Peek of History

I like Hanfu, I like Chinese history, I post about it 🐼 Currently I'm in China learning to make and play the Guqin. I also serve 4 cats who have appointed me their Imperial litter cleaner 🐈 ENG/CHN

[peekofhistory]

Hanfu ＆ Guqin Masterlist

(Updated January 8, 2026)

Hanfu Posts

-> Warring States/Qin/Han Dynasties (战国秦汉)

-> Weijin + North/South Dynasties (魏晋南北朝)

-> Sui/Tang/Five Dynasties (隋唐五代)

-> Song Dynasty (宋朝)

-> Yuan Dynasty (元朝)

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

-> Hanfu-related videos

-> Hanfu book recommendations

Guqin (古琴) Posts

Asks

Other

[peekofhistory]

Signed myself up for a Chinese calligraphy class in the city 😁💖 (Don't ask about the other online one I signed up for last year, I've never failed at something so badly 😭🤣)

I found a community centre here that has classes for all sorts of topics (art, writing, dance, instruments, photography, etc), 15 calligraphy classes only 200 yuan (~$40 cad). Last week was the first class, the teacher had us practice drawing lines to train the muscle and steady our hand, my lines were...uh...🤣🤣 Can you tell which line was drawn by the teacher among my mess? 😂

This week I went out and bought a little bag for my brush/paper/ink/etc. Decorated it with this jade accessory I made last year (the design is based off of an artefact) and some pins from Romance of the Three Kingdoms 💕❤️

The class only had 3 beginners (including myself), other students were continuing from previous classes, so the teacher taught us beginners first, then went around to the higher level students. If our hands got tired we could watch the other students write, the teacher said studying other's brush strokes is also important in learning. Some of them had been learning at the centre for years, and they're writing looked amazing 😍💕 I'm just hoping I can get my line straight in a few months 🤣

[peekofhistory]

Hi there!! I've recently started picking up the GuQin, and your videos and sheets online have been super helpful! ✨🥹

Just wanted to say thank you and i hope your own journey has been going fruitfully! 🌸

Thank you, and I’m glad the videos are helpful! 😁❤️ Please feel free to join my Guqin live stream if you're interested to chat or if you have any questions about the instrument 💕

(10am and 7pm Beijing time everyday over on tiktok, same username as tumblr 😀)

[peekofhistory]

I'll be hosting daily Guqin (古琴) live streams over on Tiktok, if you're interested please considering dropping in 😁❤️

Account: @PeekofHistory

[peekofhistory]

Guqin Mimi update, she has evolved into a spider monkey 🐒 🥴

[peekofhistory]

想把人拉入史同的深海，诶嘿

你对明朝君臣史同感兴趣吗（星星眼.jpg

哈哈哈，我对明朝不太了解，不过史同圈我已经磕玄亮（刘大宝备/诸葛丞相）好几年了🤣 这俩在成都昭烈庙/武侯祠房地产都合名了，简直不要太香🤤🤤❤️

[scarletlich]

玄亮也是史同圈接近美帝的存在了hh

[scarletlich]

想起来有人说其他史同cp基本就是玩玩儿，造个谣什么的，但是他俩绝对有染又是君臣合祀又是让儿子把诸葛亮当相父什么的

大部分阳间cp我也觉得历史上应该主要处于一种依赖的情感状态，真的有可能“成了”的也就老刘家那几个吧。这就是高祖遗风的含金量啊！

[peekofhistory]

斗子他爸不一定 care 你惹不惹那娃，不过妈可能把你当王朗骂 xDD

咱就说，这浓厚的(马上化身)寡妇带娃探望病重老公味儿，谁敢说这不是母仪天下的大汉皇后 (doge (为什么英文键盘没有狗头emoji...)

