Daojiao fushi (p=Dàojiàofúshì), also known as , are religious clothes worn by practitioners of Taoism, an indigenous religion and philosophy in China.
Cultural significance
Taoist clothing is a visible marker of Taoist identity.
Ritual clothing not only inherits from
Han Chinese Hanfu but also show clear Taoist cultural meaning.
The decoration found on the clothes are deeply influenced by Chinese culture.
These designs reflect traditional Taoist cosmology including Taoist pantheon (e.g.
Jade Emperor, the Sanqing,
Yuanshi Tianzun,
Lingbao Tianzun,
Daode Tianzun who is the deified
Laozi), the
Eight Immortals: the
Bagua, the Twenty-eight Lunar Mansions and the 12 animals of the
Chinese zodiac.
They can also be decorated with animals which are related to Chinese mythology, legends and stories, such as the crane bird which represents transcendence.
They can also be decorated with auspicious symbols, such as
Chinese dragon, butterflies, bats, clouds.
History
Ancient
An explanation to the origins of might be derived from robes worn by and
fangshi in ancient China. Both are embroidered with patterns of flowing clouds, depictions of the celestial realm, and the underworld.
Another hypothesis is that the Taoist ritual clothing was a marker of various ranks of priestly attainments, similar to the formal clothing system used in ancient China to identify the members of the nobility and the senior bureaucracy.
According to the Taoist tradition, the ritual clothing originated since the era of Yellow Emperor; according to the legend, one day the Yellow Emperor saw a deity dressed in golden robe adorned with colourful clouds and a golden crown.
Northern and Southern dynasties
Taoist traditions were systematized during the
Six Dynasties.
Early taoist clothing were not fully developed and it is the Northern and Southern dynasties that the preliminary Taoist dress code was formed.
Since the Liu Song period during the Southern dynasties,
Lu Xiujing began to reinterpret the doctrine of Taoist's doctrine of adaptation to the social hierarchical system by basing himself on the ancient Chinese crown and dress system and by combining the religious needs, thus developing a new attire system. This system became the earliest systematic dress code of Taoist clothing.
In the , it is described that
"Xiujing's Taoist dress is very beautiful, like the moon and star, like the rainbow and flower".
Since then, the dress code of the Taoist clothing continued to develop until it included different styles, patterns, and colours based on different status and occasions.
Many variety of Taoist ritual clothing were also described when Taoist clothing was systematized.
Song dynasty
There were many forms of Taoist priest clothing in the Song dynasty.
In the early Southern Song, a style of Taoist priest robe is described as: "
the broader silk braid of the Taoist priest robe was seen as more stylish, with the breadth being about three to four cun, and the length more than two zhang, so that that dress made of silk velvet could be wrapped back and forth around the wearer's waist several times".
Another form of Taoist priest was the
Beizi (lit. "Crane robe") which was made of twisted and woven feathers; it was a symbolism of immortality and ascendance to the Heaven.
Cheng Dachang from the Southern Song dynasty also observed that
"... the clothes worn by Taoist priests of the current times are slightly different from the fur coat. The lower parts of the fur coat are crossed and overlapped while those of the Taoist priest robe hang straight down".
In
The Current Regression of Diet and Apparel by Shi Shengzu, it was observed that the
"apparel system of the three ancient Chinese dynasties could still be found among Taoist priests".
are broad and elegant robes which were initially worn by [[Taoist priests|Daoshi]].
Qing dynasty
In the
Qing dynasty, Taoist priests wore dark blue robes.
Philippe Forêt (2025). 058548192X, University of Hawai'i Press. 058548192X
Types of Taoist attire
The traditional clothing worn by the Taoist community is connected to pre-modern Chinese clothing and styles.
Nowadays, tradition-based taoists will often wear the traditional robes and liturgical clothing for formal religious and ritual occasions; while Zhengyi Dao priests and taoists priests outside mainland China tend to wear Western wear in their daily lives.
Garment
Taoist priests commonly wear two types of clothing: daopao and jiangyi; these two forms of attire are often decorated with cosmic symbolism in their upper and central back section and often includes elements such as, the sun and moon, mountains and water, etc.
Daofu
In the
Ming dynasty, the daofu is a wide-sleeved, crossed-collar robe which closes to the right and has dark edging at the edges of the collar, sleeves, and placket.
In the collar edge, a collar protector known as huling (l=protective collar) is sometimes inserted.
The Ming daofu is similar to the daopao, except for the addition of edges decoration on the robe.
Belts like dadai (大带) and sitao (丝绦; i.e. a ribbon or a thin rope made of silk) is also used around the waist when wearing the daofu.
