On the Transformation and Popularity of the Cheongsam in Modern Time

摘要

For thousands of years, all the Chinese women dresses were made through the straight cutting in tailoring. The bosom, the shoulder, the waist and the buttocks of the clothes were all straight. The women's line of beauty didn't show completely at all. As far as the cheongsam, the characters were also kept. After the Revolution of 1911, the Chinese women started to understand what the line of beauty under the effect of the western economical culture is. After that, the cheongsam was improved and recreated from the insignificant tailors to the famous designers, showing the women's line of beauty exhaustively. Nowadays, the cheongsam which play an important role in women's life has become a culture. Comparing and researching the change of modeling and the character of structure of the cheongsam of different periods, which will have very important significance towards how to keep and expand the traditional national culture and understand the popular trend of the cheongsam. The name of the cheongsam could be traced back to the beginning of the Qing dynasty. Dragon required all the sons of China to wear the robes when they entered the Shanhaiguan, which was also called the cheongsam of the Manzu. (As shown in Fig. 1) Literally, the cheongsam meant the robes which were worn by the sons of China. In the origin, it didn't distinguish the male and the female. Afterwards, the common girls who didn't enter the Shanhaiguan including the female of Han nationality all imitated the wearing climate of Man nationality. And it became more and more popular among the rich women. The decoration of the cheongsam of the Mao women was famous for their complexity. However, as for the modeling, the way of straight cutting was made. After the Revolution of 1911, the people's ideas had changed, so the traditional clothes were experiencing potential changes, and the cheongsam was affected by the western culture.