#mao era

[stone-cold-groove]

Chinese meningitis/meningococcal disease prevention, control and notification poster - 1952.

[audreydoeskaren]

I was reading some articles about the relatively recent creation of heritage listing for 20th century Chinese architecture, written by Chinese and white authors, and they just read as so colonial and cringe I actually wanted to cry. To prevent me from bursting into tears I produced a small rant.

One of the articles argued that architecture of the early PRC was inherently political because of the communist regime, but I immediately sensed something was off as the author did not pass a single comment about how most if not all architectural discourse and design during the Republican era was informed by Western colonialism, from the adoption of Western historicism and classicism, later a general desire to appear modern (whatever “modern” meant) to physical buildings being built by white architects or commissioned by white patrons for colonial purposes (e.g. missionary work). The authors acknowledged that those styles were “Western” and “foreign”, but no mention of the colonial is made. It’s like the authors recognized that something not indigenous to China was taking place, but failed to reflect on where that came from or the power dynamics it contained. I find it strange that they consider Chinese communism unnatural and something to be marked and taken note of, but Western colonialism is just a part of natural human order, and Western architecture built on Chinese soil is somehow inherently justified and apolitical.

Obviously I am not arguing that no foreign architecture could ever be erected on Chinese soil, quite the contrary, I would like to see more discourse that doesn’t falsely equate “foreign” with “Western”, and doesn’t shy away from identifying colonialism. I would love to read about contributions to Chinese architectural heritage made by non white and non Western architects, where and if they existed.

I am aware that structural racism in architectural theory is not a problem unique to Chinese academia, it is a core problem in Western architectural history itself. Many architectural historians take the term “modern” to mean “good” and “progressive” for granted, casting aside the mountain of evidence that shows early modernist theorists to be firm believers in racial science and racial hierarchies. (Viollet le Duc was close to Gobineau, a founding figure of scientific racism, and Adolf Loos famously argued that ornament was unacceptable for Western architecture because it belonged to peoples from a more “primitive” stage of evolution, like Papuans who tattooed their bodies) It would be an interesting discussion to have to see how this Eurocentric, white supremacist theoretical framework was transposed onto Chinese architects, how they negotiated their status as simultaneously colonized subjects and frequent participators in white supremacy themselves. Well, I guess that’s too much to expect from these particular authors.

One of the authors (not Chinese, for reference) claimed that the creation of this listing was of particular importance to China because we are a country that always wants to rewrite our own history. Aside from the implication that Western countries somehow do not manipulate their architectural histories to suit various purposes being honestly insulting to historians who analyze Western architectural history critically to expose structures of power, it is obvious to me that this comes from a tradition of anti-CCP discourse that reads like NPC dialogues, about an Orwellian society that manipulates its history blabla. History always bears the mark of whoever wrote it, you’re free to argue with their intentions but to pretend like only Chinese historians are politically charged sounds dubious and racist. My problem is not whether this is “true” or not, but rather how the author (and most other people when thinking of China) immediately starts to use this language like a knee jerk reaction. There are certain concepts about China that are intelligible in mainstream Western media and some that are not, and censorship and historical revisionism are two very intelligible ones, so no wonder the author automatically resorted to mentioning them. Their reactions says more about their preordained ideas about China than about China itself. Even though the author phrased it in a way that sounded like encouraging Chinese people to come to terms with history, their article was obviously not intended for a Chinese audience, so it had more power in conditioning English speaking Western readers on how to think about China.

The same author also used the term “cultural treasures” to describe Chinese architectural heritage, which sounded extremely patronizing as “treasure” implies something to be taken, waiting to be pillaged, something that exists outside of history. They could have just said architectural heritage, but that would make Chinese people sound too professional wouldn’t it?

All of the articles abuse the terms “traditional” and “ancient” in describing forms and aesthetics considered Chinese at the time, in contrast to Western classical or modernist features. I find the unironic employment of these terms extremely problematic, as the history and reality of Chinese architecture is simply too vast and complex to be reduced to a unifying style——similar to fashion history. Not to mention what they described as “traditional” or “ancient” would be more appropriately termed “historical”, “historicist” or “classical”. With that said, these terms do have some use as that was genuinely how many Chinese architects of the 20th century saw historical Chinese architecture, as an eternal, never changing mode containing some sort of national essence (which was a concept popularized by 19th century Western theorists mind you). I fully support the use of “traditional” and “ancient” with quotation marks, as it acknowledges that these terms were used by people who believed they had validity and acted in certain ways because of it, but also acknowledges that they are, in hindsight, not actually meaningful terms. The fact that the authors of the articles I read did not put them in quotation marks means they reiterated them rather than engaged with them critically.

