Grace and Beauty in Tang Dynasty Era Costume
服飾文化是有其背後的內涵的。
From that, one can see that the costume/dress style of each dynasty had its own inner meanings.
在 敦煌壁畫中有大量描繪佛國世界的彩繪，其中有許多飛天仙女、天人等的形象，美妙非常。再看中華歷史上文化最鼎盛的大唐時的服飾，會發現與壁畫中天人的服飾 十分相似。其實，當古人重德守道，敬神信佛的時候，一些宇宙中的真像就會被神有意的顯現給人，那美麗神聖的一切都是人追求和模仿的標準，可見服飾本身就是 文化的一部分，都是有其背後深厚的內涵的。
The Dunhuang Caves in Henan Valley of Shanxi Province contain many colorful Buddhist paintings, depicting the magnificently beautiful Buddhist heavens, flying fairies and gods. When we examined the costume of Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907), the most culturally prosperous period in Chinese history, we found a striking similarity to the costumes worn by gods in the Dunhuang cave paintings. There is a good explanation for the similarity. Ancient Chinese people cherished moral values and governed themselves with reason. When they showed their respect toward gods and displayed their faith in Buddhism, gods would intentionally reveal select truths of the universe to them. People would pursue and imitate the beautiful and holy visions they were granted, even imitating dress styles. This explains the similarity in costume between and the reason for the Tang Dynasty costumes and the murals in the Caves of Dunhuang.其實對於講求重德向善的朝代的人，宇宙自會給其帶來好的一切，包括文化和美麗的服飾，在這裡我們對大唐的一些服飾做一些簡單的介紹，希望這些真正美麗的服飾，能引起人們的思索，古人的生活真的沒有我們今天的好嗎？
When people pursue morality and kindness, the universe will reward them in some way, perhaps even including the blossoming of cultures, inventions of beautiful costumes and the resources to produce those costumes. Here I will briefly discuss the costume style of the Tang Dynasty. Hopefully, after learning about these beautiful costumes you will begin to ask yourself this question: 「Was life in ancient times really not as great as today?」
常服：
Daily Costume for Affluent Women
一、披紗大袖明衣制：屬於常服盛裝。其頭梳唐代特有髮型「高牆」簪大花，飾花釵、步搖，蛾眉盛妝，身穿敞領對襟，大袖明衣，下穿長裙，佩大綬，束軟帶，結小結，足著高履。在唐代此服飾是作為外服，在貴族仕女中風行一時。
Picture on the Left: long-sleeve gauze robe, a dressy outfit for every day. The hairdo was a unique Tang style, hair piled high, decorated with large flowers and flowery hairpins. An ornament dangled from the hands. Thin eyebrows and heavy rouge were in fashion. A sleeveless top was worn over a long-sleeve gauze robe that closed in front, and also a long skirt, tied up with a large ornamental chord, silk ribbons and high heels. The long-sleeve gauze robe was a typical outdoor outfit in the Tang Dynasty and was very fashionable among feudal gentlewomen.
二、唐仕女半袖衫制：是唐代特有的一種流行服飾，初作為宴居穿用，後亦當常服穿用，為宮廷嬪妃及名流仕女所好。
Picture in the Center: half-sleeve gauze shirt, a fashion outfit only seen during the Tang Dynasty. It was originally designed for banquets and later used as daily wear. This style was much favored by members of the royal family and distinguished gentlewomen.
三、唐仕女宴居服：上身束抹胸，外披薄紗明衣，下穿長裙，裙腰及胸，上窄下寬，結束軟帶、小帶，屬於宴居內裝，但頭梳高髻又簪花，故此裝扮也可作為外裝常服之用。
Picture on the Right: Tang Dynasty era banquet dress. The look was completed with a tight undergarment, a gauze shawl, and a chest-to-toe A-line skirt tied with soft chords. An upswept hairdo, crowned with a chignon and adorned with flower hairpins completed the look (sometimes worn as a daily outdoor outfit).
看 了這些服飾，有人也許會覺得，看起來那時的服飾也很開放啊！其實，在一個講求道德的社會裏，人的行為相應的也是很規範的，在中國的歷史上，一向都講男女有 別，男人有男人的行為準則，女子也有女子的操守，講男主外女主內，女子一般都是在家中操持家事，出門乘車，即使是家宴聚會也都是男女分席而坐。這樣看來， 這些服飾作為家居常服也就沒有什麼不妥的了。
Seeing these dresses might give people the idea that people back then had a very liberal view of fashion, because the costumes revealed a bit of skin. People’s behaviors in a society are actually governed by their morals. Throughout Chinese history, different expectations in behavior towards men and women were the norm. Conventions for men and women varied. Men worked outdoors while [most] women worked indoors. Since women during the Tang Dynasty era would normally work on domestic administration at home, they would have traveled in closed-windowed carriages and sat apart from the men, in separate rooms for home banquets and other gatherings, it would not be improper for women to show a little skin.
可以想像，如此裝扮的唐代女子其實是很美麗的，她們的生活也不會像現代女子一樣機械緊張、充滿 壓力。也許有許多女性擔心，在這種男主外女主內的關係中會受氣，其實這些擔心不是人為的想什麼方法能解決的，對於現在人們心中的不安全感，正如哲人的論述：「不是說婦女受男人欺負，而是男人也在欺負男人，女人也在欺負女人，男人也在欺負女人，而男人欺負女人表現出來比較明顯。其實也有得勢的女人欺負男 人。是整個社會道德都敗壞下去了造成的。」
We can imagine that well-off Tang Dynasty women must have looked very beautiful in these dresses. Their lives, compared to those of today’s women, weren’t as mechanical, tense and full of pressure. Perhaps some women are concerned that women confined to an indoor life might be subject to mistreatment from men. In reality, women being mistreated has nothing to do with the social structure of the society. As widsdom people said,「It’s not that women are being mistreated by men; rather, men are also mistreating men, women are also mistreating women, and men are also mistreating women; it’s just that men’s mistreatment of women is more noticeable. Actually, there are also women who have power and mistreat men. This is caused by the moral degeneration of the entire society.」
希望這些美麗的服飾能喚起現代女性嬌柔善良的本性，從而得享女性的美麗，尊嚴和安寧。
With women’s true nature surfacing, we will again be blessed with women’s beauty, dignity and serenity.
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