Ao dai a symbol of Vietnamese culture = Nghiên cứu Áo dài biểu trưng của Việt Nam

In the reform period, western culture was introduced in Vietnam, but like the majority of Southeast Asian countries, due to the impact of the introduction of the momentum, the lack of se

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

INSTITUTE OF VIETNAMESE STUDIES AND DEVELOPMENT SCIENCES

Hanoi - 2012

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

INSTITUTE OF VIETNAMESE STUDIES AND DEVELOPMENT SCIENCES

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRELUDE 5

1 Reasons to choose the study matter 5

2 Study purpose and meaning 5

Study purpose 5

Meaning of study 6

3 Review of previous studies on Ao Dai 7

Specificness of the previous studies 7

Existing problems of previous studies 8

4 Subject and scope of study 14

5 Study method 14

6 Study structure 15

Chapter1: ORIGIN AND PROCESS OF FORMING THE AO DAI AS WE KNOW NOWADAYS 16

1.1 Vietnamese cultural costume 16

1.1.1 Origin of Vietnames cultural costume 16

1.1.2 Classification and specificness of the first Vietnamese costumes 18 1.2 Origin of forming and the process of transformation of Vietnamese traditional Ao dai 25

1.2.1 Effect of Chinese Qi Pao 25

2

1.2.2 Effects of Cham’s Ao Dai 29

1.2.3 Effect of French-western costumes 31

1.2.4 Ao Dai development stages 32

Chapter2: VALUE AND SPECIFICNESS OF AO DAI-VIETNAMESE CULTURAL SYMBOL 37

2.1 Composition and specificness of traditional Vietnamese Ao Dai 37

2.1.1 Composition of Ao Dai 37

2.1.2 Specificness of Ao Dai 39

2.1.3 Traditional Ao Dai and Modern Ao Dai 43

2.1.4 Ao Dai Accessories 44

2.2 Ao DAi in the war against the USA 47

2.2.1 Symbol of war protest and peace 47

2.2.2 Symbol for Vietnam’s independence 48

2.3 Ao Dai after the Doi Moi policy 50

2.3.1 Symbol for renovation in socio-economic 50

2.3.2 Symbol of national culture 51

Chapter 3: ROLE AND BEAUTY OF AO DAI 54

3.1 Role of Ao Dai 54

3.1.1 Ao Dai as a type of uniform 54

3.1.2 Ao Dai and women 55

3.2 Beauty of Ao Dai 57

3.2.1 Voluptuous beauty 57

3.2.2 Elegant beauty 58

3

3.2.3 Unprecedented beauty 60

3.3 Vietnamese Ao Dai in comparison with Korean ’s Hanbok 60

3.3.1 Brief introduction about Korean’s Hanbok 60

3.3.2 Comparison between Ao Dai and Hanbok 69

CONCLUSION 73

Summary 73

Expectations to subsequent studies 75

REFERENCES 77

APPENDIX 77

4

INDEX OF TABLE

[TABLE 1.1.] 28

[TABLE 1.2.] 33

[TABLE 1.3.] 34

[TABLE 2.4.] 41

[TABLE 2.5.] 43

[TABLE 3.6.] 70

[Characterized classification chart by each Vietnam traditional dress] 88

5

PRELUDE

1 Reasons to choose the study matter

Ao Dai is one of the image that many people have not been to Vietnam, but they only see the Ao Dai, they can think of Vietnam Since economic reforms, many Countries in the world in the process of establishing diplomatic relationships with Vietnam, have attempted to learn about Vietnam's culture Therefore, concerns about Ao Dai has been gradually improved However, there exists a fact that the study of Ao Dai still is limited These available data are not the theory that only describe meanings of origin, name, or explain basically outside levels, and add to feelings and subjective judgments of the author Moreover, this content has not been corrected by a synthetic way From there, I found that the start of analyzing and correcting the study of Ao Dai is more urgent Therefore, this study will be help for those who want to learn a comprehensive and in-depth way about Ao Dai, as well as people see firstly or want to have more information about Ao Dai

2 Study purpose and meaning

Study purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyse Ao Dai – Vietnamese symbol -

systematically and comprehensively

Most previous studies on Ao Dai were only a primary topic when introducing to Vietnam, There is no any professional and systematic study Even contents about