还有这，谁家公司开会老板和CEO说悄悄话？？？！离离原上谱 -__-

老刘还什么《如鱼得水》，什么《食则同桌、寝则同榻》，什么《君可自取》，亮子那边写什么《是以聘贤求士，犹嫁娶之道也》，闹了半天应聘贤臣跟 marriage 一样？？就连亮他哥都说 《弟亮以失身於人，委质定分，义无二心》，妥妥一个“我家翡翠白菜被猪拱了”。 （老刘：谁是猪？？）

老刘家玩儿的真嗨。。。

[peekofhistory]

想把人拉入史同的深海，诶嘿

你对明朝君臣史同感兴趣吗（星星眼.jpg

哈哈哈，我对明朝不太了解，不过史同圈我已经磕玄亮（刘大宝备/诸葛丞相）好几年了🤣 这俩在成都昭烈庙/武侯祠房地产都合名了，简直不要太香🤤🤤❤️

[peekofhistory]

Pssst do you have any other fun facts about Chinese opera for people who haven’t been exposed to much of it?

（Peking Opera performance at the 2014 Chinese New Year Gala)

Hellooooooo~

Oh, goodness, that's a deep well to dive into xD There's a lot to know about Chinese opera.

Chinese opera incorporates every kind of opera that exists in China, pretty much every local region has their own style of Opera, there's about 360 different ones. There's Peking Opera, Huangmei Opera, Yue Opera (Shanghai/Shaoxing), Yue Opera (Guangdong province), Yu Opera, Chuan Opera, Kunqu Opera, Ping Opera, the city I'm in (Yangzhou) has Yang Opera, etc.

Out of all of these, the most famous would be Peking Opera (京剧/Jingju), it's recognized nationally as 国粹/Guocui meaning it originated in China and has deep cultural roots, representing a cultural heritage of the people. It has also been recognized by UNESCO as an international Intangible Cultural Heritage.

I'll focus on Peking Opera (my favourites are Peking Opera, Yue Opera (Shanghai/Shaoxing), and Huangmei Opera).

Peking Opera was created in the Qing Dynasty (last imperial dynasty of China). Back then, people in the performing arts were viewed as the lowest tier of society, parents did everything they could to prevent their kids from entering into a profession performing. Only when households were incredibly poor, did kids get "sold" into opera troupes. Yes, sold, like property. These kids would learn various skills like singing, acting, martial arts skills that would be used on stage. It was very brutal, getting up at dawn to practice splits, flips, and teachers back then would hit if you didn't meet their standards. No such thing as child labour laws back then.

There's a saying in China, "台下十年功，台上十分钟", behind the scenes ten years work, on stage ten minutes. Meaning For ten minutes on stage, a performer needed to work and practice for ten years, and this absolutely applied for Opera performers. Even today in China, it's well known that opera performers need decades of work before being able to perform on stage (yes, most opera performers even today got into it as children, not sold into a troupe like in the past, but being signed up for classes when they're very young to practice all the skills needed, kind of like ballerinas, there are certain skills that you just need to practice from young to learn for this artform).

Currently there's several major schools of Peking Opera. This refers to their singing style for particular characters. For example, for characters in the "Dan" category (旦角/Danjue - referring to young woman of wealthier families, elegant and well-mannered) there are 4 major schools: - Mei School (梅派) - Cheng School (程派) - Xun School (荀派) - Shang School (尚派)

The names refer to the person who created each school:

Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳)

Cheng Yanqiu (程砚秋)

Xun Huisheng (荀慧生)

Shang Xiaoyun (尚小云)

You'll notice these are all men. Back then, women weren't permitted on stage with men, so men took on all roles, include female. This has changed today, so women are able to perform Peking Opera as well. (Shanghai/Shaoxing Yue Opera (越剧) is the opposite, all the actors are women. Even today, a distinct aspect of Yue Opera is almost all actors are still women, I think there's just 1 or 2 men in the entire country who perform Yue Opera today).

Here's my favourite Yue Opera actor, Wu Fenghua (吴凤花), she plays male roles. Not gonna lie, first time I saw her I thought, "Maybe I'm bi..." xD

Anyway! Back to Peking Opera.

Chinese Opera in general has a lot of rules. How each movement is made, how to walk, talk, sit, etc. There's a lot of mime acting without props. Once you get familiar with the movements, it gets easier to understand stories onstage, otherwise it can be a bit confusing.

The clothing and makeup also have a lot of rules. There are certain characters who always wear similar clothing regardless of which troupe is performing.

