Feiyufu

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Feiyufu
Man wearing a Feiyufu
Man wearing a modern Ming dynasty feiyufu.
Traditional Chinese飛魚服
Simplified Chinese飞鱼服
Literal meaningFlying fish clothing

Feiyufu (simplified Chinese: 飞鱼服; traditional Chinese: 飛魚服; pinyin: fēiyúfú; lit. 'flying fish clothing'), also called feiyu mangyi (Chinese: 飞鱼蟒衣; pinyin: Fēiyú mǎngyī; lit. 'flying-fish python robe'),[1] is a type of traditional Han Chinese clothing which first appeared in the Ming dynasty.[2][3] It is also specific name which generally refers to a robe (generally tieli) decorated with the patterns of flying fish (although the flying fish is not the flying fish defined in the dictionary). The feiyufu worn by the Ming dynasty imperial guards reappeared in the 21st century following the hanfu movement and is worn by Hanfu enthusiasts of both genders.[4][5]

Feiyu embroidery design[edit]

The flying fish decoration looks very similar to the python (mang) pattern on the mangfu (Chinese: 蟒服; lit. 'python robe'), but was actually a dragon-like creature with wings and the fanned tail of a fish.[6][7][2] The flying fish also had 4 claws like the mang,[2] a dragon head and a carp's body and two horns.[8]

The early flying fish ornament were characterized by the presence of double wings while in the middle and late Ming dynasty, the flying fish could only be distinguished from the python pattern by the presence of its fish tail instead of a dragon tail.

Construction and design[edit]

The feiyufu is typically in the form of tieli (a robe with a y-shaped cross collar, with either broad or narrow sleeves and pleats below the waist) decorated with the feiyu pattern.[9]

History[edit]

Jinyiwei wearing feiyufu, Ming Dynasty.

Ming dynasty[edit]

The tieli (Chinese: 贴里) originated in the Yuan dynasty in a form of Mongol robe known as terlig.[9] Despite the repeated prohibition of Mongol-style clothing, especially during the reign of the Hongwu Emperor, some Mongol clothing from the Yuan dynasty remained.[10] After being adopted in the Ming dynasty, the tieli became longer and its overall structure was made closer to the shenyi system in order to integrate Han Chinese rituals.

The feiyufu appeared in the Ming dynasty and was unique to the Ming dynasty.[11] It is a form of tieli decorated with flying fish patterns. The feiyfu was also a type of cifu (Chinese: 赐服; lit. 'presentation clothes'), a form of clothing which can only be bestowed by the Chinese emperors to those whom he favoured,[12][8] and were only second to the mangfu (Chinese: 蟒服; lit. 'python robe').

List of people bestowed with feiyufu[edit]

In the Ming dynasty, the feiyufu could be worn by a handful of civil officials, military officers, and chief eunuchs:[13]

  • Under the rule of the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402 –1424 AD), the eunuchs were allowed feiyufu when they would serve the emperor.[14]
  • In 1447 AD during the reign of the Zhengtong Emperor, the Ministry of Works issued an edict which would put artisans to death and send artisan's families to frontier garrisons as soldiers should the artisan produce feiyufu among other prohibited clothing for commoners.[14] The edict was issued to stop the transgressing of dress regulations.[14]
  • Emperor Zhengde (r. 1505 – 1521 AD) bestowed a feiyufu to Song Suqing, a Japanese envoy, in an unprecedented act.[15]
  • Shen Defu (1578 –1642 AD) also noted the emperor would could bestow a red feiyufu to a guard which was promoted to court guard.[14] He also wrote in "the beginnings of the bestowals of dragon robes to Grand Secretaries" that the feiyufu was bestowed to the six ministers, the grand marshals with the mission to inspect troops, and to the eunuchs who were servicing in the houses of princes.[14]

In popular culture[edit]

The feiyufu and feiyufu-style guzhuang are depicted in Chinese television drama, especially period drama set in the Ming dynasty such as:[16]

Similar clothing[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Volpp, Sophie (2005). "The Gift of a Python Robe: The Circulation of Objects in "Jin Ping Mei"". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 65 (1): 133–158. doi:10.2307/25066765. ISSN 0073-0548. JSTOR 25066765.
  2. ^ a b c Welch, Patricia Bjaaland (2012). Chinese art : a guide to motifs and visual imagery. Boston, US: Tuttle Publishing. p. 260. ISBN 978-1-4629-0689-5. OCLC 893707208.
  3. ^ Zhao, Feng (2015), Lu, Yongxiang (ed.), "Weaving Technology", A History of Chinese Science and Technology, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 379–493, doi:10.1007/978-3-662-44166-4_4, ISBN 978-3-662-44165-7, retrieved 2021-07-10
  4. ^ "Important Costumes of Ming Dynasty - Flying Fish Suit". Fashion Hanfu. 2020-07-31. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  5. ^ "Feiyu Robe - Cool Chinese Boy Clothes". www.newhanfu.com. 2020. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  6. ^ Ding, Ying; Li, Xiaolong (2014). "On the Decoration and Symbolization of Chinese Ancient Official Uniform in Ming and Qing Dynasties". Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Mechatronics, Electronic, Industrial and Control Engineering. Vol. 5. Atlantis Press. pp. 1025–1029. doi:10.2991/meic-14.2014.229. ISBN 978-94-6252-042-4.
  7. ^ Burkus, Anne Gail (2010). Through a forest of chancellors : fugitive histories in Liu Yuan's Lingyan ge, an illustrated book from seventeenth-century Suzhou. Yuan, active Liu. Cambridge, Mass. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-68417-050-0. OCLC 956711877.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^ a b The right to dress : sumptuary laws in a global perspective, c. 1200-1800. Giorgio Riello, Ulinka Rublack. Cambridge, United Kingdom. 2019. p. 421. ISBN 978-1-108-47591-4. OCLC 1045652964.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ^ a b Cho, Woohyun; Yi, Jaeyoon; Kim, Jinyoung (2015). "The dress of the Mongol Empire: Genealogy and diaspora of theTerlig". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 68 (3): 22–29. doi:10.1556/062.2015.68.3.2. ISSN 0001-6446.
  10. ^ Shea, Eiren L. (2020). Mongol court dress, identity formation, and global exchange. New York, NY. p. 147. ISBN 978-0-429-34065-9. OCLC 1139920835.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. ^ "What is the Ming Dynasty Hanfu Clothing? - 2021". www.newhanfu.com. 2020. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  12. ^ "You Need a Flying Fish Robe to Become a Knight-errant - 2021". www.newhanfu.com. 2019. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  13. ^ Huang, Ray (1981). 1587, a year of no significance : the Ming dynasty in decline. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 54. ISBN 0-300-02518-1. OCLC 6280586.
  14. ^ a b c d e Yuan, Zujie (2007). "Dressing for power: Rite, costume, and state authority in Ming Dynasty China". Frontiers of History in China. 2 (2): 181–212. doi:10.1007/s11462-007-0012-x. ISSN 1673-3401. S2CID 195069294.
  15. ^ So, Kwan Wai (1975). Japanese piracy in Ming China during the 16th century. [East Lansing?]: Michigan State University Press. p. 173. ISBN 0-87013-179-6. OCLC 1818020.
  16. ^ "9 male stars in costume dramas play Jin Yiwei!Yang Yang is elegant, Zheng Yecheng is domineering, and Ren Jialun is the most classic". iMedia. 2022.