The Origin of Attire：Natural Beauty in the Pre-Qin Period

receivedadoctorate degree indesignand isafashion commentator， now living in . She ismainly engaged in the history of design，costumes，and fashion theory.

This book is an introductory reading to traditional Chinese clothing，illustrating the history of ancient Chinese clothing and fashion.Apart from costumes，the book also present accessories，hairstyles，and makeup of women from all dynasties. Additionally，the craftsmanship of clothing and accessories，patterns and designs， embroidery and inlay as wellas gold and silver processing are also included in this book，taking you on a journey to the prosperous and beautiful world of ancient Chinese women.

BeautyThroughtheMillennia：

TheFashion Trendsof

Chinese Women'sAttire

Song Zimei

Guangdong People's Publishing

House

February 2025

49.80 （CNY） n the distant 21st century BCE， China witnessed the emergence of its first hereditary monarchy， the Xia Dynasty.The primitive society'sclan communes dissolved，givingwayto the rise ofa slave society.Xia Yu，the first ruler of the Xia Dynasty，advocated for frugalityand hada fondness for the color black.Although no clothingartifactsfromthe Xia and Shangdynasties have been discovered，findings of silk cocoons，hemp，and ramie fabricsat late Neolithic sites suggest thatattire during the Xia Dynasty remained largelyunchanged.However，it already showed social hierarchy： Thenobilityworesilk，whilethe common people wore hemp and ramiefabrics.

With the advent of slave society， slaveownersproclaimed themselves the“Sons of Heaven\" implying their divine mandate to govern the people.Thismarkeda shift from the primitive society's worship of nature to the order and concepts for constructing politicalethics.At the same time，slaveownersandslaves needed hierarchytomaintain internalorder，which ledtothe developmentofaceremonialattire system.

TheMatriarchalSocietyEra：When Men Adorned MoreThan Women

Today，adornmentseemsmore associated with women，but this wasnotthecase inmatriarchal society.

AttheUpperCaveMan archaeological site，a totalof 141ornamentswerediscovered， suchasvariousperforatedanimal teeth.Themajority of these

Chicuite

Worked indoorsin industriessuch as textiles.

Even in the Zhou Dynasty， men's attireremainedfarmorevibrant than women's.For example，the Book of Songs （Shijing） mentions clothing colors 39 times，with 33descriptions referring to men and only six to women.Men's clothing is mostly bright colors likevermilion， green，black，yellow， blue，and gold，whereas women's clothing ismore subduedin toneslike theplain，natural fabric color （su） and white.This also implies that women in the pre-Qin period did not rely on elaborate adornmenttoelicitadmirationor respect from the opposing gender. Because there were still remnants ofmatriarchal traditionsat that time，thoughwomen'sstatusmight nothavesurpassed men's，itwas undoubtedly higher than in later feudal eras.It was unnecessary for women to“please men with theirbeauty.\"However，after the Qinand Handynasties，women were increasingly relegated to the role of subordinates and objects of male aesthetic consumption. Femininity gradually became associated with ornamentation， seductiveness，and delicate charm.

ornaments，however，wereowned bymen.Theseitemsmayhave startedashuntingtrophiesbefore becoming symbolsof bravery or victory.Young men wore them asornaments.In contrast，onlya smallnumberof small，perforated stonebeadswerefoundatthe site，whichcontained female ornaments，farfewerthanthoseof men.

Additionally，tracesof red ochre （hematite powder）were found on the remains，suggesting that men'sattireandadornmentswere no less elaborate than women's. Sinceredochrehasadistinct color，researchersnowbelieve itwas likelyused fordecorative body painting or dyeing clothing.

Examinationoftheunearthed skeletonsindicatesthatthis practiceof pigmentapplication madeno genderdistinction.

With the decline ofmatriarchal society，adornmentgradually becamemoreassociatedwith women.However，excavationsat the Dawenkou site in Shandong show that head ornaments were still primarily worn by men.Funerary objects were also discovered duringtheexcavation. Men were primarily buried with stonespades，axes，andother production tools，while women were mostly buried with spinning Wheels.This reflects that men wereincreasinglytakingoverthe coreof production，while women

Wardrobeof Xi Shi

Who is Xi Shi？Xi Shiwasnotwellknown in her time，butshe rose to prominence through historical narrativesabouttheEastern Han Dynasty.There isno academic consensuson this issue.Most argueshe waspurely fictional， and some regard herasa legend， while others suggest she was a composite of figures like Xia Ji or Nü Ai from The Commentary of Zuo （Zuo Zhuan）.

