Clothing, Traditional—Taiwan | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

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Taiwan Summary

Clothing, Traditional—Taiwan

The clothing worn by indigenous Taiwanese people was traditionally manufactured from locally available materials derived from plants and animals, and was of crude construction when compared with the garments of the mainland Han Chinese. Later, when Taiwan was incorporated into China during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), Taiwan was subjected to the same dress regulations as the rest of China, and Taiwanese aboriginal groups were largely assimilated into the society of the mainland emigrants. Taiwanese dress began to diverge from mainland dress when Taiwan was occupied by Japan between 1895–1945.

Some traditional dress of the Paiwan and Puyama aboriginal tribes of southwest Taiwan has survived and can be seen at the Musée de l' Homme, Paris. A man's black cotton top made of rectangles of fabric with brightly colored embroidered edges, fastened with frog fastenings and silver buttons, was worn with a narrow, indigo-dyed, double ikat waist tie. Multicolor leg coverings made of strips of red, yellow, and green fabric, with insets of indigo-dyed double ikat around the crotch, were tied tightly with black braids around the knee and calf. The front thigh and calf area of the machine-stitched leg coverings were decorated with lozenges of geometric-patterned embroidery in red, yellow, blue, white, and black. A narrow, braided linen waist tie with embroidered ends and fringing was attached to the top of the leg coverings and tied twice around the waist; a second waist tie held an eighteen-inch-long dagger in place. A rectangular weft-faced linen cape—probably a woman's mourning cape—is also exhibited. Made in three sections, the cape has a cream background with red double stripes and edging, and is embellished with navy blue geometric embroidery. The cape ties with a thin braid around the neck. It is displayed with a padded, geometrically embroidered headband that resembles a simple turban and has an overlap allowing for size adjustment at the back.

Women wore a zhanpao, a long robe that fastened on the right and left and was decorated with a line of embroidery on both arms and brass bells. The zhanpao was worn with geometrically embroidered hand covers tied with cerise braids. Leg covers, similar to those worn by men, were made of indigo-dyed fabric with a double ikat spot motif. The below-knee length apron/skirt had an ikat spot motif, indigo-dyed edging, vertical bands of royal blue, and a central panel of geometric and stylized plant motif embroidery in black, red, and blue on an un-dyed linen ground. An older band in brown, red, and blue (possibly using natural dies) was set in nearer the waist. Strands of conch shells were worn around the neck but may also have been used to decorate garments.

During the Qing period, Taiwanese men wore the zhanpaoand a magua, an outer jacket, or gua, a vest, worn outside the long gown. The horse jacket, shorter than the gua and reaching only to the mid-abdomen, was worn with skullcaps called "melon rind." Officials wore long "python gowns" and a short gown over it called guazi (longer than the gua), which resembled a modern windbreaker jacket. The garments were of plain colors and were worn in contrasting color combinations: dark or light green, blue, gray, white, or red. Shan, a shirt, and trousers, together known as dangshan, were worn with a bamboo hat by those engaged in manual work. Women wore tadaoshan, a tight-fitting, wide-sleeved jacket trimmed with ribbon, with mamian chun, a long skirt, for formal wear. Gu, trousers made of silk, were worn for formal occasions, and a cotton version was worn for everyday use. These were worn with bound-foot shoes and a headband. Shades of red were popular for women's dress, including carmine, peach, and pink. The upper and lower garments were often in contrasting shades.

Western Influences

When the Japanese took over Taiwan in 1895, they made little effort to introduce changes in dress, apart from banning the practice of foot binding. Residents of Taiwan soon began to combine Western dress with traditional Chinese dress. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Han Chinese men in Taiwan wore the zhangshan with Western leather shoes and hats. In Japan at this time, Western dress was embraced as a manifestation of a forward-looking ideology. In 1911 men in Taiwan cut their queues, as did those on the mainland, and women adopted Western style leather shoes worn with a traditional jacket and pants. In the 1920s women wore silk stockings and knee-length skirts with traditional style short-sleeved velvet jackets, and carried a parasol and handkerchief. By the 1920s Western dress had largely replaced traditional Taiwanese dress, but differences between Han Chinese women who originated from the Fujian or Guangdong (Hakka) provinces were visible in their dress; Fujian styles were more lavish and intricate, while the Hakka preferred simple, decorative but durable materials.

Chinese and Japanese Influences

Under Chinese rule, imported Chinese cloth was used to make clothes, as there was no sericulture and little cotton or hemp grown. That which was grown was dyed locally, with chemical dyes gradually replacing plant dyes. Pineapple fiber, taro flax, jute, and banana fiber were also used for textiles. Pineapple fiber was the most successful as it did not cling to the body in Taiwan's humid climate. After 1918, Japanese spinning and weaving technology was imported and large-scale production developed using Japanese cotton, which became the fabric of everyday wear, replacing Chinese imports by the middle or end of the Japanese occupation. After two to three decades of occupation, Japanese fabric patterns and the pale "refined" colors favored by the Japanese (pink, baby-blue, lake-green, grayish blue, and beige), became standard, replacing the patterns and bright colors favored during the Qing dynasty and earlier.

Only after Japan declared war on China in 1937 did the Japanese attempt to weaken Taiwanese cultural links with China and discourage adoption of Chinese fashion. While older men continued to wear traditional dress, many young men adopted military uniforms, muge (Japanese wooden clogs), and "duck's tongue" hats—a wider version of the cloth cap traditionally worn by working class men in northern British cities. Women adopted the kimono and both genders adopted Japanese-style names.

As on the mainland, children were dressed like small adults: hats and cloaks had decorated hems, tassels, and embroidery for special occasions. Like mainland garments, pants had split seats. Western-style school uniforms were introduced in 1925.

The qipao, or cheongsam (as it became more widely known internationally), that is, the asymmetrically fastened dress worn by women, was worn in Taiwan during the twentieth century, peaking in popularity the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The Sun Yat-sen suit went out of fashion after Communist rule was established on the mainland, but continued to be worn by a few older officials of Taiwan's republican government on formal occasions. Tailored in khaki colored woven wool cloth, it featured breast pockets with military style flaps, brass buttons, and a high collar.

In the mid-twentieth century, the hong gua, which consisted of a red embroidered jacket and a black embroidered skirt featuring phoenix and dragon motifs, was worn for special occasions with an elaborate head-dress. In rural areas, for special occasions, men wore a traditional blue gown with a red sash worn diagonally, and gilt hat sprays on each side of a trilby hat or skullcap. There was a gradual discontinuance of traditional styles during the 1960s and 1970s as fashions from the West were adopted.