regular kimono, slightly more formal obi (the back is called “drum style”) Pic 3: Houmongi (訪問着), semi-formal kimono worn for more formal situations, has a continuous pattern from shoulder to hem, across the seams. Pic 4: Regular kimono with casual obi
Underneath that obi in pics 1-3, there are towels to make my waist wider (I know), there are straps, there’s a binder over my b**bs smooshing them down, there’s this hard board thing around my entire abdomen for the pink kimono, there’s a puffy pillow under the back “drum” to lift it, there are layers upon layers upon layers of things. I was once told that the ideal front silhouette for the kimono is flat, so they smoosh the b**bs and widen the waist to make it flat.
The obi in pic 4 and 5 doesn’t have any layers underneath, but given the fabric of the obi, and it’s wrapped around my waist a few times, it’s still difficult to bend. I never have issues bending in Hanfu, I may need to struggle with 10 layers of fabric sometimes, but I can bend when needed.
Also, you’ll notice that the bottom ends right at the top of my feet, no touching the floor (for these styles, there ARE some styles like the oiran where it DRAAAGS on the floor, but when they go outside they’ll wear taller shoes and lift up the bottom). Unlike Hanfu where you WANT it sweeping the floor (unless you’re going civilian style, you know the workers of society, but the ideal design is for the feet to be hidden).
To me, Hanfu just tends to give a more flowy feel, while the kimono seems more rigid (not saying either is bad, I like both). Sharp lines, 90 degree corners, every crease, every fold is in a certain place. The Hanfu you want it flowing, it trails behind you when you walk, when the breeze blows past it just flutters in the wind. Nothing’s fluttering in the kimono except my heartrate when I walk too fast xD
(PS. for anyone interested in Kimono rental if you visit Japan, here’s a tip: When they tighten the multiple straps, binders, fabric, towels, obi around your waist, breathe IN! Expand your chest and abdomen as MUCH as possible, and these rental store ladies are STRONG. They will try to WRING your breath out of your lungs. DO NOT LET THEM!! xDD If you want any chance at breathing for the rest of the day, or eating anything, BREATHE IN every time they tighten anything around your waist. The first time I did kimono rental, the pink one, I didn’t do that, I was EXHAUSTED the entire day. I couldn’t breathe T___T Puff your chest out like these birds impressing their mate, trust me, it’s for your own survival xD)
So!!! Back to the ask :D
I hope that was helpful to you, even though I veered off-course ^^;; I mean, I’d take anything drawn with a handful of salt, I don’t think most of them are going for historical accuracy by any means. Much like the Chinese period dramas nowadays, there’s a LOT of artistic liberty taken.
I had a response all typed out and then Tumblr ate it T___T Going to try to remember everything I wrote.
First, let’s look at the map and population distribution of the Tang Dynasty:
Top map shows the geographic borders of the dynasty. The pink part is Tang, the others bordering it were what’s called “Tribute states”. So, unlike how we think of nation states today (countries), back then, these smaller kingdoms would pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty emperor (money, jewels, food, etc.) and in exchange the Tang Dynasty would offer protection for them against invasions. But these kingdoms had their own governing system, own laws, own ability to govern.
The second map is population distribution. Each dot is 10k people. So we can see they’re centred around Hebei province up north, Zhejiang in the east (along the coast), and Sichuan in the west (Xi'an is there, the capital city at the time). Now, party of this population is going to be ethnic minorities, not Han, especially up around the northern areas.
So, let’s look at Hebei as it’s the most north and would have the coldest winters. According to Baidu and Google (yes, I checked both, lol), today’s Hebei sees temperatures between 0C to -13C (34F to 8.6F), with it dropping as low as -22C (-7.6F) up north and in the mountains.
According to scientists (check papers here and here), the Tang Dynasty experienced a period of warmer climate, especially at the beginning. Near the end of the dynasty temperatures dropped (there’s actually theories on climate changes throughout history having an effect on the rise and fall of dynasties). So according to these speculations, temperatures were about 3C to 5C (37.4F to 41F) warmer than today.
As a Canadian, winter temperatures around -10C (14F) isn’t THAT bad if you’re used to it xDD
But obviously you’d still need to bundle up, so let’s look at Hanfu.
Hanfu can be deceptively warm because…LAYERS :D You can wear Hanfu in -20C (-4F) temperatures and walk around outside for an hour (guess who’s tried it xD).