Regardless，XiShi laterbecame thearchetype ofbeautyin Chinese culture.So，what kind of clothing might she have worn？

First，the“five-colored\"shenyi （a long，one-piece robe） is essential. The five colorsrevered in the pre-Qinperiod，blue，red，white， black，andyellow，werefavored， yet the natural，undyed\"plain\"hue of textiles was also prized，much like today's trend forunbleached linenand cotton fabrics.The shenyi camein various styles： fitted，loose， curved-hem，and straight-hem， layered in different ways to create diverse looks.Additionally，belts ofvarying widthsand colorswere usedtoaccentuatetheensemble.

Next，theshoerackshouldinclude two types of shoes： flat and double-soled shoes.Flat shoes， similartoespadrillestoday，were woven from ramie fabric，primarily inblueand yellow.Doublesoled shoes can be regarded asthe forerunner of later highsoled shoes.Theyare worn on ceremonial occasions，with an extralayerofsoleadded tothe flat sole.Blueandwhitesilkdouble soled shoesare indispensableon important ceremonialoccasions.

Finally，in terms ofaccessories， woodenandjade hairpinsare amustbecause theyarea signofadulthood.Thereare also headbandsand bracelets woven with flowers like orchids， chrysanthemums，magnolias， and lotuses，whichare popular everydayfashionitems.

The Buxom Lady，Tall and Fair， In BrocadeRobesVeiledwithPlain Attire

Today，advertisements promoting skinwhitening，extreme slimming，and cosmetic surgery areeverywhere，evenso-called \"inspirational\"sloganslike“A good womanweighs less than 50kg^′′ or “Thin or die\"In fact，throughout history，both in the East and in the West，there have beenmethods to beautify ourselves by harming bodies，suchas foot binding in ancient China and corsets in Victorian Europe.The“beauty\" of the past appears ridiculous today，andisthatnotthecase with what is going on today？This makes us wonder if people in early human society achieved beauty by harmingthemselves.If not，how Chinelte did it evolve into what it is today？

“Shuo Ren\"（Buxom Lady） isa wordusedtodescribebeautiful women inthe Book of Songs.For example，theopening lineof Shuo Renfrom TheOdesofWei is\"The BuxomLady，TallandFair，while WhiteFlowers in Minor Odesalso mentions，\"Singing sorrowfully，l yearn for that buxom lady.\"What does“Shuo Ren\"mean？

The Book of Songs contains over 100 poems related to women， and adefining characteristic of female physical beauty in the pre-Qin period wasembodied in the word“Shuo\"\"Shuo\"means robust and strong.Cheng Junying's Translation and Annotation of the Book of Songs （Shi Jing Yi Zhu） explains that“in ancient times， both men and women considered tall and slender figuresas beautiful\"and a key component of the character for“beauty\"（美） is “large\"（大）.The word“Shuo Ren” aloneappears nine times in the BookofSongs.Therefore，talland sturdy physiques were humanity's earliest standard of female beauty， asa healthy and powerful body wasessentialforwomentobear life，and population size directly correlated with a nation’s strength. Myths and legends about women， suchas Nuwa，Tushan-shi，Jiandi， and Jiang Yuan，are all closely tied to fertility.This shows that before the emergence of delicate，sickly beauty，a natural and healthy aestheticmust haveexisted.

Womencelebrated natural beauty during the pre-Qin period，and plaingarmentswere fashionable， similarto theessential monochromatic dressesin Xi Shi's Wardrobe. Here，it is necessary to distinguish between“plain\"and \"white，\"as both colors frequently appear in the Book of Songs.Among them，“plain\"referstothenatural， undyed color of textile materials likesilk，hemp，and ramie，which were commonly used in preQinclothing.Incontrast，\"white\" was achieved through dyeing or bleaching.Women in the pre-Qin period dressed primarily in hemp and ramie，and their appreciation for natural beauty meant that the rawhuesof these fabrics became fashionablecolors.“Brocade Robes Veiled with Plain Attire\"refersto wearingsheer hempattire over brocade robes to avoid displaying luxury.As Qian Zhongshu noted in his Limited Views： Essays on Ideasand Letters （Guanzibian）， \"The beauties in the odes of Wei， Yong，and Qi resemble ink-wash sketches，untouched by red or yellow pigments\"

