Helpful Terminology for Tang Dynasty Clothing

Primarily from BuYun Chen’s “Dressing for the Times: Fashion in Tang Dynasty China (618-907)” 2013 Columbia University PhD dissertation and some from Wikipedia (confirmed in other sources–I just wanted to get the characters for each item and Wikipedia had those where I could copy/paste them)

shan 衫 – unlined short robe or top

ru 襦 – short jacket

qun 裙 – skirt

ruqun 襦裙 – jacket and skirt ensemble

pibo 披帛 – long shawl

ao 袄 – coat

pao 袍- cloak

banbi 半臂 – cropped short-sleeved jacket

jianse qun 間色裙 – striped skirt

po 破 – sections of a skirt (early Tang (618-712) restricted skirts to 12 po, later they were restricted to 7 during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, then 5 in 826 by Emperor Wenzong)

shiliu qun 石榴裙 – pomegranate red skirt

bainiao qun 百鳥裙 – hundred bird feather skirt

tanling ruqun 坦领襦裙 – u-shaped neckline ruqun

qixiong ruqun 齊胸襦裙 – high-waisted/chest-high ruqun

daxiushan 大袖衫 – large-sleeve gown

hufu 胡服 – foreign/”barbarian” clothing

yuanlingpao/yuanlingshan 圓領袍/圓領衫 – round-collar jacket/robe

bixi 蔽膝 – a cloth attached from the waist, covering front of legs, for more formal occasions

Hats

weimao 帷帽 – wide-brimmed hat with a shoulder-length gauze veil, more popular in Tang than the more conservative mili

mili 羃䍦 – wide-brimmed hat with a long (full body) veil

futou 襆頭/幞頭 – lit. “head scarf”, black kerchief with ribbons dangling worn by men; later, hard ribbons were added that stuck out at the sides

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