What does Li Yu think of dressing up? Take you to know the dress of the ancients.

As the saying goes, "clothes make the man, and horses depend on the saddle." Although this proverb points out the importance of clothes to his mental outlook, there has been no clear explanation and view on how to dress and how to wear clothes. These are the problems of clothing collocation that made him famous in life. Until the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there appeared a prodigy who integrated drama, traditional opera, novel and aesthetics. He is a great writer Li Yu. In that feudal society that imprisoned human nature, Li Yu put forward a clothing concept that shocked people at that time, that is, to face the beauty of human body, appearance and appearance. So what are Li Yu's unique views on people's clothes? Why is he dismissive of the popular "paddy field suit"? How to treat the modern value of China's clothing?

Xiao Qiao's dressing experience is in 1672. During the reign of Kangxi, a group of women came to the inn. They want to learn makeup from a female guest named Joe. Let's call this female guest Xiao Qiao for the time being. This group of women are all maids of a big family, located in Chu State. Supposedly, Chu has never lacked aesthetics. Why did they go to the inn to learn how to dress from a foreign women? There may be two main reasons for this. The first reason is the owner of this family. They see that their maids are not dressed properly on weekdays, just like sending employees out for training now, so that they can learn to treat others when they come back, so as to show more quality. In this way, there will be light on their faces. The second reason is more likely, that is, the hostess of this family wants to learn through these maids and take this knowledge back for her own use, so why doesn't she come to the scene to study in person? Because Xiao Qiao is a member of the troupe, as a lady, learning to dress up with the troupe members will probably be laughed at when she comes out.

What did Joe say to them? First of all, we know that there are three women in a play, a group of women are together, and Xiao Qiao is a famous actor in the play, so the atmosphere at the scene is very warm and chattering for a long time. At this time, Xiao Qiao led the topic to the point. She first talked about two common problems. The first problem is that this jewelry is inserted too much. We ancient women attached great importance to this kind of jewelry. For example, in the Song Dynasty, the head of the queen was grand, but it was also very complicated. There are very strict rules about how many dragons and how many phoenixes there are. Although women in large families can't wear rockhopper, the importance attached to this kind of jewelry is also obvious. Secondly, losing weight was also popular at that time, because there is an old saying that "the king of Chu had a thin waist and starved to death in the palace", which shows that this trend continued until the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. So Xiao Qiao gave two suggestions. The first is to reduce the number of jewelry. In fact, her views are consistent with many of our aesthetic views today. After much jewelry, it is dazzling, but not beautiful. Secondly, everyone's mood to lose weight is understandable, but it can't be reduced too much.

After talking about this, Xiao Qiao talked about how to dress up. The first thing Joe did was to let everyone line up, and then he took out a dress for everyone to try on. Her method is actually used by many teachers in our modern image design or counseling, but now many teachers test the cloth with one color to see which color will better set off their faces. The result of trying on is that a few people look particularly beautiful in this dress, and there must be a few people who look ugly in this dress, and most people look ordinary. Why is this happening? Xiao Qiao said that each of us has a color that matches it. People with white faces can have any color, and people with black faces try to choose black.

At this point, the atmosphere was even higher, and then Xiao Qiao did another thing. She took out two sets of coarse cloth and silk clothes from the box and let the maids try them on in turn. After wearing it, I found that some people look good in this fine silk, some people look good in this coarse linen, but some people look good in fine silk, not coarse linen. Why is this? Xiao Qiao explained to everyone that people with delicate skin can wear fine fabrics or rough fabrics, but if the skin is rough, it is best to wear rough fabrics. If you wear delicate fabrics, it will make your skin look rougher. Then someone asked, for example, the clothes of our big family are all silk, and the clothes of ordinary people are often cotton and linen. How to choose this? Xiao Qiao said that silk or cotton and linen are fine and thick.

