Hanfu Revival Inspired Activities and Their Venues in Shanghai, China

Abstract

Taking Shanghai as a case study, this study (i) examines the revival of "hanfu", namely, China's historical national costume, and the state of activities regarding people who wear it and (ii) clarifies how spaces in which activities of hanfu wearers take place ("activity spaces" hereafter) are considered.

Full-scale activities to revive hanfu began in 2003. Consequently, in some aspects, the formal design of hanfu and the manner of wearing it are unknown. As a result, while some of the surveyed hanfu wearers pursue the "authentic" way of wearing it, many of them are young people who have a short history of wearing hanfu, and many of them tolerate freedom in ways of dressing in hanfu and freer arrangements that do not adhere to traditional formality and etiquette. As for wearing hanfu, while reaching the dual goals of pursuing "authenticity" as a historical costume and "popularizing" ethnic costumes becomes a challenge, the subjects of this study, namely, hanfu wearers, expressed differences in awareness regarding the design of the hanfu they wear and the way they wear it.

The characteristics of hanfu as a recently revived national costume are also reflected in the way the wearers select their activity spaces. In other words, hanfu wearers tend to select historical sightseeing spots and similar places as activity spaces because, in such places, people are less likely to give them peculiar looks and it is considered appropriate to wear hanfu. From analysis of such activity spaces, it can be said that while the space for activities is restricted and the hanfu wearers mainly wear hanfu in historical sightseeing spots, the presence of hanfu wearers may play a role in creating the historical image of sightseeing spots and thereby attracting tourists.