Han Chinese clothing, or Hanfu, refers to the clothing worn by the Han ethnic people from the ruling periods of the Three Emperors and Five Sovereigns to the Ming Dynasty. It was the traditional costume of the nation worn for millennia and representative of the characteristics of the Han nationality. Over thousands of years, the Han people created brilliant Hanfu culture with their wisdom.
For millennia, Han Chinese clothing retained its simple and elegant style. The main characters of the clothing include "Y" shaped cross collar with the left one upon the right, no buttons, and string or belt fastening, giving a free and elegant feel. There are ceremonial wear and informal wear in Hanfu clothing.
In terms of the forms of a dress, it can be an "upper-yi-and-lower-shang" style (a loose lapelled coat as an upper garment and a shang (a skirt) as a lower garment); or a "shenyi" style (the upper coat and the skirt sewed together) or a "ruqun" style (top garment with a separate lower garment or skirt) etc.
Among them, the ceremonial dress in "upper-yi-and-lower-shang" style used to be the most formal costume for emperors and officials; the paofu (another name of "shenyi") was an informal dress for officials and scholars; the ruqun was women's favorite; and a short coat and long pants made a general outfit for ordinary laboring people.
Accessories and hair ornaments are also important components of hanfu. In ancient times, boys and girls of the Han nationality would wear their hair in a coil and hold it in place with a hairpin after the coming-of-age ceremony. Men traditionally wore coronets, scarves and caps etc. Women would comb their hair in various styles of coils or buns and wear all kinds of hair ornaments such as pearls, flowers and buyaos (a kind of hairpin) etc.
