Grace and Beauty in Tang Dynasty Era Costume
服饰文化是有其背后的内涵的。
From that, one can see that the costume/dress style of each dynasty had its own inner meanings.
在 敦煌壁画中有大量描绘佛国世界的彩绘，其中有许多飞天仙女、天人等的形象，美妙非常。再看中华历史上文化最鼎盛的大唐时的服饰，会发现与壁画中天人的服饰 十分相似。其实，当古人重德守道，敬神信佛的时候，一些宇宙中的真象就会被神有意的显现给人，那美丽神圣的一切都是人追求和模仿的标准，可见服饰本身就是 文化的一部分，都是有其背后深厚的内涵的。
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.其实对于讲求重德向善的朝代的人，宇宙自会给其带来好的一切，包括文化和美丽的服饰，在这里我们对大唐的一些服饰做一些简单的介绍，希望这些真正美丽的服饰，能引起人们的思索，古人的生活真的没有我们今天的好吗？
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、披纱大袖明衣制：属于常服盛装。其头梳唐代特有发型“高墙”簪大花，饰花钗、步摇，蛾眉盛妆，身穿敞领对襟，大袖明衣，下穿长裙，佩大绶，束软带，结小结，足著高履。在唐代此服饰是作为外服，在贵族仕女中风行一时。
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：是唐代特有的一种流行服饰，初作为宴居穿用，后亦当常服穿用，为宫廷嫔妃及名流仕女所好。
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，外披薄纱明衣，下穿长裙，裙腰及胸，上窄下宽，结束软带、小带，属于宴居内装，但头梳高髻又簪花，故此装扮也可作为外装常服之用。
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 了这些服饰，有人也许会觉得，看起来那时的服饰也很开放啊！其实，在一个讲求道德的社会里，人的行为相应的也是很规范的，在中国的历史上，一向都讲男女有 别，男人有男人的行为准则，女子也有女子的操守，讲男主外女主内，女子一般都是在家中操持家事，出门乘车，即使是家宴聚会也都是男女分席而坐。这样看来， 这些服饰作为家居常服也就没有什么不妥的了。
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.
可以想象，如此装扮的唐代女子其实是很美丽的，她们的生活也不会象现代女子一样机械紧张、充满 压力。也许有许多女性担心，在这种男主外女主内的关系中会受气，其实这些担心不是人为的想什么方法能解决的，对于现在人们心中的不安全感，正如哲人的论述：“不是说妇女受男人欺负，而是男人也在欺负男人，女人也在欺负女人，男人也在欺负女人，而男人欺负女人表现出来比较明显。其实也有得势的女人欺负男 人。是整个社会道德都败坏下去了造成的。”
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.”
希望这些美丽的服饰能唤起现代女性娇柔善良的本性，从而得享女性的美丽，尊严和安宁。
With women’s true nature surfacing, we will again be blessed with women’s beauty, dignity and serenity.
