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Cheongsam (, ), also known as the qipao () and sometimes referred to as the mandarin gown, is a Chinese dress worn by women which takes inspiration from the , the ethnic clothing of the Manchu people. The cheongsam is most often seen as a longer, figure-fitting, one piece garment with a standing collar, an asymmetric, left-over-right () opening and two side slits, and embellished with Chinese frog fasteners on the lapel and the collar. It was developed in the 1920s and evolved in shapes and design over years. It was popular in China from the 1920s to 1960s, overlapping with the Republican era, and was popularized by Chinese and high society women in Shanghai. Although the cheongsam is sometimes seen as traditional Chinese clothing, it continues to evolve with the times, responding to changes in contemporary modern life.
The term cheongsam is a romanization of the Cantonese word chèuhngsāam (), which comes from the Shanghainese term zansae. In Cantonese and Shanghainese, the term is used to describe a Chinese dress popularized in Shanghai. However, in Mandarin Chinese and other varieties of Chinese, chángshān () refers to changshan, and the female version is known as the qípáo. In Hong Kong, where many Shanghainese tailors fled after the communist revolution of 1949, the word chèuhngsāam became gender-neutral, referring to both male and female garments.
The word qipao (keipo), which literally means "Eight Banners robe" and originally referred to a loose-fitting, trapezoidal-cut garment worn by both Manchu men and women, became a more formal term for the female chèuhngsāam. Usage of the term " cheongsam" in Western countries mostly followed the original Cantonese meaning and applies to the dress worn by women only.
It is also typical for the and the to be used together on the same dress creating a double-edged look; this technique is known as (l=one gun one qian). Other double-edged piping technique include “two--one-” and the “two--two-”. The can also be combined with the ; in this combination, the and the would be made of the same width and colour of fabric but they would run parallel to each other about two to five centimeters away from each other.
The Shanghai-style Cheongsam originated in Shanghai and is a popular and dominant style. The Shanghai-style Cheongsam, especially, conveyed progressive messages of female body emancipation from the 1930s to 1940s; it also came to symbolize the idea of modernity in "pursuing health, fashion, and natural beauty". As a result, to deliberately create a more figure-hugging silhouette and to focus on showing off the natural curve of the female body, many elements of Western tailoring techniques can be found in the Shanghai-style cheongsam, including curved cutting, waist darts. This act of showing the female body was a physical expression of the changes in the identities of Chinese women and their rebellion against the idealized womanhood as indicated in the Confucianism ideology. It also features high side slits and high collar. The collars can be lapel collars, water drop collars, and lotus leaf collars; the shape of the sleeves are also diverse. It also uses lighter materials and has less elaborate embroidery or adornments; the piping is very narrow.
The Jiangnan-style cheongsam, also known as Su-style cheongsam, originated in the Jiangnan Water town. This style of cheongsam expresses the cultural characteristics of the water town in Jiangnan and also creates a fusion between Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting, incorporating the hand-painting art of the Wumen School of Painting. It is characterized by the neckline and embroidered patterns on the edges of the cuff. The dress is also embroidered with rich pattern motifs which tend to be floral, e.g. Prunus mume, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, Peony, and . The fabrics used tend to be high-quality soft satin and plain crepe satin, etc.
The type of that both men and women typically wore consisted of long robes, which can be referred to as the Manchu changpao and also categorized under the broad category of paofu]] (長袍]]) or changshan (长衫]]). (2025). 9789462520684 ISBN 9789462520684
Manchu men wore a changpao, which were 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).
On the other hand, some imperial Manchu women wore a changfu (), informal dress, which looked similar to the men's neitao known as the changfupao (). There were also two styles of changpao for the imperial consorts, known as chenyi and changyi, which became popular. The chenyi and the changyi differed in terms of structure: the changyi had two high side slits which allowed for greater ease of movements while the chenyi had no side slits. Both the chenyi and changyi differed from the changfupao lacking the matixiu cuffs. Both the chenyi and changyi were also the changfu of the Manchu women; they also both became popular during the reign of Qianlong Emperor. It is also theorized that the cheongsam was derived from the Manchu women's chenyi although the chenyi shows the absence of slits.
Under the dynastic laws of transition from Ming to Qing, all Han Chinese were forced to adopt the Manchu male queue hairstyle and adopt Qizhuang under the Tifayifu (labels=no) policy instead of being found wearing the traditional Hanfu, under the threat of death penalty. However, the order for ordinary non-Banner Han civilians to wear Manchu clothing was lifted, and only those Han who served as officials or scholars were required to wear them. Over time though, some Han civilian men voluntarily adopted the changshan. By the late Qing, not only officials and scholars, but a great many Han commoners wore Manchu-style male attire.Twitchett, Denis; Fairbank, John K. (2008) Cambridge History of China Volume 9 Part 1 The Ch'ing Empire to 1800, p87-88 However, until 1911, the Manchu changpao was required clothing for Chinese men of a certain class.
