The legendary founder of music in Chinesemythology was LingLun, who made bamboo pipes tuned to the sounds of birds.

Traditional music
Chinese musicians at a restaurant in Shanghai

Ethnic Han music

Han Chinese makes up 92% of the population of China. Ethnic Han music consists of heterophony music, in which the musicians play versions of a single melodic line. Percussion accompanies most music, dance, talks, and opera. Han Chinese Folk Music had many aspects to it regarding its meaning, feelings, and tonality. This genre of music, in a sense, is similar to the Chinese language. This relationship is made by tones, sliding from higher tones to lower tones, or lower to higher tones, or a combination of both. These similarities mean that the instrument is a very important part in mastering technique with both left and right hands particularly for

1800s Chinese Opera scene

Chinese opera
Chinese opera has been hugely popular for centuries, especially the Beijing opera. The music is often guttural with high-pitched vocals, usually accompanied by suona, jinghu, other kinds of string instruments, and percussion. Other types of opera include clapper opera, Pingju, Cantonese opera, puppet opera, Kunqu, Sichuan opera, Qinqiang, ritual masked operaandHuangmei xi.

Folk music
Han folk music thrives at weddings and funerals and usually includes a form of oboe called a suona and percussive ensembles called chuigushou. Ensembles consisting of mouth organs (sheng), shawms (suona), flutes (dizi) and percussion instruments (especially yunluogongs) are popular in northern villages; their music is descended from the

imperial temple music of Beijing, Xi'an, Wutai shan and Tianjin. Xi'an drum music consisting of wind and percussive instruments is popular around Xi'an, and has received some popularity outside China in a highlycommercialized form. Another important instrument is the sheng, pipes, which is an ancient instrument that is an ancestor of all Western free reed instruments, such as the accordion. Parades led by Western-type brass bands are common, often competing in volume with a shawm/chuigushou band. Jiangnan Sizhu (silk and bamboo music from Jiangnan) is a style of instrumental music, often played by amateur musicians in teahouses in Shanghai that has become widely known outside of its place of origin. Guangdong Music or Cantonese Music is instrumental music from Guangzhou and surrounding areas. It is based on Yueju (Cantonese Opera) music, together with new compositions from the 1920s onwards. Many pieces have influences from jazz and Western music, using syncopation and triple time.

Regional music
China has many ethnic groups besides the Han, concentrated in the southeast and northwest. These include Tibetans, Uyghurs, Manchus, Zhuang, Dai, Naxi, Miao, Wa, Yi, Lisu and Mongolians.

Tibet
Music forms an integral part of Tibetan Buddhism. While chanting remains perhaps the best known form of Tibetan Buddhist music, complex and lively forms are also widespread. Monks use music to recite various sacred texts and to celebrate a variety of festivals during the year. The most specialized form of chanting is called yang, which is without metrical timing and is dominated by resonant drums and sustained, low syllables. Other forms of chanting are unique to Tantra as well as the four main monastic schools: Gelugpa, Kagyupa, Nyingmapa and Sakyapa. Of these schools, Gelugpa is considered a more a restrained, classical form, while Nyingmapa is widely described as romantic and dramatic. Gelugpa is perhaps the most popular.Tibetanfolk music includes a cappellalu songs, which are distinctively high in pitch with glottal vibrations, as well as now rare epic bards who sing the tales of Gesar, Tibet's most popular hero.Tibetan music has influenced the pioneering compositions of Philip Glass and, most influentially, Henry Eichheim. Later artists made New Age fusions by pioneers Henry Wolff and Nancy Hennings. These two collaborated on Tibetan Bells, perhaps the first fusion of New Age and Tibetan influences, in 1971. Glass' Kundunsoundtrack proved influential in the 1990s, while the popularity of Western-adapted Buddhism (exemplified by Richard Gere, YungchenLhamo, Steve Tibbetts, ChoyingDrolma, Lama Karta and Kitaro and NawangKhechong) helped further popularize Tibetan music.With the arrival of Tibetan refugees in the Himalayas, Western music, often in unique Tibetan forms, started to become popular among Tibetans everywhere. RangzenShonu quickly became the most popular ethnically Tibetan performers of Western rock and pop. Other forms of imported pop music include Indian ghazal and filmi, popular across the Himalayas and in Tibetan communities worldwide. Tibetan-Western fusions have been long suppressed in China itself, but have been widespread and innovative outside of the country. In the mid- to late 1980s, a relaxation of governmental rules allowed a form of Tibetan pop music to emerge in

