Chinese Tuesday: The history of the kimono(hanfu)

Oh so that's what we're going with for the title of this section? Sigh... Mind you, I'll give you a biscuit if you can figure out what the banner graphic means.

The kimono is the iconic garment of Japan and everyone tends to assume that it's a strictly Japanese item. As I've mentioned before, the kimono is actually a development of the hanfu style of Chinese clothing. So how did the kimono come about?

Nara period (710-794) clothing

In the 5th century, Chinese clothing started to be adopted by some Japanese. Through Japanese embassies and delegations, many Chinese goods, including clothing began to become available in Japan. In the 8th century, Chinese clothing became quite fashionable among certain section of Japanese society and the overlapping collar especially so amongst women. Up until this time, Japanese people had worn separate upper and lower garments.

Heian period (794-1185) clothing

At the end of the 8th century, the Heian Period began and the kimono first appeared. Initially known as the gofuku (clothes of Wu - Wu being one of the Three Kingdoms in the period between the Han and Jin Chinese dynasties; if you've played Dynasty Warriors then you're on the right track), the kimono was a development of the hanfu style of Chinese clothing. Upper and lower garments were replaced by a single robe. This had a number of benefits, not least of which was that the wrap-around style meant that clothing didn't have to be made to fit an individual and thus allowed for a form of mass-production. Somewhat ironically, this generic production allowed certain artisans to craft elaborate robes without specific customers in mind. This was a period of great innovation and stylisation in Japanese clothing.

Kimono had several advantages over previous garments, not least of which was their adaptability for all seasons. In winter, kimono could be worn in layers to provide extra warmth, yet in summer kimono made of lightweight, breathable material kept the wearer cool and comfortable.


In the picture above, the woman is wearing an example of a formal outfit as worn by noblewomen. Those of lower social station tended to wear just the kazami (the orange/pink outer layer in the picture).

An outfit based on the kazami as worn by ordinary women

1 kazami
2 yudachi
3 kosode
4 kiri-bakama
5 kawahori-ogi fan

Note the kosode. That's the next development in the story of the kimono.

Kamakura period (1185-1333) clothing

The fundamental shape of Japanese clothes didn't change much during the Kamakura period, but colour and ornamentation became very important. Men and women both wore extremely colourful kimono. Warriors dressed in colours that represented their leaders and clans. Note the white kosode under-layers in both the male and female outfits.

Kosode (upper) and hakama (lower)

During the Muromachi Period (1336 to 1573), the kosode (a single-layer kimono) which had previously been underwear, became outerwear. The kosode kimono had no fastenings as the hakama came up over the bottom of it and held it closed. So when the kosode became popular, a belt was needed and this was where the obi came in.

Muromachi period (1336-1573) clothing

Although in the Muromachi period, the ornate uchikake (long coat like the orange one in the picture) was very popular, the obi was an essential part of Muromachi clothing. The long white kimono that the woman is wearing is what the kosode became and you can see the prominent obi on both the male and female outfits.

Edo period (1603-1867) clothing

Once the Edo period came around, the obi grew wider and more decorative, becoming an essential part of Japanese clothing. In the picture, you can see that the kimono is the same as those worn today. The obi is still quite narrow and features the dangling ends that were only really popular in the Muromachi period. As the Edo period went on, the ends of the obi became shorted and concealed.

From hanfu to kimono in one thousand years

And that's the story of the kimono. It starts with the Chinese hanfu of the Three Kingdoms period and goes through a series of stylistic and practical changes through various historical periods ending up with the steady form which we see today.


Many thanks to my wife for her assistance in the preparation of this article. Whilst she enjoys laughing at Korean and Japanese soap operas, she actually watches them purely out of her interest in the clothes.

I'm Chinese and I've got the clothes to prove it

Pretty much every job I've worked I've either been the boss, worked from home or clothing hasn't mattered. So I've always been able to wear what I like and very much do so. I wear Chinese clothes a lot and am often asked why. Here's how that conversation goes:

Why are you wearing Chinese clothes?
Because I'm Chinese.
Um... uh... you don't look very Chinese.
What? Do you think we're all yellow?

And surprisingly often, the other person will then accept that I am actually Chinese; sometimes out of confusion, other times for fear of exhibiting racist behaviour and often just because it sounds so stupid it must be true. There are many reasons why I'm obviously not Chinese - I'm white (they are all yellow), I have a British accent and, most damningly of all, I wear Chinese clothes.

This may sound odd, but Chinese people do not wear Chinese clothes. Just think about it for a minute. When is the last time you ever saw any Chinese people wearing non-Western clothing? It's only ever characters in films or perhaps staff at a restaurant. You simply never see normal people wearing traditional clothing. And that's a terrible shame. With at least 5,000 years of history and many dynasties (each tending to have a completely different style of clothes) there are thousands of different styles of Chinese clothes - many of them beautiful and elaborate. I find it simply awful that jeans and t-shirts have supplanted them all. Even on formal occasions or in business situations, Chinese people go with Western suits.

Japan has always been more at ease with its traditional culture which I feel is because they compartmentalise it: the ancient sits alongside the modern, but separate from it. Whereas in China, there is no boundary between the two. So in Japan, there are various formal occasions throughout the year when kimono are worn and that sits happily and easily within Japanese culture. Not so in China.

Recently there has been a movement in China to popularise Hanfu - Han dynasty clothing. In fact, the Japanese kimono is also known as gofuku which means "clothes of Wu" - a Chinese kingdom - as the kimono is modelled after Han dynasty clothing. My pedantic, nationalistic wife is very keen to point out that a lot of what we perceive as traditional Japanese culture is copied from or influenced by the Chinese. Well, whatever the origins, the idea that Chinese people ought to be able to wear their traditional clothing in the same way that the Japanese do is gaining traction in China today. There are a few problems though.

Court ladies wearing qipao

A modern cheongsam [photo by Robbie Sproule]

Many foreigners tend to think of traditional Chinese clothing as being the qipao and cheongsam. Unfortunately, cheonsam are relatively recent and qipao are from the Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty was when the Manchu (from Manchuria) took over China and was the last of the Chinese imperial dynasties. They were (and still are) widely hated. What less obvious is that the qipao and cheongsam are developments of the same thing - one is just a righter, more tailored form of the other. It gets extremely complicated after that and I could easily fill several pages on the history of them.

Hanfu clothing designs proposed for use during the Beijing Olympics

But if traditional Chinese clothing is to worn, then why Han dynasty and not clothing from another dynasty? And is it still relevant? When one looks at Western cultures, national costumes and formal clothing tend to be a bit more recent. And just when would it be worn? Some advocates of the hanfu revival now wear them to business meetings in place of suits, others keep them for occasions like weddings and festivals. It's a bit of an odd issue with many problems to resolve, but then they are trying to invent a new tradition.

I like Chinese clothes (I like Japanese clothes too, but don't tell the wife) and I think it's a terrible shame that they've been abandoned and so quickly too. When Japan and Korea have managed to retain their own traditional dress it's a pity that China hasn't. So hopefully the hanfu movement will prove successful and we'll see Chinese people actually wearing their own clothes.