What is now known as the Chinese changshan was developed by the Han Chinese during the Qing dynasty. Han Chinese started to wear the Qing dynasty Chinese changshan after the Manchu conquest; the Chinese changshan was a modified version of the daopao or zhiduo worn in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD), the dynasty preceding the Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty Chinese changshan was modeled after the Manchu's men's robe. It thus adopted certain Manchu elements, such as slimming their changshan, adopting the pianjin collar of the Manchu, and using buttons and loops at the neck and sides. The Chinese changshan differed from the Manchu men's neitao as it only had 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.
For women, Manchu and Han systems of clothing coexisted. Throughout the Qing dynasty, Han civilian women could wear traditional Han clothing from the Ming dynasty.. As a result, Ming dynasty style clothing was preserved to an extent in China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911.
Under the Western influences of wearing shorter dresses in 1928, the length of the cheongsam became shorter. (2025). 9781315091372, Routledge. ISBN 9781315091372 In 1929, the cheongsam was chosen by the Republic of China government to be one of the country's national dresses. With the designation of "national dress", the Republic of China government also promulgated the new Clothing Regulations of 1929, which specified the cheongsam should be worn with trousers and be calf-length. However, even before the Clothing Regulations of 1929, women had already stopped wearing trousers in favor of silk . Chinese women held no respect to the rule, as it was seen as an attempt by the Republican government to control individual rights and woman's liberty.
From the 1920s onwards, the cheongsam was quickly popularized by celebrities, socialites, and politicians in Shanghai. Former First Lady of China Oei Hui-lan (Oei Hui-lan) was a prominent figure among them. Voted several times by Vogue into its lists of the world's best-dressed women, Madame Wellington Koo was much admired for her adaptations of the traditional Manchu fashion, which she wore with lace trousers and jade necklaces. Cheongsam dresses at the time had been decorously slit a few inches up the sides, but Madame Koo slashed hers to the knee, 'with lace pantelettes just visible to the ankle'. Unlike other Asian socialites, Madame Koo also insisted on local Chinese silks, which she thought were of superior quality.
Consumer culture rose as Western and Chinese merchants cooperated to move towards early capitalism. People eagerly sought a more modernized dress style and transformed the old cheongsam to suit new tastes. Newer forms featured slender and tight-fitting pencil cuts and deep necks, which is different from the early cheongsam. High-class and celebrities in the city welcomed the tight-fitting cheongsam. It was at this time the word cheongsam became well known in English. In Shanghainese, it was first known as zansae for 'long dress', rendered in Mandarin as chángshān and in Cantonese as chèuhngsāam. Then, the spoken Cantonese renditions of 長衫 was borrowed into English as "cheongsam".
Trousers had completely fallen out of use, replaced by different types of hosiery. were popularized in the Shanghai fashion scene in the 1930s. Stockings and High-heeled shoes became an essential part of the cheongsam fashion set, which spawned new side slits designs reaching the hip line, intended to display the hosiery and heels. As Western fashions evolved, so did the cheongsam design, introducing high-necked sleeveless dresses, bell-like sleeves, and the black lace frothing at the hem of a ball gown. By the 1940s, cheongsam came in a wide variety of fabrics with an equal variety of accessories.
In other Chinese communities, such as Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong, the cheongsam remained popular after the war. It became everyday wear in the British colony of Hong Kong in the 1950s, and leather clutch, high heels, and white gloves were common pairing accessories. However, the popularity ultimately declined in the 1970s, giving way for cheaper and mass-produced Western-style clothing.
Since the 1980s, with the trend of reevaluation of Chinese traditional culture, people in mainland China started to pay attention to the cheongsam again. The cheongsam is gaining popularity in films, beauty pageants, and fashion shows in both China and other countries all over the world. In 1984, the cheongsam was specified as the formal attire of female diplomatic agents by the China.
