peekofhistory

[peekofhistory]

Hanfu is like an iceberg, you never know how many layers are underneath the surface 😂

The first layer consists of: 1) Cross-collared shirt 2) Pants

Second layer consists of: 1) Bottom skirt 2) Top robe

Third layer consists of: 1) Long robe

Fourth layer consists of: 1) Zhiju robe

A fifth layer with a wide-sleeved Zhiju robe can be added as well on the very outside.

(I met my first Hanfu gate-keeper in China, today xD She did NOT like that I was posting about Hanfu information to platforms outside of China and said this information should be kept a secret, because what if someone steals it. Because, you know, the internet doesn't exist or anything. I'm sure there are loads of people outside of China banging on the borders, wanting to steal Hanfu secrets and put Chinese Hanfu manufacturers out of work .__.

So far, in the 4 years I've gotten into Hanfu this has been the first negative interaction.)

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Hanfu, the historical clothing of the Han people in China, has thousands of years of history.

Since the 2000s, there has been a revival of Hanfu within China, with many Hanfu stores opening in the past two decades. I first became aware that I could purchase Hanfu in 2021 and hoarded a bunch.

Recently, I started digging more and more into the topic and realized that, while many of the Hanfu being sold are beautiful, they're not exactly true to the styles of Hanfu in the past. That's not to say they shouldn't be sold or worn, I'm not interested in gatekeeping what others wear, but I became intrigued by what exactly DID the historical Hanfu styles look like based on historical artefacts.

For my own interest, and for any others who might be interested, I'm going to try and do a series of the various Hanfu styles throughout the dynasties.

[peekofhistory]

Yesterday I went to watch another Peking Opera performance in Nanjing.

The story was about Judge Bao, a famous judge of the Song Dynasty who was known for being just and fair. In this story, he finds out his nephew (a local judge) has been taking bribes, and orders him beheaded, which angers his aunt who had raised judge Bao. He pleads with her to understand that he couldn't skirt the law just because it's his nephew, and ultimately is forgiven by his aunt.

The character of judge Bao is known in Peking Opera as hualian/花脸, "hua meaning flower or multi-coloured, "lian" meaning face. These characters have their faces fully painted, and the colouring indicates the type of character (black for judge Bao indicates righteousness and honor).

Usually their parts require a booming, powerful voice and are preformed by men. Yesterday's performance however was by an amazing woman, Ren Siyuan (任思媛). Her voice was incredible ✨✨✨

I highly recommend having a look at the video, and even just skipping through, the first part she's singing in full costume, the second she's speaking in her usual voice during curtains (it was hilarious seeing her in full costume with an adorable voice, and she was half a head shorter then all the other guys, cutest judge Bao 😂😂), and the third part she's singing an encore without costume/makeup with another very famous Peking Opera singer, Kang Wansheng (康万生) who's in his 80s now.

00:00 Beheading Baomian (Ren Siyuan as Judge Bao)

02:32 Curtains, thanking the audience

03:44 Joint encore performance with Kang Wansheng

[peekofhistory]

Tuo (托): Using the thumb of the right hand and flicking the string away from your body.

Pi (劈):Using the thumb of the right hand and flicking the string towards your body.

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘ꕤ∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

Guqin (古琴) is a Chinese instrument with over 3, 000 years of history.

The history and culture surrounding this instrument is rich and vast. Historically, learning how to play the Guqin was a necessity for anyone who was considered 'educated' (much like today we all learn basic math in school).

The body of the Guqin is long and slender, with seven strings that are played using a variety of finger structures to form different sounds. The sound of this instrument is deep, but quiet, a stark contrast to the Guzheng (古筝) which looks similar but is larger and has 22 strings. The Guqin was not made for large audiences as its sound reaches a very limited area, it was normally played just for oneself or among close friends.

Today, many people are re-discovering the beauty of this ancient instrument. I, myself, only started learning in early 2025 and am very much a novice, but I want to help those who might not have access to English teaching material for the Guqin also learn how to play ( ˊᵕˋ )♡.°

[peekofhistory]

Quju robes were worn about 2,000-2,500 years ago from the Warring States period to the Han Dynasty.

They're identified by the diagonal cut of the fabric at the front. There are actually various types of Quju, some with curved sleeve bottoms, some are straight, some have thin collars, others are thick, etc. but they all share the same diagonal cut, with the fabric being wrapped around the body when worn.