For Peking Opera, characters are also split into categories based on gender, age, societal rank, etc. For example:

Dan characters (旦角) are young women, married or unmarried. Dan characters facial make up are pale-faced, black brows, full black eyeliner around the eyes slanted upwards, red lips.

Within the Dan category there's a further breakdown:

Qingyi (青衣) or Zhengdan (正但) are young women coming from wealthy families, they hold themselves elegantly and are well-mannered.

This is Yang Yuhuan (杨玉环), a Qingyi/Zhengdan. She was a famous concubine of the Tang Dynasty. That large headpiece along with the elaborate robes depicts she's part of the royal family. The white sleeves are called "water sleeves" (水袖) and can be unfolded to emphasize movements, emotions, etc.

Wudan (武但) are young women who are skilled at fighting.

This is Mu Guiying (穆桂英), a famous female general of the Song Dynasty. Those two long feathers on her headpiece, the 4 flags on her back, the flag she's holding, all depict she's a general. As an audience, even if you don't know the character, this outfit would clue you in that she's high-ranked in the military.

Next we have a Huadan (花旦), young women who are lively, slightly younger than Qingyi/Zhengdan maybe, not quite as elegant. She's flamboyant, has her hair in an updo, lots of vibrant accessories, etc. This character is Hongniang (红娘), a maid who plays matchmaker for the family's young daughter. Because the daughter fell in love with a poor scholar, her mom refuses to let them meet, but Hongniang skillfully finds ways to get them together. She's outgoing, fun, lots of energy.

Here we have a Qingyi/Zhengdan character. She's wearing all black, minimal hair accessories, very simply clothing, this tells us she's a widow.

Next to her, is a Laosheng (老生), a man who's usually middle-aged (middle-aged in this case being like...~30 and up). Laosheng's makeup looks very similar to the Dan makeup, pale-faced, black brows, black full eyeliner slanted upwards, they have this pink area right in between the eyes going up the middle of their forehead, and always has a long beard.

(In this show, this dude is actually her husband. She thought he was ded, that's why she's wearing the widow outfit, he sneaks back home but she doesn't recognized him and he starts flirting with her to see if she's still faithful to him -__- Like dude, you're supposedly ded, leave her alone.)

Here we have another Laosheng, same make-up as the guy above, with the beard. That fan in his hand tells me this character is Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮), a famous Prime Minister during the Three Kingdoms period. His character always has that fan, and pretty much always wears this outfit.

Next we have a Xiaosheng (小生), these are young men, married or unmarried. Their makeup is similar to Laosheng except no beard.

Here we have a Wusheng (武生), a male character skilled at fighting. Again, you can see he's got the 4 flags on his back, he has a spear in one hand, and that thing in his other hand with all those tassles that symbolizes a horse whip. So he's riding a horse here.

The next category is Hualian (花脸), super recognizable xDD Their makeup is all colours of the rainbow, and it always covers the entire face. They also always have a long beard.

Hualian characters are usually quick-tempered, boisterous, not the scholarly type. The colours and patterns depict the personality of the characters.

Pic 1) Baogong (包公), a famous judge of the Song Dynasty, famed for being just and unbending to attempts at bribery or pressure from the rich and powerful. His face is mostly patterned with black. Black depicts fierce honesty, righteousness, incorruptable.

Pic 2) Guanyu (关羽), a famous general of the Three Kingdoms period (you might've seen statues of him in shops in Chinatown, he's always red-faced with a long beard). His face pattern is mostly red, red depicts loyalty, honesty, a fierce warrior.

Pic 3) Caocao (曹操), a famous...I don't know how to categorize him but he's from the Three Kingdoms period too. His facial pattern is mostly white, white depicts villainy, treachery, paranoia/suspiscious.

So through the colours and patterns of someone's Hualian we know what kind of character they are, even if you don't know the story.

These guys are Choujue (丑角), their makeup is always a patch of white in the centre of the face. These characters are usually for comedic effect.