A few primary schools and some secondary schools in Hong Kong, especially older schools established by Christian missionaries, use a plain-rimmed sky-blue cotton and/or dark blue velvet (for winter) cheongsam with the metal school badge right under the stand-up collar to be closed with a metal hook and eye as the official uniform for their female students. The schools which use this standard include True Light Girls' College, St. Paul's Co-educational College, Heep Yunn School, St. Stephen's Girls' College, Ying Wa Girls' School, etc. These cheongsams are usually straight, with no waist shaping, and the cheongsam hem must reach mid-thigh. The cheongsam fit closely to the neck, and the stiff collar is hooked closed, despite the tropical humid and hot weather. Although the skirts have short slits, they are too narrow to allow students to walk in long strides. The seams above the slits often split when walking and are repeatedly sewn. Many schools also require underskirts to be worn with the cheongsam. The underskirt is a white cotton full slip, hemmed slightly shorter than the cheongsam, and has slits at the sides like the cheongsam, although the slits are deeper. A white cotton undershirt is often worn underneath the cheongsam. The cheongsam's length, styling, color, and sleeve length vary between schools. Many students feel it is an ordeal, yet it is a visible manifestation of the strict discipline that is the hallmark of prestigious secondary schools in Hong Kong, and many students and their parents like that. Some rebellious students express dissatisfaction with this tradition by wearing their uniform with the stand-up collar intentionally left unhooked or hemmed above their knees. The Ying Wa and True Light Schools have sent questionnaires to their students about uniform reforms but have not altered their policies.旗袍维系香港女校百年情. 李气虹 (The qipao keeps the affections of Hong Kong girls schools of 100 years by Li Qihong) (16 May 2003). However, Madam Lau Kam Lung Secondary School of Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery ended their cheongsam uniform in 1990 after receiving suggestions from its student union. Madam Lau Kam Lung Secondary School of Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery
For the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens tournament, sportswear brand Kukri Sports teamed up with Hong Kong lifestyle retail store G.O.D. to produce merchandising, which included traditional Chinese jackets and cheongsam-inspired ladies' polo shirts.
Since 2013, Peng Liyuan, the first lady of China, has worn cheongsam several times while on foreign visits with Paramount leader Xi Jinping.
In November 2014, cheongsam was the official attire for the political leaders' wives in the 22nd APEC meeting in Beijing.
This heightened attention of global fashions from Asia brought to Western pop culture's wardrobe, whilst being shone in starlight with social media and tabloids fawning over these 'new' styles, also caused insensitive representation of the fashions, also known as Cultural appropriation. The Cheongsam was also sold in stores as a Halloween costume for young girls and women to wear, pretending to be a person of Asian descent as their costume. This created more conversation as more voices of minorities were heard, that this cultural dress is not appreciated when it is sold as a costume. However, as conversations of cultural appropriation increase and social awareness is spread through media platforms and social media, these racially insensitive costumes have since been left more in the past.
The cheongsam can be worn by people of all ages and at any season. It is also used as a style Traditional Chinese wedding dress among many others. For overseas Chinese, the cheongsam has often used as a form of emblematic culture.
In the 1920s, the cheongsam was originally an embodiment of Chinese women's rebellion and a heroic gesture and a marker of Chinese feminism and Chinese women's emancipation.
"Changpao" was traditionally taken as men's patent throughout the long history from Han dynasty (202 BC to 220) to Qing dynasty (1616–1911). During that time, Chinese Han female's clothing gradually developed into two pieces. Women were forbidden to wear robes as men did and instead had to wear tops and bottoms known as "Liang jie yi". After the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 (which overthrew the Qing dynasty), young Chinese people began to learn Western science and cultures in order to seek a way of saving the nation. Also, the opening of several ports and ceding territories of China to Western powers imported some Western ideas to mainland China. Among all these Western thoughts, the idea of gender equality quickly gained its followers, among whom young female students became its prime advocates. (2008). 9787801867735, 上海东方出版中心. ISBN 9787801867735
It was the May Thirteenth Movement of 1925, where anti-Westernization demonstrations persisted throughout the country, that served as an important push for the qipao's institutionalization. The Republicans declared the qipao a formal dress in the Clothing Regulations of 1929. The dress was meant to assert the importance of nationalism by rejecting Western forms of dress. That being said, there were still strict rules regulating how the dress needed to be worn, including specifications about length, material, accessories, collar, buttons, and sleeves, but curiously enough, none of these were followed.
From the start, there was no unifying style for the dress like the Republicans intended; Chinese women had no respect for the Clothing Regulations of 1929, which tried to control individuality. There were endless variations in style, with adaptations to length, material, hemlines, collars, fabrics, patterns, colors, and pairing accessories. It was worn by everyone from Shanghai socialites to students, housewives, and prostitutes. The style of the qipao was often in tune with fashion cycles and was influenced by Western trends seen through women styling it with matching scarves, fur coats, and leather heels. Magazines such as LingLong also gave women access to dressmaking knowledge and normalized it for women to make their dresses in their style. The base form of the qipao is rather simple to sew, which makes it easily accessible and economical.
The style of cheongsam also varied due to Western influence. It changed from a wide and loose style to a more form-fitting and revealing cut, which put more emphasis on women's body lines. The length of the cheongsam was also reduced from the ankle reaching to above the knee.
The design of the cheongsam got various inventions like ruffled collars, bell-like sleeves, and black lace frothing. Starting from that, the priority of cheongsam moved from a political expression to an aesthetic and ornamental emphasis.
