(p=shānkù; see terminology) is a generic term which refers to a two-piece set of attire in , which is typically composed of a , a Chinese upper garment which typically overlaps and closes on the right side which could be called , , , and a pair of long trousers called .
Terminology
Shanku is sometimes referred as ,
,
and also known as
samfu in English or
samfoo (
pronunciation:
) in
British English following its Cantonese spelling.
The terms , or typically refer to the two-piece set composed of an upper garment which is generally above and below the hips and knees and a pair of trousers, both made out of coarse cloth. This was generally worn by people doing manual labour, such as farm work, and by Martial arts.
The generic term , also called , is typically used to refer to military or riding style attire which is composed of a jacket or coat and trousers.
English definition
In the English language, is commonly written as
samfoo in
British English or
samfu. According to the Collins English Dictionary, the term
samfu (pronounced:
) originated from the combination of the Chinese (Cantonese) words
sam (dress) and
fu (trousers).
The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary and the Concise Oxford English Dictionary indicate that the term samfu originated in the 1950s from the Cantonese term shaam foò, with shaam meaning 'coat' and foò meaning 'trousers'.
The Oxford Learner's Advanced Dictionary defines it as being:
The 12th edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines it as being:
Design and construction
The is a two-piece set of attire, which is composed of a
jacket as an upper garment and a pair of
trousers as a lower garment. More precisely, the is composed of the and the trousers generally known as .
The and the were typically made of similar fabrics.
Upper garment
The or or
or all refer to a Chinese upper garment, which typically has a side fastening to the right, known as .
Prior to the Qing dynasty, the shape of the collar and closure of the upper garment were typically , a collar which crosses or overlaps in the front and closed to the right side similar to the letter y in shape, as the ones worn in the Ming dynasty and earlier, instead of the -style, the curved or slanted overlap closure which appears similar to the letter s, which was commonly worn in the late Qing dynasty.
The could be long-sleeved, short-sleeved,
The bodice of the varied in length depending on the time period, but it could also be thigh-length.
Lower garment
The , as a general term, was a pair of long trousers which could be loose or narrow.
There are many types of with some having closed rises while others have opened rise.
Trousers with close rises were typically referred as to differentiate from the which typically referred to trousers without rises.
Fitting
The is traditionally loose in terms of fitting.
However, due to the influence of Western fashion, it became more tight fitting in the 1950s and 1960s.
Colours
The was typically dyed in black, blue or grey.
The waistband of the was typically made of lighter coloured fabric, such as blue or white.
However, the colours of the could vary depending on ethnic groups.
History and development
Pre-history
In the
Neolithic, the trousers were known as and were the original form of the without crotches.
The form of the Neolithic was different from the trousers worn nowadays as it came in pairs of legs like shoes.
They were knee-high trousers which were tied on the calves and only covered the knees and the ankles; thus allowing its wearer's thighs to be exposed; due to this reason, ancient Chinese wore , a set of attire consisting of the and , on top of their to cover their lower body.
This form of continued to be worn until the early
Han dynasty.
Shang dynasty
The can be traced back at least to the
Shang dynasty.
Prior to the introduction of foreigners' clothing, known as , during the Warring States period, a set of attire known as was already worn by the ancient Chinese people. However, the lower garment called remained in use to cover the -style
as the trousers in this period still lacked a rise.
In the Shang dynasty, the slaveholders wore a with and/or .
The , which was worn, was similar to a knee-length
tunic.
Zhou dynasty, Spring and Autumn period, and Warring States period
In the , it is recorded that exorcists wore black trousers and red jackets.
Adoption of Hufu
During the Warring States period, King Wuling of Zhao (r. 326–298 BC) instituted the policies which involved the adoption of to facilitate horse riding.
The nomadic clothes adopted by King Wuling consisted of belts, short upper garment, and trousers.
The short garment was a coat was called , which appears to have been the outermost coat of all garment, resembling a robe with short body and loose sleeves.
Influence of Hufu
Under the influence of the , the -style evolved until the thighs were lengthened to cover the thighs forming a newly improved -trousers; it also had a waist enclosure which was added; however, as the improved -trousers still had an open rise and rear, which would allowed for excretion purposes, the still continued to be worn on top of the .
Compared to the nomadic which did not fit in the traditional norms of the Chinese people, the was well-accepted by the Chinese as it was more aligned with the
Han Chinese tradition.
The trousers with loose rise, , which was adopted from the policy was mainly worn by the military troops and servants while the general population typically continued to wear the -style and the newly improved .
Qin dynasty
In
Qin dynasty, short clothing became more common and trousers were generally worn from what can be observed from the unearthed Qin dynasty tomb figures.
As a general term for trousers, the was worn with jackets , also known as along with .
Terracotta Army, for example, wears a type of Paofu which is worn on top of skirt and trousers.
Han dynasty
Starting since the Eastern Han dynasty, trousers with rise, , gradually started to be worn, the of the Han dynasty gradually replaced the .
While the long robe known as was mainly worn for formal occasions in the Han dynasty, men wore a waist-length
ru and trousers in their ordinary days while women wore
ruqun.
Manual labourers tended to be wear even shorter upper garment and lower garment as due to their convenient use for work.
In the Han dynasty, the trousers came in variety of styles, such as and , while a derivative of the -trousers known as was developed.
The was worn with a loose robe (either or ) in the Han dynasty by both military and civil officials.
