hey! I've heard some ppl talking (complaining) about how, in the upcoming Mulan movie, there seems to be historical inaccuracy w the clothing?? Personally, I thouht there was; it looks like tang then switches to song for her like,,,big Matchmaker outfit?? I'm not really sure T.T What's your opinion??
Hi, thanks for the question!
Yep, youβre right - the costumes in Disneyβs live-action Mulan film seem to be mostly based on the Tang dynasty, but Mulanβs matchmaker outfit is quite different. Letβs take a look at it (excuse the low quality screenshots):
We see that sheβs wearing a (rather cheap-looking) one-piece, long-sleeved purple robe with spiraling hems, that resembles the type of hanfu calledΒ quju. Quju was popular during the Han dynasty, and wasnβt worn during the Tang dynasty. Below is an image of Mulanβs outfit (left) and a modern quju (right). Aside from Mulanβs strange βsashβ, the outfits look quite similar from the waist down:
Once we look more closely at the top half of her outfit, things get weird(er):
First of all, the collars are very loose and open, which would never be the case on an actual quju. Second, she appears to be wearing underneath her purple robe an embroidered Tang dynasty-styleΒ hezi (chest cover), which is never worn with quju. It makes her look like sheβs wearing a heziqun (hezi dress) under herΒ βqujuβ - essentially, two styles from two different time periods worn on top of each other. It is, quite frankly, a bizarre look. Below for comparison - quju (left) & heziqun (right):
If you want to see what Mulan actually wouldβve worn during the Northern Wei dynasty (the setting of the original Ballad of Mulan), I have posts on that here and here. Popular hanfu brandΒ Qianshan Yuandai also came out with a design that combines Northern Wei style with the color scheme of the original matchmaker outfit:
Another historical inaccuracy is that most of the women in the film wear earrings, which would not have been the case during the Tang, Han,Β orΒ Northern Wei, as ordinary women only started wearing earrings during the Song dynasty (which I wrote about here):Β
Still, Iβll give credit where creditβs due - the makeup does portray some actual historical Chinese trends (even though itβs applied badly). For example, Mulan has a red huadian (forehead decoration) and e huangΒ (yellow forehead) makeup, in which the forehead was painted yellow as an early form of contouring:
The matchmaker has two black mianye (dimple-like cheek decorations) as well as two blueΒ xiehong, which are crescents painted besides the temples:
Thereβs a lot more I could say on the historical accuracy & aesthetics of the filmβs costumes, but Iβll just cover the matchmaking scene here. Hope this helps!
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