Historiography Analysis of Qing Dynasty Clothing Review in ‘Geng Yi Ji’

Lanlan Yan,Xiangyang Bian

doi:10.5539/ass.v11n28p29

Abstract

<p>‘Geng Yi Ji’, written by Eileen Chang, is the important literature for fashion research of the Republic Period of China, and most of scholars in fashion field also focus on this part, they mensioned this article in lots of books. While, there is nearly no literature talk about the fashion of Qing dynasty in ‘Geng Yi Ji’. In fact, compare with the fashion in the Republic Period, the fashion in Qing dynasty is also a mian part of ‘Geng Yi Ji’. This thesis analyzes Eileen Chang’s Qing dynasty fashion review in ‘Geng Yi Ji’ through historiography point, in order to explore certain fashion culture and fashion history in ancient China. The thesis analyzes three fashion reviews of Eileen Chang, briefly including ‘over the course of three hundred years of Manchu rule, women lacked anything that might be refeered to as fashion’, ‘the details of ancient Chinese clothes were completely pointless, such as the soles of cotton shoes inscribed with patterns’, ‘the dissipation of energy on irrevevant matter, marked the attitude toward life of the leisure class in China, such as the three or more pippgs and trimmings on coats’. Through the historiography analysis, it explores the real fashion trends in Qing dynasty, the culture connotation of fashion decoration in ancient China, the root and development of coat embroidery borders.</p>

Highlights

‘Geng Yi Ji’, written by Eileen Chang, is an important literature for fashion research of the Republic Period of China, and most of scholars in fashion field focus on this part, they mentioned this article in lots of books
The thesis analyzes three fashion reviews of Eileen Chang, briefly including ‘over the course of three hundred years of Manchu rule, women lacked anything that might be referred to as fashion’, ‘the details of ancient Chinese clothes were completely pointless, such as the soles of cotton shoes inscribed with patterns’, ‘the dissipation of energy on irrelevant matter, marked the attitude toward life of the leisure class in China, such as the three or more pipings and trimmings on coats’
Eileen Chang’s ‘Geng Yi Ji’ is an important literature for the research of the Republic Period Clothes in China, while, the Qing dynasty clothes review in this article were seldom researched by scholars

Summary

Introduction

Eileen Chang’s ‘Geng Yi Ji’ is an important literature for the research of the Republic Period Clothes in China, while, the Qing dynasty clothes review in this article were seldom researched by scholars. Eileen Chang published her prose ‘Chinese Life and Fashions’ on an English magazine called The XXth Century in January 1943, which was the original copy of ‘Geng Yi Ji’. Eileen Chang spurned Chinese nationality at that time, so she spurned Qing dynasty clothes in ‘Geng Yi Ji’. She didn’t think about the clothing system and clothing culture very deeply, or from historiographical perspective. There was no right or wrong, Eileen Chang’s fashion review of Qing dynasty was very seasonable and relevant to Chinese psychology at that time In this case, this article uses the objective historiography perspective to analyze the Qing dynasty Fashion Review in ‘Geng Yi Ji’, to give some evidence of Qing dynasty clothing system and culture

The Historiography Analysis of Clothing Review in ‘Geng Yi Ji’

Conclusion