There's other character categories too, but these are some of the main ones ^^;;

I love going to watch Opera in theatre, everytime it's super exciting. Around Chinese new year they tend to have a lot of performances, and I was in Beijing this past CNY, so I managed to catch 4 shows in the span of 3 weeks xD

I already have 2 more tickets for May, lollllllll. I've loved Chinese Opera since I was really young, like...elementary school I remember going to Chinatown to buy VHS tapes of Chinese Opera movies. Back then I didn't know much about them, just though the songs sounded nice and the clothing and set designs were pretty. I really got into it when I turned 13. An older Chinese friend of my mom's heard I liked watching Chinese Opera and lent me a VHS of the Chinese New Year Chinese Opera Gala. It's a gala they hold every year on CNY with just Chinese Opera performances of all different types. That was the first time I got exposed to the different styles (I still have that tape).

Unfortunately I never found any live performances outside of China, so this time when I came back I decided to get my fill xDD

Anyway, I hope that was helpful!! If you have any other questions, feel free to let me know :D

[peekofhistory]

@margaritadaemonelix

You should just watch the Chinese New Year Chinese Opera Gala (春节戏曲晚会), the little snippet they do during the main gala is mostly just to tick a box, the heavy hitters are all at the opera gala.

[peekofhistory]

Pssst do you have any other fun facts about Chinese opera for people who haven’t been exposed to much of it?

（Peking Opera performance at the 2014 Chinese New Year Gala)

Hellooooooo~

Oh, goodness, that's a deep well to dive into xD There's a lot to know about Chinese opera.

Chinese opera incorporates every kind of opera that exists in China, pretty much every local region has their own style of Opera, there's about 360 different ones. There's Peking Opera, Huangmei Opera, Yue Opera (Shanghai/Shaoxing), Yue Opera (Guangdong province), Yu Opera, Chuan Opera, Kunqu Opera, Ping Opera, the city I'm in (Yangzhou) has Yang Opera, etc.

Out of all of these, the most famous would be Peking Opera (京剧/Jingju), it's recognized nationally as 国粹/Guocui meaning it originated in China and has deep cultural roots, representing a cultural heritage of the people. It has also been recognized by UNESCO as an international Intangible Cultural Heritage.

I'll focus on Peking Opera (my favourites are Peking Opera, Yue Opera (Shanghai/Shaoxing), and Huangmei Opera).

Peking Opera was created in the Qing Dynasty (last imperial dynasty of China). Back then, people in the performing arts were viewed as the lowest tier of society, parents did everything they could to prevent their kids from entering into a profession performing. Only when households were incredibly poor, did kids get "sold" into opera troupes. Yes, sold, like property. These kids would learn various skills like singing, acting, martial arts skills that would be used on stage. It was very brutal, getting up at dawn to practice splits, flips, and teachers back then would hit if you didn't meet their standards. No such thing as child labour laws back then.

There's a saying in China, "台下十年功，台上十分钟", behind the scenes ten years work, on stage ten minutes. Meaning For ten minutes on stage, a performer needed to work and practice for ten years, and this absolutely applied for Opera performers. Even today in China, it's well known that opera performers need decades of work before being able to perform on stage (yes, most opera performers even today got into it as children, not sold into a troupe like in the past, but being signed up for classes when they're very young to practice all the skills needed, kind of like ballerinas, there are certain skills that you just need to practice from young to learn for this artform).

Currently there's several major schools of Peking Opera. This refers to their singing style for particular characters. For example, for characters in the "Dan" category (旦角/Danjue - referring to young woman of wealthier families, elegant and well-mannered) there are 4 major schools: - Mei School (梅派) - Cheng School (程派) - Xun School (荀派) - Shang School (尚派)

The names refer to the person who created each school:

Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳)

Cheng Yanqiu (程砚秋)

Xun Huisheng (荀慧生)

Shang Xiaoyun (尚小云)

You'll notice these are all men. Back then, women weren't permitted on stage with men, so men took on all roles, include female. This has changed today, so women are able to perform Peking Opera as well. (Shanghai/Shaoxing Yue Opera (越剧) is the opposite, all the actors are women. Even today, a distinct aspect of Yue Opera is almost all actors are still women, I think there's just 1 or 2 men in the entire country who perform Yue Opera today).

