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' (; ), also known as ' (l=Long robe), and (l=Great jacket), is a form of , Chinese robe, which was derived from the Qing dynasty , the traditional dress of the Manchu people, which were worn by Manchu men. The was actually developed by the Han Chinese through the modification of their own Ming dynasty by adopting some Manchu men's clothing elements in one of their . In function, the is considered the male equivalent of the women's cheongsam (also known as ). The was often worn by men with a , also commonly translated as riding jacket'' in English.
Unlike the Mandarin term, however, the can refer to both male and female garments. In Hong Kong the term is frequently used to refer to the female garment, cheongsam, rather than the male garment .
Because of the long British presence in Hong Kong, that local usage has become reflected in the meaning of cheongsam in English, which refers exclusively to the female garment.
Manchu men wore a type of changpao which reflected its equestrian origins, which was originally designed for horseback riding, known as neitao, which was characterized by two pair of slits (one slit on each side, one slit on the back, and one slit on the front) which increased ease of movement when mounting and dismounting horses, a pianjin collar (a collar which curved like the alphabet《S》), and the sleeve cuffs known as matixiu (l=horse hoof cuff).
The Han Chinese thus adopted certain Manchu elements when modifying their Ming dynasty , such as by slimming their , by adopting the pianjin collar of the Manchu, and by using buttons and loops at the neck and sides. Despite the shared similarities with Manchu's neitao, the Chinese differed structurally from the Manchu's neitao. The Chinese only has two slits on the sides lacking the central front and back slits and lacked the presence of the matixiu cuffs; the sleeves were also longer than the ones found in the neitao.
Over time, the commoner Han men adopted the changshan while Han women continued to the wear the hanfu predominantly in the style of Ruqun. The traditional Chinese Hanfu-style of clothing for men was gradually replaced. Over time, the Manchu-style of male dress gained popularity among Han men. Changshan was considered formal dress for Chinese men before Western-style suits were widely adopted in China. The male changshan could be worn under a western overcoat, and topped with a fedora and scarf. This combination expressed an modernity in the early 20th century.
The 1949 Communist Revolution replaced the wearing of changshan and other traditional clothing with the Zhongshan suit. Shanghainese emigrants and refugees carried the fashion to Hong Kong, where it remained popular, but over time it was overtaken by western fashions. After the 1970s, Shanghai and elsewhere in mainland China, many people have revived wearing the Shanghainese changshan.
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