Han Clothing, Textiles and Personal Care in China, 202 BCE to 220 CE

Han clothing combined protection, movement and public appearance. Short garments and trousers suited physical work, while fine wrapped robes displayed costly weaving and decoration. Textiles and grooming objects from Mawangdui, a wealthy Western Han burial group near Changsha, preserve unusually detailed examples from an era extending from 202 BCE to 220 CE, interrupted by the Xin regime of 9–23 CE.

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Fibres, weaving and textile work

Silk and plant fibres formed the basis of Han clothing. Silk came from cultivated silkworms and could be woven as plain cloth or gauze, or made into patterned and richly decorated fabrics. Dyes, embroidery and painted designs added colour and detail. Hemp and ramie, distinct plant fibres, were common materials for people of more modest means, while silk garments belonged especially to wealthy households. Padded and lined clothing offered further variation in warmth and weight.

Textile making depended on skilled work as well as household labour. Han women commonly spun and wove for their families, and some produced cloth for sale. On family estates, daughters might weave alongside other domestic and agricultural work.

The Western Han tombs at Mawangdui, in the kingdom of Changsha, provide an exceptional group of surviving fabrics. The tombs belonged to Li Cang, a high official and marquis, his wife Xin Zhui, often called Lady Dai, and a male relative. The preservation of garments in Xin Zhui’s tomb makes it possible to examine materials and construction directly. Finds included robes, skirts, footwear, socks and mittens, made from silk and plant fibres. A plain, unlined gauze robe weighing 49 grams illustrates the delicacy of some surviving silkwork.

Garments, construction and fastenings

Han wardrobes included both robes and combinations of separate garments. A long robe could join an upper section to a skirt-like lower section, while other outfits paired an upper garment with a separate skirt or trousers. The shenyi , a wrapped robe, was one important form. A passage in the ritual text known as the Book of Rites describes an ideal robe made from twelve widths of cloth, with measured sleeves, neckline, seams and hem.

Surviving Western Han garments show more than one way to shape a long robe. In a curved-front form, often called a qujupao , the overlapping front wrapped around the body. A straight-front robe, called a zhijupao , had an opening that fell more directly down the front. Robes could be unlined, lined or padded, and their sleeves and fit varied.

Many garments closed by crossing one front panel over the other and fastening the clothing at the waist with a belt or sash. The overlapping front generally closed toward the wearer’s right. Belts and ties helped keep a wrap garment in place, while decorative edges and differing fabrics could make the same basic form look more formal or elaborate. Skirts and upper garments were also worn together; depictions and descriptions show men in trousers and shorter jackets for physical work, as well as in long robes.

Clothing terms and styles could vary by place. In his late Western Han work on regional speech, Fangyan, Yang Xiong recorded different local names for unlined garments. His record preserves the local vocabulary people used when discussing the clothes around them.

Work, rank and public appearance

Practical clothing was shaped by activity. Men doing manual work could wear short jackets with trousers, aprons or leggings, leaving them less encumbered than a long, wide-sleeved robe. Longer robes and fine fabrics were more suited to formal display than strenuous labour. Clothing therefore expressed differences not only in wealth but also in what its wearer was expected to do.

Officials used garments and headwear to signal position. The shape and material of a cap, the textiles used for robes and the ribbons attached to official seals could distinguish ranks and roles. A seal was carried in a pouch at the waist, with its ribbon visible. In the Eastern Han, Emperor Ming’s dress regulations of 59 CE set out distinctions for ceremonial clothing and its ornaments. At the start of the Western Han, rules for ordinary clothing were less restrictive and were not strongly enforced.

These differences existed within a broader social hierarchy. Wealthy officials and their families could command silk, decoration and multiple layers, while hemp was common among poorer people. Registered merchants faced restrictions on wearing silk, although wealth and practice did not always align neatly with social ideals. A garment’s material, cut and ornament could communicate rank, but occupation, occasion and household means also shaped what people wore.

Clothing care and personal grooming

A Han clothing iron was a shallow bronze pan with a handle and a broad, flat base. Hot charcoal or another heated material placed inside warmed the metal. Moving the heated base over cloth helped smooth it. Henan Museum preserves an example with a long handle that allowed the user to hold the tool away from the heated pan.

Hair and headwear also shaped public appearance. Men wore head coverings such as a cloth wrap or a formal guan, a cap associated with status and adult standing. Women arranged their hair with combs, pins and other ornaments. Some Han women’s hair ornaments included the buyao, a pin with hanging pieces that moved as the wearer walked. The forms and materials of headwear and hair ornaments could vary with status and occasion.

Personal-care objects from Xin Zhui’s tomb offer a rare view of elite grooming. Her burial assemblage included a lacquered cosmetic box and smaller containers, white powder, rouge and an oily cosmetic, as well as mirrors, combs, hairpieces, hairpins and tweezers. These objects show the range of tools available in a wealthy woman’s household.

For the wider setting, see Food, Clothing, and Everyday Consumption in Han China.