Fashion history of China

Published: July 28, 2026 · Updated: July 28, 2026

Chinese dress centers on the cross-collar robe closed to the right (youren) of the hanfu tradition, evolving across dynasties from ritual robes to the qipao and Mao suit, with silk — a Chinese invention — at its heart.

Fashion history of China — Author: Zhou Fang Public domain Source

Overview

Two threads run through the story. One is the native cross-collar, right-closing robe, tied with a sash and governed by ritual and rank; the other is repeated influence from the steppe and the Silk Road — riding trousers, Tang cosmopolitan styles, and the Manchu gown of the Qing.

The story of dress

Court dress carried heavy symbolism: color, the dragon robe and rank badges signaled status for centuries. The twentieth century broke sharply with all of it — the qipao and the Zhongshan (Mao) suit modernized Chinese dress, plain uniforms marked the early People’s Republic, and after 1978 global fashion returned alongside a youth-led revival of historical hanfu.

Periods

Fashion in the Xia dynasty c. 2070–c. 1600 BC
Fashion in the Shang dynasty c. 1600–1046 BC
Fashion in the Zhou dynasty 1046–256 BC
Fashion in the Qin dynasty 221–206 BC
Fashion in the Han dynasty 206 BC–AD 220
Fashion in the Three Kingdoms 220–280
Fashion in the Jin and the Northern and Southern dynasties 265–589
Fashion in the Sui dynasty 581–618
Fashion in the Tang dynasty 618–907
Fashion in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 907–960
Fashion in the Song dynasty 960–1279
Fashion in the Yuan dynasty 1271–1368
Fashion in the Ming dynasty 1368–1644
Fashion in the Qing dynasty 1644–1912
Fashion in the Republic of China era 1912–1949
Fashion in the People's Republic of China 1949–present