Ru (), sometimes referred to as (), (), and (), is a form of traditional Chinese upper garment, or coat, or jacket, which typically has a right closure; however, they may also have a front central opening. It is traditional everyday wear for women of the Han Chinese ethnic group. It can be worn in combination with a skirt in a style called , or a pair of trousers in a style called .

The shape and structure of Chinese upper garments, generally referred as , varied depending on the time period. Garments that overlap and close to the right originated in China and are called . The style of which overlaps at the front and closes on the right in a y-shape is known as and first appeared in the Shang dynasty. Since then the has been one of the major symbols of the Sino Kingdom and eventually spread throughout Asia. The structure of the jackets worn in the late Qing shared some features of those worn by the ethnic Han during the Ming dynasty. They continued to evolve and be worn in some form during the Republic of China. Since the 1930s, the popularity of traditional Han fashion declined in favor of the qipao and Western dress. It has regained prominence in the 21st century following the Hanfu movement.

Terminology

The term generally refers to clothing. In ancient times, the term referred to an upper outer garment. The term appeared in ancient texts to refer to upper garments, such as in the , in the Mao Commentary, in the Analects, and in the I Ching.

/ / / The term has sometimes been used as a synonym word for the clothing items and .

and

The can refer to both a long or short jacket. The also had different names depending on its characteristics, such as its length and the presence or absence of lining.

The , when referring to a short jacket, can be found with either short or long sleeves. A short is also known as (; a type of is the which is waist-length. In the Mawangdui Silk Manuscripts, the character 《》refers to a 'short coat'. The also described the as being a form of . It is also described as a common form of in the .

In the Han dynasty, the could be unlined, lined or padded. According to the , a is a padded jacket, which is soft and warm; a is described as being similar to a which does not have cotton wadding.

There is also the term which appear in texts and has been described as the precursor of the by scholars. According to the , however, the can also be a form of . In the Zhou dynasty, a long was referred as the while the referred to with lining and which was similar to the in terms of form. According to the , a is also a form of . Other forms of included the which and could reach the knee- or the hip-level.

Other terms, such as , , and , also exist.

According to the written by Li Shizhen's time (1518 – 1593 AD), in ancient times, an unlined short garment, , was called ; and in the time of Li Shizhen's time, the also came to refer to long garments ().

The term typically refers to a form an undershirt.According to Li Shizhen, who quoted the by Wang Rui, the used to called , an inner unlined garment; it changed name when the of King Han was seeped with sweat when the latter fought with Xiang yu.

The term appears in a Sui dynasty rime dictionary called , published in 601 AD and can be translated as "padded coat", but it can also refer to a lined upper garment. The term was sometimes used to refer to thicker forms of jacket which could be used as winter clothing. A , for example, was a lined jacket which was used by Han Chinese women as winter clothing; the was typically worn on top of a long-length underneath.

/

The term , sometimes pronounced , also exists and is typically associated with the upper garment worn in military clothing called .

Construction and design

Collar designs

The is a form of jacket or coat, which typically closes to the right and is described as being . However, some styles can be found with a front central opening which can be referred as or . The can also be classified as when it is cross-collared closing on the right side, when it has an overlapping big oblique lapel, when it has a slanted, big lapel, when it is squared collared, and when it is round collared. It can also be found with or without a standing collar, which is referred as . The standing collars started to be incorporated in upper garments by the late Ming dynasty.

Bodice The length of the bodice may vary; it can be waist-length or knee-length.

Slits can also be found at both sides of the lower hems of the bodice.

Sleeves The length of the sleeves can vary in length, such as wrist-length and elbow length.

The shapes of the sleeves can also vary, such as big sleeves, narrow sleeves, large cuffs, mandarin sleeves, flared sleeves.

Cultural significance

Symbol of Chinese civilization Clothing style which overlaps and closes to the right originated in China. Chinese robes and jackets must cover the right part in a style called . The closure is an important symbol of the Han Chinese ethnicity. The had been one of the major symbols of the Sino Kingdom, and eventually spread throughout Asia.

Composition of The structure of the may have some differences and variations in terms of features depending on time period and styles of upper garment. For example, a style of Ming dynasty have the following features:

Left side of the garment; Right side of the garment; - Sleeves; it is composed of the side of the body and the mei; sleeves can come in various shapes and each shape has a specific name to describe it based on its shape; - a panel of fabric attached to the left side of the garment, between the and the ; - A side panel forming the chest part area; the left-side covers the right-side, ; - lapel (can be found on both sides; the right lapel is hidden); - Sleeves cuffs for the wrists; can be narrow or loose; - Sleeve root, the part where the sleeve is attached to the body of the garment; Lacing/ribbons - used to tied and closed the garment; - Middle seam of the clothes; it is where the Ren is sewed to side of the garment; there is also a middle seam at the back of the garments which joins the back of the left and right side of the garment called ; - a collar guard, it is shorter than the actual collar and is used to prevent the collar from getting dirty or wear off.

