Qungua

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Qungua
HK 太子 Prince Edward 彌敦道 747 Nathan Road 金都商場 Golden Plaza December 2020 SS2 12
Qungua in Hong Kong, 2020
Chinese裙褂
Literal meaningSkirt jacket

Qungua (Chinese: 裙褂; Jyutping: kwan4 gwaa3), also known as longfenggua (simplified Chinese: 龙凤褂; traditional Chinese: 龍鳳褂),[1] or longfeng qungua (simplified Chinese: 龙凤裙褂; traditional Chinese: 龍鳳裙褂),[2] or guaqun (Chinese: 褂裙; Jyutping: gwaa3 kwan4),[3] is one type of two-piece ceremonial traditional Chinese wedding set of attire, which is composed of a jacket called gua (褂) and of a long Chinese skirt called qun (裙). The qungua is a type of Hanfu worn by Han Chinese brides[4] and originated in the 18th century during the Qing dynasty.[1] It eventually became the traditional wedding attire of Cantonese brides in the Guangdong regions.[3][5] It is traditionally handmade and is decorated with dragons and phoenixes embroideries.[6] Nowadays, the qungua is still popular as a wedding dress in China, including in Hong kong and Macau.[1]

Origins and tradition

A qungua found in Hong Kong Museum of History.

Back in Ming dynasty, the women wedding dress worn by nobles and commoners was known as fengguan xiapei (Chinese: 凤冠霞帔) composed of the fengguan and xiapei.[3] The wedding dress worn in Ming dynasty continued to influence the wedding dress of the later centuries.[3]

What is known as qungua only started to be worn in the 18th century during the Qing dynasty.[1] The qungua originated in Guangdong when Liang Zhu, a Guangdong Qing dynasty politician, was rewarded with a silk wedding dress embroidered with dragons and phoenixes by the Qing Emperor at the time of his daughter's wedding.[7] This led to the use qungua in the Guangdong area.[7]

In 18th century, Chinese mothers would start to sew the qungua as soon as a daughter was born in the family.[1] The qungua would then be placed as a part of the daughter's bride dowry when she gets married.[1] The qungua follows the ancient traditional system of shangyi xiachang (Chinese: 上衣下裳; upper and lower garment).[3]

Construction and Design

The qungua is composed of two separate garments: a gua (Chinese: 褂; pinyin: guà; Jyutping: gwaa3; lit. 'coat'), which is a Chinese jacket which closes at the front with buttons,[4] and a qun (Chinese: 裙; pinyin: qún; Jyutping: kwan4; lit. 'skirt').[2] The qun worn in the qungua is typically straight in cut.[2] The skirt could be pleated.[8]

Colour

While Western wedding dress tends to be white in colour, Chinese traditional wedding clothing favours the use of red and gold colour.[1]

The gua was originally black in colour while the skirt was originally red in colour.[5]

The gua which is completely red in colour only appeared in the 1960s.[5] Since then the traditional black gua and red qun started to be used for the bride's mother instead of being worn by the brides themselves.[5][3]

  • Bride wearing Qing dynasty qungua.
    Bride wearing Qing dynasty qungua.
  • Qungua (left) worn by Chinese brides, 1900s.
    Qungua (left) worn by Chinese brides, 1900s.
  • Qungua is a two-piece garment attire: black gua and red qun.
    Qungua is a two-piece garment attire: black gua and red qun.
  • Long skirt qun
    Long skirt qun
  • Red gua
    Red gua
  • Construction of a black gua jacket.
    Construction of a black gua jacket.
  • Black gua
    Black gua

Embroidery

See also: Chinese auspicious ornaments in textile and clothing

The qungua is typically embroidered with the Chinese dragons called long (simplified Chinese: 龙; traditional Chinese: 龍) and the Chinese phoenix called feng (simplified Chinese: 凤; traditional Chinese: 鳳).[3] It can also be decorated with other auspicious symbols, such as pomegranate (symbolism for fertility), peony flowers, lotus flowers, bats, goldfish, butterfly and birds.[5]

Nowadays, there are 5 different types of qungua which is named accordingly to the percentage of embroidery covering the dress:[1]

  1. Xiaowufu (小五福): 30% covered with embroidery,
  2. Zhongwufu (中五福): 50% covered with embroidery
  3. Dawufu (大五福): 70% covered with embroidery
  4. Guahou (褂后): 90% covered with embroidery
  5. Guahuang (褂皇): 100% covered with embroidery

Derivatives and influences

Betawi Bridal dress

The Betawi bridal dress, partly influenced by Chinese culture and by Indonesian culture, looks similar to the Chinese qungua.[7] Like the qungua, the Betawi bridal dress is a two-piece set of attire which composed of an ankle-length with wider bottom skirt called kun and an upper garment called tuaki.[7] The tuaki is decorated with Chinese auspicious symbols.[7] One difference from the qungua is the use of Betawi Lotus, also known as Betawi pomegranate, a separate ornamental garment which covers the chest and shoulder areas (similar to the yunjian of the Chinese people).[7] The Betawi lotus was used to denote the origins of the Betawi bride, but it was eventually replaced by beads which typically follows the Spanish cherry floral pattern.[7] The kun and tuaki must match in colour.[7]

