As a traditional costume of the Chinese nation, cheongsam is often used as a dress and is used in many important celebration occasions. As a kind of clothing, its history can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and developed to the middle of the Ming Dynasty. It first appeared in the mid-Ming Dynasty and was widely popular in the Central Plains and Jiangnan in the late Ming Dynasty. At that time, the Ming dynasty was experiencing a rare little ice age, and the climate was extremely cold, so the collar came into being. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the style of high collar button had basically formed the embryonic form of cheongsam. After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, under the rule of "men obey women", Han women were able to follow the so-called "Hanfu" such as Ming-style stand-up shirts and lapels. This problem can be proved by the palace portraits handed down from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Empresses in the Ming Dynasty had already worn high-necked Hanfu, and queens in the Qing Dynasty also wore "factory-collared" round-neck dresses. ), in the mid-Qing Dynasty, the Ming-style vertical collar (square collar and two metal buckles) further evolved, and the square collar became an arc collar, and at the same time, many clothing elements (wide piping and centipede board) were incorporated. Since then, the Ming-style stand-up collar has become more and more popular. In the Republic of China, the Chinese stand-up collar, which inherited the Ming-style stand-up, has become an element of Chinese tunic suit and cheongsam.
Many historical truths about the origin of cheongsam have been forgotten. Modern people who don't know the truth expect the meaning of this word, thinking that the traditional costumes of the Qing Dynasty were brought into the Central Plains by Manchu people when they entered the customs. Actually this is a misunderstanding.
First, about the collar: In the early Qing Dynasty, the men's and women's clothing of standard-bearers had no collar, which was similar to modern T-shirts. Small stand-up collars have been widely popular in the Central Plains and Jiangnan in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, which is the embodiment that Zhu Cheng Neo-Confucianism is limited to women's clothing (women should wear stand-up collars around their necks). The style of high collar buckle in the late Ming Dynasty is similar to that in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. In the Qing Dynasty, under the rule of "men are superior to women", Han women were able to continue to use so-called "Hanfu" such as Ming-style collar coats and Xunzi. This problem can be proved by the palace portraits handed down from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Empresses in the Ming Dynasty have been wearing Hanfu with high collars and buttons, while emperors and empresses in the Qing Dynasty still wear collarless round-neck clothes similar to men's wear in the Tang Dynasty. ), by the middle of the Qing Dynasty, many full-style factors (wide piping and centipede buckle) were added to the Ming-style vertical collar (square collar and two metal buckles), which became the predecessor of modern cheongsam. In other words, influenced by Hanfu in the Central Plains, the standard-bearer added a collar to the collarless round mouth.
Secondly, the hem of women's robes in the Qing dynasty could not be opened to the crotch, which was influenced by western culture in Shanghai's upper class in the 1920s.
Third, now Manchu people don't wear so-called cheongsam, because that's not their costume, they still wear robes with big piping.
4. Before entering the customs, Manchu people always belonged to Zhou Wei, the building of the Ming Dynasty, and wore military uniforms of the Ming Dynasty as their daily clothes. From this point of view, Manchu obedience was influenced by Ming dynasty costumes from the beginning.
Cheongsam really developed in the Ming Dynasty.