Reason for the topic:“Nào đâu cái áo tứ thân…”Trích Chân Quê - Nguyễn Bính“What a four-piece dress…”From Chan Que – Nguyen BinhSimple and rustic verses about the “ao tu than” four-piece
Trang 1VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH
Trang 24 Subjects and scope 4
PART 2: THE DEEP INSIDE 4
CHAPTER 1: THE CULTURE OF VIETNAMESE COSTUME 4
1.1 The Costume of Vietnamese People Throughout The Period 4
1.1.1 Hung King era with Dong Son culture 4
1.2.1 Ao Dai 8
1.2.2 Ao Ba Ba 9
1.2.3 Ao Tu Than .9
1.2.4 Ao Cham 10
1.2.5 Traditional costumes of other ethnics 10
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY ON “AO TU THAN” 11
2.1.The Process of Formation and Development 11
2.2 The Characteristics of “Ao tu than” 11
2.2.1 The structure 11
2.2.2 The material 12
2.2.3 The objects 12
2.2.4 The situation 13
2.2.5 The useage instruction 13
2.3 The Significances of “Ao tu than” 13
2.3.1 The meaning through the design 13
2.3.2 Honoring the beauty of Vietnamese women 13
2.3.3 The symbol of Vietnamese costume culture 14
PART 3: CONCLUSION 15
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Trang 3PART 1: INTRODUCTION1 Reason for the topic:
“Nào đâu cái áo tứ thân…”
(Trích Chân Quê - Nguyễn Bính)
“What a four-piece dress…”
(From Chan Que – Nguyen Binh)
Simple and rustic verses about the “ao tu than” (four-piece traditional dress) imbued withVietnamese women spirit, evoking the rural and rustic features of poet Nguyen Binh has graduallybecome very familiar to Vietnamese people The four-piece shirt left an impression of unmistakablesimilarities throughout the history of our country and has been mentioned in literature It isassociated with memories of the couple on the shore of the bamboo during the village festival, aswell as with childhood memories of buffaloes grazing and cutting grass in the countryside.
The genesis of the four-body shirt has remained a mystery up to this point The glamorousbeauty of four-piece Ao Dai was discovered long-since printed to the faces of Ngoc Lu bronzedrums Over the years, from the past to the present, the four-body dress is still gentle andaffectionate, leisurely, arrogantly, becoming a part of Vietnamese life Proudly showing identity andaesthetics when introducing the four-piece Ao Dai to friends about Vietnam's traditional costumeculture.
Due to the fact that the “ao tu than” has the meaning of crystallizing the quintessential beautyof ethnicity and to understand the beauty in the costume culture of the Vietnamese people, I decidedto choose the topic “THE CULTURE OF VIETNAMESE COSTUMES THROUGHOUT THEHISTORICAL PERIOD AND THE STUDY ON “AO TU THAN”
2 Reasearch situation:
Through research on a lot of information in books and newspapers and many readingmaterials to study the history of the formation and development of the four-body shirt over theperiods, it is known that it appeared several thousand years ago There is also a transmission legendthat, due to seeing Hai Ba Trung when expelling the invading Han army, they wore a long goldenarmour dress with a long, split tunic Because of the respect and gratitude, the predecessors avoidedwearing two-piece Ao Dai, they wore four-piece dress instead Or with another explanation, becausethe technology in the past was still rudimentary and underdeveloped, only weaves a narrow fabric, sowhen wearing it, it is necessary to put four pieces together Or the primitive style of the oldVietnamese ao dai (“ao dai giao lanh”) when worn usually let the two front trunks intersect ratherthan tie, and for convenience fieldwork, that ao dai gradually turned into “ao tu than”
Experiencing many ups and downs of history along with the interference between nationaland abroad cultures makes the culture of Vietnamese women's costumes also exist many changes tocatch up with the development of society By the 17 to 19 centuries, the four-body dress wasthth
transformed into a five-body dress as a way to show its nobility and elegance In recent years, alongwith the development of society, the four-piece shirt has entered the fashion industry with innovative,exaggerated designs that are extremely bold Some designs have been showed in the internationalarena in big beauty contests And in this topic, I will mention and study in detail below.
3 Methodology:
To complete the tasks mentioned above, we have used some of the following researchmethods to analyze and understand the topic:
1 Research Methods
Trang 42 Theoretical method and practical relationship.
a) Method of synthesizing and generalizing documents and information.b) Writing method.
4 Subjects and scope:
Research subject: The “ao tu than” (four-piece dress) of Vietnam from the past to the present. Scope of research object: Analyzing and clarifying the concept, history, meaning as well as the role
of the four-body dress for Vietnamese traditions and women.
