I have to admit, I was pretty impatient to get to this third post on the history of qipao (or Cheongsam in Cantonese). The Qing dynasty and 1920s were interesting periods for qipaos in their own right (see the previous two posts here and here), but the 1930s is what I am really excited about. This was truly qipao’s golden era…
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This is part II of a mini series that I’m writing on the history of the qipao. If you missed part I (about the origins of the qipao from the Manchu-controlled Qing dynasty), be sure to catch up here. The Republic of China and the May-Fourth movement (五四运动／五四運動) The history of the qipao (or Cheongsam in Cantonese) took a sudden…
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I first wrote about the history of the qipao (or Cheongsam in Cantonese) over two years ago in 2014. When I was researching back then I remember very few online resources being available, even the Wikipedia entry back then was pretty short and patchy (let’s face it, if Wikipedia isn’t the golden yardstick, then what is!) Increasing qipao chatter in…
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So, what is the difference between qipao and cheongsam? If you are reading this blog, then chances are you would have seen at least one of these words before, or maybe both, thrown around here and there. And you may have tried to do a search for one, gotten some pictures returned to you which look just like what you…
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I don’t quite remember how long ago my infatuation with qipaos started, but I think it began with seeing Lust, Caution (色，戒) and being struck by a particular scene where Tang Wei (as Mrs Mak), wearing a pale blue floral qipao, paired with navy trench coat, bucket hat and black T-bar heels, was walking down a narrow Shanghai alleyway in the…
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