Round Collar Robe

Round collar robe, also called () and in China, (; ; ) in Korea, was a style of , a Chinese robe, worn in ancient China, which was long enough to cover the entire body of its wearer. The Chinese was developed under the influences of the worn by the and by the (including the Xianbei). Depending on time period, the Chinese also had some traces of influences from the worn by the Sogdian. The Chinese continued to evolve, developing distinctive Chinese characteristics with time and lost its connotation. It eventually became fully integrated in the system for the imperial and court dress attire. Under the influence of ancient China, the Chinese was adopted by the rest of the East Asian cultural sphere.

History

China

The appearance of collars in , including those used in the round collar robe, occurred during the Eastern Han dynasty where clothing with round collars started to be used as an inner garment under the of the .

Later on, the clothing customs of the Chinese were further influenced by the -style clothing with round collars and narrow sleeves used in the of the (including the people) during the Six dynasties period, when clothing with collar started to be worn as an outer-garment and could be used as a form of formal clothing.

A form of localized which was integrated with the traditional Chinese characteristics of the is the .

By the Tang dynasty, the became a formal attire which was typically worn by men although it also became fashionable for women to wear it in some dynasties, such as in the Tang dynasty. During the Tang dynasty, under the influence of the Sogdians, the could be transformed into a .
File:韋貴妃墓儀衛圖.jpg, alt=, Three kinds of yuanlingpao: Fanlingpao (left), panling lanshan (middle), yuanlingshan(right), Tang dynasty
File:Emperor Taizong of Song.tif, alt=, Yuanlingpao with broad and loose sleeves, Song dynasty
File:MingXianzong1.jpg, alt=, Yuanlingpao as a dragon robe, Ming dynasty
File:A mandarin's wife in ceremonial costume. Ming. Colours on silk. Toulon Asian Art Museum.jpg, alt=, Yuanlingpao with broad sleeves, Ming dynasty
File:六十七代衍聖公 繼配葉夫人衣冠像.jpg, alt=, Yuanlingpao, Qing dynasty

Korea

In Korea, round collared hanbok was worn with roots in hobok and Goguryeo murals show that it was worn often as an inner garment. The official court uniform called danryeong was introduced from Tang dynasty by Kim Chun-chu in the second year of Queen Jindeok's rule. Since then, it has been worn as an official outfit for government officials until the end of Joseon. It originated from the Chinese' round collar robe. At first, the danryeong collar was circular, similar to the Chinese round collar robe but later localized into a uniquely Korean U-shaped collar also seen in the Won-sam.

Danryeong is used as a type of Gwanbok. Sometimes it is worn together with the dapho.

In late Joseon, under the 1884 decree of King Gojong, only black-coloured danryeong were permitted to be worn by court officials.

File:Kim Jeong-hui.jpg, Danryeong of Joseon Dynasty

Japan

See also

*China: Yuanlingshan; panling lanshan, fanlingpao
*Korea: Gwanbok
*Japan: Sokutai

References

History of Asian clothing

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