A human image of the Ming Dynasty shown in a painting. (Provided by Hua Mei)

A lady bellyband of the Ming Dynasty.(Painted by Gao Chunming, selected from Lady Garments and Adornments of Chinese Past Dynasties Written by Zhou Xun and Gao Chunming)

   Ming was the last dynasty in which men wore the skirt. In a famous painting by the Song painter called the Peaceful Pleasures, farmers were still wearing the short skirt, regardless of whether they were sitting on the buffalo back or walking in the fields. This type of pleated, knee-length skirt can still be found in some clown figures: in Beijing opera. Below the skirt the shorts or long pants are revealed.

   Imagoes most frequently found in portraits were those of government officials and scholars, who wore scholar caps or casual square caps, long robes, and sometimes holding a horsetail "Buddha duster." In a Ming tomb found in west of Yangzhou, a full set of scholar's dress was unearthed, among which was a scholar's cap with hanging ends, a gown with dark rimmed round collar and broad sleeves and high boots made with felt. Similar garment style survived through Beijing Opera costumes, so that we can easily tell a Chinese scholar when we see one.

   Women's costume of the Ming Dynasty went even further in its gentle and elegant beauty, which is often recognized as the epitome of classic Chinese female garment. The Ming Dynasty is a period in which the Chinese Han culture developed to the fullest, absorbing the cultural essence of the previous Tang and Song Dynasties. Ever since the Ming Dynasty and up until the present day, visual representation of ancient Chinese females or women in mythologies has mostly adopted the Ming style. The Ming women wore robes of rough homespun cloths without gold embroidery, and the colors were limited to purple, green and fuchsia. Red, deep blue and bright red were strictly forbidden for women commoners to wear, so as not to confuse with the royal garment colors.

   The most typical Ming women's garment is the bijia, a long sleeveless jacket that drapes all the way down to below the knee or even lower. Embroidery is superimposed on woven textures, and at the front closure, a jade ornament is often attached. We can easily find women clad in this type of sleeveless jacket in Ming paintings. A slender figure was the ideal of beauty for Ming women. The bijia helped create a visual impression of slenderness.

   In comparison with the Tang ruqun, the Ming women's garments were less lavish but more gentle and elegant. Neither was it as stiff and rigid as the Song women's wear. A closer look at how they dress can tell us that these women were not as flippant as the Tang women were. They seemed much more reserved and subdued in their proper-fitting long gowns with woven patterns. Often the gowns are tied with a bow at the waist, the end draping all the way down below the knees. Ornaments included silk ribbons at the waist tied in decorative knots, jade ornaments between the knots, and hairpins for grownup women. The entire set of garments is carefully put together for an overall effect of elegance, but not extravagance.

    The Ming ruqun was more similar to the Song Dynasty ruqun in overall appearance. The most obvious change in the Ming Dynasty was the addition of a short waist skirt on young maidservants, intended, possibly, to serve as an apron that protects the longer robe underneath. This waist skirt becomes an added layer, as we can see in Ming paintings, which flow with movement with its natural soft pleats. In artistic representations, this makes up the image of a lively girl, together with coiled hair buns.

    The development of theatre and novels in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties bought about the flourishing of the woodblock carving illustrations. Hundreds of illustrations are found in literary work that help us understand the dress style of the scholar, the lady, the maidservant, the old lady, the dancer, the village girl, the carter, the fisherman, the boatman, the servant, the monk, the child. We also get to see the beggar, the porter, the court runner, the farmer, the merchant, as well as the outlaws and the buffalo boy. Although the story is not always of Ming Dynasty, the artwork done by Ming artisans cannot help but reflecting more of the Min~ characteristics.