[peekofhistory]

Da (打): Using the ring finger of the right hand and "plucking" the string towards your body.

Zhai (摘): Using the ring finger of the right hand and "flicking" the string away from your body.

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘ꕤ∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

Guqin (古琴) is a Chinese instrument with over 3, 000 years of history.

The history and culture surrounding this instrument is rich and vast. Historically, learning how to play the Guqin was a necessity for anyone who was considered 'educated' (much like today we all learn basic math in school).

The body of the Guqin is long and slender, with seven strings that are played using a variety of finger structures to form different sounds. The sound of this instrument is deep, but quiet, a stark contrast to the Guzheng (古筝) which looks similar but is larger and has 22 strings. The Guqin was not made for large audiences as its sound reaches a very limited area, it was normally played just for oneself or among close friends.

Today, many people are re-discovering the beauty of this ancient instrument. I, myself, only started learning in early 2025 and am very much a novice, but I want to help those who might not have access to English teaching material for the Guqin also learn how to play ( ˊᵕˋ )♡.°

[peekofhistory]

Zhiju robes (直裾) :

Distinguished by the excessive amount of fabric for the sleeves and the waist-to-floor straight edge, this style of Warring States robe was worn between the Warring States period and the Han Dynasty.

[peekofhistory]

Mo (抹): Plucking the string with the forefinger of your right hand.

Ti (踢): Flicking the string with the middle fingerof your right hand.

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘ꕤ∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

Guqin (古琴) is a Chinese instrument with over 3, 000 years of history.

The history and culture surrounding this instrument is rich and vast. Historically, learning how to play the Guqin was a necessity for anyone who was considered 'educated' (much like today we all learn basic math in school).

The body of the Guqin is long and slender, with seven strings that are played using a variety of finger structures to form different sounds. The sound of this instrument is deep, but quiet, a stark contrast to the Guzheng (古筝) which looks similar but is larger and has 22 strings. The Guqin was not made for large audiences as its sound reaches a very limited area, it was normally played just for oneself or among close friends.

Today, many people are re-discovering the beauty of this ancient instrument. I, myself, only started learning in early 2025 and am very much a novice, but I want to help those who might not have access to English teaching material for the Guqin also learn how to play ( ˊᵕˋ )♡.°

[peekofhistory]

Song Dynasty wide-sleeved robes and Xiapei

For the most important occasions, women of the Song Dynasty wore wide-sleeved robes and "Xiapei" (霞帔), two strips of intricately patterned fabrics draped over the shoulders.

[peekofhistory]

Guqin - Gou (勾) and Tiao (挑)

Gou and Tiao are two of the most basic finger structures for Guqin. Let's have a look at what they look like on the score, and how to play them :D

(I know I did a video on this already, but I got someone to help me re-do it a bit better ^^;;)

[peekofhistory]

Hello. Forgive this insignificant student for asking such a question, but I don't even know where else to turn, as Google and DeepSeek haven't been of much help. I once read an article about headdress, and I saw this one with an explanation, but now, no matter how much I search, I can't find anything about it, as if I had invented it. What I'm talking about is Lan Sizhui from the donghua adaptation of mdzs, and I'm sorry, I know it's not the most well-regarded work, but just Google the images to understand what I'm talking about. What is that white thing on the head called? 🥺🙏

Hi!

Do you mean this white band across the forehead?

In Chinese it's normally called a Mo'e (抹额) which is a name from the Tang Dynasty (there are several other names but this is the most common). It was usually worn by women and could be a slim strip of fabric or thicker, with lovely embroideries on top (using screencaps from Dream of the Red Chamber 1987):

There's some conflicting information on its origins, some people say it came about from the Shang Dynasty and was worn by both men and women at the time.

Another version says it came about starting in the Western Han Dynasty, with a strip of fabric wrapped around the head from back to front, and tied at the front. It could completely cover the hair on top of the head, or leave it exposed.

So I think whatever its origins, the first form of mo'e probably looked a lot different than in later dynasties.

Here's someone who replicated what was called "mo'e" in the Tang Dynasty:

(Original video here by 先生王騰, you can watch him demonstrate how to wear it.)