The is a type of which covered the hips and legs and its rise and hips regions were closed at the front and multiple strings were used to tie it at the back of its wearer; it was made for palace maids.
Wei, Jin, Northern, and Southern dynasties
In the early medieval period of China (220–589 AD), male and female commoners, including servants and field labourers, wore a full-sleeved, long jacket (which were either waist or knee length) which was tied with a belt.
Common women could either wear skirts or trousers under their jackets.
Full trousers with slightly tempered cuffs or trousers which were tied just below the knees were worn under the jacket.
In tombs inventories dating to the early 600s, cases of , , and can be found.
The or consisted of the and a , a tight-fitting upper garment, , which reached the knee level.
The which appeared in the late Northern dynasty, was created by assimilating non-Han cultures in order to create a new design which reflected the Han Chinese culture.
(middle and right), Three Kingdoms period]]
female warrior wearing trousers and upper garment]]
]]
Sui to Tang dynasties
In
Tang dynasty, the trousers which were worn by men were mainly worn with a form of known as .
However, the which had been worn in the previous dynasties remained popular until the Sui and Tang dynasties period.
Song to Yuan dynasty
In the Song to the Yuan dynasty, the , trousers with narrow legs, was worn by the general population during this period.
Song dynasty
In
Song dynasty, labourers who performed heavy tasks preferred to wear short jackets and trousers due to its convenience.
In this period, the worn by poor people were short length clothing and were made out of coarse fabric.
Yuan dynasty
In
Yuan dynasty, some scholars and commoners wore the
terlig, a Mongol-style , which was braided at the waists and had pleats and narrow-fitting sleeves.
Ming dynasty
In
Ming dynasty, the trousers with open-rise and close-rise were worn by men and women.
Women in Ming continued to wear trousers under their skirts.
Appearance of standing collars
In the late Ming dynasty, jackets with
Mandarin collar started to appear.
The standup collar were closed with interlocking buttons made of gold and silver,
called .
The appearance of interlocking buckle promoted the emergence and the popularity of the standup collar and the Chinese jacket with buttons at the front, and laid the foundation of the use of Chinese knot buckles.
In women garments of the Ming dynasty, the standup collar with gold and silver interlocking buckles became one of the most distinctive and popular form of clothing structure; it became commonly used in women's clothing reflecting the conservative concept of Ming women's chastity by keeping their bodies covered and due to the climate changes during the Ming dynasty (i.e. the average temperature was low in China).
Qing dynasty – 19th century
The high collar jacket continued to be worn in
Qing dynasty, but it was not a common feature until the 20th century.
In the late Qing, the high collar become more popular and was integrated to the jacket and robe of the Chinese and the Manchu becoming a regular garment feature instead of an occasional feature. For the Han Chinese women, the stand-up collar became a defining feature of their long jacket; this long jacket with high collar could be worn over their trousers but also over their skirts (i.e.
Ruqun). The high collar remained a defining feature of their jacket even in the first few years of the republic.
In Qing dynasty, Han Chinese women who wore without wearing a skirt on top of their trousers were typically people born from the lower social class.
In the 19th century, the shan was long in length and the trousers ku was wide.
men wearing , before 1912 AD]]
20th century
In the 20th century, the 19th-century long
shan gradually became shorter and become more fitted.
The neckband of the shan was also narrow.
Sleeveless and short-sleeved
shanku also existed in the 20th century.
In the 1950s, women of lower status and those worked on farms would sometimes wear shanku which was decorated with floral patterns and checks.
Ethnic clothing
Han Chinese
Both
Han Chinese women and men of the labouring classes wore
shanku.
The trousers, which could be found either narrow or wide, were a form of standard clothing for the Han Chinese.
Hakka
The
Hakka people wears
shanku as their traditional clothing;
both Hakka men and women wear it.
The preferred colours of the Hakka
shanku is typically blue and black.
Hoklo
The
Hoklo people wears
shanku which is composed of fitted-style of
shan which has a deeply curved hem and black-coloured trousers
ku.
Their
shan was characterized by the bands decoration at the sleeves edges and at the garment opening as well as the collar of the
shan which was very narrow and also consisted of piping rows.
They typically wore bright colours such as light blue as every day wear while colours such as purple, deep blue, deep turquoise were reserved for special occasions.
Tanka
The
Tanka people also wear
shanku which is distinctive in style wherein the
shan and the
ku matched in colour; they prefer wearing colours which are lighter and brighter, such as pale green, pale blue, turquoise, yellow and pink.
These lighter colours tended to be preferred by younger women or by newly married women; they were also worn on special occasions.
On the other hand, darker colours were favoured by older women.
Influences and derivatives
Vietnam
In the 15th century (from 1407 to 1478), the Vietnamese women adopted Chinese trousers under the occupation of the
Ming dynasty.
During the 17th and 18th century, Vietnam was divided in two regions with the Nguyen lords ruling the South. The Nguyen lords ordered that southern men and women had to wear Chinese-stye trousers and long front-buttoning tunics to differentiate themselves from the people living in the North. This form of outfit developed with time over the next century becoming the precursor of the áo dài, the outfit generally consisted of trousers, loose-fitting shirt with a
Mandarin collar and a diagonal right side closure which run from the neck to the armpit; these features were inspired by the Chinese and the Manchu clothing.
In the pre-20th century, Vietnamese people of both sexes continue to maintain old Ming-style of Chinese clothing consisting of a long and loose knee-length tunics and ankle-length, loose trousers.
See also
Notes