When the ancients chose their own clothes, they liked to wear fine fabrics with a wide variety of accessories. However, Xiao Qiao's words completely overturned this view. She stressed that the texture of clothes should adapt to the quality of skin and should not be blind, otherwise it will be counterproductive. This view is very applicable even today. Coincidentally, Li Yu, a great scholar who lived in the same period as Xiao Qiao, not only put forward similar views, but also made a systematic summary in his book Love with Fate. So why are Xiao Qiao and Li Yu's views so similar? What kind of avant-garde fashion did Li Yu, a great scholar in Ming and Qing Dynasties wear?

Xiao Qiao, the great writer Li Yu's dressing experience is so powerful that we modern people may not understand the knowledge of these clothes. How did she know so much during the reign of Kangxi? Who is her backing? That is her husband, Li Yu, a great scholar. Li Yu, a native of Rugao, Jiangsu Province, was born in a family of drug dealers. He was called a "prodigy" when he was very young, but unfortunately, every time he took the imperial examination, he would catch up with major events. I didn't do well in the exam the first time, and I didn't take the imperial examination the second time. By this time, he was in his thirties, so he gave up the imperial examination. At the age of forty, he decided to go to Hangzhou to sell fu for a living, that is, to engage in business writing. To what extent do Li Yu's books sell well? Even after his book was published, you can read his words within a few days and thousands of miles away, which shows the rapid spread.

In fact, Li Yu is regarded as the most valuable theoretical work by later generations, which is called "Random Thoughts". With this work, he was called the originator of China's drama theory by later generations. Although there were drama masters such as Guan Hanqing and Tang Xianzu before him, he was the first person to study drama theory in China. In this book, he discussed many issues related to clothing, leaving us with very valuable theoretical information on ancient clothing. What views did Li Yu talk about in the book? Here is a brief introduction to one or two.

The first idea he put forward was called "clothing cover". What do you mean by "clothing cover"? That is, we wear clothes to show our self-cultivation and quality, but some people are "dressed up" by clothes. Wearing gorgeous clothes and finally walking outside, everyone remembers his clothes, but they don't remember what his face looks like. So Li Yu said:

Chapter, writing style, is not the name of literary talent, but the body is shapeless, which is wisdom, stupidity and virtue. It is practical and rich.

This passage is very clear. What does this "chapter" mean? It is to express, not to use this model to make yourself particularly dazzling, and this "body" is not our simple "body" of this body, it contains such qualities as wisdom, stupidity, wisdom, unworthiness and so on. This seems to be what we often call a rich house, a virtuous body and a "body". What is Li Yu's concept? The quality of people's clothes is the most important. It's no use wearing big brands if the quality is not enough. Li Yu went on to tell such a story in "Casual Sending".

There were a group of women sheltering from the rain in the pavilion at that time. People who take shelter from the rain are poor, rich, beautiful and ugly. At this moment, a woman in her thirties came over, dressed simply, but when she reached the edge of the pavilion, she found that it was already crowded with people and there was no room in it. At this time, she didn't squeeze in, but stood on the edge of the pavilion. When the rain hit her, she didn't worry, let nature take its course and didn't complain. After a while, the rain stopped and the other women dispersed, but just a few steps later, it began to rain again and these people came back. But this ordinary woman is already in the middle of the pavilion at this time. Should we make room for those rich women? She didn't do that. She also helps others organize those things. When Li Yu saw this, he was very appreciative of this civilian woman. In fact, this civilian woman didn't do anything important, but Li Yu felt that this person was quiet and serene, not anxious, not flattering anyone, and not forcing anyone, so this person's quality was still very high. On the other hand, other women in the pavilion, showing the kind of complaints, the kind of exclusion, Li Yu felt that these days were all to set off the beauty of this civilian woman.

Li Yu also put forward a second very important point, which is called "matching with appearance". This is what he said:

Women's clothes are not expensive but clean, not expensive but elegant, not expensive but commensurate with home, but expensive and suitable for appearance.

Li Yu's words are actually inspiring to everyone, whether it is a person or an official, whether it is beautiful or not, because we know that everyone has thousands of faces. According to his theory, we can all find clothes that match our looks and dress ourselves up more beautifully. Compared with "clothes should cover the body" and "appearance", "clothes should cover the body" has something in common with Confucius' "Wen", so its originality is not so great, but "appearance" pays attention to individual beauty and enters the operational level, which is a very representative theory of Li Yu.