Tibet proper. A direct reference to native religion is still forbidden, but commonly-understood metaphors are widespread. Pure Tibetan pop is heavily influenced by light Chinese rock, and includes best-sellers like JampaTsering and Yatong. Politically and socially aware songs are rare in this form of pop, but commonplace in a second type of Tibetan pop. Nangma karaoke bars appeared in 1998 and are common in Lhasa, in spite of threats from the Chinese government. Guangxi Music of southern China# 2 Guangxi
Guangxi is a region of China, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Its most famous modern musician is Sister Liu, who was the subject of a 1960s film that introduced Guangxi's cultures to the rest of the world.TheGin people (ethnic Vietnamese) are known for their instrument called duxianqin ( , pinyin: dxinqn; lit. "single string zither"), a string instrument with only one string, said to date back to the 8th century.

Yunnan

Nakhi musicians Music of Yunnan Yunnan is an ethnically diverse area in southwest China. Perhaps best-known from the province is the lusheng, a type of mouth organ, used by the Miao people of Guizhou for pentatonic antiphonal courting songs.TheHani of Honghe Prefecture are known for a unique kind of choral, micro-tonal rice-transplanting songs.TheNakhi of Lijiang play a type of song and dance suite called baishaxiyue, which was supposedly brought by Kublai Khan in 1253. NakhiDongjing is a type of music related to southern Chinese forms, and is popular today.

Sichuan
Music of Sichuan Sichuan is a province in southwest China. Its capital city, Chengdu, is home to the only musical higher education institution in the region, the Sichuan Conservatory of Music. The province has a long history of Sichuan opera.

Manchuria
Music of Manchuria Manchuria is a region in northeast China, inhabited by ethnic groups like the Manchu. The most prominent folk instrument is the octagonal drum, while the youyouzhalullaby is also well-known.

Xinjiang
Music of Xinjiang Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is dominated by Uyghurs, a Turkic people related to others from Central Asia. The Uyghurs' best-known musical form is the On IkkiMuqam, a complex suite of twelve sections related to Uzbek and Tajik forms. These complex symphonies vary wildly between suites in the same muqam, and are built on a seven-note scale. Instruments typically include dap (a drum), dulcimers, fiddles and lutes; performers have some space for personal embellishments, especially in the percussion. The most important performer is TurdiAkhun, who recorded most of the muqams in the 1950s.

Hua'er
Hua'er is a form of traditional acappella singing that is popular in the mountainous northwestern Chinese provinces such as Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai

Kuaiban
Kuaiban ( ) is a type of rhythmic talking and singing which is often performed with percussive instruments such as a clapper called paiban. The center of the kuaiban tradition is Shandong province. Kuaiban bears some resemblance to rap and other forms of rhythmic music found in other cultures.

Boasting rich cultural meaning and a long history, traditional Chinese festivals compose an important and brilliant part of Chinese culture. Most traditional festivals took shape during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). In the most prosperous Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), traditional festivals liberated themselves from primitive sacrifice, taboo and mystery and became more entertaining. From then on, festive occasions turned more brisk and exciting and more and more folk customs were developed.

Winter Solice Festival, The Spring Festival, The Lantern Festival

Mid Authum Festival,The Qingming (Pure Brightness) Festival, The Double Seventh Festival The Dragon Boat Festival The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like Christ home go back, becoming the busiest time for transportation systems of about half a month from the Spring Festival. Airports, railway s crowded with home returnees.The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian 1600 BC-c. 1100 BC) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.Strictly in the early days of the 12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year. Of them, the most important days ar The Chinese government now stipulates people have seven days off for the Chinese Lunar New Year.Many customs accompany the Sp others have weakened.

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as had become a festival with great significance.This day's important activity is watching lanterns. Throughout the Han Dynasty (206 BCemperor heard that Buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddha's body, and light lanterns to worship so he ordered to light lanterns in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, the Buddhist rite develo and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China.

