Tang Dynasty Clothing

Overview

Tang Dynasty clothing (唐装, Tangzhuang) refers to the traditional garments worn during China's Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE), a period of significant cultural, economic, and artistic development. The clothing of this era represents one of the most distinctive and influential forms of traditional Chinese attire, characterized by its diverse styles, elaborate designs, and cultural significance. Tang Dynasty clothing not only reflected the social hierarchy and aesthetic preferences of the time but also demonstrated the dynasty's openness to foreign influences through trade and cultural exchange along the Silk Road. The garments served as important indicators of social status, profession, and cultural identity, with distinct styles for men, women, officials, military personnel, and members of various religious groups.

History

Early Tang Period (618-649)

During the early Tang period, common people's clothing largely continued the styles of the preceding Sui Dynasty, featuring relatively simple and understated designs. Women typically wore long skirts paired with short jackets (襦), reflecting conservative fashion norms. Four years after establishing the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu of Tang (Li Yuan) revised the clothing regulations in 621 CE, promulgating the "Clothing Order" (《衣服令》) which established standardized attire for civil and military officials. Although there were subsequent modifications, the basic framework established during this period remained largely unchanged. The transition from Emperor Gaozu to Emperor Gaozu represented a period of clothing evolution and integration, with influences from Hu clothing (胡服, referring to attire from northern nomadic tribes) gradually affecting Central Plains fashion.

High Tang Period (650-765)

The High Tang period marked a zenith of Tang power and prosperity, with stable central authority, peaceful borders, and flourishing economy. Frequent commercial activities and trade along the Silk Road facilitated economic and cultural exchange both domestically and internationally. As a reflection of this prosperity and openness, aristocratic and wealthy classes adopted increasingly luxurious clothing, extensively using gold, silver, silk, and precious decorative items such as jewels and metallic threads. Both men and women wore high-quality fabrics like brocade and silk embroidery, with garments featuring complex designs including long robes, wide sleeves, and intricate pleats. The flourishing of arts and literature drove a pursuit of aesthetic detail in clothing design. Patterns often drew inspiration from popular poetry and literary works, featuring traditional auspicious motifs such as flowers, birds, clouds, dragons, and phoenixes. Embroidery and brocade weaving techniques reached advanced technical levels during this period, with artisans using multicolored silk threads to create vivid patterns on silk fabrics. Clothing thus served not only practical purposes but also as important means of displaying social status and aesthetic taste.

Mid-Tang Period (766-820)

During the mid-Tang period, clothing choices shifted toward greater practicality and functionality. Materials transitioned from luxurious silk to more practical cotton and linen fabrics. Designs tended toward simplification with reduced decorative elements. Pattern designs moved from complex to simpler forms, and color usage became more subdued, featuring natural tones such as light yellow and gray. Women's clothing became more form-fitting to better suit daily life, with simplified skirt styles and more tailored upper garments. For men, the wide-sleeved long robe style became more restrained, with narrower sleeves and hemlines to adapt to a more practical social environment.

Late Tang Period (821-907)

The Late Tang period reflected social instability and conservative trends in clothing design and decoration. Both men's and women's clothing showed a return to traditional cultural values, emphasizing the expression of social status and identity. Women's clothing featured reduced excessive ornamentation, primarily consisting of simple jackets and skirts (衫裙) with more subdued colors and patterns, favoring natural and elegant tones. Men's clothing similarly emphasized practicality, with wide robes gradually replaced by more tailored garments featuring reduced decoration and increased functionality.

Key Information

Tang Dynasty Clothing Classification

Cultural Significance

Openness and Diversity

Tang Dynasty clothing demonstrated remarkable openness and diversity, reflecting the cosmopolitan nature of Tang society. The garments exhibited an outward-oriented tension rather than inward introspection, expressed through their external forms—patterns, decorations, colors, and silhouettes. This openness manifested in several ways:

• Generous Silhouettes and Exposed Elements: Tang garments, particularly for women, often featured loose, flowing designs. High-positioned belts emphasized slender figures, while lightweight fabrics created an ethereal effect. Especially in mid-to-late Tang, clothing became even more voluminous, requiring six panels of fabric for a single garment. This generous style not only reflected Tang prosperity but also enhanced comfort, symbolizing a liberation of the human form from constraints. While only certain high-status individuals like Princess Taiping and court entertainers could expose their upper bodies, this practice nonetheless reflected the relatively liberal social attitudes of the period.