Why did these theories about clothing appear in Ming and Qing Dynasties? First, before China and Li Yu, China's clothing was greatly influenced by philosophy, politics and religion besides its practical function, so the personal visual beauty was always in a hidden state. Although there were Qu Yuan, Wei Jin and Tang Dynasty, the beauty of clothing was awakened, but due to the lack of theoretical support, it was generally perceptual. So, historically, we need to have such a theory. Secondly, at that time, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, between the Ming and Qing Dynasties and between the two dynasties, their aesthetic concepts about this kind of clothing were far from each other. So at this time, some people will think more deeply, and Li Yu just thought of it at this time, so he will write his own views on clothing in his works. The so-called casual email will naturally be liked by people who can understand it.

Miaoyu, one of the twelve women in Jinling in A Dream of Red Mansions, is beautiful, intelligent and noble-minded. Cao Xueqin, the author, asked this elegant woman to wear the dress "Paddy Field Dress" which was popular in Ming and Qing Dynasties, in order to highlight her noble and refined mind. However, this paddy field suit, which was popular in Ming and Qing Dynasties at that time, was strongly rejected by Li Yu. So why does Li Yu, who is very experienced in dressing, hate this kind of clothing?

If a book is controversial, it will attract many people's attention. We don't know if Li Yu also knows how to trigger a hot sale from the hot discussion, but in short, he throws out some controversial views in the book, which has this effect. For example, Li Yu doesn't like red, especially big red. He thinks that wearing red is called "colorful village women" and can't impress elegant people. He also particularly rejected a very popular style at that time, called "paddy field coat", which was sewn with such various pieces of cloth, and its Ali looked like a plaid of paddy fields. In fact, this kind of clothing appeared very early, and it was more popular in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

So who is wearing this "paddy field coat"? Let's give an example. In the 109th episode of A Dream of Red Mansions, there was a beautiful woman named Miaoyu. Miaoyu, like Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai, belongs to one of the twelve women in Jinling. Miaoyu is a person who treats people with great personality. Let's give an example. Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai went to see her in the temple. The water she took out to make tea for these two people was actually snow shaken from plum blossoms in the temple five years ago and stored in a tube. It was buried underground for five years before it was unsealed for making tea. Isn't this the legendary fairy sister? So there appeared such a character, and the author arranged for her to wear Paddy's clothes.

"Paddy field suit" has many heavy meanings in Chinese traditional culture. For example, the first one is made of clothes scraps, so it means saving. Saving is the traditional virtue of our Chinese nation. Secondly, this "paddy field coat" looks like a paddy field visually, so it has an idyllic style, close to the countryside and far away from the hubbub, which is exactly what we China literati and hermits are pursuing. Sanshuichang clothes are put on monks and become "patchwork clothes", so they also have the meaning of inner purity from all beings.

Therefore, it should be logical for Miaoyu, a unique figure and a monk, to arrange for her to wear Paddy clothes. But it is such a suit that Mr. Li Yu is very repulsive. He gave two reasons. The first reason is that our clothing in China has always paid as little attention to this kind of seam as possible, and the highest level is called seamless. Secondly, he said that when making this paddy field coat, the whole cloth should be cut into small squares. He said that when you do this, you will eat a lot of cloth, and you will sew too much for this, so it will take a lot of work. So he thinks that these tailors want to make more money, which is an excuse.

Of course, from today's perspective, Mr. Li Yu's two reasons are a bit far-fetched. Why? In fact, the number of stitches on this dress is not absolutely related to this aesthetic feeling. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, skirts in the Tang Dynasty often have many seams, but they are also very nice. Secondly, if you have enough spending power, it is not a big mistake to spend a little more money on a dress you like. Then why does Li Yu object to this style? I think it should be his judgment on visual beauty. Because paddy field clothes are made of many pieces of cloth sewn together with mixed colors, it is easy to attract the attention of the other party and forget the existence of the face when wearing paddy field clothes.

