Elaborate Tang Dynasty Round Collar Robe: 唐圆领衫
Music: A Ballad in the Moonlight
Ornate Tang styled Yuanling Shan- or "Round Collar Robe," Yuanling Shan were worn by most male of the era, from common citizens to imperial monarchs. Some women also wore yuangling Shan as well, including servants, merchants, and when the noble women participated in polo games or other festivals that required equestrian displays.
Early Tang female and male in simple "Hu"胡 clothing that were heavily influenced by Central Asian culture. Sui and Tang dynasties derived their northern traditions from nomadic cultures and thus the genders had far greater equality than later dynasties. Women of this era were free to participate in a number of jobs in society and were allowed to inherit their families' properties on their own right. They also actively participated in the cultural and political arena as well. Both the round collar robe and the open lapel robes served as riding jackets.
Western nobleman of Tang dynasty (left) and Noblewoman (right) in elaborate Hu 胡 robes with ornately embroidered collars. Noble merchant families and dignitaries have no problem conduct their business in these robes because they were also riding jackets. Note that both wore the Turkic- styled belt called Diexie 蹀躞 with many radiating decorated leather tassels.
Anxi Protectorate: Tang's Western frontier. In the millennia past- many of the city- states of the Tarim Basin acted as their own kingdoms. However, they were annexed into the great Xiongnu Confederacy. When the Han dynasty defeated the Xiongnu, the Tarim kingdom became semi- independent Han vassals and acted both as the sovereign within their own lands as well as Han dynasty administrators. When the Tang defeated the Gokturk Khaganate a similar framework was established. The Anxi Protectorate was Tang's western expanse, and a melting pot of cultures.
The inhabitants included the native Tocharians- an Sakka speaking people who dwelled in the oasis- kingdoms, Han soldiers, merchants, and nobles, and many traders from the west, including Persians, Sogdians, Arabs, Turkic peoples, and Indians. During Tang's garrison of the region it fought several wars with the Umayyad Caliphate and the Tibetan Empire.
Uighur Princes in elaborate silk riding robes, the Uighurs- at the time masters of what is today's steppes of northern China were a vital ally of the Tang and frequently aligned with the Tang against the Tibetan Empire in the campaigns in the Western Regions. Though initially the Uighurs greatly favored Buddhism, by the 9th century many had turned to favor Manicheanism. Because of the critical aid they rendered during the An Lushan Rebellion, they were deemed as honored "guests" within the Tang empire, and had numerous privilege conferred upon them- especially in the imperial capital of Chang An. After the Tibetan annexation of Tang's western Anxi Protectorate (what is today's Tarim Basin and Xinjiang Province) the Uighurs and the Tang aligned with each other to drive out the Tibetans from the region. After the destruction of the Uighur Khaganate by the Kyrgyz in the middle of the 9th century, the Uighurs migrated westward into what had previously been the Anxi Protectorate.
The kingdom of Khotan was located in the western most parts of the Tarim Basin and enjoyed a great degree of protection provided by the massive Taklamakan desert that served as its sand moat. They benefited greatly from the Silk Road trade and resided securely over their small self sustaining fertile land. They were Tang vassals, and after the ejection of the Tang by the Tibetan empire, eventually forged an alliance with the Tang- loyalist funded state of Guiyi Circuit that expelled Tibetan rule from the region. Later, Khotan also sent envoys to the Song dynasty as friends. Eventually, Khotan, and much of the West were conquered by the Kara-Khanid Khanate in a Jihad, and after which- under the sway of a handful of Mongol Khanates.
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Tang noblewoman in Weimao 帷帽: or veiled hat. Another Central Asia introduced article of clothing. Many women who travelled in Western Tang regions wore such veils both as a sign of modesty and as protection against the dust storms that often wracked the Silk Road.
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Comments
I love their aesthetics but in terms of accuracy they are good but there are also lots of inaccuracies- no, more like anachroisms. They gave the early Tang women a lot of geisha looking hair dos, this is not historical, because those only became very prominent in the later part of the dynasty. Where as most of the court lady's costumes look like they are from Mid- late Tang.
As for the men- it's also a bit too elaborate.
One of the many pit falls for Chinese TV shows is that because they are still somewhat on one hand insecure in that they want to out do the previous era's atrocious costumes, and that they want their show to be seen as glamorous talked- about- pieces: they make their characters look like Gods and the armors of their characters look like Gods.
😐 sad and humbled to say it's one thing that I myself am guilty of too when I try to make the equipment and article of clothing just a tier more elaborate than they should be.
TL: DR, it's a pretty show, too pretty to be historically accurate, but kudos to them for having made it. Hopefully with more confidence and maturity in the Chinese armor and Hanfu community the need to overcompensate and make those show costumes look like fashion divas can we just focus on the story and (authentic) historical immersion rather than a Romanticized version.
http://ladymetro.chegud.com/file/youjia/dsj/2020-06-27/0ddea6dc232c0290755a9be8102c46ad.jpeg
The Princess's costume is very mixed.
The weirdest part? That of the tall and elaborate crown is actually historically based on that of Princess Li Chui recovered from her tomb- along with her skull
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3a/08/e7/3a08e781383b16e69101e55ee9f00e9b.jpg
But they then have her wearing robes with multi color embroidered phoenixes. Those were only invented in the Ming dynasty. An example is that one of the most famous portraits of Emperor Li Shimin- here
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/TangTaizong.jpg
Was painted in the Ming dynasty and had him wearing those prismatic threaded dragon motfs. But it's not historically accurate. It would seem their art department was advised to bash together whatever is the most pleasing.
~
Although- Even with that said, they are not bad offenders. At most they are Outlander level, which- for historical shows its decent enough. They are still above shows like the Tudors or (barf) Vikings
The most interesting thing is that the Qin man, Yang Xi·杨喜, one of his descendants finally reunified China and became one of the most famous emperors in world history.