Ǎoqún (袄裙)
The ǎoqún (袄裙) is a set of garments consisting of a long-sleeved top worn layered over a pleated skirt. It is quite similar to the rúqún (襦裙) which is a set of garments with the skirt worn layered over the top. Both the aoqun and the ruqun fall into the broader category of yīcháng (衣裳), which is an outfit consisting of a top garment and a bottom garment that is a skirt or trousers.
Aoqun were most popular during the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasties, and were typically made from silk and decorated with embroidery or made from rich brocades. The upper garment of the aoqun was called the ǎo (袄) if it was lined or the shān (衫) if it was unlined. The lower garment, or qún (裙), was most often a mǎmiànqún (马面裙) skirt, but could be a variety of other styles of skirts including the “moonlight skirt” (yuè huá qún, 月华裙), the “phoenix tail” skirt (fèng wěi qún, 凤尾裙), or the “fish scale” skirt (yúlín qún, 鱼鳞裙). The rest of this article will discuss the ao/shan. If you’d like to learn more about the qun, read this article on the mamianqun and its variants.
Ao/shan are upper robes featuring straight sleeves or curved pipa-shaped sleeves. The collars came in a variety of styles, including round collars (yuán lǐng, 圆领), square collars (fāng lǐng, 方领), crossed-collars (jiāo lǐng yòu rèn, 交领右衽), straight collars (duì jīn, 对襟), and notably, standing collars (lìlǐng, 立领) appeared for the first time. These standing collars could fasten to the right or have vertical front openings. The climate was actually significantly colder during the Ming Dynasty, in a phenomenon called the Little Ice Age. This drop in climate may have contributed to the first emergence of the standing collar. Unlike the modern mandarin collars we recognize from qipao dresses, the standing collars of the Ming Dynasty were rectangular rather than curved.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, ao/shan were typically around hip length. However, as the Ming Dynasty progressed and the economy prospered, the sleeves deepened and hemlines lengthened, inciting panic amongst the literati. The traditional sensibility was that a woman’s upper garment should end around her waist with her lower garment meeting the top, to show the earth supports the heavens; whereas a man’s upper garment should extend long enough to partially cover his lower garments, to show the heavens embrace the earth. The literati were concerned that with hemlines lengthening, not only was the symbolic greater order of the heavens and the earth disturbed, but women might be mistaken for men. To distinguish them from one another, the shorter hip-length ao/shan can be called duǎn ǎo (短袄) / duǎn shān (短衫), while the longer calf-length ao/shan can be called cháng ǎo (长袄) / cháng shān (长衫).
In the early Ming Dynasty, people tended to dress more frugally as the economy recovered from decades of conflict, and garments were quite plain. By the end of the Ming Dynasty though, China opened its borders to international trade and people began to dress above their station, competing to display wealth and extravagance. During this period, Ming Dynasty women started fastening the collars of their ao/shan with interlocking buttons called zimukou, made from gold and silver and sometimes even inlaid with gemstones.
During the Ming Dynasty, imperial edicts strictly regulated what colors women could wear. Only imperial women and the wives and mothers of court officials could wear crimson, dark blue, and yellow. Commoner women were forbidden from wearing these colors, and could wear light colors like purple, green, and pink instead.
Sew Your Own
Interested in making your own aoqun? Use “The Courtesan” Hanfu sewing pattern (includes chang ao, bijia, and mamianqun patterns).
Looking for a Hanfu sewing pattern? Making a wuxia or xianxia cosplay or Chinese historical reenactment costume based in the Ming or Qing Dynasty? Want a pattern that provides info on how to properly wear Hanfu and historical considerations like sleeve length and fabric choices? I have made just the pattern for you! This pattern includes 3 garments—a chang ao, bijia, and mamianqun—which can be worn layered together or separately.
This digital download includes:
Printable sewing pattern & fully illustrated sewing instructions for 3 garments: chang ao, bijia, and mamianqun
Printable patterns are compatible with US Letter, A4, and A0 paper
4 unisex sizes covering approximately US women’s XS-XXL and instructions on how to resize your pattern
See size chart image for detailed measurements
Instructions on how to wear Hanfu
Historical considerations for fabrics, colors, motifs, and fit
Estimated yardage and sample cutting layouts
Note that I pattern in metric, so the standard seam allowance is 1cm (3/8in). Information to alter the seam allowance is provided
When you purchase this pattern, a checkout page will open containing a link to the digital download that will last for 24 hours. You will also receive an email with the same link. The download is a zip file which you will need to unzip to access the PDFs of the printable patterns and instructions. Please make sure to provide your correct email address so that the digital download is delivered to you successfully and remember to download it within 24 hours of delivery. To use the digital pattern, print out the pattern PDFs, tape together the numbered grid of pages, and then cut out the pattern pieces.
Note that this pattern is to be used for your personal use only. Commercial use and redistribution are not permitted.
Sources Consulted (photo sources listed in image captions):
5000 Years of Chinese Costume by Xun Zhou
Hanfu: A Visual Primer of Historical Han Chinese Attire by the Northern California Hanfu Association
Women and Clothing in the Yuan & Ming Dynasty (1260-1644) by Laurence Wen-Yu Li
Changing clothes in China : Fashion, Fistory, Nation by Antonia Finnane
From Niche Interest to Fashion Trend: Hanfu Clothing as a Rising Industry in China by Wang, Xinyi; Colbert, François; and Legoux, Renaud
