“As you know, our ancestor, Sun Yee, had a mystical connection with red pandas. In fact, she loved them so much that she asked the gods to turn her into one.”
I saw this movie recently, and besides its other enjoyable aspects, something I really appreciate is its representation of Ming dynasty hanfu. Usually hanfu in animated films is a generic mix of various dynastic styles (and if inspiration is taken from mainly one dynasty, it’s usually the Tang). But here, we have rare representation of authentic Ming hanfu & hairstyles. Take this ancestral portrait of Sun Yee, where she is wearing a red pifeng, orange standing-collar changshan/ao, yellow mamianqun, and diji hair ornament:
It is clearly based on this famous Ming dynasty portrait (source):
In the pic below, the right outfit is the style that Sun Yee wears, and the left outfit (aoqun + square-collar bijia) is the style that her daughters wear (source):
I am loving each costume set a lot, especially the official long blue robe with long hair (the one that made the rounds around cdrama tumblr last time) and the white wig one.
On this day, beautiful bright natural colors are recommended as this is a festival to celebrate flowers. Either wide sleeve formal hanfu outfit or narrow sleeve casual hanfu outfit are both appropriate.
“hanfu” refers to articles of cultural dress worn by the han people of china (there are 55 other ethnic minorities in the country). the word is a bit of an umbrella term, encompassing several different styles that evolved over 3,000+ years, numerous dynasties & their ever-shifting trends.
alina’s hanfu here is in the qixiong ruqun style that was popular during the tang dynasty. it’s composed of a short blouse (ru), a long skirt tied high on the chest (qun) & a long, wide-sleeved robe (dá xiù shān). other accessories include the hē zi (a strapless garment tied across the chest & over the skirt) & pī bó (a long scarf draped over the arms).
the huadian is an element of traditional makeup that was most frequently worn during the tang & song dynasties. there are a few stories of its origin, one of the most popular of which is an attribution to princess shouyang of the southern dynasty. according to legend, a plum blossom drifted from a tree as the princess was lounging outdoors. it stayed fixed to her forehead for 3 days, after which it was washed away, the petals leaving a stain. other palace women found the mark endearing & so incorporated the flowers into their own beauty routines. these purely decorative designs are typically floral & either painted or pasted on with stickers, though materials such as fish scales, gold foil, feathers & jewels have also been used.
some creative liberties were taken with untraditional patterning on the hanfu & deciding to exchange huadian’s common botanical motif for a little sun.
the lovely @mayannecosplay ’s photos inspired this doodle & the specific style of hanfu drawn. do check out her stunning content!
alina starkov belongs to leigh bardugo. please do not repost or edit this caption. but do find me on instagram :3