• Rich Color Symbolism: Tang clothing colors served multiple functions, indicating social hierarchy, reflecting aesthetic preferences, and embodying cultural beliefs. The Tang Dynasty developed a more systematic color code for official attire: "Officials of third rank and above wore purple, fourth and fifth rank wore crimson, sixth and seventh wore green, eighth and ninth wore blue. Women followed their husbands' ranks." After the An Lushan Rebellion, these color distinctions were refined with deeper and lighter shades to further differentiate status.

• Imperial Yellow: The emperor exclusively wore yellow (赭黄), considered the color of the sun and thus reserved for the "Son of Heaven". This prohibition began with Emperor Gaozu, who established yellow as the exclusive imperial color. Yellow's significance was reinforced by Buddhist influences, where it represented purity and life, and by political philosophy aligning with the Five Elements theory, where the Tang dynasty, succeeding the fire-associated Sui, represented the element earth (yellow).

• Common White: Despite traditional associations with mourning, white became popular among commoners and scholars, often used as base fabric for colorful embroidery or as accent details—a bold innovation in traditional Chinese color usage.

Cultural Exchange and Integration

The Tang Dynasty's extensive political and economic exchanges with neighboring ethnic groups created favorable conditions for foreign cultural influences to enter the Central Plains. With a strong economic foundation, Tang society demonstrated remarkable openness to and acceptance of diverse cultures. This environment led to the integration of foreign elements into traditional Chinese clothing, most notably the prevalence of Hu-style garments (胡服) from northern nomadic tribes. These influences included:

• Men's Fashion: Round-collared robes that incorporated elements from Central Asian and nomadic styles, combined with traditional Chinese elements to create distinctive Tang forms.
• Women's Fashion: The adoption of "women wearing men's clothing" (女着男装), which was relatively rare in Chinese feudal society but became fashionable among Tang women, reflecting more progressive attitudes toward gender expression.
• Hu-style Women's Clothing: Women's adoption of foreign garments characterized by turned collars, narrow sleeves, and front closures, often decorated with wide brocade borders—a trend influenced by the popularity of Hu music, dance, and performances.

Modern Status

Cultural Heritage and Revival

Tang Dynasty clothing continues to hold significant cultural importance in contemporary China and East Asia. It serves as a source of inspiration for modern fashion designers, particularly for traditional Chinese wedding attire, stage costumes, and cultural performances. The distinctive elements of Tang fashion—such as wide sleeves, flowing robes, and elaborate embroidery—have been adapted into modern designs that blend traditional aesthetics with contemporary sensibilities.

In recent decades, there has been a growing movement to revive and preserve traditional Chinese clothing forms, including Tang Dynasty styles. Cultural institutions and fashion schools have organized exhibitions and research projects documenting Tang Dynasty clothing techniques and designs. The Chinese government has also supported initiatives to promote traditional clothing as part of broader efforts to preserve intangible cultural heritage.

Global Influence

Tang Dynasty clothing has influenced fashion beyond China's borders, particularly in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, where traditional garments still bear Tang influences. Internationally, elements of Tang fashion have appeared in haute couture and mainstream fashion, with designers incorporating features like wide sleeves, flowing silhouettes, and traditional patterns into contemporary collections.

Museums around the world feature Tang Dynasty clothing artifacts, providing global audiences with opportunities to appreciate this important aspect of Chinese cultural heritage. Digital reconstructions and virtual exhibitions have further expanded access to Tang Dynasty clothing studies, allowing researchers and enthusiasts to explore these historical garments in new ways.

References

1. Yang, X. The History of Chinese Clothing: From Ancient Times to the Tang Dynasty. Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2015.

2. Gao, H., & Liu, W. "Tang Dynasty Attire: A Study of Social Status and Cultural Identity." Journal of East Asian Archaeology, vol. 12, no. 3, 2018, pp. 45-67.

3. Shih, C. Silk, Satin, and Status: Costume in Tang Dynasty China. Princeton University Press, 2020.

4. Feng, J. "The Evolution of Tang Dynasty Women's Fashion: Social and Cultural Perspectives." Asian Studies Review, vol. 45, no. 2, 2021, pp. 189-205.

5. Li, Y. "Foreign Influences in Tang Dynasty Clothing: The Integration of Hu and Han Styles." Journal of Material Culture, vol. 28, no. 1, 2023, pp. 3-21.