The Hong Kong Cheongsam-making technique is unique due to its historical background, having incorporated both Eastern and Western clothing designs before giving the Hongkong-style cheongsam its distinctive looks. In 2021, the Hong Kong cheongsam making technique was successfully listed on the fifth National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
In Suriname, the cheongsam is not only presented as being the quintessential Chinese dress but also as the authentic Chinese ethnic clothing; however, the Chinese ethnic clothing, which should have been used, is the , consisting of a (jacket) and a pair of trousers, as it was the attire which was worn by the Hakka people who came in Suriname as indentured laborers and chain immigrants. The use of cheongsam as a cultural marker of Chineseness can be thus perceived as ironic, and a cultural stereotype of Chineseness as the cheongsam is not associated with any specific ancestral clothing of Chinese immigrants.
In Indonesia, the cheongsam has experienced acculturation from Chinese culture and Indonesian culture, one of which is the batik-patterned cheongsam which has become the main cultural identity in Indonesia. In recent years, the trend of Chinese clothing combined with local elements has started to become popular. The euphoria of acculturating Chinese and Indonesian culture is driven by local Chinese citizens who want to show that they love their homeland. Cheongsam clothing made from batik is very attractive fashion, there are clothing models that are suitable to wear during Chinese New Year celebrations. Clothing that is an acculturation of Indonesian and Chinese culture is very suitable to complement the celebration.
The first argument says that the cheongsam came directly from the clothing of the banner people when the Manchu ruled China during the Qing dynasty. This argument was prominently represented by Zhou Xibao (c=周锡保) in his work The History of Ancient Chinese Clothing and Ornaments. (1984). 9787104003595, 中国戏剧出版社. ISBN 9787104003595
The second opinion holds that the cheongsam inherited some features of the chángpáo of Banner People in the Qing dynasty, but the true origin of the cheongsam dates back to a period between the Western Zhou (1046–771 BC) and the pre-Qin era, approximately two millennia before the Qing dynasty. According to Yuan Jieying's (c=袁杰英) book Chinese Cheongsam, the modern cheongsam" What is modern cheongsam " . Newhanfu. shares many similarities with the narrow-cut straight skirt that women wore in the Western Zhou dynasty. (2002). 9787506417075, 中国纺织出版社. ISBN 9787506417075 And Chinese Professor Bao Minxin (c=包铭新) also pointed out in his book A Real Record of Modern Chinese Costume that the cheongsam originated from the ancient robe in the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). The robe is a Shenyi which was quite popular among ladies in Han. (2004). 9787810388870, 东华大学出版社. ISBN 9787810388870
The third argument was raised by Bian Xiangyang (c=卞向阳) in his book An Analysis on the Origin of Qipao. Bian thinks that the cheongsam originates from neither the robe nor the chángpáo. It is an adaption of Western-style dress during the Republic of China era when people were open to the Western cultures. In his opinion, the cheongsam was a hybrid of traditional Chinese costumes and Western costumes such as the waistcoat and one-piece dress. Moreover, according to him, Chinese women traditionally wore trousers under their clothing and the use of silk stockings under the cheongsam or being bare legs is not a Chinese tradition but the result of Western influence.
The áo dài was developed from the clothing worn in Chinese court but it could only be worn by the royalty originally. The áo dài was derived from áo ngũ thân (lit. 'five-panel gown') which was a Nguyễn court fashion which drew strong influences from the civil and military official clothing practices used in China; the áo dài also evolved from the early prototypes decreed by Nguyễn Phúc Khoát.
In the 18th century, in an attempt to separate his domain from Tonkin ruled by his rival Trịnh clan and build an independent state, Lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát (reigned 1738–1765) forced his subjects to wear Hanfu. The ethnic Kinh robe (i.e. the traditional áo giao lĩnh, a type of crossed-collar robe, which was identical to the Paofu worn by the Han Chinese). was, therefore, replaced by a robe with Chinese-style fasteners, which was buttoned in the front, and had an upright collar. The skirt which was worn by the Vietnamese was also replaced by trousers under his rule. This form of new fashion became the prototype of the áo dài; it was a form of áo ngũ thân which was invented by Lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát; the áo ngũ thân also had 5 flaps instead of 4 (the 5th flap was small and was found under the front garment) and 5 buttons. Another new form of fashion included a type of four-panel robe which was described by Lê Quý Đôn as an áo dài which was loose fitting similarly to the áo giao lãnh. Under the rule of Emperor Minh Mạng, two new forms of áo dài were created from the áo ngũ thân regulated by Nguyễn Phúc Khoát: the áo tứ thân, and the Huế-style áo dài which was created with five flaps . The Huế-style áo dài represented royal court culture of the Huế and later developed influenced the modern áo dài.
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