The Qingming (Pure Brightness) Festival is one of the 24 seasonal division points in China, falling on April 4-6 each year. After the increases. It is the high time for spring plowing and sowing. But the Qingming Festival is not only a seasonal point to guide farm work, commemoration.TheQingming Festival sees a combination of sadness and happiness.This is the most important day of sacrifice. Both t offer sacrifices to their ancestors and sweep the tombs of the deceased. Also, they will not cook on this day and only cold food is served

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, usually in October in Gregorian calendar. The festival has a lo the rite of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and to the moon in autumn. Historical books of the Zhou Dynasty had had the word "M figures helped expand the ceremony to common people. They enjoyed the full, bright moon on that day, worshipped it and expressed th has a long history. In ancient China, emperors followed the rite of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and to the moon in autumn. H word "Mid-Autumn". Later aristocrats and literary figures helped expand the ceremony to common people. They enjoyed the full, brigh expressed their thoughts and feelings under it. By the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Mid-Autumn Festival had been fixed, which becam In the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, it grew to be a major festival of China.Folklore about the origin of the festiv ten suns rising in the sky, which scorched all crops and drove people into dire poverty. A hero named Hou Yi was much worried about Mountain and, directing his superhuman strength to full extent, drew his extraordinary bow and shot down the nine superfluous suns on rise and set according to time. For this reason, he was respected and loved by the people and lots of people of ideals and integrity came named PengMeng lurked in them.

The Double Seventh Festival, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, is a traditional festival full of romance. It often goes into August mid-summer when the weather is warm and the grass and trees reveal their luxurious greens. At night when the sky is dotted with stars, from the north to the south. On each bank of it is a bright star, which see each other from afar. They are the Cowherd and Weaver Maid passed down from generation to generation.

The Dragon Boat Festival, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, has had a history of more than 2,000 years. It is usually in June in the about the evolution of the festival, the most popular of which is in commemoration of Qu Yuan (340-278 BC). Qu Yuan was minister o poets. In face of great pressure from the powerful Qin State, he advocated enriching the country and strengthening its military forces so opposed by aristocrats headed by ZiLan, and later deposed and exiled by King Huai. In his exiled days, he still cared much for his coun including Li Sao (The Lament), Tian Wen (Heavenly Questions) and JiuGe(Nine Songs), which had far-reaching influences. In 278 BC,

conquered Chu's capital, so he finished his last piece HuaiSha (Embracing Sand) and plunged himself into the Miluo River, clasping hi the 5th of the 5th month in the Chinese lunar calendar. After his death, the people of Chu crowded to the bank of the river to pay their r

The 9th day of the 9th lunar month is the traditional Chongyang Festival, or Double NinthFestival. It usually falls in October in the mysterious book Yi Jing, or The Book of Changes, number "6" was thought to be of Yin character, meaning feminine or negative, while masculine or positive. So the number nine in both month and day create the Double Ninth Festival, or Chongyang Festival. Chong in C was pronounced the same as the word to signify "forever", both are "JiuJiu," the Chinese ancestors considered it an auspicious day wor began to celebrate this festival long time ago.

The custom of ascending a height to avoid epidemics was passed down from long time ago. Therefore, the Double Ninth Festival is als height people will reach is usually a mountain or a tower. Ancient literary figures have left many poems depicting the activity. Even tod mountains on this day.On this day, people will eat Double Ninth Gao (or Cake). In Chinese, gao (cake) has the same pronunciation wit progress in everything they are engaged in. There is no fixed ways for the Double Ninth Cake, but super cakes will have as many as nin Ninth Festival is also a time when chrysanthemum blooms. China boasts diversified species of chrysanthemum and people have loved t flourishing chrysanthemum also becomes a key activity on this festival. Also, people will drink chrysanthemum wine. Women used to branches on windows or doors to avoid evilness.In 1989, the Chinese government decided the Double Ninth Festival as Seniors' Day. S and streets communities will organize an autumn trip each year for those who have retired from their posts. At the waterside or on the m merged into nature. Younger generations will bring elder ones to suburban areas or send gifts to them on this day.

As early as 2,500 years ago, about the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), China had determined the point of Winter Solstice by sundial. It is the earliest of the 24 seasonal division points. The time will be each December 21 or 22 according to the Gregorian calend experiences the shortest daytime and longest nighttime. After the Winter Solstice, days will become longer and longer. As ancient Chin things will become stronger and stronger after this day, so it should be celebrated. The Winter Solstice became a festival during the Han Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279). The Han people regarded Winter Solstice as a "Winter Festival", so officials would organize cele common people would have a rest. The army was stationed in, frontier fortresses closed and business and traveling stopped. Relatives a food. In the Tang and Song dynasties, the Winter Solstice was a day to offer scarifies to Heaven and ancestors. Emperors would go to s people offered sacrifices to their deceased parents or other relatives. The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) even had the record that "Winter S showing the great importance attached to this day.