PART 2: THE DEEP INSIDE
CHAPTER 1: THE CULTURE OF VIETNAMESE COSTUME1.1 The Costume of Vietnamese People Throughout The Period
1.1.1 Hung King era with Dong Son culture:
The costumes of women in Hung King's period were usually short, tight-fitting, chest-slit neck and normally worn with ankle-length skirts In addition to that style, we can also see images ofwomen wearing short-sleeved shirts, square necks, partially revealing shoulders or full breasts Thisshirt was available in two styles: button-up and pullover The shirt was always decorated with veryvivid floral motifs, bearing the identity of that time The shirt was short and there was a large beltalong with a long skirt to the bottom The belt had three lines of decorative dots evenly spaced andwrapped horizontally on the belly.
When wearing this suit, they often combined it with metal accessories such as large bracelets and large necklaces or maybe the earrings and hat that were the same color as the shirt.
1.1.2 Ly Dynasty:
This was the period when our country had to go through history stained with blood andinfluence by a period of 1000 years of colonization However, the provisional government at thattime decided not to use the brocade of the Song Dynasty, but instead used woven fabric from DaiViet to sew traditional clothes.Vietnamese costumes in this period were no longer costumes withrudimentary materials, needlepoint lines and less sharp details The highlight of the costume of thisperiod were the images of clouds, flowers, and nature meticulously embroidered on the body, andthey were considered the intersection between natural beauty and the human soul The fabric materialwas also improved compared to the previous period, which was a positive sign of the development ofPage | 4
Trang 5the textile industry in our country at that time Compared to Vietnamese costumes in other periods,the costumes of the Ly dynasty looked quite graceful, and soft Along with that were the details, andthe layers are very trendy.
Figure 2 and 3: 11th - 13th Century (Ly Dynasty)
1.1.3 Tran Dynasty:
Speaking of the Tran Dynasty, we were always proud to be the bloodline of those who havedefeated the Mongol-Nguyen enemies three times This was the most arduous period in history,lasting throughout an entire imperial era Hence, being influenced on national culture such ascostumes and aesthetics was inevitable Characteristically, the shirt had long and wide sleeves, adeep-cut collar, and a strapless camisole inside Costumes of the Tran Dynasty evoked a strongfeeling and national temperament, bearing a bold and heroic spirit that contributed to the collectionof Vietnamese costumes through periods with full of magnanimity and vibrancy.
Women's national costume was divided into two phases From the 13th to the 15th century, the characteristics were as mentioned above In the 15-16th centuries, during the late Tran and early
Trang 6Le dynasties, the collar was sewn more discreetly with a round neck and neater sleeves However, the colors were more sophisticated and eye-catching.
Figure 5: 15-16th Century (the late Tran - early Le Dynasty)
As for men's clothing, it was also very eye-catching The design was quite similar to women,but instead, the details on men's shirts were strong and more powerful The collar was designed witha vertical neckline and bevelled diagonal In addition, to create an impression, in men's costumes,there was also a large belt along with it, on which there can be decorative details as you like.
1.1.4 Le Dynasty:
Coming to the costumes of the Le Dynasty, instead of the temperament like the Tran Dynasty,we feel more dignified and feminine This period was considered the most sublime one, that thecostumes developed the most of all time At this stage, all designs and styles gradually became morediverse and also were much more sophisticated Despite the variety, every design generally had avery prominent colour combination, with many layers of quite sophisticated robes That was theresult of the process of being oppressed by the colonial people and greatly influenced the traditionaldress style of our nation.
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Trang 7The biggest difference in design was the "seamless high wall" through each layers of fabric,the softness of the fabric and the more eye-catching sophisticated colours The costume ofVietnamese women in the Le Dynasty had many similarities with the Chinese Hanfu robe with widesleeves, a large waist-length belt used to fix this robe It was because of the influence of Chineseculture that made the costume to be not welcomed by many people in Vietnam.
1.1.5 Nguyen Dynasty:
It was not until the last dynasty - the Nguyen Dynasty that our country's costumes weredivided between the royal class and the regular people At this stage, a lot of different types ofcostumes appeared These were developed upon what was before, partly based on creativity and thevariability of fashion.
Figure 7: 19th Century (Nguyen Dynasty)
The most typical costumes in fashion reform are the shirt Tac (tấc), Nhat Binh shirt, Vien Linh shirt, Giao Linh shirt, and counter-ham shirt As for kings, Vietnamese costumes still had a mixture of the East and a little bit of influence of the West.