Yeah no my vacation forays into architectural history are going well😅

[sleepydrummer]

In our chaotic world full of disasters, hate and suffering, it helps me to believe that cultural exchange is good for everyone. Art is a wind we need to feel blow.

Agnés Varda, On her photos of 1957 China, not yet recognized by the UN.

[stone-cold-groove]

1950s era Chinese anti-malaria/mosquito control poster.

[audreydoeskaren]

Is the early 20th century aoqun's skirt a mamianqun?

It was until the 1920s, when skirts of other construction became more popular. You can check out my series on early 20th century womenswear for the exact changes in skirt style through the decades. Skirts in formal ensembles like wedding qungua were still commonly made in the mamian style though, and some could be seen even today. Aoqun skirts faded into obscurity due to cheongsam replacing aoqun as standard womenswear since the 1930s, but they briefly resurfaced in the 1950s and that was the last we hear of them. It should be noted that early 20th century mamian skirts may not be consider genuine mamianqun, as they were often just pleated in a mamian style but didn't have two separate pieces of fabric i.e. the seams were sewn shut, and weren't actually wrap skirts as they could also be closed with buttons or hooks and eyes etc.

1910s cover of literary magazine 中华小说界, showing a mamian skirt.

Photograph of the Song sisters, showing 1920s skirt styles.

Infrographic about qungua from fashion historian 撷芳主人.

1950s aoqun from the 1958 issue of fashion magazine 服庄, the rightmost design has a mamian skirt. These designs were considered quite unique and not that common in the 50s though, cheongsam and Western clothes were much more popular.

[audreydoeskaren]

have you seen this video @fuckyeahchinesefashion posted? /post/663223541535211520/history-of-chinese-school-uniform-by-朵朵花林 i love how all the uniforms look and the changes are so fascinating! i thought you would be especially interested in the early 20th century ones :)

Link to the video

I love the concept of an “evolution of school uniforms” video but unfortunately the uniforms presented are quite stereotypical and incorrect when it comes to construction. I guess this is sort of inevitable with these “one hundred years of” videos :/  I’ll break down each of these looks in some detail. 

1910s

This one is taken from a famous photograph of Lin Huiyin and her cousins from 1916 so theoretically not much could go wrong, yet they somehow managed to misunderstand the proportions. The robe/shirt in the photograph is longer than that in the video, and the cut is looser and not as tight. I can’t see it clearly in the video but I think their shirt was taken in at the waist with darts, which was not a thing that happened in the 1910s. In the 1910s, flat chest was still the beauty ideal, so busty women would wear breast binders to flatten their chest. This wasn’t even necessary for schoolgirls who haven’t hit puberty yet, so it would be even more sensible to give them flat shirts. Overall the fit should be more roomy and less skin tight. Apart from that, the standing collar is a bit too loose around her neck.

I’m always made uncomfortable by the text in this kind of posts/videos, they love to connect fashion to the grand narrative about national salvation which people back then didn’t remotely think about when designing new clothes. Most of the cultural meanings attached to Republican era fashion were added after the fact. 

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Lin Huiyin (far right) and co.

1920s

The 1920s one is especially bad because it’s literally a cheap stereotypical “May Fourth uniform” Halloween costume. The construction is not great; the missing neck area binding, the not at all common decorative buttons, the use of darts, the terrible loose fit of the collar, the lack of curve in the 大襟 dajin (front closure) etc., etc.. What I never understood about this costume is the fact that the black binding they always use just accentuates the lack of neck area binding and makes the giant loose collar look like a pimple on an otherwise smooth shirt. The same problem with the waist darts persists, 1920s clothes were still flat at the chest. Also, 1920s school uniforms were not necessarily blue shirt + black skirt, I don’t know where that perception came from. If you look at photographs or drawings from the period you don’t see a lot of plain blue shirts. Black skirts were pretty common, but the late 20s ones that went with the shirt with flared sleeves often had floral trims and were not strictly plain like it says in the text. 

Taobao search result for “May Fourth costume”.

The reference image they showed was the painting 五四运动 “May Fourth Movement” by 周令钊 Zhou Lingzhao from 1951, meaning it wasn’t an original artwork from the 20s and thus not reliable. The art style does not match that of the late 1910s/early 20s, the emphasis on the two women’s breasts was the opposite of the beauty ideal of the 20s, and the inclusion of a woman wearing cheongsam for an image supposed to represent the late 10s/early 20s (this style of cheongsam was popularized ca. 1927) betrays the fact that the artist possessed only very basic knowledge of fashion history. These stereotypical “May Fourth uniform” shirts likely originated in the 50s or 60s, because the use of no neck area binding, the straight instead of angled dajin (which is important but often overlooked), fabric, binding and button choices all resemble 50s Hong Kong style cheongsam more than they do 20s clothing.