In some parts of Northern China, people eat dumpling soup on this day; while residents of some other places eat dumplings, saying d upcoming winter. But in parts of South China, the whole family will get together to have a meal made of red-bean and glutinous rice other places, people also eat tangyuan, a kind of stuffed small dumpling ball made of glutinous rice flour. The Winter Solstice rice dum or gifts for friends and relatives. The Taiwan people even keep the custom of offering nine-layer cakes to their ancestors. They make ca cow or sheep with glutinous rice flour and steam them on different layers of a pot. These animals all signify auspiciousness in Chinese clan gather at their ancestral temples to worship their ancestors in age order. After the sacrificial ceremony, there is always a grand ban

Chinese architecture is most famous for the Great Wall of China. But, there is so much more to Chinese Architecture than just that huge wall. Their temples are large and extravagant. Their palaces are a pleasure to look at. Even their roofs are breathtaking and detailed to the last drop of gloss or paint. Probably the most underappreciated structure in all of China is the Forbidden City. If you would like to find more information about Chinese architecture, then you have come to the right place.

A Chinese structure is based on the principle of balance and symmetry. Office buildings, residences, temples, and palaces all follow the principle that the main structure is the axis. The secondary structures are positioned as two wings on either side to form the main room and yard. The distribution of interior space reflects Chinese social and ethnical values. For example, a traditional residential building assigns family members based on the family's hierarchy.

One fabulous example of Chinese architecture is the Buddhist temple which can be found scattered around China. Unfortunately, there are not many of these temples left. The reason being that most of them were torn down because the space was either needed for urban development, or others just fell apart because of many years of neglect. One tower which still remains is nearly 400 feet high which was erected in the Yung-ning-ssu dynasty. This temple is located at Toyang and was made at the beginning of the 6th century. However, there is not much information which can be found about these towers. Information which is available says that the most distinctive kinds of Buddhist buildings in China are the stupa (t'a) or pagoda. The pagoda was mainly used to house sacred objects. As for the architecture, these temples can take the form of a storied tower, or, more rarely, a upturned bowl. As the centuries passed, however, the shape of these temples took new forms. In the second and third century, the structures were basically made out of wood. Their shape took the form of a tetragonal under Sung during the 10th Century. The next dynasty, Tang, decided to have their towers shaped into an octagon or diagonal. The number of stories varied with each of the buildings. The height demised regularly from the base to the summit but everything else remained the same.

Inside each Chinese city in the past, all had their own unique personalities. But to protect each of these cities, all of the Chinese cities were surrounded by strong, high walls. Inside those

protective walls were wealthy houses which were made of wood and had tiles which were either painted with paint or a gloss. These types of houses all had their own walls to protect them. The merchants, peasants, and poor did not have such luxuries. Most of their houses were made up of mud bricks and roots of reeds. Unfortunately, these houses were almost always drafty and did not protect their residence from the harsh elements. Another down side to these houses is that most of them only had one room which would include the bathroom, bedroom, dining room, kitchen, and any other room which was essential to life back then.

Even though it may not seem like roofs are an important part of Chinese architecture, they are very important.Roofs did not only protect residences from the elements, they also had a deeper meaning. For example, temple roofs were curved because the Buddhist believed that it helped ward off evil spirits which were believed to be straight lines. The temple's roof is also made of glazed ceramic tiles and has an overhanging cave distinguished by a graceful upward slope. The arc at which the roof turns comes from the intricate fit of rafters. They used rods of short rafters that melt together Even wealthy homes had elaborate roofs. One perfect example of splendid roofs would be located inside the wonderful palace, The Forbidden Palace. The thirteen tombs all have roof tiles which are a brilliant yellow, green, and red. The ridges of each roof carries figurines and/or mythical creatures. The curve of each roof can be no more than a sweep and the most intricate designs on the roof are almost always pointing south-east. However, there aresome down sides to having all of these decorations of the roof. The tremendous weight could eventually bring down the entire complex. That is why the Chinese have added an additional colonnade to support the weight under the outer edges, reducing the bracket system to mere decorations. The brackets are decorated by elaborately painting them with bright colors and eye-popping designs.