If you're talking about the accessory on top of the head, that's called a "guan/冠" (although the one in this photo I can't tell what it's made from...if it's made from fabric it's called something different, but I'm going to assume it's made from some sort of metal):

In historical China, at age 15 boys would put all their hair up in a hair bun as a sign of maturity (don't be fooled by the C-dramas, boys past age 15 wouldn't leave half their hair down in the past). At age 20, they have a ceremony where the man is given a man's hat or a "guan" as a sign that they are now an adult. Age 20 was also called ruoguan/弱冠 in China.

There are numerous types of guan, made from many different types of materials. A family's wealth, or status in society would govern what type of guan the men can wear (using screencaps from Romance of the Three Kingdoms 1994, many of the styles in the show have corresponding artefacts that have been discovered)：

I hope that helps!! :D

[peekofhistory]

Slowly converting my Hanfu posts into videos 😀

Song Dynasty's round collared robes 💖

[peekofhistory]

How do you read the Guqin score? What do all those little symbols mean 👀?? Let's break it down 😁!

[peekofhistory]

Greetings Miss! Sorry if you have already answered an answer like this before, I'm new in your blog and I'm searching pictures or historical accurate descriptions of the daily life of maids and their usual attires working as servants in the Imperial Palace during the Qing Dynasty; what were they forbidden to do, if there was a designated building for low servants to sleep so they didn't live near higher ranks, their usual tasks etc. Perhaps what subtle insults or offensive but outdated metaphors existed in that era?

I am writing a little story about a late teens girl kidnapped and sold as a maid to the palace during that period (from her POV as a fictional biography inspired by reality, changing real names, exaggerating some of the higher ranks physical traits for comedy purposes + to avoid controversy about portraying "in bad faith" the empire; because since it's in her POV she can't tell anyone at their face they suck so instead you hear those mocking comments about the rich/higher ones from her descriptions. I have yet to decide the year it takes place, most likely somewhere in 1648–1659 during the second emperor reign after it was established or before it ended as to avoid writing that). It'd help me a lot to have info about the court so if you could do me that favour or give me a general description of how daily life and customs those living in the palace had I would be very grateful! Have a nice day!

Hi 😁

I don't think I'll be able to answer this ask very well, I have very little (researched) information regarding Qing Dynasty court life for servants 😅 In terms of clothing, the Qing Dynasty doesn't really fall under Hanfu (explanation here as to why), which is what I primarily focus on.

But I know I have some followers who are also interested in Chinese history of various dynasties so perhaps one of them can help out?

I'm sorry I can't be of much help 🥲

[peekofhistory]

My duckie army has expanded exponentially...

There's a fruit tea brand in China called Linli (林里) that gives a free rubber duckie with each drink ordered...and boy do they get creative.

You can trade in smaller duckies to get larger duckies:

So yesterday, after finding out about this, I ordered two drinks and got these two 😁

My friend said you can "make a wish/许愿" in the delivery comments what kind of duckie you want, and sometimes your wish will be granted. So today I ordered another drink and wished for an ugly duckie, and got this 🤣🤣

Not gonna lie, great marketing because now I want to order from them just to get duckies 🦆

[peekofhistory]

There's a fruit tea brand in China called Linli (林里) that gives a free rubber duckie with each drink ordered...and boy do they get creative.

You can trade in smaller duckies to get larger duckies:

So yesterday, after finding out about this, I ordered two drinks and got these two 😁

My friend said you can "make a wish/许愿" in the delivery comments what kind of duckie you want, and sometimes your wish will be granted. So today I ordered another drink and wished for an ugly duckie, and got this 🤣🤣

Not gonna lie, great marketing because now I want to order from them just to get duckies 🦆

[peekofhistory]

I tried my hand at carving a mini jade Yu Zhu Long (玉猪龙) 😁 Yangzhou is famous for jade carvings, and in China jade is a very coveted stone, with a long history and deep cultural roots.

The original Yu Zhu Long is at China's National Museum in Beijing, it's the earliest known depiction of a 'long/龙' (Chinese dragon) that has been unearthed.

[peekofhistory]

Me: Been dying in 30C+ (86F) heat for over a month

Friends a few days ago: We're entering the "sanfu/三伏" season, the hottest time of the year 😀

Me: 😰😰😱😱🤯🤯🤯🥵🥵😭😭😭