Here's my favourite Yue Opera actor, Wu Fenghua (吴凤花), she plays male roles. Not gonna lie, first time I saw her I thought, "Maybe I'm bi..." xD

Anyway! Back to Peking Opera.

Chinese Opera in general has a lot of rules. How each movement is made, how to walk, talk, sit, etc. There's a lot of mime acting without props. Once you get familiar with the movements, it gets easier to understand stories onstage, otherwise it can be a bit confusing.

The clothing and makeup also have a lot of rules. There are certain characters who always wear similar clothing regardless of which troupe is performing.

For Peking Opera, characters are also split into categories based on gender, age, societal rank, etc. For example:

Dan characters (旦角) are young women, married or unmarried. Dan characters facial make up are pale-faced, black brows, full black eyeliner around the eyes slanted upwards, red lips.

Within the Dan category there's a further breakdown:

Qingyi (青衣) or Zhengdan (正但) are young women coming from wealthy families, they hold themselves elegantly and are well-mannered.

This is Yang Yuhuan (杨玉环), a Qingyi/Zhengdan. She was a famous concubine of the Tang Dynasty. That large headpiece along with the elaborate robes depicts she's part of the royal family. The white sleeves are called "water sleeves" (水袖) and can be unfolded to emphasize movements, emotions, etc.

Wudan (武但) are young women who are skilled at fighting.

This is Mu Guiying (穆桂英), a famous female general of the Song Dynasty. Those two long feathers on her headpiece, the 4 flags on her back, the flag she's holding, all depict she's a general. As an audience, even if you don't know the character, this outfit would clue you in that she's high-ranked in the military.

Next we have a Huadan (花旦), young women who are lively, slightly younger than Qingyi/Zhengdan maybe, not quite as elegant. She's flamboyant, has her hair in an updo, lots of vibrant accessories, etc. This character is Hongniang (红娘), a maid who plays matchmaker for the family's young daughter. Because the daughter fell in love with a poor scholar, her mom refuses to let them meet, but Hongniang skillfully finds ways to get them together. She's outgoing, fun, lots of energy.

Here we have a Qingyi/Zhengdan character. She's wearing all black, minimal hair accessories, very simply clothing, this tells us she's a widow.

Next to her, is a Laosheng (老生), a man who's usually middle-aged (middle-aged in this case being like...~30 and up). Laosheng's makeup looks very similar to the Dan makeup, pale-faced, black brows, black full eyeliner slanted upwards, they have this pink area right in between the eyes going up the middle of their forehead, and always has a long beard.

(In this show, this dude is actually her husband. She thought he was ded, that's why she's wearing the widow outfit, he sneaks back home but she doesn't recognized him and he starts flirting with her to see if she's still faithful to him -__- Like dude, you're supposedly ded, leave her alone.)

Here we have another Laosheng, same make-up as the guy above, with the beard. That fan in his hand tells me this character is Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮), a famous Prime Minister during the Three Kingdoms period. His character always has that fan, and pretty much always wears this outfit.

Next we have a Xiaosheng (小生), these are young men, married or unmarried. Their makeup is similar to Laosheng except no beard.

Here we have a Wusheng (武生), a male character skilled at fighting. Again, you can see he's got the 4 flags on his back, he has a spear in one hand, and that thing in his other hand with all those tassles that symbolizes a horse whip. So he's riding a horse here.

The next category is Hualian (花脸), super recognizable xDD Their makeup is all colours of the rainbow, and it always covers the entire face. They also always have a long beard.

Hualian characters are usually quick-tempered, boisterous, not the scholarly type. The colours and patterns depict the personality of the characters.

Pic 1) Baogong (包公), a famous judge of the Song Dynasty, famed for being just and unbending to attempts at bribery or pressure from the rich and powerful. His face is mostly patterned with black. Black depicts fierce honesty, righteousness, incorruptable.

Pic 2) Guanyu (关羽), a famous general of the Three Kingdoms period (you might've seen statues of him in shops in Chinatown, he's always red-faced with a long beard). His face pattern is mostly red, red depicts loyalty, honesty, a fierce warrior.

Pic 3) Caocao (曹操), a famous...I don't know how to categorize him but he's from the Three Kingdoms period too. His facial pattern is mostly white, white depicts villainy, treachery, paranoia/suspiscious.