In China, there is one great city which has all of the wonder and splendor of old China. This city is called the Forbidden City which is located within the inner city of Beijing. In actuality, the Forbidden City is a moated palace with many religious locations within that moat. In this section, you will learn about the many various places which make up this once mysterious city. First, the history and basic idea of this imperial city. It is believed that this palace was built during the early Qing dynasty. It was never assumed of any national importance until the QubilaiQan chose it as his personal seat in the year 1260 A. D. The city was established as the main capital by the Bing Emperors during the early 15th century. One thing that makes it so great lies with the lay out. Symmetry and the logical placing of all of these buildings are located everywhere. Second, there are many structures which make this city stand out as a place of many great art. There are avenues of lions,

treasures and

mythical

animals, camels, elephants, horses, officials, and guardians carved from single blocks of marble standing guard. They are placed right along the "Spirit Way." These structures can also be found all throughout the city and are always placed in a certain spot for a reason - sometimes for protection of evil spirits and sometimes for decoration. Another place where you could see these stone figures is on top of a tomb's roof or important building's roof . There could be a dragon, lion, etc., on any roof, or, there could be a combination of these figures. You can find some information about these roofs by going to the section labeled Roof.

Almost everyone has heard of the huge, stone wall named the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall of China was built mainly to protect the Chinese Empire from invaders from the Mongolians. This huge wall stretches over 1,500 miles and extends from Kansu in the west to the Yellow sea in the east. One problem is that we do not know the precise date in which the Great Wall was built. It is believed to be built between 246 and 209 B. C.

Chinese Dance History c/o New York Chinese Cultural Center

Chinese dance dates back nearly 5,000 years. As in most cultures, Chinese dance is closely linked to and reflective of life experiences and concerns. Thus the dances can be divided into (1) CEREMONIAL; for praying to the gods for bountiful harvests, (2) DRAMATIC; for reporting and commemorating historical events, (3) MARTIAL; for demonstrating fighting techniques, and (4) AGRICULTURAL; for celebrating nature and work. In old China, dancers belonged to the slave class and their chief function was to perform in the courts for royalty and the nobles. During the Tang Dynasty (618-906 A.D.) the famous Silk Road was often travelled by Indians, Persians and others who came to trade silk. Buddhism thus found its way into China and had an enormous impact on Chinese culture. The Flying Apsara, a minor deity, plays music and is pictured in many murals from this period. The unique poses of the dancers represented on these murals influenced Chinese classical dance.

Chinese language
.

The varieties of spoken Chinese in Eastern China and Taiwan Chinese or the Sinitic language(s) ( / Hny ; / Huy ; Zh ngwn) is a language family consisting of languages which are mostly mutually unintelligible to varying degrees.[3] Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages. About one-fifth of the worlds population, or over one billion people, speaks some variety of Chinese as their native language. Internal divisions of Chinese are usually perceived by their native speakers as dialects of a single Chinese language, rather than separate languages, although this identification is considered inappropriate by some linguists and Sinologists.[4] Spoken Chinese is distinguished by its high level of internal diversity, although all spoken varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. There are between seven and thirteen main regional groups of Chinese (depending on classification scheme), of which the most spoken, by far, is Mandarin (about 850 million), followed by Wu (90 million), Cantonese (Yue) (70 million) and Min (50 million). Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and the Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms and some degree of intelligibility. Standard Mandarin(Putonghua / Guoyu / Huayu) is a standardized form of spoken Chinese, based on the Beijing dialect, which is part of a larger group of North-Eastern and South-Western dialects, often taken as a separate language. The Mandarin Chinese language is referred to as / Gu nhu or / B if nghu in Chinese. Standard Mandarin is the official language of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC, also known as Taiwan), as well as one of four official languages of Singapore. Chinesede facto, Standard Mandarinis one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Of the other varieties, Standard Cantonese is common and influential in Guangdong Province and Cantonese-speaking overseas communities, and remains one of the official languages of Hong Kong (together with English) and of Macau (together with Portuguese). Min Nan, part of the Min language group, is widely spoken in southern Fujian, in neighbouring Taiwan (where it is known as Taiwanese or Hoklo) and in Southeast Asia (known as Hokkien in Singapore and Malaysia).

Chinese clothing

traditionalChinese academic dress. Japanese clothes and Chinese clothes are very similar.Depending on one's status in society, each social class had a different sense of fashion. Most Chinese men wore Chinese black cotton shoes, but wealthy higher class people would wear tough black leather shoes for formal occasions. Very rich and wealthy men would wear very bright, beautiful silk shoes sometimes having leather on the inside. Women would wear bright, silk coated Lotus shoes under their bound feet. Male shoes were mostly less elaborate then women's. Civil and military officials Chinese civil or military officials used a variety of codes to show their rank and position. The most recognized is the Mandarin square or rank badge. Another code was also the use of colorful hat knobs fixed on the top of their hats. The specific hat knob on one's hat determined one's rank. As there were twelve types of hat knobs representing the nine distinctive ranks of the civil or military position. Variations existed for Ming official headwear.