So, let me show you what I would wear in the winter. This is a Ming Dynasty outfit, at the time I hadn’t ordered any winter Tang Dynasty Hanfu:
Warmth-protecting undergarments: fleeced with added thickness
Fleeced 中衣/Zhongyi: which is the inner garment usually warn with all Hanfu (think of it like our bras and panties today, you put it on with all clothing). This can be a two piece (top shirt, bottom pants) or one long robe. For -20C I would wear the two piece. Note that there’s ALWAYS an inner robe or pants under a Hanfu skirt, nowadays we don’t always wear it for convenience, but historically you can’t go bare-legged.
Ma mian skirt, long robe (white), outer robe (purple)
This large, thick red robe. It was HEAVY, but very gorgeous.
This thick, fleeced, extra thick purple robe. Again, HEAVY, but incredibly warm.
Add a hand warmer (it’s really an incense burner, but they sell small pieces of charcoal you can put inside, it’ll burn for a good 4 hrs or so. Because the burner is usually made form bronze historically, it heats up really hot, so we put this baggie around it. I have 2, they’re actually really useful even today xD).
If that’s still not enough through on a fur-lined fleeced cape (no faux-fur back then, but you can get faux-fur ones today).
So, essentially, before layer 3 you can throw on whatever you want. I know some people will toss on a sweater and jeans because…who’s going to know, lolllll.
Looking at some Tang Dynasty styles:
Not all historically accurate, but to give you an idea of how then can add layers or thicken the clothing they have. The only really garment you can add a lot of heavy fleece to is the dress, because it would be too heavy and start dragging downwards. You can add a thin layer of fur, but not too much. But under than skirt they can certainly through on thicker 中衣/Zhongyi pants historically.
And remember, people adjust their daily life to climate. Today, we work 9-5, we have heated cars, heated shopping centres and grocery stores, so essentially our daily lives don’t change that much between the four seasons. But historically they would adjust. Farmers wouldn’t have fields to tend to, so they can stay home and eat stored food (when my mom was younger she said they used to dry all sorts of vegetables during the summer and fall, then store it away for winter use). People’s travel distance weren’t as great back then, so they can buy whatever they need within smaller distances around their house. Wealthy women stayed home anyway for most of the year, and men can hide similar layers under their round-collared robes.
Inside the homes, they would burn these charcoal burners:
In the rural countries in southern China today, they still use these. My Guqin teacher’s place doesn’t have central heating, so he’ll bring out his charcoal burner in the winter and it’ll keep a room fairly warm (I mean, don’t wear a t-shirt but it’s warm enough with a sweater on). They can also put this wire netting on top (pic 3) and boil drinks or roast some oranges (which is SURPRISINGLY good…I did not know oranges can be roasted before coming here).
In northern China they had (have, some people still use this in rural houses) this thing called a 炕/kang, it was a bed that doubled as a sitting space, and they would start a fire under it which would keep it warm. My mom’s old house in Shandong (next to Hebei province) had this, she used it when she was a kid :D
There’s evidence this existed back during the Tang Dynasty as well (diagrams found in tombs):
I know, talk about fire hazard right? xD But people adapted to their environment in a lot of creative ways before modern technology :D
I hope that helps a bit with your question! My current Guqin workshop doesn’t have the central heating I’m used to having grown up in Canada, so I’m finding creative ways to keep warm in the winter too xD
Hi, i have a suuuuper specific question that could probably be answered w an academic paper, so I'm really more asking for your opinion.
In western historical fashion, around the beginning of the 19th c. Mens clothing became more homogeneous and less elaborate. Less ornaments, narrower colour range, less patterned fabrics etc.
My question is, did something similar ever happen w men's Hanfu? Or Chinese men's clothing in general (bc if this happened i'm guessing it happened during the qing dynasty)?
Was mens' Hanfu (outside of court) historically as/more elaborate than womens', or did confucian(or other) ideals temper fashion?
If, in your opinion, something similar happened in chinese historical fashion, when did it happen? Did it happen independently or (partially) because of western influence?
Is modern chinese men's fashion is similarly bland as western men's fashion, and did this blandness (if it's there) predate western influence or not?
I'm gonna stop here bc I could keep going, hope this isn't too incoherent thxxxx
This is going to be a long post with a lot of history thrown in xDD
Hanfu (men’s and women’s) had an abrupt end when the Qing Dynasty came into power (officially in 1644). Because the Qing Dynasty was ruled by the Manchu ethnicity, and they forced people to change to their style of clothing (and hair) at the risk of beheading for the entire family (as in, if one person in the family refused to change their clothing, the whole family would be k*lled), that caused a drastic change to the clothing of the general population.
But Qing Dynasty clothing wasn’t any less elaborate for the wealthy. For anyone who’s watched Qing Dynasty TV dramas, the styles were still very colourful, intricate, and beautiful in their own way. Of course, this depended on how much money you had to spend on clothing, and like Hanfu in previous dynasties, your rank in court (if you were a court advisor) determined certain fabrics/colours/patterns you could wear.