But since paddy field clothes can be popular, isn't it meaningful? The evaluation of paddy field clothes should go beyond this visual aesthetic feeling. First of all, the aesthetics of "paddy field clothes" should not stay in personal vision, but should rise to the level of artistic conception. If Miaoyu is now living an idyllic life in the south of the Yangtze River, her heart is pure and quiet, then there are green hills, white clouds curling up, a large paddy field and Fang Gezi, some grids have been planted, and some grids are still reflected in the blue sky, with clear water. Farmers, old cows and wooden plows are scattered among them. At this time, Miaoyu straightened up and wiped her sweat, and her paddy field clothes set each other off with the surrounding paddy fields. This person seems to be an elf with advantages on the earth, so this aesthetic feeling is actually beyond the visual aesthetic feeling of personal image.

In fact, along the way, the aesthetics of our traditional costumes have always been diversified. Harmony with nature is beautiful, harmony with society is beautiful, and harmony with the heart is also beautiful. Understanding these beautiful scenery requires a certain understanding of history and culture. Second, even from the visual point of view, "paddy field clothes" should not be killed with a stick. Although it looks a bit strange that we went in and out of that high-end office wearing paddy field clothes today, we also wear big plaid clothes with the same style as paddy field clothes today. According to this design principle, this person with generous facial features is suitable for wearing big flowers, big squares and small shapes, while those with small facial features are more suitable for wearing small flowers, small squares and small shapes, so this person with generous facial features may not be so ugly even if he is a rice coat, so from this perspective, "rice coat" is not useless.

The "rebirth" of traditional costumes In today's time when people pay attention to traditional culture, traditional costumes gradually enter people's field of vision. People are more and more keen on traditional costumes. If you wear traditional costumes with national characteristics on some occasions, you can not only set off your temperament and scenes to the fullest, but also show your excellent cultural taste. So, in today's rapidly changing world, how should we view the modern value of China's traditional costumes? How do we understand the concept of "integrating with the environment and corresponding with the heart"?

Traditional dress is actually an open concept, which not only refers to Hanfu, but also refers to the national dress that once warmed and beautified our land. If it can be expressed in another word, I prefer to call it "Hanfu". Why? First, the word "Hua" in China is recorded in the Spring and Autumn Period and Zuozhuan Justice:

Chinese etiquette is great, so it is called summer, and the beauty of service chapter is called China.

It can be seen that the word "flower" can also be used as a synonym for the beauty of clothing. Second, "flower" means "flower" in the old saying. Our traditional costume is actually a big garden with 56 flowers from 56 ethnic groups. Third, China's clothing is an ever-developing concept. With the integration of ethnic groups, there are more and more Hanfu, and the scope is getting wider and wider. What is left to us today is the richness and Excellence of culture. It can be said that Hanfu has warmed us and beautified us for so many years.

Today, of course, is different from the past. The environment has changed greatly. Many people mainly wear modern clothes, but in fact, if you can prepare a set of Hanfu, it is also a very necessary arrangement, which may make you look more appropriate on many occasions. Different cultures shape different hearts, and we should pay attention to two aspects when corresponding to hearts. The first aspect is how to correctly express our inner wishes. Second, strengthen our inner cultivation. Li Yu once said a phenomenon in "Send with Feeling", which is called "bathing monkeys and winning the crown". In Chinese, "tenderness" is often used to describe men, while this "beauty and wisdom" is often used to describe women. "Literature" and "quality", "foreign" and "Chinese" are interdependent. No matter how good "foreign" and "Chinese" are, they will be discounted if they are not supported by "quality" and "Chinese" and are not expressed by "foreign" and "Chinese".

Clothing is not a single origin, and an explanation cannot be used as a conclusion. Even so, we still believe that some people will be interested in traditional costumes and traditional culture through this article. It is enough to say that you can attract attention, think and learn.

Man (175) Li Yu (2) Paddy field (1)