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Really reminds me of this 50s cheongsam worn by Li Lihua somehow, though this is infinitely better tailored.

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1919 fashion. You can see how flat their chests are.

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1920 fashion (this is to show you the robe and collar).

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From 1922, this is to show you the skirt.

As to black skirts, they did not become really popular until around 1926. For reference, the May Fourth movement happened in 1919.

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Ensemble ca. 1927.

If you insist that the “May Fourth costume” is accurate and looks identical to 20s clothing, maybe, uh, get your eyes checked please.

1930s

The 1930s one is, again, stereotypical and not very well constructed. The blue color is actually appropriate this time because blue Indanthrene fabrics were more popular in this decade. The cheongsam construction, especially the collar construction, is questionable. This is quite a common problem for modern “Republican era style” cheongsam construction: the hole for the collar is too big, resulting in the buttons being closer to your collarbones than the bottom of your neck and the collar appearing lower than it should. This issue is exacerbated by the weird placement of the buttons: two placed at the very bottom and sitting close to each other. This was not done at any time in the 30s, or any time in the Republican era, really. The collar design itself doesn’t look like anything popular in the 30s either, it’s too rectangular and tall to be late 30s, but too low and saggy for early 30s. The sleeve length is very popular among costume designers and Taobao shops but very rare in the 1930s.

The reference image they used looks like it’s from the 40s, (I love how at the end they named all the reference images except the questionable ones) leading to the incorrect use of a 1940s hairstyle as well. On a tangent here, the text is again slightly cringy, saying something like “the modernized cheongsam brought women into the era of dressing for themselves”. This has two incorrect and problematic implications: 1) that women did not dress for themselves prior to the 1930s 2) women needed to have freedom of dress “delivered” to them through a specific garment, rather than simply a change of mindset.

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Early 30s Indanthrene cheongsam (Indanthrene came in many shades of blue, purple and red).

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1930s students in floor length cheongsam. See how well fitted their collars are!! And they all have either straight bobs or side parted short finger waves, not pinned back brush out curls.

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1940s cheongsam, as featured in the reference image.

1940s

This one is fairly ok, though it’s specifically sportswear and probably wouldn’t be worn inside classrooms or for non sports activities.

1950s

This one is a wild ride so brace yourselves. She got the red scarf and braided hair correct, I’ll give her that, but the rest of the outfit... I’ve never seen a single photo of a schoolgirl who dressed like this, let’s just put it this way. The common outfit for urban schoolgirls and students in the 1950s was the combination of a white blouse and a swing skirt/pair of wide legged pants, often with the blouse tucked into the skirt/pants. Pinafores could also be worn instead of skirts. For country girls, aoku outfits were more common (they always have been throughout the 20th century), though they certainly did not look like what is shown in the video. The most common shoes were black mary jane flats with white bobby socks underneath, as well as other Western construction shoes popular in the 1950s. To be fair, children and teenagers’ clothing did not change much from the 1930s to the 1950s at all, they remained cute and frilly Western construction clothes. She should look more like Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday than whatever this is supposed to be. The color scheme and fabrics are really a choice...

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Artwork from 1963 but the 50s was similar; children’s clothing didn’t change much from the 30s to the 70s. Generally, the younger you are, the shorter your skirt is allowed to be.

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1955 poster showing a girl in blouse and pinafore.

In case you’re wondering if these are super romanticized I have some photographs as well:

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1956 photograph. This is a group of university students but still, you see the blouse and skirt/pants.

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1959, school children heading to the pool.

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Workers on a day off.

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Some 50s school children.

There are also photos from other Eastern Bloc countries to corroborate:

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Czech pioneer uniform, 1950.

There is this misconception that after the establishment of the PRC everyone just wore “plain and utilitarian clothes” therefore it is ok to use modern “plain and utilitarian clothes” for 1950s reconstruction. 1950s utilitarian clothes were, first and foremost, 1950s clothes, before they were utilitarian, and they used construction techniques and silhouettes very specific to that era. It’s kind of weird how I even have to point this out. Though now that I think about it, 1950s Chinese children’s blouses still occasionally used 1940s sewing techniques, like the gathered yokes and puffy sleeves.