(Portrait of Concubine Huixian, currently kept at the Forbidden City Museum)
In the 19th century the Qing Dynasty really took a nose-dive. Western powers started to put pressure on the country to open its borders, and for China, a country that for its entire history, had dominated this region, they laughed it off initially. In 1840 the First Opium War erupted between the Qing Dynasty and Britain, which ended with China’s defeat and the cession of Hong Kong (along with lots of other bs conditions). And then it was one loss after another, one invasion after another, militarily China was much, much weaker than the industrialized western powers (this was the start of what China considers the “Century of Humiliation”). Here’s a list of all the wars and battles that took place during those years, and remember all of these took place either on Chinese soil or on its borders, not in some country halfway across the world, so it would have caused destruction to China’s own infrastructure, civilian housing, cultural relics, etc., not to mention loss of civilian life in “collateral damage”.
（Um…WWII Sino-Japan war list goes on for a while…I’ll just put the wiki link here and anyone interested can go and have a look)
Clothing-wise, during this period, for the civilian population the country was in the sh*tter so you can imagine they weren’t wearing anything too elaborate. For the Qing Court, they still tried to maintain elegance (by the end of the Dynasty the Qing court was also very corrupt, which happens at the end of pretty much every Dynasty. As they say, history is just a cycle).
Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, and into the Republic of China (1912), Western clothing had started to influenced fashion. Men started wearing suits, trousers, etc., women wore Qipao or Western dresses. With the fall of the Qing Dynasty clothing restrictions ended, so people were able to wear what they wanted (if they had the money to afford it).
The country continued to navigate between trying to figure out how to rebuild, and conduct relations with Western powers. It was all very new to China, because prior to this China’s governing system had always been an Imperial one, and now suddenly there’s no Emperor, no court, no ‘Mandate from Heaven’. It completely turned everyone’s view of society upside down, philosophies had to be re-evaluated, there were various new schools of beliefs popping up on how best to govern, there were internal struggles for power, all while still trying to navigate relations with the West.
During this period fashion kind of went two ways. The Chinese styles simplified, lacking the intricate patterns and designs, the delicate embroideries and fabrics of the past, but there was an influx of Western fashions styles. To China, the styles were seen as new, hip, modern, because the West was associated with development, modernity, power (after all the defeats in battle previously). So you’ll find photos of people wearing a mish-mash of Chinese and Western fashions.
I think it wasn’t until WWII that styles turned drastically simplistic, because, you know, war. And then following that, the establishment of the PRC (People’s republic of China, the China today) in 1949 the simplicity continued. I, personally, think the main reason was…WE WERE DAMN POOR, ^^;;
By 1949, China had been fighting non-stop, with outsiders and internally. WWII with Japan’s invasion really took a giant bite out of China with the massacres, the human experimentations, the sheer brutality. Coming out of that, the civil war continued without pause (the civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists started prior to WWII, they paused the internal fighting to deal with Japan’s invasion, but then started it back up once Japan retreated), so by 1949 when the Communists finally won the civil war, and established the PRC, the country was just exhausted. Plus, when the Nationalists retreated to Taiwan, they took a lot of money and valuable relics with them (you can still see them today on display at Taipei’s Palace Museum).
So, the country was exhausted, poor, without a blueprint for how to go forward, and the last thing on people’s minds was fashion. Chairman Mao pushed for everyone in the country to put their effort into working hard to develop the country. Foot-binding became forbidden (it was first banned in 1912, but people continued to do, after 1949 they banned it again, can’t work with those disfigure feet), and there was a push for everyone to be educated (including women and peasants, who historically couldn’t afford to go to school). Drugs were outlawed, pr*stitution outlawed, polygamy outlawed, and by outlawed I mean REALLY outlawed, as in you either stop or you get a bullet, CPC took no bullsh*t back then.
During this period, fashion got tossed to the back burner. On the one hand, families really just didn’t have money to buy luscious fabrics and get all styled up, on the other, there was a pressure from society that your emphasis should be school, work, building the country, not on physical appearance. This was my mom’s generation, she used to tell me when she was young, they’d get one new set of clothing at Chinese New Year, and that’s it. There was a saying, “新三年，旧三年， 缝缝补补再三年”, meaning “new three years, old three years, patch it up for another three years”, an article of clothing is worn until it really couldn’t be worn anymore, passed down between siblings.
