Hi! I had a question regarding colors and prints on hanfu. In Western society, there’s an emphasis on making sure children’s clothing is gendered (i.e. the “pink aisle”). Was this a thing with traditional Chinese fashion as well?
Hi! Thanks for the question, and sorry for taking ages to reply! (boy's hanfu photo via 小名子曰):
Generally speaking, no -- gendering children's clothing by color was not a thing with traditional Chinese fashion.
Historically in China, color was associated with social class, not gender, as the use of color was influenced by social status and economic ability. Expensive dyes were mostly used by the nobility, while commoners wore colors made from natural dyes.
Common colors for children's clothing - both boys and girls - included red, blue, green, white, beige, and light gray. Red was one of the most popular colors in children's clothing, symbolizing good fortune, happiness, and warding off evil. Blue was commonly worn because its dyes were relatively easy to obtain. Green was often used in everyday clothing and represented youth and vitality. Neutral and light colors were often used for baby swaddling clothes, underwear, and summer clothing. Below - recreations of red, blue, and beige boys' hanfu from the Song (left) & Ming (right) dynasties:
You can see the use of these common colors - red, blue, green, white, beige - in the below paintings from the Song and Ming dynasties. Paintings 1-3 (Song & Ming) each depict an older sister with her younger brother (1/2/3); paintings 4-5 (Song) depict boys at play (1/2); and paintings 6-7 (Ming) depict girls at play (1/2):
Colors that are now considered "for girls" in the West were worn by children of both genders. For example, pink was often referred to as "light scarlet" and was considered a version of red. Red tones (including light scarlet) were often worn by the wealthy and powerful due to the preciousness of the dyes and the complexity of the processing. Therefore, boys of upper-class families would wear pink as a reflection of status. Below - first row: recreations of pink boys' hanfu from the Ming (left) & Song (right) dynasties; second row: paintings of pink girls' hanfu from the Tang dynasty (x):
Purple was also worn by boys of noble/royal families as a reflection of status and privilege, given the expensive cost of purple dye. Below - recreations of purple boys' clothing from the Song (left) & Qing (right) dynasties:
When it came to prints/patterns, boys' clothes were more likely to display dragons and tigers, while girls' clothes were more likely to display phoenixes and butterflies, but most patterns were gender-neutral. For example, the below recreations depict floral patterns on boys' hanfu from the Ming (left) & Song (right) dynasties:
The historical lack of gendered colors and prints allows people recreating children's hanfu to take inspiration from depictions of any gender, as seen below in this adorable recreation of a Tang dynasty boy's hanfu worn by a girl (x):
For more references, please see my childrens hanfu, colors, prints, patterns, motifs, and unisex tags.
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