The qipao (; ), also known as the cheongsam (, ; ) or the mandarin gown, is a Western-influenced 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 1910s-1920s and evolved in shapes and design over years. It was popular in China from the 1920s to the '60s, overlapping with the Republican era, and was popularized by Chinese socialites and high society women in Shanghai.
Terminology As English loanwords, both cheongsam and qipao describe the same type of body-hugging dress worn by Chinese women, and the words can be used interchangeably.
The term cheongsam is a romanization of the Cantonese word (), which comes from the Shanghainese term . In Cantonese and Shanghainese, the term denotes a Chinese dress that gained popularity in Shanghai. However, in Mandarin Chinese and other varieties of Chinese, () refers to a garment exclusively for men, and the version for women is known as the . In Hong Kong, where many Shanghainese tailors fled after the communist revolution of 1949, the word became gender-neutral, referring to both male and female garments.
The word qipao (), which literally means , or robe}}, which originally referred to a loose-fitting, trapezoidal-cut garment worn by both Manchu men and women, has become a more formal term for the women's . Usage of the term cheongsam in Western countries mostly follows the original Cantonese meaning and applies to the dress worn by women only.
Design and construction
The design of the cheongsam has evolved with time; and there are now a various styles of cheongsam. However, after decades of development, the design of cheongsam itself can be roughly categorized into the Beijing style, the Shanghai style, and the Hong Kong style.
General characteristics and features The cheongsam is typically a tight-fitting dress, with a pair of high side slits above the knee-level. The length of the cheongsam can vary; it can be either long or short. It is more often seen with short sleeves; however, it can also be sleeveless.
Collars and neckline
It is typically found with the mandarin collar and has asymmetric closure which runs from the central collar across the top area of the chest to the armhole curing down to the right side. In Chinese clothing culture, the overlap on the right side is known as . However, the cheongsam is not limited to the asymmetrical closure; there are various styles of cheongsam necklines, including a symmetrical opening in the chest area.
Fasteners and closures The fasteners uses traditional Chinese knotting craftwork with the use of the fastening and Chinese button knot.
Edges and piping
The cheongsam is typically edged with piping, especially at the collar and the closure. There are four traditional piping techniques used in the making of the cheongsam: () which is a narrow strips of fabric roll around the raw edge of the garment and is the most commonly used nowadays, () which is broad edging typically found in Manchu clothing of the Qing dynasty and the early cheongsam and is now quite rare, () is a very narrow strip of fabric which is even narrower than the , and () is a specific type of technique which uses a narrow strip of fabric which is stitched on the dress.
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 (). 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.
Fabric and textile
Different materials can be used in the making of the cheongsam, such as wool, silk (including silk floss, damask, brocade, satin), or silk-like materials. The cheongsam can also be unlined or interlined. The fabric of the cheongsam can decorated with a diversity of decorative motifs, which can be embroidered on the dress.
Main styles
The Beijing-style cheongsam originated in Beijing and is fairly traditional and conservative. It is typically handmade. It maintains the traditional straight and A-line silhouette, and often has embroidery and elaborate adornments. It is also characterized by its wide piping. The Beijing-style cheongsam expresses Chinese culture in its style. The production of a Beijing cheongsam is complex. The fasteners can sometimes take several days to create, typically requiring twenty-six procedures of silk processing to be turning into silk strips which would be appropriate in the making of the fasteners of various patterns by artisans.
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 Confucian 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. plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, peonies, and roses. The fabrics used tend to be high-quality soft satin and plain crepe satin, etc.
The Cantonese-style cheongsam, also known as the Hong Kong style, the Guangdong style, or simply the cheongsam (長衫), is one of the major regional traditions of the modern qipao, originating in Guangdong. Compared with other schools, it is understated, restrained, and minimalist, a product of Lingnan culture blended with Western aesthetics, and is often described as “the qipao that looks least like a qipao" (最不像旗袍的旗袍). In 2018, the Guangdong Museum also presented the exhibition A Century of Fashion: The Story of the Hong Kong Cheongsam (百年時尚：香港長衫故事). The cheongsam worn by Anita Mui in the Hong Kong film Rouge is a Hong Kong style cheongsam. From the mid‑1950s to the late 1960s, the cheongsam was the most common and respectable form of dress for urban women in Hong Kong. After its decline in the 1970s, there was a period when the cheongsam survived mainly as a uniform—worn by waitresses in traditional Chinese restaurants and by Cathay Pacific flight attendants—while ordinary people no longer wore it in daily life. Around 2016, however, a movement emerged in Hong Kong to revive the cheongsam. Advocates argued that it should be worn according to one’s own taste and personality, without deliberately pursuing the long neck, broad shoulders, narrow waist, and ‘vase‑shaped’ silhouette of the past. Keeping pace with the times, they sought to give the cheongsam new meaning and renewed vitality.
History Background
The Manchu are an ethnic minority that founded the last of China's imperial dynasties, the Qing dynasty, which lasted from 1644 to 1911. When the dynasty was first established, dress regulations were implemented as a way of expressing their identity as a people and creating social order. They used an administrative division called the Eight Banner system. Originally only the Manchu households were organized within this system, but over time naturalized Mongols and Han Chinese were incorporated. The Manchu, and anyone living under the Eight Banners system, wore different clothing from ordinary civilians. Thus, they became known as the Banner People ().
The type of that both men and women typically wore consisted of long robes, which can be referred to as the Manchu and also categorized under the broad category of () or ().
Manchu men wore a , which were designed for horseback riding, known as , 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 collar (a collar which curved like the alphabet《S》), and the sleeve cuffs known as ().
On the other hand, some imperial Manchu women wore a (), informal dress, which looked similar to the men's known as the (). There were also two styles of for the imperial consorts, known as and , which became popular. The and the differed in terms of structure: the had two high side slits which allowed for greater ease of movements while the had no side slits. Both the and differed from the lacking the cuffs. Both the and were also the of the Manchu women; they also both became popular during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. It is also theorized that the cheongsam was derived from the Manchu women's although the shows the absence of slits.
Introduction of Manchu-style clothing
Throughout China's multicultural history, clothing has been shaped through an intermingling of primarily Han clothing styles, the Han Chinese being the dominant ethnicity, and the styles of various ethnic groups. Some examples include the standing collar of the cheongsam, which has been found in relics from the Ming dynasty, ruled by the Han Chinese, and was subsequently adopted in the Qing dynasty as Manchu clothing items. Manchu robes were initially collarless. The Manchu also adopted the right closure from the Han Chinese as they initially closed their robes on the left side.
Under the dynastic laws of transition from Ming to Qing, all Han Chinese were forced to adopt the Manchu male queue hairstyle and adopt Manchu clothing under the () policy instead of being found wearing the traditional , 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.