And then between 1959-1961 there was the three year famine, people aren’t thinking much about fashion while starving. And then 1966-1976 there was the Cultural Revolution where there was the 破四旧, 'destroy the old four’, meaning abandon and destroy old philosophies, old culture, old customs, old traditions (旧思想、旧文化、旧风俗、旧习惯) in an attempt to jump-start the country’s development (aka modernization aka westernization). This included ripping up silks and brocades, smashing jade accessories, burning old books, tearing up Confucian temples, all kinds of chaos. If you were found wearing something from the past you’d get marched through the streets and shamed.
It wasn’t really until the 1980s, following the first economic reform (1979) that fashion started to return. After Deng Xiaoping initiated the first economic reform, there was a boom in economic development as internal economic policies changed, and the borders opened up to foreign investment. People started having a bit more money on hand, and with a few years of peace, fashion started becoming a thing again. But the country was still not THAT wealthy. We had food rations until the early 90s in China (as in, every month your family is permitted a certain amount of meat, rice, flour, etc., even if you had money you couldn’t buy more than what was allotted).
The real fashion eruption came in the 90s, in 1992 Deng Xiaoping initiated a second round of economic reform, and now people really had more money. The country started growing at an exponential rate between the 90s and 2020 (30 years of insane economic development). With money and peaceful times to actually use the money, fashion became a thing again. But it was mostly Western fashion. People wanted to look Western, speak English, have an English name, the West was rich, everything Western was good, Western aesthetics, Western styles, etc.
Hanfu revival movement officially started in 2003 (I made a post about it here), and it gradually gained momentum. I think between 2010-2020 it really picked up speed.
I think fashion in China, for the past 100 years or so, was really pushed more by what was happening in society. There was just so much upheaval and wars, the focus just wasn’t on clothing. Fashion’s a luxury, it only develops when people have money and time on their hand, and China lacked both for a lot of the 1800s and 1900s. Add to that this…weird adoration for everything Western because it was considered “better” than our traditional stuff following the Century of Humiliation, it made the move towards wearing Western styles very natural. Even today, you’ll find people like my dad who thinks wearing Hanfu out and about is “weird” (oh, the screaming match we had over that one -__- ).
As for everyday fashion styles in China today (especially for men)…I mean, I’m not overly in awe of it but you know, it’s convenient at least (the amount of times I’ve tripped wearing Hanfu…I’m impressed I haven’t broken a bone at this point) xD You have your jeans, dress pants, shorts, skirts, dresses, blouses, t-shirts, hoodies, all the usual you’d find in any Western city. You also have your subcultures, the gothic styles, the lolitas, etc.
In any case!! I hope that help give a bit of an overview of fashion in China over the past…150 years or so :) It’s been a wild ride.
The silhouette looks a lot more like Tang Dynasty hanfu :D And the added peizi (帔子) floating around her adds a very ethereal atmosphere. I think she looks great!!
Hello! I'm a YouTube sub and as of today a delighted qin owner! I really enjoyed your longer videos on gou and tiao, and found the exercises really helpful, especially in getting used to reading the notes. Do you by any chance plan to make more of these? :) I would like to get the basics down properly before I tackle the Song of Taoist Immortal with you. Either way thank you for the content you've done so far, it's been fascinating and truly helpful! 谢谢!
Thank you for subbing to my Youtube channel, and congratulations on getting your own Qin!! That’s super exciting, I was so thrilled when I got my first Qin :D (Do you have a photo? I’d love to see what it looks like!)
So, my Guqin teacher’s method of teaching was basically toss us into the fire and watch us flail through it xD He literally taught me Gou and Tiao, had me practice the exercises, and then started in on the first song (he didn’t even teach the other right hand finger structures .__.;; )
At first I was kind of like, erm..can you teach me the finger structures first? Cuz right now I know nothing. But as we went on I kind of understood the reason he did that. Aside from learning the 8 basic finger structures of the right hand, there’s a whole lot of other finger structures but if you learn all of them up front, you don’t actually use them until you get to the songs that are much higher up the levels. It’s actually easier, and more useful, to learn new finger structures as they show up in the songs you play.
So I’d recommend learning the basic 8 right hand finger structures, the “Zou shou yin/走手音” (where the left hand finder slides up or down the string) and “fanyin/泛音” (where the left hand finger taps the string to up the octave of the note) of the left hand, then start in on the songs. Song of the Taoist Immortal doesn’t have anything new in there aside from the basics, but in later pieces any new finger structures that come up in the score I teach during the song.
If you need more detailed explanation for any particular finger structure, feel free to message me directly on here. I’d be happy to even do some simple 1-on-1 lessons to get you started if you’d like :D Just let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you get started on your Qin journey <3
do you know any chinese poems about monkeys?? i'm creating 3 monkey charaters and i wanted their names to be derived from chinese poetry, but i can't find one that i like 😭😓
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