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服装英语论文
文章一
Change Of
Chinese Clothing
Tradition
An
outstanding
characteristic
of
traditional
Chinese
clothing
is
not
only
an
external
expression
of
elegance,
but
also
an
internal
symbolism.
Each
and
every
piece
oftraditionalclothing communicates a
vitality of its own. This combination of external
form with
internal symbolism is clearly
exemplified in the pair of fighting pheasant
feathers used in head
wear originating
in the battle wear of the Warring States period
(475-221 B.C.). Two feathers
of a ho
bird (a type pheasant good at fighting) were
inserted into the head wear of warriors of
this period to symbolize a bold and
warlike spirit.
Archaeological
findings
of
18,000
year-old
artifacts
such
as
bone
sewing
needles
and
stone
beads and shells with holes bored in them attest
to the existence of ornamentation and
of
sewing
extremely
early
in
Chinese
civilization.
Variety
and
consistency
in
clothing
were
roughly established by the era of the
Yellow Emperor and the Emperors Yao and Shun
(about
4,500 years ago). Remains of
woven silk and hemp articles and ancient ceramic
figures further
demonstrate the
sophistication and refinement of clothing in the
Shang Dynasty (16th to 11th
century
B.C.).
The
three main types of traditional Chinese clothing
are the pien-fu, the ch'ang-p'ao, and
the shen-i. The pien-fu is an ancient
two-piece ceremonial costume of a tunic-like top
extending to the knees and a skirt or
trousers extending to the ankles. The ch'ang-p'ao
is a
one-piece garment extending from
the shoulders all the way to the heels. The shen-i
is a cross
between the pien-fu and the
ch'ang-p'ao; it consists of a tunic and a skirt or
trousers like the
pien-fu, but the
tunic and the skirt are sewed together and
essentially one piece like the
chang-
pao. Consequently, the shen-i was the most widely
worn of the three types. Typical of
these three types of clothing were wide
and voluminous sleeves and a very loose fit. Tunic
and
trousers or tunic and skirt,
utilized a very minimum number of stitches for the
amount of cloth
used. So because of
their relatively plain design and structure,
embroidered edgings,
decorated bands,
draped cloth or silks, patterns on the shoulders,
and sashes were often
added as
ornamentation. These varied designs came to be one
of the unique features of
traditional
Chinese dress.
Darker
colors were favored over lighter ones in
traditional Chinese clothing, so the main
color of ceremonial clothing tended to
be dark while bright, elaborate tapestry designs
accented. Lighter colored clothing was
worn more frequently by the common people for
everyday and around the house use. The
Chinese associate certain colors with specific
seasons: green represents spring, red
symbolizes summer, white represents autumn, and
black symbolizes winter. The Chinese
are said to have a fully developed system of
matching,
coordinating, and contrasting
colors and shades of light and dark in apparel.
Today
Today, Fashion designers use a mixture
of traditional and modern ideas to create
new
fashions.
These
new
fashions
also
incorporate
age-old
motifs
such
as
guardian
deities,
lions,
and
masks
of
Chinese
opera
characters.
Chinese
bronze
is
another source of printed, woven,
embroidered, and applied design for clothes. Some
of
the
distinctive
designs
include
dragons,
phoenixes,
clouds,
and
lightning.
Motifs
from
traditional Chinese
painting also end up in woven or printed fashion
designs.
In modern society,
men are seen at social occasions wearing the
dignified and
refined traditional
Chinese long gown, and women often wear the
ch'i-p'ao, a modified form of
a
traditional Ching Dynasty fashion, on formal
occasions. The variations of height, length,
width, and ornamentation of the collar,
sleeves, skirt, and basic cut of this Oriental
fashion are
limitless.
Many accessories such as macram?are
used to decorate shoulders, bodices, pockets,
seams,
and openings of clothing, as
well as belts, hair ornaments, and necklaces. Some
successful
examples of combinations of
modern and traditional fashion elements are the
modern bridal
tiara, based on a Sung
Dynasty design and the Hunan Province style of
embroidered sash
made in the
traditional colors of pure red, blue, and green.
From these examples, it can be
seen how
traditional Chinese dress is the foundation of
modern fashion. However, the Chinese
have also adopted many Western styles
of clothing such as business suits and jeans.