Figure 8: Emperor costumes in Nguyen Dynasty
If the costumes of the ruling class became increasingly weathered between two separate cultures, in our society, our people still retained their inherent traditions Costumes such as “ao dai”, camisole, four-body shirt, “ba ba” shirt, strapless hat have gradually become an indispensable item and a crystallization of a long-standing culture.
Trang 8As for the upper class, they accept the culture of modern Western clothing At this stage, society began to appear flared skirts or innovative long dresses For men, started with shirts, trousers and vests The styles of Vietnamese costumes through these periods were widely popular, including three Nam Phuong Queen, who was very passionate about innovative ao dai.
1.1.6 The 21 Century:st
From the beginning of the 21st century up to now, the Ao Dai has become familiar and is alsothe national costume of our country Upper-class people choose Ao dai styles that has beenluxuriously sewn with gold-embroidered motifs, hand-embroidered To the aunts and thegrandmothers, the young girls with Ao Dai go to festivals, walk the streets and go to school.Experiencing a long time in the process of forming and developing culture; today, the Ao Dai is anindispensable traditional costume for Vietnamese people Despite going through many changes andbeing influenced by innovation, the most beautiful Ao Dai is still the one that is sewn in thetraditional style These ao dai have the shape of the waist, long skirts to the feet, stand neck and aresewn with silk fabric.
Figure 9: The 20-21st Century
Vietnamese woman, when wearing ao dai, becomes very gentle and dignified All exude the feminine,soft and elegant beauty of this traditional outfit.
1.2 Some Typical Costumes of Vietnam:1.2.1 Ao Dai:
Ao Dai is not only a traditional costume but also honoured to become the national costume ofour country Ao dai is suitable for both men and women At almost any time of the day, one can wearao dai However, these days, this type of clothing is mainly used by women when going to school orworking in some offices The purple ao dai is considered a symbol of the gentle, discreet, shy Huewomen "Symbolically, the áo dài invokes nostalgia and timelessness associated with a genderedimage of the homeland for which many Vietnamese people throughout the diaspora yearn," wroteNhi T Lieu, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
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Trang 91.2.2 Ao Ba Ba:
Ba ba shirt is a traditional costume for both men and women It is also a symbol of women inthe South of our country The design of the Ba ba shirt is completely similar to ordinary shirts Thecollar is moderate, and the sleeves can be long or short The shirt is printed with a row of buttonsextending from the neck straight downwards to the belly The design of the shirt is simple andusually made from soft, thin, light, cool fabrics such as silk, Today, Ba Ba shirt is still popular withversatile usage on all occasions From staying at home, going out, going to the market or attendingtraditional festivals, etc.
Figure 11: Ao Ba Ba
1.2.3 Ao Tu Than:
The four-body dress is a traditional costume and also a symbol of women in the North ofVietnam As a long-standing costume, the four-body dress has a symbolic design, symbolizing thegood qualities of Vietnamese women, such as the four tunics symbolize the four mothers, theirparents and parents of their husband; the tie which is located in the two lapels symbolizing theparent's embrace with their beloved child; five buttons are symmetrically arranged, symbolizing thefive great qualities of human beings (the Five Constant Virtues), which are benevolence,righteousness, ceremony, wisdom, and faith; two front flaps tied to symbolize the love betweenhusband and wife is always close, durable, and glued together Currently, the four-body dress ismostly worn on holidays only, summer festivals, etc.
Trang 101.2.4 Ao Cham:
"Ao Cham" is the traditional dress of some ethnic minorities in the northern mountainousregion of our country The name of this shirt comes from the indigo tree, which is used to dyefabrics Traditional “ao cham” are made from self-woven fabrics, without embellishments and areused almost all the time However, today, the Cham shirt is increasingly being lost and forgotten Thereason is that the manufacturing process is relatively complex and lengthy.
Figure 12: Ao Cham
1.2.5 Traditional costumes of other ethnics :
Vietnam is home to 54 groups of ethnics, distributed in all regions of the country Therefore,the national costume in our country is very diverse with all different colours, designs and materials.Such as:
Muong ethnic: Muong men and boys often wear blouses Top with split bust, round neckline,wide-leg pants, and a mid-waist bandana Meanwhile, Muong women and girls often wearblouses: The body is short, and the sleeves are not longer than their elbow, and with the blackankle-length dress Skirts can be decorated with intricately woven patterns.
Cham ethnic: Men wear crisscrossed blouses, laced up, shorts inside, and skirts wrappedaround the outside Women have different costumes depending on the region However, it isPage | 10