Zhongshi Garment Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The qipao originated from the robes of banner women in the Qing dynasty; after the Revolution of 1911, the Manchu qipao were largely abandoned by banner women. It was only after the 1920s that the style saw some revival. At the same time, the Shanghai-style (haipai) qipao had evolved from the traditional robes of aristocratic banner women into a popularized women's fashion. By the 1920s, "Suguang garment shops" (Suzhou-Guangzhou-style ready-made clothing shops) had spread throughout Shanghai.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The qipao of this period, however, underwent a qualitative change in style, method of cutting, and clientele; because this transformation took place in Shanghai, where Chinese and Western dress cultures converged, it came to be known as "haipai qipao" (Shanghai-style qipao). Haipai qipao absorbed Western tailoring methods, opening side slits and cinching the waist, all to express the curves of the female figure. Longfeng qipao is the essence of the haipai qipao and the authentic inheritor of the hand-made haipai qipao craft in Shanghai, retaining to this day the lingering charm of the Shanghai style. The Longfeng qipao-making technique originated in the Suguang garment shops; its history can be traced back to Zhu Linqing, the first-generation inheritor of the Longfeng qipao craft in the late Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, who came from a Suguang garment-shop background. In 1936 he founded the "Zhushunxing" Chinese-style garment shop, applying traditional Chinese garment-making technique to the haipai qipao, and became famous in Shanghai for his exquisite, fashionable, high-end qipao. The distinguishing feature of Longfeng qipao lies in its all-hand-made, high-quality, individualized fine craftsmanship; it carries on the nearly lost traditional techniques of the Suguang garment shops - trimming (xiang), insetting (qian), piping (gun), flanging (dang), knotting (pan), and embroidery (xiu). Carefully selected fabrics, patterns formed by hand through openwork (lou), relief carving (diao), and embroidery, and knot buttons (pankou) bearing auspicious meanings all embody the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture. This series of techniques can be called a unique mastery (jueji) in the field of Chinese qipao making.
The six hand skills: xiang, qian, gun, dang, pan and xiu
Six hand skills inherited from the Suguang tailor shop: applied bands, inlay, piping and couching at the edges, frog buttons for fastening and embroidery on top.
A series of knot buttons
The inheritor Xu Yongliang turned the plain knot button into a designed series of more than a hundred forms, emphasising line and shape.
Openwork, carving and embroidery
Openwork, carving and embroidery are worked by hand into the chosen cloth, pairing with auspicious knot buttons at the very heart of the decoration.
Western cutting with body shaping
Western cutting is used to shape and waist the body, setting the Shanghai qipao apart from the wide, straight robe of the Manchu banner women.
The Zhushunxing shop and the Suguang lineage
The first inheritor, Zhu Linqing, came from the Suguang tailor shop and founded Zhushunxing in 1936, applying its methods to the qipao.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Shanghai line of the Chinese-style garment-making technique is centered in the Jing'an area, where the tailor shops of the Suguang garment-shop system plied their trade along the streets. After the Revolution of 1911, the banner women's robes lost their wearers, and the style was gradually revived after the 1920s, bringing the Su-style techniques of trimming, insetting, piping, flanging, knotting, and embroidery into the Western-tailored haipai qipao. The line carried on by the Longfeng Chinese Garment Co., Ltd. of Shanghai is precisely this lineage: when Xu Yongliang entered the shop in 1985, he took Gui Shunyuan as his master, studying the essence of the Suguang garment-shop craft; today he also teaches at the Shanghai Yifu Vocational School, moving the craft from the shop counter into the classroom.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Xu Yongliang (from the official archives of the associated inheritor): Male, of the Han ethnicity, born in May 1965, from Shanghai. Representative inheritor of the Chinese-style garment-making technique (Longfeng qipao hand-made technique), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item in the fourth national-level batch. Technician of hand-made Longfeng qipao. In 1985 he entered the Shanghai Longfeng Chinese Garment Shop to engage in Chinese-style garment making; he took Gui Shunyuan as his master and comprehensively mastered the essence of the Suguang garment-shop craft; his artistry is exquisite and his technique all-round. He changed the formerly single type of knot button used on Chinese-style garments and created a series of knot buttons of an artisanal character, with more than a hundred products, highlighting the linear and formal beauty of Eastern dress. In May 2011, at the Shanghai workers' contest of unique skills and master strokes for model posts, organized by the Shanghai Workers' Technology Association, he was awarded the title of craftsperson. He actively participates in public-welfare displays and promotion, and has been engaged by the Shanghai Yifu Vocational School to teach the qipao-making technique. Lin Ruixiang (from the official archives of the associated inheritor): Representative inheritor of the Chinese-style garment-making technique (Hengsheng Fengbang tailoring technique), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item in the fourth national-level batch. Senior fashion designer. He improved and perfected the craft characteristics of Hengsheng's "ten head workmen" (shigongtou); the new-style finely made men's garments he planned and produced opened up Hengsheng's distinctive "Youth School" (qingnianpai) garment pattern, which won the recognition of industry insiders and the welcome of a broad range of consumers. Male, of the Han ethnicity, born in February 1931, died November 2013, from Shanghai. He attached importance to instructing and guiding successors, and helped the company train a large number of a new generation of Hengsheng technicians.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Xu Yongliang 04-1921
- Lin Ruixiang 04-1922
- Bao Wenqi 04-1923
- Chen Yuqiu
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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