If somebody tells you the clothing shown in the picture above could become the ceremonial uniforms of the Chinese athletes in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, surely you won’t feel surprised – traditional dress parades have always been one of the highlights of the opening ceremony, and the Chinese are yet to make their contribution in this field.
These fanciful Olympic uniforms are designed by some Chinese Netizens based on a clothing style with thousands of years of history behind it. The clothing style, known as Hanfu, is said to have appeared in China ever since the time of Yellow Emperor, who is considered the founding father of the Chinese nation and the common ancestor of all Han Chinese.
Han people are the biggest ethnic group in China and the prime creators of the Chinese culture. In recent decades, as a result of the destructive one-child policy imposed mainly on the Han, its proportion has fallen, but it still accounts for 92 per cent of the total population in the mainland. As for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, it is said to be between 94 and 98. The Han is also the biggest ethnic group in the world, counting 19 per cent of the global population, meaning nearly one in every five people on the planet has a Han background.
Hanfu’s flowing style and integrated ties for fastening wonderfully reflect a rich, flexible and inclusive spirit of the Chinese culture, while its close association with silk makes it one of the most visually appealing garments in history.
A thousand-year-old cultural tradition, sadly, was brought to a brutal halt more than three hundred years ago by the Manchus, originally from Siberia, who demanded that the locals, Han and other ethnic people, give up their way of living and adopt that of the Manchus. Hundreds and thousands of people were massacred in defending their dress code, their hairstyle and their honour, echoing the events of carnage conducted under a similar mentality in other parts of the planet at the time.
It would be nice if one day 1.3 billion Han Chinese, or say, 20 per cent of the total population on earth, once again bear their own unique expression based on Han people’s distinctive physical features and wealthy cultural heritages, like what other 55 minority ethnic groups have done in the mainland. If that is the case, then China’s streetscapes will be much more interesting and inviting, as will be the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics.