Daopao/ hechang
Some forms of taoist robes are also referred as
Beizi ().
This form of Taoist priests' daopao is not cross collared and instead looks like a
beizi in terms of construction and design; a clothing artefact showing this style of daopao is now stored in museums such as the Rhode Island School of Design Museum.
Daopao in the form of hechang has been recorded since the Northern Song dynasty.
Jin dynasty unearthed artefacts of daopao in the form of hechang have been excavated from a late 12th century tomb of a Taoist named Yan Deyuan, near Datong in Shanxi province; these robes are decorated with cranes, which are associated with the Taoist idea of transcendence since at least the Han dynasty and possibly prior to the Han dynasty.
The Taoist's priest daopao are commonly worn by the Taoism priests.
Jiangyi
Jiangyi (p=jiàngyī), also known as "robe of descent" which refers to either the descent of a priest from the altar or of the spirits to the altar, is a common form of Taoist priest's clothing.
The jiangyi is a sign of the higher priestly rank and is worn by grandmasters.
It was worn at least since the Jin dynasty with unearthed artefacts having been excavated from a late 12th century tomb of a Taoist named Yan Deyuan, near Datong in Shanxi province.
It looks similar to a poncho in structure;
Daoyi
The
Quanzhen School monastic taoist priests and nuns wear a wide-sleeved, cross-collared gown called which closes to the right; it is a standard type of clothing.
The sleeves of the daoyi is referred as "cloud sleeves"; they are wide, open at the ends, and their sleeves are so long that it is past the fingers when extended but can be even longer.
In the Quanzhen order, the dagua is worn as one of the ordinary clothing while the deluo is a formal clothing.
Deluo
The is a cross-collared gown with large sleeves.
It is worn by Taoist priests of the
Quanzhen School is a formal ritual dress which is indigo in colour.
The blue colour is a symbolism for the east and represents having been descended from the first patriarch of the
Quanzhen School,
Donghua dijun.
In large temples (e.g. Baiyunguan in Beijing), the deluo would be worn by monastics on festival days; the deluo would have wide sleeves which could reach 45 cm.
Daogua
In the Wengong temple in
Hanzhong, the cross-collar daopao is the standard form of attire and is referred as depending on context.
Their daopao is cross-collared at the front, and the sleeves are so long that only the fingers can escape from the sleeves.
It is made of thick garments and is blue or black in colour.
The daogua can be found in 3 types: , , and .
Patchwork robes
Patchwork robes is a form of ritual dress; it is made of various pieces of old clothing sewn together are worn by the Taoist priests of the Quanzhen school of Hong Kong.
Headwear and headdress
| +List of headwear and headdress
!Name
!Description
!Image |
| Cihang cap | Cihang cap is the High Taoist priest's headdress of the Quanzhen School of Hong Kong which is worn exclusively for rituals such as The Anterior Heaven Ritual for Feeding, Saving and Refining Ghosts. | |
| Haoranjin | It looks like a long hood. it is made of cotton and protects its wearer from the wind and the cold. |
| | It is similar to the in shape but has ruffles likes a lotus leaf, thus gaining its name. |
| / | It is a round, hard-shelled hat with holes in the top of the hat to reveal the hair bun. The upper back is slightly raised to symbolize transcendence. It is the most formal headscarf in Quanzhen School of Taoism. | |
/ , | It is a form of headwear worn by Zhenyi priests. | |
| | A type of guan resembling a lotus flower in full bloom, often made of gold and/or jade aodrned with gemstones. It became popular during the Tang and Song dynasties, and is worn by highest rank Taoist Master. | |
| | They are worn by Taoist priests who work under the hot sun in summer; some Taoist monks wear it to differentiate themselves from other members of the society by hollowing the top of the hat to make their hair visible or by painting the brim of their hats with Taoist patterns, such as the Bagua and Taiji, or they would write name of the Taoist temple where they lived. |
| | A square (or round) headscarf; it is wrapped in a hair bun and tied with two long headbands. It is liked by the young Taoist priest. |
| | A type of hairband. | |
| / Chonghe scarf/ Nanhua scarf | It is worn by the Taoist priests from the Quanzhen School. The bottom of the scarf is square-shaped while the upper part is triangular in shape like a roof. There is a jade on the front region of the scarf which can help to adjust the scarf wearing in proper direction. | |
Shoes
Cloud shoes are the shoes worn by the high Taoist priests only.
The name of the shoes come from the cloud embroidery patterns fond on the shoes.
These shoes are bright red.
See also
Notes
