Chinoiserie

Chinese styles have a strong influence on modern fashion dating back to the 17th century, the beginning of the silk trade. This can be seen as noted before in the MET Gala “China: Through the looking Glass”. Chinese inspiration to the modern fashion world streches not only from clothing but from very ethnic customs and chinese artifacts. Inspired by Chinese goods, 18th century designers incorporating Chinese patterns and motifs into western garb, and jewelry.

This is known as –

Chinoiserie: The imitation or evocation of Chinese motifs and techniques in Western art, furniture, and architecture, especially in the 18th century.

-Photos taken from “China: through the looking glass”

In the 17th and 18th century Chinoiserie was, “born of the fascination and knowledge that there was a culture out there that was not primitive but had systems, languages, rules, and images markedly foreign to Europe.” – Bolton, Andrew, et al. China through the Looking Glass. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015.

Chinoiserie gave birth to different objects such as souvenirs, talismans, and the like; some even found it hard to tell the products country of origin due to popularity of goods. Themes and ideas were taken from Chinese culture – some where modified greatly, some very minimally, but whats important to note is that the concepts and images are all still originally Chinese in nature.

Imagery

Symbolism plays a huge role in Chinese culture.  Chinese language is steeped in symbolic meaning. “The large numbers of homophones in the Chinese language means that words with different meanings become associated with each other due to a similarity of sound when spoken.” There is also  linguistic symbolism, “symbols which originated from ancient cosmological and mythical beliefs.” All these symbolic meanings for an integral part of Chinese culture that is readily understood by its people. Due to the adoption of Chinese fashion Chinese culture has also permeated the fashion industry. Examples of this are mythical creatures such as Dragons, and other animals like cranes and bats. All patterns still used today in western fashion.

Bat (fu 蝠)
The bat is a symbol of happiness and joy. The Chinese for bat (fu 蝠) sounds identical to the word for good fortune(fu 福) making bats a popular Chinese rebuses. Five bats together represent the ‘Five Blessings’ (wufu 五福): long life, wealth, health, love of virtue and a peaceful death.

Crane (he 鹤)
The crane is a symbol of longevity because it lives a long life and its white feathers stand for old age. It also represents high status as the crane is regarded as ‘a bird of the first rank’ in the imperial hierarchy. Flying cranes symbolises a wish or hope to become an official in a higher position.

Dragon (long 龙)
The Chinese dragon is the ultimate symbol of the cosmic energy qi 气 and the most powerful
symbol of good fortune. Ranked first among mythical beasts, it can bring rain to parched lands,
which in turn represents abundance and relief. A dragon and phoenix (king of all winged creatures) symbolise the emperor and empress as well as marital bliss. The dragon is often used as an emblem of high rank and power on the robes of emperors and princes as well as on imperial art objects.

Colors

Cyan, red, black, white, and yellow, the five colors, form the Chinese traditional color system. Black and yellow stand for the heaven and the earth, and they are mostly used in the emperors clothing. Pure colors were mostly used by the upper class in most dynasties. Many designers use red to embody the application of Chinese traditional clothing

References

– Bolton, Andrew, et al. China through the Looking Glass. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015.

– Image – http://www.vogue.com/article/met-gala-chinese-influences-on-fashion

– https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Chinese_symbols_1109.pdf