The shoes are made of silk or cotton, usually embroidered for women’s wear in red and other colors. The soles are of felt, sometimes of paper inside a rim of felt, and defended on the bottom by hide. These shoes keep the feet dry and unchilled on the tiles or ground, so that a Chinese may be said really to carry the floor of his house under his feet instead of laying it on the ground. The thick soles render it necessary for ease in walking to round up their ends, which constrains the toes into an elevated position so irksome that all go slipshod who conveniently can do so. The cost of a cotton suit need not exceed five dollars, and a complete silken one, of the gayest colors and best materials, can easily be procured for twenty-five or thirty. Quilted cotton garments are exceedingly common, and are so made as to protect the whole person from the cold and obviate the need of fires. In the north dressed sheepskin robes furnish bedding as well as garments, and their durability will long make them more desirable than woven fabrics.
The ancient Chinese wore the hair long, bound upon the top of the head, somewhat after the style of the Lewchewans; and taking pride in its glossy black, called themselves the black-haired race. But in 1627 the Manchus, then in possession of only Liautung, issued an order that all Chinese under them should adopt their coiffure as a sign of allegiance, on penalty of death; the fashion thus begun by compulsion is now followed from choice. The fore part of the head is shaved to the crown and the hair braided in a single plait behind. Laborers often wind it about the head or knot it into a ball out of the way when barebacked or at work. The size of the queue can be enlarged by permitting an additional line of hair to grow; the appearance it gives the wearer is thus described by Mr. Downing, and the quotation is not an unfair specimen of the remarks of travellers upon China: “At the hotel one of the waiters was dressed in a peculiar manner about the head. Instead of the hair being shaved in front, he had it cut round the top of the forehead about an inch and a half in length. All the other part was turned as usual and plaited down the back. This thin semi-circular ridge of hair was then made to stand bolt upright, and as each hair was separate and stiff as a bristle, the whole looked like a very fine-toothed comb turned upward. This I imagined to be the usual way of dressing the head by single unengaged youths, and of course must be very attractive.” Thus what the wearer regarded as ill-looking, and intended to braid in as soon as it was long enough, is here taken as a device for beautifying himself in the eyes of those he never saw or cared to see.
Tricks Played with the Queue.
The people are vain of a long thick queue, and now and then play each other tricks with it, as well as use it as a ready means for correction; but nothing irritates them more than to cut it off. Men and women oftener go bareheaded than covered, warding off the sun by means of a fan; in winter felt or silk skull-caps, hoods, and fur protect them from cold. Laborers shelter themselves from rain under an umbrella hat and a grotesque thatch-work of leaves neatly sewn upon a coarse network—very effectual for the purpose. In illustration of the remark at the beginning of this chapter, it might be added that if they were not worn on the head such hats would be called trays, so unlike are they to the English article of that name. The formal head-dress is the conical straw or felt hat so peculiar to this nation, usually covered with a red fringe of silk or hair.
OFFICIAL COSTUMES.
The various forms, fabrics, colors, and ornaments of the dresses worn by grades of officers are regulated by sumptuary laws. Citron-yellow distinguishes the imperial family, but his Majesty’s apparel is less showy than many of his courtiers, and in all that belongs to his own personal use there is an appearance of disregard of ornament. The five-clawed dragon is figured upon the dress and whatever pertains to the Emperor, and in certain things to members of his family. The monarchs of China formerly wore a sort of flat-topped crown, shaped somewhat like a Cantab’s cap, and having a row of jewels pendent from each side. The summer bonnet of officers is made of finely woven straw covered with a red fringe; in winter it is trimmed with fur. A string of beads hanging over an embroidered robe, a round knob on the cap, thick-soled satin boots, two or three pouches for fans or chopsticks, and occasionally a watch or two hanging from the girdle, constitute the principal points of difference between the official and plebeian costume. No company of men can appear more splendid than a large party of officers in their winter robes made of fine, lustrous crapes, trimmed with rich furs and brilliant with gay embroidery. In winter a silk or fur spencer is worn over the robe, and forms a handsome and warm garment. Lambskins are much used, and the downy coats of unyeaned lambs, which, with the finer furs and the skins of hares, wild cats, rabbits, foxes, wolves, otter, squirrels, etc., are worn by all ranks. Some years ago a lad used to parade the streets of Canton, who presented an odd appearance in a long spencer made of a tiger’s skin. The Chinese like strong contrasts in the colors of their garments, sometimes wearing yellow leggings underneath a light blue robe, itself set off by a purple spencer.
COSTUMES OF CHINESE WOMEN.
The dress of women is likewise liable to few fluctuations, and all ranks can be sure that the fashion will last as long as the gown. The garments of both sexes among the common people resemble each other more than in Western Asia. The tunic or short gown is open in front, buttoning around the neck and under the arm, reaching to the knee, like a smock-frock in its general shape. The trousers among the lower orders are usually worn over the stockings, both being covered, on ceremonial occasions, by a petticoat reaching to the feet. Laboring women, whose feet are left their natural size, go barefoot or slipshod in the warm latitudes, but cover their feet carefully farther north. Both sexes have a paucity of linen in their habiliments—if not a shiftless, the Chinese certainly are a shirtless race, and such undergarments as they have are not too often washed.