  • Chinese Bride in Batavia in her wedding dress, 1870. The dress is heavily influenced by Chinese culture but also shows subtle differences.
    Chinese Bride in Batavia in her wedding dress, 1870. The dress is heavily influenced by Chinese culture but also shows subtle differences.
  • Betawi bride and groom, 2008.
    Betawi bride and groom, 2008.

Differences with other garments

Main article: Traditional Chinese wedding dress

Fengguan xiapei

The qungua is different from the fengguan xiapei (Chinese: 凤冠霞帔), another type of Traditional Han Chinese wedding set of attire, which was worn in Ming and Qing dynasties[3] in terms of composition of garments and accessories which the qungua lacks of. The fengguan xiapei is a set of attire which was composed of red mang ao (Chinese: 蟒袄; lit. 'python jacket'), which is a type of Ming dynasty-style round-collar robe decorated with dragons, which was worn by Han Chinese women as a court robe; a xiapei (Chinese: 霞帔), which is a type of long scarf in Ming and a type of stole in Qing dynasty; a mangchu (Chinese: 蟒裙; lit. 'Python skirt'), which is a skirt which can be red or green and is embroidered with dragons and phoenixes on the front and back skirt lapels), and the fengguan, the phoenix coronet.[9] The Wedding attire is sometimes decorated with Chinese cloud collar known as yunjian.[9]

  • Portrait of lady in fengguan xiapei in Qing dynasty,
    Portrait of lady in fengguan xiapei in Qing dynasty,
  • Qing dynasty fengguan xiapei (凤冠霞帔), a yunjian is on top of the attire.
    Qing dynasty fengguan xiapei (凤冠霞帔), a yunjian is on top of the attire.

Xiuhefu

The qungua is distinct from another Chinese wedding set of attire called Xiuhefu (simplified Chinese: 秀禾服; traditional Chinese: 繡和服).[1][2] The Xiuhefu typically has an overlapping jacket which closes to the right side (instead of the qungua central closing jacket) which is worn with an A-line skirt (qun) which looks similar to a mamianqun instead of a straight cut skirt.[2] The Xiuhefu is typically embroidered with flowers and birds to symbolize love for whole seasons.[3]

  • A bride in Xiuhefu between Taihedian and Zhonghedian, 2022
    A bride in Xiuhefu between Taihedian and Zhonghedian, 2022
  • A bride in Xiuhefu near Xiehemen, 2022
    A bride in Xiuhefu near Xiehemen, 2022

Cheongsam

Chinese bride wearing cheongsam with a honggaitou covering her face for wedding ceremony.

The qungua is different from the cheongsam which can also be worn as a Traditional Chinese wedding dress.[3] The qungua is a two-piece garment composed of jacket and skirts while the modern cheongsam is currently a one-piece robe.[4] Prior to the 1930s and the 1940s, the cheongsam was also a two-piece set of garment which was composed of a long robe and was worn with a pair of trousers.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "To Have And To Embroider: The "Long Feng Gua" Wedding Tradition | US-China Institute". china.usc.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e JNTT (2020-07-30). "SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT". The Red Wedding. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Li, Yuling (2019). New meaning in traditional wedding dresses – Xiu He Fu and Long Feng Gua – in contemporary China [Master's Thesis]. Cultural Centre, University of Malaya (masters). pp. i-102.
  4. ^ a b c d Qiao, Nan; Tan, Yan-rong (2017). "Talk About the Chinese Wedding Dress of Modern Women". 2017 3rd International Conference on Social, Education and Management Engineering (SEME 2017): 299–301.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Chinese Wedding Traditions: Qun Gua | Hong Kong Wedding Blog". 2016-01-28. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  6. ^ "Technique of Making Hong Kong Cheongsam and Kwan Kwa Wedding Costume - Home". www.lcsd.gov.hk. Retrieved 2022-08-17.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Indonesia-Taiwan Relations: Searching for Better Understanding. Prof. Dr. Tirta Nugraha Mursitama, Ph.D., Dr. Shidarta, M.Hum., Dr. Yi Ying, M.Lit., M.Pd. Penerbit Andi. 2021. pp. 52–63. ISBN 9786230112744.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ^ "Chinese Wedding Gown (Qun Gua)". Queensland Museum Collections Online. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  9. ^ a b Garrett, Valery M. (2007). Chinese dress : from the Qing Dynasty to the Present. Tokyo: Tuttle Pub. ISBN 978-0-8048-3663-0. OCLC 154701513.
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