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40s blouses with gathered yokes and puffy sleeves, accentuating the flat and broad shoulders.

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50s blouses had more of a cap sleeved, smooth shoulder look.

The top featured in the video would make more sense as a 两用衫 liangyongshan (two purpose jacket) than a blouse, since two purpose jackets were usually untailored, hip length and have a turned collar. Though they would be made of thicker materials since they were outerwear and not blouses.

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1954 Artwork showing children in school. The teacher is wearing a two purpose jacket.

The other major problem with this interpretation of 1950s school uniforms is the misconception that red scarves were unique to the communist Pioneers or the PRC in general. Scarves or kerchiefs worn like that were not rare in everyday fashion of the early 20th century to begin with, and red scarves specifically were also commonly associated with militaristic or sporty youth groups at the time, particularly the girl scouts. I mean, the Pioneers were a militaristic adjacent youth group so it makes sense they would also use the red scarf.

This reference image is from the 1920s??? And they look like girl scouts uniforms not regular school uniforms?? Also even if that picture is from the 50s, her outfit looks nothing like it?? I’m so confused😵

All of the results that showed up in my reverse image search of the picture are very suspicious websites so I don’t want to click on them, though I’m pretty sure that is a photograph of two girl scouts from either the 1910s or 20s. This means that the red scarves the two girls are wearing in the photograph are a part of their girl scouts uniform and have nothing to do with the communist Pioneers, which this look is supposed to represent. The outdoorsy top with the drop waist and buttoned pockets, the straight cut and knee length skirt and the hat all point toward girl scouts uniform of previous decades.

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Girl scouts from Ohio, 1924.

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Girl scouts of America (the photo is captioned ca. 1918 but the clothes look more late 20s to me).

I don’t think girl scouts were a thing in China after 1949 anymore, though if they still existed their uniforms would have a silhouette that’s closer to 1940s or 50s fashion, with a more tailored blouse with gathered yokes and puffy sleeves, and an A line skirt.

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Girl scout catalogue 1940.

1960s

Ok so I’m a bit confused by the definition of “school uniform” here. All the previous looks were more or less for kids in school, but then this one jumps to university level. To my knowledge, I don’t think any children in school wore this uniform. The iconic red rectangular patches are also missing at the collar.

This is where my knowledge ends so I’ll stop here. Not gonna lie I lost a fair amount of braincells watching the video and reading the captions... I hope you enjoyed this post as that will make the sacrifice worth it. I thing I loved the most about this video was the background music, which made it sound quite comical and like a satirical video.

[audreydoeskaren]

Chinese summer fashion 1957

This look is a design for summer aoqun (robe and skirt) from the 1957-8 issue of 服庄, a fashion magazine based in Shanghai. It’s a skillful application of the New Look silhouette to a garment style that hasn’t been fashionable for three decades. Among the designs featured in the magazine, this one speaks to me the most; it’s simply so elegant and romantic, the floral print is perfect for a Sunday picnic or stroll through a park. The large, presumably gored swing skirt gives it a flowy, informal flair compared to the other neatly pleated skirts. The tailored top is decorated with “train tracks” style thin binding and two large floral pankou’s. The outfit was accessorized with short, white gloves and a purse. Since I already featured black pumps in the previous 1950s drawing, I decided to swap them for a pair of peep-toe, sling back sandals, which were quite common in the 1950s as informal shoes.

Reference:

1957-8 issue of 服庄

[audreydoeskaren]

1950s Mainland Chinese Movies with Pretty Costumes 1/3

Tired of seeing only propaganda movies with characters who wear the same uniforms and peasant clothes from the Mao era? I collated a list of gif-worthy, pre-Cultural Revolution movies that shatter stereotypes and provide valuable references for mid century fashion. It should be noted that while these costumes are nice, they’re still realistic and non couture so please don’t compare them to contemporary Hollywood big budget escapism and try to claim that this isn’t fashion lol, I won’t tolerate Mao era erasure. Because posts tends to become difficult to edit for me if they’re too long, I split the list into three parts, of which this is part one.

List goes in chronological order and I will provide personal ratings out of five moons. Where no English titles were given I provided my own translations. There will be spoilers. Owing to their age and obscurity, most of these movies can be watched on YouTube for free, and I attached links where I could. Enjoy <3

如此多情 (So Passionate) 1956

Dir. Fang Ying | Genre: romance, comedy

My favorite on this list happens to be first! As a nationwide pro-fashion campaign unfolded in 1956, more and more movies showing characters in contemporary fashion were produced, in contrast to movies with period or revolutionary themes popular in the first half of the decade. This movie is very representative of that trend. The costumes in this movie are out of this world, the romantic weekend dresses look like something from the cover of a contemporary Japanese fashion magazine. 