One-Piece Garment，Unified Virtue： Women's Shenyi Noblewomenwere required to wearshenyi in everydayand formal settings during the preQin period.In fact，from monarchs to commoners，men and women during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period could wear shenyi. So why wasittheonlypermissible style forwomen？

Theanswer lies in men's formal dress.Men'sformaldressconsisted 家 歐 of a two-piece ensemble：an upper garment（yi） and a lowergarment （shang）.Ancient texts explain this distinction：“Men wear upper and lower garments，symbolizing adherence to the ancient ways ofkings;Womenwearconnected robes，signifyingthatvirtuevalues constancy.\"Thisrevealsthatas social hierarchiesemerged，so too did themoraldiscipline imposed on women，which isalso reflected in their clothing.

Thebasic feature ofshenyi isthat the upper and lower garments arecut separatelybut stitched togetherat the waist.Typically， it featuresa crossed collar with rightclosure （jiaolingyouren）， rectangular neckline，loose-fitting body，widesleeves，broad sash， plainbasecolor，and decorative colorful borders.Worn continuously from the pre-Qin period through the late Ming Dynasty，shenyi evolvedoverthreemillennia while maintainingitsfundamentalform.

secretwasdiscoveredthousands ofyearsago，showcasing the ingenuity ofancient civilizations. Furthermore，the earliest rouge was derived from a red pigment extracted from flowers，originally called“Yanzhi\"（燕脂）becauseit wasprimarily produced in the Yan state.Over time，the name evolved into“Yanzhi\" （胭脂），becoming the standard term for rouge.

Hairstyles

From the unearthed wooden figurines，silkpaintings，jade carvings and surviving artifacts， it can be seen that shenyi are divided into straight robes （zhiju） and curved robes （quju）.The key distinction lies in howthe lower hemlinesdrape：the zhiju's front panel hangsstraightdown in unbroken vertical lines，while the quju's rear panel extends into a triangular section that wraps diagonallyaround the torso from backtowaist.Abroadsashsecures the layered draping at the waist.

TrendyMakeupandHairstyles

TheBare-FacedAesthetic

Women in the pre-Qin period also soughtnatural beauty in their makeup.The hands，skin，forehead， brows，teeth，andotherfeatures ofthewomen described inthe Book of Songsare all likened to nature，withbare-faced radiance. Thisstood in stark contrast to the heavily powdered facesand ornate adornmentsof laterdynasties.

Though heavy makeup was not yet the norm during the pre-Qin period，noblewomen had already begun using face powder and rouge.Archaeological evidence confirmsthatcosmeticsfirst appearedasearlyas the Shang Dynasty.The Huainanzi compiled byLiu An，the King of Huainan，and his scholars during the Western Han Dynasty，records：\"Lacquer is nevertooblack;Powderisnever toowhite.Earlyfacepowderswere primarilymade from lead-based compounds or rice flour.Froma modernperspective，lead isatoxic substanceandisnowbanned in cosmetics.However，somebrands stilluse it.Themain reason isthat lead inhibits melanin production and brightens the skin.The beauty InancientChina，hairWasregarded asasacredgiftfromone'sparents， not to be cut or damaged lightly.In earlycivilizations，menandwomen woretheir hair looseand unbound， with no distinction in hairstyles. However，as civilization progressed， distincthairstylesappeared.The first isto usea“hairpin\"which servesasbothetiquetteand decoration.According to the Book ofRites，agirl'sfifteenthbirthday marked the beginning of heradult life.Ifshe Wasbetrothed，her'hair wouldbe inacoiledbunsecured withahairpin.Ifunmarried，she wouldstillundergothe\"hairpinning ceremony\"by the age of twenty.

The double-loop hanging chignon wasanotherpopular hairstyleat thattime.Women hada headband ontheirheads，resemblingan \"upside-downcup，adesignlater adopted by Taoist priestesses. Asmallamount ofblack hairis visible in front ofthe headband. Theback hair is tied in two loops at mid-length，with the remaining strandsbraided and draped behind.