Chinese-barbarian dichotomy

The traditional way to distinguish between and is by looking at the direction of the collar. In Ancient China, some ethnic minorities had clothing which generally closed on the left side in a way referred as . This can be found in the Analects where Confucius himself praised Guan Zhong for preventing the weakened Zhou dynasty from becoming barbarians: Unbound hair and coats which were closed on the left side were associated with the clothing customs of the northern nomadic ethnic groups which were considered as barbarians by the Han Chinese. Therefore, the were used to refer to and/or refer to the rule of foreign nationalities.

Exceptions However, the rule was not always respected: for example, in some areas (such as Northern Hebei) in the 10th century, some ethnic Han Chinese could also be found wearing clothing. It was also common for the Han Chinese women to adopt under the reign of foreign nationalities, such as in the Yuan dynasty; the use of also continued in some areas of the Ming dynasty despite being Han-Chinese ruled dynasty, which is an atypical feature. Some non-Chinese ethnicities who also adopted -style sometimes maintain their lapels, such as the Khitans in the Liao dynasty.

Funeral practices The only moment Han Chinese is supposed to use is when they dressed their deceased. This is due to ancient Chinese beliefs in the Yin and Yang theory, where it is believed that the left is the aspect and stands for life whereas the right is the which stands for death. Based on this belief, the left lapel needs to be outside (i.e. -style) to indicate that the power of is suppressing the , which therefore symbolized the clothing of living people. However, if surpasses (i.e. -style), then clothing becomes the clothing worn by the deceased. It is therefore typically taboo in Chinese clothing for a living person to wear .

History

Clothing style with closure originated in China. Prior to the Eastern Han, the was the most common form of short robe for both men and women; however, the was preferred by women afterwards. The long could reach the knee-level whereas the short ru was waist-length. The could be found unlined, lined or padded.

Shang dynasty

The started to be worn in the Shang dynasty. According to historical documents and archaeological findings, the basic form of clothing during Shang was .

In the Shang dynasty, the was long reaching the knee-level and would be worn over a skirt called ; the worn by slaveholders had tight sleeves and were also closed on the right side following the -style.

Zhou dynasty In the Zhou dynasty, there were various forms of as a generic term of upper garments. A typical form of was the . The had different names in this period depending on its characteristics such as length and lining: referred to the long-length ; referred to the short-length ; referred to the with a lining and was therefore suitable to protect its wearer from the cold in winter if it was filled with silk or flax; the was similar to the in form.

Han dynasty and Three Kingdom period In the Han dynasty, short waist-length could be worn with trousers or skirts by men and women respectively.

In the Han and Wei dynasties, the sleeves of the could be wide or narrow; the was closed to the right. A form of which appeared in the Han and Wei period was a new type of gown which had equal front pieces which were straight instead of being and was fastened with a string; it was also a form of unlined upper garment with straight sleeves and wide cuffs. This was worn by men and women and became popular as it was more convenient for wearing.

Jin dynasty, Northern and Southern dynasties period

Sui and Tang dynasties

Tang dynasty

The , , and were common garment items for women in the Tang dynasty. The (as a short jacket) and (as an unlined short robe) were used for ceremonial and daily clothing by women. Some jackets in Tang dynasty could be found with narrow sleeves, while other upper garments could be found with loose sleeves. The Tang dynasty could also be a tight jacket or a cotton-padded jacket, which could have embroidered golden line as embellishment at the collar and sleeves or could sometimes be decorated with silk damask. were also worn by women in this period; a form of was the which became popular when the -style declined in popularity.

Song dynasty

In the Song dynasty, the (shirt with large/broad sleeves) was a form of fashionable formal clothing. Song dynasty, women wore jackets and jackets. The short ru was a daily garment item for women; the closures of the short ru were found either on the left or right of the front of the garment.

Clothing worn by the Northern Song dynasty people living in Kaifeng are depicted in the painting Qingming Festival on the River by Zhang Zeduan. This painting depicts the clothing worn by people holding different social status, ranks, and occupation: the jackets worn as outer garments were all short, about knee-length or shorter, when worn by coolies, pedlars, peasants, and boat people and children who peddled dried fruits wore short white shan.

Liao dynasty

Song dynasty-style fashion, including jackets, continued to be worn by both Han Chinese and non-elite Khitan women in the Liao dynasty; these jackets were waist-length.

Yuan dynasty

Both the and the jackets for women coexisted in the Yuan dynasty. The wearing of (instead of ) was common in the Yuan dynasty. Han Chinese women also wore , a form of lined jacket, typically over a long-length underneath as winter clothing.

Ming dynasty