Woman's Embroidered Clothes

This is an outfit for a Han woman in the Qing Dynasty. While the Manchus ruled during the Qing Dynasty, Han culture had a great influence on the culture of the Manchus, and the Manchus influenced the Han in return. Hence, there were many similarities between fashion styles of these two ethnic groups. Take this top for example: the “eight circle” pattern (3 in the front, 3 in the back, and 2 on both shoulders) and the “Hai Shui Jiang Ya” (sea water and overlapped hilltops which look like ginger buds) pattern. Like other traditional ornamentation such as dragon and phoenix, the pattern of “Hai Shui Jiang Ya” was common in ancient architectures, porcelain, stone carving, garments or even furniture. It symbolizes everlasting ruler ship. The “Horse-face” skirt is one of the traditional Han garments, and is made of four overlapping pieces of cloth in the front and back. The central piece of cloth is called the “horse face”. This kind of skirt dates back to the Ming dynasty (or even earlier), and had been in use until the early 20th century. “Horse-face” skirts from the Qing dynasty are known for their exquisite embrodiery.