So through the colours and patterns of someone's Hualian we know what kind of character they are, even if you don't know the story.

These guys are Choujue (丑角), their makeup is always a patch of white in the centre of the face. These characters are usually for comedic effect.

There's other character categories too, but these are some of the main ones ^^;;

I love going to watch Opera in theatre, everytime it's super exciting. Around Chinese new year they tend to have a lot of performances, and I was in Beijing this past CNY, so I managed to catch 4 shows in the span of 3 weeks xD

I already have 2 more tickets for May, lollllllll. I've loved Chinese Opera since I was really young, like...elementary school I remember going to Chinatown to buy VHS tapes of Chinese Opera movies. Back then I didn't know much about them, just though the songs sounded nice and the clothing and set designs were pretty. I really got into it when I turned 13. An older Chinese friend of my mom's heard I liked watching Chinese Opera and lent me a VHS of the Chinese New Year Chinese Opera Gala. It's a gala they hold every year on CNY with just Chinese Opera performances of all different types. That was the first time I got exposed to the different styles (I still have that tape).

Unfortunately I never found any live performances outside of China, so this time when I came back I decided to get my fill xDD

Anyway, I hope that was helpful!! If you have any other questions, feel free to let me know :D

[peekofhistory]

we the people demand a workshop kitten update!

Kitten update!!!!!!!!

I now actually have 2 kitties xD They keep growing...I swear I'm not looking for them on purpose.

Mimi (the white and orange one I picked up on the side of the road last May) is quite the princess. At the workshop she runs around like a wild-child. She follows me around and likes to be nearby, but dislikes being pet/cuddled. You'd think I'm trying to torture her just holding her for a minute or two xD But I know some cats just don't like being touched, so whatever, I let her do her thing. If she wants pets she comes over for a few chin rubs, then wanders off.

There's been this large flowery patterned kitty who's been coming for a few months to the workshop. Because we always have bowls of cat and dog food and fresh water around the workshop there's a few neighborhood cats who comes over (everyone raises their pets outside in the rural countryside here, dogs and cats just run around wherever, sometimes you even see some chickens or a geese or two, one time I saw two cows just...wandering O.O).

This particular cat was super interested in Mimi, would chase her around (she did NOT like there, lol). I was terrified he'd catch her in heat before I got her spayed and I'd end up being a grandma. Luckily that didn't happen (and Mimi's now spayed).

Then one day, I had my bedroom door open and this kitty just wandered in. He hopped up on my bed where I was laying around, and started just being super cuddled and friendly. He ended up coming every night to sleep in my bedroom, and he'd cuddle up next to me, or would literally sit on my chest.

Right before I left the workshop for Chinese new year (everyone goes back home for CNY) I took him for his first vaccine shot, and then I took him and Mimi to a foster to look after while I was gone (the trains in China don't permit animals, so I couldn't take them with me). I named him Dahua (Big Flower because his coat is so flowery xDD).

When I came back to Yangzhou after CNY (last week) I moved. I've decided this year I'm going to rent an apartment inside Yangzhou city, and go to the workshop weekly for lessons instead of living there. So right now they're both at the foster while I moved my stuff over, I'm actually planning to go tomorrow to pick them up, just in time for the Dahua's second vaccine shot.

Mimi kind of just ignores him. She won't cuddle or play with him, and if he gets close she'll give him a soft swat with her paw, but she doesn't hiss or growl at him. So at least they can be civil together xD

I honestly feel a bit bad because tbh the rural countryside is a much, much better environment for them. They get to wander around outside, there's plenty of enrichment, they climb trees, walls, balconies, they chase whatever's out in the fields (I know some people don't like that as it can damage native wildlife population, but for the cats themselves that IS their instinct), they get plenty of physical exercise everyday. I honestly think it's the ideal place for them compared to an apartment inside the city. Even if I take them out on daily walks they're on a leash, they can't run wherever because with more cars and people it's absolutely not safe. Plus city landscapes are much more...manufactured. Trees are trimmed a certain way, grasses are cut to certain lengths, it's just not as natural as the countryside.