The Night Revels of Han Xizai painting, originally by GuHongzhong, depicting life in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period

Robe of Qianlong Emperor with the Chinese dragon, hallmark of the Emperor of China and imperial families Qing Dynasty (16441911) See also: Cheongsam and changshan The rise of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in many ways represented a cultural rupture with the past and new clothing styles were required to be worn by all citizens through laws such as the Queue Orders. A new style of dress, called tangzhuang, included the changshan worn by men and the qipao worn by women. Manchu official headwear differed from the Ming version but the Qing continued to use the Mandarin square.

Republican era

Two women wearing cheongsams in a 1930s Shanghai advertisement. The abolition of imperial China in 1912 had an immediate effect on dress and customs. The largely Han Chinese population immediately cut off their queue as they were forced to grow in submission to the overthrown Qing Dynasty. Sun Yat-senpopularised a new style of men's wear, featuring jacket and trousers instead of the robes worn previously. Adapted from Japanese student wear, this style of dress became known as the Zhongshan suit (Zhongshan being one of Sun Yat-sen's given names in Chinese). For women, a transformation of the traditional qipao (cheongsam) resulted in a slender and form fitting dress with a high cut, resulting in the contemporary image of a cheongsam but contrasting sharply with the traditional qipao. Early People's Republic Early in the People's Republic, Mao Zedong would inspire Chinese fashion with his own variant of the Zhongshan suit, which would be known to the west as Mao suit. Meanwhile, Sun Yat-sen's widow, Soong Ching-ling, popularised the cheongsam as the standard female dress. At the same time, old practices such as footbinding, which had been viewed as backwards and unmodern by both the Chinese as well as Westerners, were forbidden. Around the Destruction of the "Four Olds" period in 1964, almost anything seen as part of Traditional Chinese culture would lead to problems with the CommunistRed Guards. Items that attracted dangerous attention if caught in the public included jeans, high heels, Western-style coats, ties, jewelry, cheongsams, and long hair.[1] These items were regarded as symbols of bourgeois lifestyle, which represented wealth. Citizens had to avoid them or suffer serious consequences such as torture or beatings by the guards.[1] A number of these items were thrown into the streets to embarrass the citizens.[2] Clothing in contemporary China (1980present) Chinese fashion has drastically changed over time. Following the relaxation of communist clothing standards in the late 70s, the way Chinese dressed and the fashion trends of the country were also changing. Contemporary urban clothing seemed to have developed an obsession with brand names. In major urban centres, especially Shanghai, an increased western look is preferred, and there is an emphasis on formal wear over casual wear for adults on the streets. Teenagers prefer brand names and western clothing. Children usually wear clothes decorated with cartoon characters. However, there is also effort by the hanfu to revive traditional clothing forms such as the hanfu by the hanfu movement. At an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shanghai in 2001, the host presented silkembroidered tangzhuang jackets as the Chinese traditional national costume.

However in rural China, clothing tends to be the same as it was in the 1960s. This is because life in rural China has not been influenced by western lifestyle. Also, most people residing in rural China cannot afford such new and pricey clothing from new western style companies. However, many rural Chinese in the less isolated areas have blue jeans, T-shirts, and modern jackets because of many factories that manufacture these goods at an affordable price. Rural Chinese just don't have the fancier modern clothing such as designer jeans, high heels, mini skirts, dresses, etc. People in rural China also tend to have cotton shoes, but the wealthier areas may have cheap sneakers. In rural China non-western modern clothing e.g. Mao suit are usually hand-made by grandmothers who are very experienced in tailoring and sewing.

Jade burial suit fashion

Emperor Wu of Jn, by Yan Liben (600673)

Tang Dynasty court ladies from the tomb of Princess Yongtai in the Qianling Mausoleum, near Xi'an in Shaanxi

Official Song Dynasty portrait painting of Empress Cao, wife of Emperor Renzong of Song

Phoenix crown of the Ming Ming Dynasty Empress Dynasty empress Xiao'an

A Ming Dynasty portrait of the Chinese official Jiang Shunfu (14531504). The decoration of Detail of Jiang Shunfu's two cranes on his chest are a rank badge Mandarin square "rank badge" that indicate he was a civil official of the first rank.

The Qing DynastyQianlong Emperor in ceremonial armour on horseback

Officers of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in the United States in tangzhuang dress, with riding jackets ( ) over changshan.

Old Chinese garb from the early to mid-20th century