How to Wear Hanfu - Ma Mian Skirt (馬面裙) from the Ming Dynasty

Hi everyone, I'm Ally. I'm wearing a typical outfit from the late Ming dynasty which is around the 16th to 17th century. The top is a long shirt with a standing collar, also known as the mandarin collar. I've done a video explaining the history of the standing collar. Check it out if you want to learn more. I'm pairing it with a ma mian skirt which translates to horse face skirt. It's the single most representative skirt of the Ming dynasty. So in this video, I'll talk a little bit about the history of the skirt, what's the meaning behind its name, and show you how to wear it. Ma mian qun literally means horse face skirt but it actually has nothing to do with a horse face. The term ma mian in ancient China has another meaning. It refers to the defensive structure that projects outward on city walls which are located at regular intervals. A Ming dynasty scholar labeled the rectangular area of the skirt ma mian because it looks like the structure and today we call this type of skirt ma mian skirt. When the skirt is laid flat, we can see three such structures. We call it qun men or skirt door today. With another door hiding behind in the center, there are four doors in total but only two are visible when it's worn on the body. The pleats in between the doors are facing each other. Ma mian skirt is a one-piece skirt which wraps around the body but it's made by attaching two pieces of fabric on the same waistband. There's another type of two-piece skirt on the market today. This skirt from my previous episode is an example of it. It's a modern design that comes in standardized sizes like ready-to-wear clothing but there is no archaeological findings of this design. The ma mian skirt was worn throughout the 276 years of the Ming dynasty. In the beginning, it had fewer pleats. Later on, fancy decorations were added to the knee area. The patterns moved lower on the skirt over time. By the late Ming dynasty, single color skirts with minimum or no embroideries became popular. There are many ma mian skirt artifacts today, most of which are well preserved. We can see a wide range of colors, designs, length, door width, and the number of pleats. I am wearing a Ming dynasty style undervest. This is a Song dynasty style underskirt called gan shan qun. Some people believe it's the origin of ma mian skirt. I'll talk about that in another video. To wear the ma mian skirt, make sure the front door is in the center. And if the door width on the sides are different, put the wider one on the inside. Pull up the inside and fold it down. The fabric of my skirt is a mix of cotton and linen. It's quite heavy so it won't be easy for wind to lift the skirt. Nevertheless, ancient people always wore a skirt or pants underneath the outer layer skirt. You will never see bare legs. There are many artifacts of the standing collar long shirt or jacket as well, from plain single colored shirts to formal attire with fancy and heavy embroideries. This combination of standing collar long shirt and ma mian skirt is common in paintings during the late Ming dynasty. The trend later passed down to the Qing dynasty. In contrary, Qing dynasty skirts tend to have prominent decorations on the skirt door. Eventually, the standing collar long shirt merged with the Manchurian dress and became a popular outfit for Qing dynasty ladies. This Ming dynasty style standing collar shirt is made of strong yet sheer fabric with a breathable jacket design. It has large wide sleeves and a standing or mandarin collar. The shirt folds to the right and is secured by ties. First, fold the right panel to the left and tie it. Then, fold the outer layer to the right. Each dynasty has its own culture. This Ming dynasty outfit allows us to take a peek into ancient ladies' reserved, refined, and graceful lifestyle. I hope you find this video helpful. Let me know what else you would like to learn in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe to my channel if you would like to learn more about traditional Chinese culture, beauty, and fashion. See you next time!