Chinese tunic suit
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The modern Chinese tunic suit is a style of male attire originally known in China as the Zhongshan suit () after the republican leader Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan). Sun Yat-sen introduced the style shortly after the founding of the
Republic of China (1912–1949) The Republic of China (ROC), between 1912 and 1949, was a sovereign state recognised as the official designation of China when it was based on Mainland China, prior to the relocation of its central government to Taiwan as a result of the C ...
as a form of national dress with distinct political overtones. He based the suit on the  Japanese cadet uniform. The four pockets are said to represent the Four Virtues of propriety, justice, honesty, and shame; and the five buttons the branches of China's former government (Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Examination, Control), which still survive today in the Republic of China government of
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. After the Communist victory in the
Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
and the establishment of the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in 1949, such suits came to be worn widely by male citizens and government leaders as a symbol of proletarian unity and an Eastern counterpart to the Western
business suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of t ...
. The name "Mao suit" comes from Chinese Communist
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
's fondness for the style. The garment became closely associated with him and with Chinese Communism. Mao's cut of the suit was further influenced by the
Stalin tunic The Stalin tunic or Stalinka () is colloquial term for a type of tunic or jacket associated with Joseph Stalin; from the 1920s until the 1950s and beyond, it was commonly worn as a political uniform by government officials in the Soviet Union (an ...
then prevalent among
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
officials. Although it declined in use among the general public in the 1980s and 1990s due to the increasing prominence of the business suit, it is still commonly worn by Chinese leaders during important state ceremonies and functions. The Mao suit was also worn in
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
by
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...
elites. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Mao suit became fashionable among Western European, Australian, and New Zealander socialists and intellectuals. It was sometimes worn over a turtleneck.


Origins

When the Republic was founded in 1912, the style of dress worn in China was based on Manchu dress (''
qipao ''Cheongsam'' (, ), also known as the ''qipao'' () and sometimes referred to as the mandarin gown, is a Chinese dress worn by women which takes inspiration from the , the ethnic clothing of the Manchu people. The cheongsam is most often se ...
'' and ''
changshan (; ), also known as (), and (), is a form of , Chinese robe, which was derived from the Qing dynasty , the traditional dress of the Manchu people, which were worn by Manchu men. The was actually developed by the Han Chinese through the modi ...
''), which had been imposed by the
Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...
as a form of social control. The majority-
Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...
revolutionaries who overthrew the Qing were fueled by the failure of the Qing to defend China and a lack of scientific advancement compared to foreign colonial powers. Even before the founding of the Republic, older forms of Chinese dress were becoming unpopular among the elite and led to the development of Chinese dress which combined the changshan and the European hat to form a new dress. The Zhongshan suit is a parallel development that combined European-inspired Chinese fashion.


Historical development

The Mao suit remained the standard formal dress for the first and second generations of PRC leaders such as
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...
. During the 1990s, it began to be worn with decreasing frequency by leaders of CCP General Secretary
Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pr ...
's generation as more and more Chinese politicians began wearing traditional European-style suits with
neckties A necktie, or simply a tie, is a piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat, and often draped down the chest. Variants include the ascot, bow, bolo, zipper tie, crava ...
. Jiang wore it only on special occasions, such as to state dinners. General Secretary Hu Jintao still wore the Mao suit, but only on special occasions, such as the ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic in 2009. Hu Jintao even showed up to a black tie state dinner in the United States wearing a business suit, attracting some criticism for being underdressed at a formal occasion. In the
Xi Jinping Administration The Xi Jinping Administration of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially called the "CCP Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as General Secretary" () between 2012 and 2016, and "CCP Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its ...
, however, the Mao suit made a comeback as a
diplomatic uniform Diplomatic uniforms are ornate uniforms worn by diplomats— ambassadorial and consular officers—at public occasions. Introduced by European states around 1800 and patterned on court dress, they were abandoned by most countries in the twent ...
and evening dress.


Symbol of national sovereignty

The Mao suit is worn at the most formal ceremonies as a symbol of national sovereignty. China's paramount leaders always wear Mao suits for military parades in Beijing, even though other
Politburo Standing Committee The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Histori ...
members and other Politburo officials wear European business suits. It is customary for Chinese leaders to wear Mao suits when attending
state dinner A state banquet is an official banquet hosted by the head of state in his or her official residence for another head of state, or sometimes head of government, and other guests. Usually as part of a state visit or diplomatic conference, it is h ...
s. In this situation, the Mao suit serves as a form of evening dress, equivalent to a military uniform for a monarch, or a tuxedo for a paramount leader. The Mao suit also serves as a
diplomatic uniform Diplomatic uniforms are ornate uniforms worn by diplomats— ambassadorial and consular officers—at public occasions. Introduced by European states around 1800 and patterned on court dress, they were abandoned by most countries in the twent ...
. Although Chinese ambassadors usually wear European business suits, many Chinese ambassadors choose to wear a Mao suit when they present their credentials to the head of state. The presentation ceremony is symbolic of the
diplomatic recognition Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral declarative political act of a state that acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state (may be also a recognized state). Recognition can be accor ...
that exists between the two countries, so it carries a higher level of formality than other diplomatic meetings. File:Chiang Kai-shek 1946.jpg, Chiang Kai-shek inspects Taiwan, 1946 File:Kim Il Sung Portrait.png,
Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...
wearing a Mao suit File:Xi Jinping and Barack Obama toast at White House state dinner September 2015.jpg,
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...
wearing the suit at a black tie state dinner


See also

* Abacost * Barong Tagalog *
Chinese clothing Chinese clothing includes both the traditional hanfu and modern variations of indigenous Chinese dress as recorded by the artifacts and some traditional arts of Chinese culture. Chinese clothing has been shaped through its dynastic traditions, as ...
* Feldbluse *
French (tunic) ''French'' ( rus, френч) was the designation of a particular type of military jacket or tunic in the Russian Empire and later in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In the years immediately preceding the start of World War I, s ...
* Gakuran * Jodhpuri * Kariba suit *
Madiba shirt A Madiba shirt is a loose-fitting silk shirt, usually adorned in a bright and colourful print. It became known in the 1990s, when Nelson Mandela—then elected President of South Africa—added the item to his regular attire. Mandela popularised ...
*
Mandarin collar A mandarin collar, standing collar, band collar or choker collar is a short unfolded stand-up collar style on a shirt or jacket. The style derives its Western name from the mandarin bureaucrats in Qing-era China that employed it as part of th ...
*
Safari jacket A safari jacket or bush jacket also known as a “shacket” is a garment originally designed for the purpose of going on safari in the African bush. When paired with trousers or shorts, it becomes a safari suit. A safari jacket is commonly a lig ...
*
Stalin tunic The Stalin tunic or Stalinka () is colloquial term for a type of tunic or jacket associated with Joseph Stalin; from the 1920s until the 1950s and beyond, it was commonly worn as a political uniform by government officials in the Soviet Union (an ...


References


External links


History of the Mao Suit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mao Suit 20th-century fashion Chinese clothing History of fashion Military uniforms Clothing in politics Mao Zedong