Ancient Chinese Costumes Fluttering in the Courtyard of the Yellow Crane Tower

By Bai Ning & Qin Gong

November 7, Wuhan.

Outside the Yellow Crane Tower Park, the city is dynamic and crowded, full of vehicles and visitors. Inside, however, the courtyard is thronged with men and women wearing colorful ancient Chinese costumes characteristic of different dynasties. Chinese costume lovers from all over the world are gathered here, dressed in varied and exquisite costumes and posing before the cameras, their beautiful images and best memories preserved in photos. The artful reconciliation of the classic style and modern elements produce an air of striking contrast, as if all the participants have walked back to the past dynasties in a time machine.

Here, the first World Chinese Costume Festival was held and flowered, attracting nearly 30,000 men and women, old and young to the site, and more than 30 million hits online.

As an ancient saying goes, “The beauty of garments is called Hua, and the greatness of etiquette is called Xia.” Hua Xia, the ancient name for China, demonstrates that the civilization of this nation, with some five thousand years of history, is seen in the pieces of Chinese garments. As time goes on, the functions of garments have gone far beyond satisfying the basic human needs of covering the body and have become a carrier of cultures, aesthetics, and philosophy. Nowadays, when fashion designers draw inspiration from traditional culture, the beauty of ancient Chinese garments becomes known and loved by more and more.

11月7日，武汉。

黄鹤楼公园外车水马龙，里面却是热火朝天，人山人海。身着各式各样精美华服的中外华服爱好者齐聚一堂，摆着各种pose，在摄影师镜头前，尽显风采，翩跹漫舞。中国各个朝代的经典服饰在这里呈现，古典与现代在这里交融，形成强烈反差，让人仿佛穿越时空，回到从前。

这里，首届世界华服大会正在进行，男女老幼近三万市民现场参与，其同步网络直播更是吸引了逾三千万点击量。

“服章之美谓之华，礼仪之大谓之夏。”华夏五千年文明，蕴藏于服饰之中。随历史的长河流淌，服装早已超越其最初遮蔽身体的基本需求，成为文化与美学、哲学的载体。当时尚不断轮回、复古，从过往中寻找经典，华服之美也逐渐被人们重新认识与喜爱。

An international student dressed in traditional Chinese costume is putting on make-up in front of the mirror, getting ready to take part in a flash mob for the World Chinese Costume Festival (Photo by Chen Jie) 留学生身着华服，对镜化妆，准备参加快闪活动（陈洁 摄）

With artists dancing gracefully with long sleeves, a Tang style dance marks the launch of the World Chinese Costume Festival (Photo by Ji Fei) 长袖善舞，风姿绰约，一曲《大唐飞歌》拉开世界华服大会帷幕（季飞 摄）

In the evening show of the festival, Chinese ethnic costumes dazzle on the stage (Photo by Wang Yuansong)大会“风雅颂”秀典上，56 个民族的典型服饰闪亮T 台（王远松 摄）

With exquisite embroideries on the brocade clothing, this woman embodies grace and poise (Photo by Song Zhanglin)锦衣华服，气度雍容（宋璋林 摄）

Beautiful colors and complex patterns—the beauty of traditional Chinese garments lies in the artistic conceptions they create (Photo by Ye Ping) 配色清丽，纹饰繁复，华服之美，美在气韵（叶萍 摄）

Typical costumes of ancient swordsmen in China (Photo by Wang Yanbin)一曲《侠客行》展示出古代侠士的典型装扮（王彦斌 摄）

A loving couple meeting at a fair (Photo by Li Huiming)《江南伉俪》，原来情侣衫古已有之（李惠明 摄）

Pre-Qin costumes (Photo by Wang Yanbin)诗经《兼葭》吟颂，展示先秦文化与服饰魅力（王彦斌 摄）

A Spring Outing in the Tang Dynasty painted by Sun Endao displayed at the Exhibition of Chinese Paintings on Cultural Allusions is screened as one of the backgrounds of the evening show中华典故美术展孙恩道作品《唐人游春图》为秀典晚会背景图之一