I'm thinking every week when I go back to the workshop for lessons I'll take them with me and let them run around for a few hours, that way they're not cooped up all the time.

But anyway! That's they're update :D

[peekofhistory]

Do you have any information about Chinese taxes and finance in general? I'm also interested in the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties.

I barely understand my Canadian taxes 🤣🤣 I just give them the numbers they want and hope I don't have to pay anything 😂

Unfortunately anything finance related makes my head spin 😩 I do know they have historical records about taxation systems throughout the dynasties, but it's not something I've ever looked into 😅

[peekofhistory]

Do you have any information about the fabrics that used to be used to make hanfu? And information about the making of women's clothing during the Tang Dynasty?

Historical Hanfu would've been made using natural fabrics, cotton, silks, brocade, hemp, satin, gauze, etc. (no polyester back then 😅).

Regardless of Dynasty, the wealthy class would've used more delicate and elaborate fabrics compared to the lower economic classes. During the Tang Dynasty silk production reached a peak and that was the main fabric used for the wealthy classes.

[peekofhistory]

Some Guqin videos I've uploaded to my Youtube but didn't post here.

If you're interested in Guqin, please consider subscribing to my Youtube or Tiktok (@/peekofhistory for both) as I tend to upload faster over there.

Buying your first Guqin:

How to tune Guqin:

Guqin left hand:

How to count beats:

Guqin lengths, styles, and tables:

Recording Guqin with mic vs no mic comparison:

[peekofhistory]

Guqin "Autumn Wind" Tutorials

(古琴秋风词教程)

Autumn Wind is a short and fun introductory piece to help beginners familiarize basic Guqin finger structures. In this tutorial I go note-by-note to teach how to play this piece.

(DISCLAIMER: I am still a student myself, to fully learn Guqin I recommend finding an in-person teacher but I realize this is difficult if you're outside of China. I hope this video can help give some basic understanding of how to play this instrument.)

Youtube channel @/peekofhistory for all videos.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Stay tuned for more the rest of the tutorials...

[peekofhistory]

Guqin "Song of the Taoist Immortal" tutorials

(古琴仙翁操教程)

Song of the Taoist Immortal is a simple introductory piece to help you familiarize with some basic Guqin finger structures. In this tutorial I go note-by-note to teach how to play this piece.

(DISCLAIMER: I am still a student myself, to fully learn Guqin I recommend finding an in-person teacher but I realize this is difficult if you're outside of China. I hope these videos can help give some basic understanding of how to play this instrument.)

Youtube channel @/peekofhistory for all videos.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6:

Follow-up:

[peekofhistory]

Hello, I'm a Brazilian girl who is currently passionate about Chinese culture, but I'm having trouble finding historical male anfu figures (I've only found some from the Ming Dynasty; I'd like to explore others), especially from the Tang, Song, Han, Southern and Northern Dynasties, if possible. Do you have any links or images?

Hi!! :D

No worries about the translators ^^;;

I've posted some men's Hanfu throughout the dynasties (if you go through my Masterlist all the men's hanfu posts are marked, but I'll link them here for easier access): Qin/Han (秦汉) Dynasties Straight-edged (直裾) Wrap-around (曲裾) Others (The straight-edged and wrap-around robes were worn by both men and women) Weijin/North-South Dynasties (魏晋南北朝) Liangdang (裲裆)

Sui/Tang (隋唐) Dynasties Round-collared robes Half-sleeve

Song Dynasty Criss-cross collared shan/ao Round-collared robes Outer robe (beizi) Zhuzi Shenyi robe

There's also this video of men's Hanfu throughout the dynasties.

Here's another men's Hanfu video on Bilibili: 中国汉服的千年传承 This video displays some workers' Hanfu, they didn't specify the time period but going by the clothes I'd put it around the Song Dynasty: 2025广州汉服节，烟火人间劳动平民方阵来啦！ As for Wuxia/Xianxia shows and their costumes, I posted about it here, it's a very common question I think a lot of people have (especially if they're unfamiliar with historical Hanfu :D).

I hope that's helpful! (And I hope the translations work ok...)

[peekofhistory]

When reality bursts your beautiful bubble 🤣