Did people ever wear anything similar to petticoats under their hanfu to fluff up the skirt?

Hi, thanks for the question!

Petticoats are called Chenqun/衬裙 in Chinese, and women wore them as part of their undergarments called Zhong Yi/中衣 (middle clothes). I have a detailed post about Zhong Yi here, for your reference.

Chenqun are usually white, but can be other colors as well. Like other Zhong Yi, they are required when dressing in formal attire for important events. They do not have to be worn for regular hanfu. 

Chenqun was/is worn for formality and to prevent any “slip-ups” from occurring re: the skirt proper. It provides an extra layer of coverage in case the outer skirt is somewhat transparent, or if the outer skirt accidentally unravels. It’s purpose was not really to fluff up the skirt, as that was not the desired silhouette throughout most of Chinese history.

The exception to this is the Ming Dynasty, during which a wide, voluminous skirt was considered stylish. Thus, wearing a puffy petticoat under the skirt was quite fashionable for some time during the Ming Dynasty.

For example, here are two modern Chenqun intended to be worn under Aoqun to add shape and volume to the skirt:

Hope this helps!

How to tell the difference between the kinds of undergarments?

ziseviolet:

Hi, thanks for the question!

There are two categories of undergarments for hanfu: Zhong Yi/中衣 (middle clothes) and Nei Yi/内衣 (inner clothes). As you can guess, the hanfu that is worn as the outermost layer is called Wai Yi/外衣 (outer clothes).

1) Zhong Yi are worn by both males and females. Appearance-wise they look like regular hanfu, but they can only be worn inside of other clothes. They are usually white, but can be other colors as well. Going outside with only Zhong Yi on is regarded as impolite, but they can be worn as lounge-wear and/or pajamas at home. Zhong Yi is required when dressing in formal attire for important events.

For females (note – the top can be tucked into the skirt):

For males:

Here’s a photo of Zhong Yi:

2) Nei Yi commonly refers to the chest undergarments that women wear with hanfu. They play the same role as a brassiere does, but they are longer, covering the belly as well. Their appearance has changed throughout history, as can be seen in picture below:

For the sake of simplicity, I will just introduce the type of Nei Yi that is currently the most commonly worn with hanfu: Mo Xiong/抹胸. The Mo Xiong is the square/rectangular undergarment that is exposed when paired with parallel-collar ruqun (left – pink Mo Xiong) and beizi (right – blue Mo Xiong):

The Mo Xiong can come with or without straps. Here is how to wear the strapless version:

And here are some Mo Xiong with straps:

For further info/pics, I have an underwear tag you can take a look at.

Hope this helps!

Update: See this post for more details on a specific type of Zhong Yi called “Zhong Dan/中单”.

fouryearsofshades:

Winter knitted underwear by 

洞庭漢風

Do u have any post on chest undergarments? Isnt the vietnamese ao yem based of a chinese one?

Hi, thanks for the question!

Please check out my underwear tag for all my posts on chest undergarments.

Yes, the Vietnamese ao yem is based on the Chinese undergarment called dudou. According to Wikipedia, “the yem originated from the Chinese dudou, a variant of similar undergarments used in China since antiquity whose use spread under the Ming and Qing dynasties” (x). Here are pics of the ao yem (left) and dudou (right) for comparison:

Hope this helps!

I’m sorry if you answered this before but what would a woman wear under a hanfu? Also for the males is it in total just two layers?

Hi! I answered the question in this ask, and you can also check out my undergarments tag for more information.

The two categories of undergarments for hanfu are Zhong Yi/中衣 (middle clothes) and Nei Yi/内衣 (inner clothes).

They’re supposed to be worn together, but sometimes people would wear just wear one or the other. (X)

hi!! im a long time fan of this blog and i just wanted to know what could an emperor wear under mianfu?

Hi, thanks for the question!

An emperor would wear the “Zhong Dan/中单” under Mianfu. The Zhong Dan is a type of inner garment that’s relatively more formal than standard undergarments (Zhong Yi) and worn under ceremonial hanfu. Typical male undergarments consist of a top and pants, but the Zhong Dan is a long one-piece robe with a skirt bottom. Left – Standard Zhong Yi, Right – Zhong Dan.

Here’s a standard Mianfu set for a Ming Dynasty emperor. The Zhong Dan is the white & blue robe on the left.

Here’s what it looks like all put together (with a red skirt instead of a yellow skirt):

Hope this helps!

Do you have any info on the hezi undergarment worn by women in the Tang Dynasty?

Hi, thanks for the question! I have a Hezi tag for my previous posts on the subject, and Dressed Up Dreams has a detailed write-up on Hezi here, which I’ll use for this post. (Bonus: she also has a neat entry on making a Hezi.)

To start with, the Hezi/诃子 is a strapless undergarment that became fashionable during the Tang Dynasty.

According to legend, the Hezi was invented by Imperial Consort Yang, who used a piece of embroidered cloth to cover her bosom when a general accidentally scratched it, and she didn’t want the Emperor to notice. Yang called the embroidered cloth Hezi, and this look was copied by the other consorts. Eventually, the trend also spread to the commoners and became a staple garment of Tang women in the latter part of the dynasty. Below: Historical Hezi.

The Hezi can be straight and rectangular, or curved with a raised front center section. The Hezi usually only covers the chest, unlike another undergarment, the Mo Xiong/抹胸, which also covers the stomach area. To wear the Hezi, the fabric is wrapped around the chest and tied close with straps at the back. Below: a method of hiding the Hezi straps from view.

The Hezi can be worn inside or outside the top of the Ruqun. Nowadays, the Hezi is most commonly worn over the top, like in the example below:

When the Hezi is paired with a skirt (qun), it is known as “Hezi Qun/诃子裙”.  The Hezi Qun consists of two separate pieces, the Hezi and skirt. They are not sewn together at the waist. A thin cloth belt is usually used to hide the joint.

However, modern/reinvented Hezi Qun often has the Hezi attached to the skirt, like in the outfits below:

For more information, Fouryearsofshades has a great post here explaining the different ways in which Hezi is worn.

Hope this helps!

fouryearsofshades:

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Traditional Chinese Hanfu accessory/undergarment – “Hezi/诃子”.

fouryearsofshades:

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Artist 酒畔云衣

Designs for the traditional Chinese Hanfu accessory/undergarment “Hezi/诃子".

Okay, another question. Could zhong yi be worn as the innermost undergarments or did they always have to have nei yi underneath?

The proper way to wear hanfu undergarments was to put on Nei Yi first, and then Zhong Yi over it. Of course, back then people would be flexible with this “rule”, as they’d sometimes just wear one or the other.