Apart from the ridiculously gorgeous costumes, this is a well written and highly watchable movie. The female protagonist Fu Ping (played by Ye Linlang) is undecided between multiple suitors, but eventually ditches them all for a man she coincidentally meets at the cinema, who appears to be the director of a commune (someone of high social status). She becomes engaged to him, but her dream of a happy married life is, however, thwarted by a truth about her fiancé yet to be revealed. 

This movie is the antithesis of your run-of-the-mill propaganda movie that tries to teach you a correct message, but rather morally ambiguous with fleshed out characters and an engaging, almost frivolous plotline. I especially appreciate the ending as it seems the writers actually put some thought into how the ending wraps up the whole story, unlike many other movies of the era which end abruptly in some sort of moral lecture by righteous party members; they feel formulaic and were also detested by audiences of the time. Combined with the gorgeous costumes and genuine humor, it was a gesamtkunstwerk through and through.

Audrey’s recommendation: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕

不拘小节的人 (The Ill-Mannered) 1956

Dir. Lü Ban | Genre: comedy

Satirist Li Shaobai (played by Bai Mu) holds himself up as a gentleman but is, in reality, extremely ill mannered and inconveniences other people on various occasions on his trip to visit his girlfriend, Min Ying (played by Huang Wansu), whom he has never met in person.

This movie features quite a couple cheongsam in the 50s mainland cut which are nice to see. Also, although I’m usually not interested in menswear, I may or may not be partial to all these 50s movies with their manly men in nicely tailored Zhongshan suits. It’s a look.

Audrey’s recommendation: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

寻爱记  (Seeking Love) 1957

Dir. Wu Zhaodi, Wang Yan | Genre: romance

Ticket office man Li Yong (played by Li Yunong) and cashier Zhao Hui (played by An Qi) met each other in an accident, and romance ensues. Zhao’s colleague and friend Ma Meina (played by Su Jianfeng) meets Li’s colleague Zhang Shilu (played by Ren Weimin) at a dance. Zhang claims that he is the head of a PR department out of vanity, and Ma enters a relationship with him for his status, before finding out that he works at the ticket office as well. The two reflect on their bad choices and reconcile, and both couples live happily ever after.

I feel like Ma and Zhang basically play out the good ending of the couple in So Passionate, but it detracts from the emotional impact of the story (maybe it’s a personal preference thing I just like sad and depressing endings). On the costuming side, the wardrobe of the main characters is severely limited, but there are, for some reason, many extras in nice fashions.

Audrey’s recommendation: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

没有完成的喜剧 (Unfinished Comedy) 1957

Dir. Lü Ban  | Genre: comedy, satire

Two renowned comedians are invited to perform in a film institute in Changchun. They present three satirical skits, all of which are critiqued by a frankly annoying member of audience, who meets a comedic end for his bad takes. I personally don’t find this movie particularly interesting, maybe if you’re into political satire it might be worth checking out.

Costume wise this movie does have a good selection of elegant costumes. I’m starting to notice that “ballroom scenes” seem to be a recurring trope in these 1950s movies, which I’m not complaining about because they look nice, and show many realistic fashion choices.

Audrey’s recommendation: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

青春的脚步 (Steps of Youth) 1957

Dir. Su Li, Yan Gong | Genre: drama

This movie portrays abuse and is pretty hard to watch in certain scenes. Lin Meilan (played by Yuan Mei) and her boyfriend Xiao Ping (played by Liu Zengqing) are young architects at a civilian firm working on a proposal for workers’ housing. Xiao finds Meilan’s designs too lavish and unrealistic, to which she objects. Xiao asks his cousin Peng Ke, the head of the design department, to give Meilan advice. Meilan appreciates his help and becomes quite close to him, but little does she know, Peng, an older man with wife and children, is a manipulative predator and plans to take advantage of her. 

The ending is super annoying in my opinion, poor girl needs therapy not a “righteous colleagues criticize you for moral choices” session. Xiao actually makes me uncomfortable, always putting down Meilan at every turn and never a word of praise or encouragement, needless to say he jumped at the opportunity to blame her for what has happened to her. It’s unnecessarily condescending. It’s good that he left for the countryside at the very end and doesn’t return until heaven knows when.

On a brighter note, the costumes in this movie are very chic and light, with Meilan sporting a variety of office attire and Sunday picnic dresses. The menswear is tailored to perfection too.

Audrey’s recommendation: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