Ao Dai were also very poor, most reviews and the author's subjective thoughts, or a brief introduction to the origin, the meaning of name or describing the appearance

of Ao Dai Learning from previous studies, this study develops not only introduction about Ao Dai, but also consider the change of history since Ao Dai appeared firstly in Vietnam until the new style appears as we know today Moreover,

in the history books, not have a professional study

In the reform period, western culture was introduced in Vietnam, but like the majority of Southeast Asian countries, due to the impact of the introduction of the momentum, the lack of selectivity traditional costumes of each country, each country does not inherit intact identities Until now, traditional costumes are not as daily costumes, it only was worn in big events or holidays I myself hope that Ao Dai will dominate its position in the future, it is clothes to wear every day, and not merely an uniform as today

Meaning of Study

This study is the summary of all previous short and incomprehensive studies on

Ao Dai Accordingly, it can be said that this study will be a precious source for people who want to understand deeply and comprehensively about Ao Dai –

Vietnamese cultural symbol When considering carefully previous studies, it is

obvious that most of them only simply notes about Ao Dai’s appearance, meaning

of the name or origin, and in many cases, reflect the subjective thoughts/assessments of the author only In fact, there has not been any comprehensive study in this regard Therefore, by summarizing the previous studies, this study is expected to become a more reliable and accurate document

Many people know Ao Dai as the traditional costume of Vietnam, Vietnam went through the long war, economic and social circumstances become difficult, damaged, humans' perception of the value of studying traditional costumes are not high because of feelings when conducting study Most people see it as a costume,

7

they do not realize that it is necessary to have a systematic study But elements making our lives: clothes is an important part, especially traditional costumes are a symbol, representing for a country, in terms of domestic policies to improve a national pride, in terms of foreign policies as a mean to promote a national image Through these points, the value of this study is relatively large

In particular, by analyzing in depth Vietnamese costume culture based on the available documents on Ao Dai, the study expects to become a tool to grasp the modernization trend of traditional culture, as well as the potential of Vietnamese culture through types of Ao Dai, in the process of Vietnamese society modernization

At the same time, this article would like to become useful material for researchers learn about Ao dai

3 Review of previous studies on Ao Dai

Specificness of the previous studies

Ao Dai known to the world for the first time through the war against the United States of America, and spread images more widely after the Doi Moi policy in its role as a symbol of Vietnam With special charms that no other types of costumes having, Ao Dai received a lot of attention of world fashion However, so far there is

no study which corresponds to the value of Ao Dai Instead of studying profession, these current studies of both Vietnam and foreign countries were only a brief and sketchy notes, they are not any literary and artistic value, these studies did not base

on materials of history, which were mainly subjective assessment, the author's personal about Ao Dai Because of lacking of expertise in the study is understandable Some foreign material is simply translated from Vietnam's materials, many cases of conveying false information due to errors in the translation process Materials are low, repeating in the process of synthesizing or excerpting from available documents to make contents similar to each other Probably in the

8

last time, Ao Dai’s studied, investigated by foreign researchers more than Vietnam,

showed that the capacity of self-advocacy research in Vietnam is poor

In the study process, I have tried to access to materials in the United States or France, but most of them was recorded by subjective nature, just described Ao Dai when seeing or perceiving that moment On the other hand, the absence of images such as photographs, photos attached; therefore, the inference of new Ao Dai from these documents is a difficult thing to do

Existing problems of previous studies

This section will analysis in four key points as follows: Firstly, Studying Ao Dai

in Vietnam; Secondly, studying Ao Dai in Foreign Countries; Thirdly, studying Ao Dai with a historical perspective, women and costumes of Vietnam; Fourthly, studying of the appearance of new Ao dai under the action of time in the 1920s, 1930s and the influence of modern Chinese costumes

Firstly, studying Ao Dai is done in Vietnam; most studies do not take Ao Dai as the main theme, which is just a cursory and brief introduction, Ao Dai as a minor theme in the article about Vietnam's costumes The article took Ao Dai as the main theme, also at the level of translating works of foreign authors into Vietnamese or pictures of Ao Dai

"Ao dai women's Long Dress"(2011)1 is a 98 page booklet, which includes 17 large and small topics, such as: meaning of Ao Dai and describing the shape of Ao Dai, the development process, current Ao Dai, Ao Dai for women, oldest shop in Hanoi, the village making silk, thoughts of Ao Dai for people living in the USA because of having too many sub-themes, the book went against the intended purpose, rambling contents, only introducing monotonous, much more personal criticism The book can bring for people's feeling who contact firstly Ao Dai: "Well, This is Ao dai." To help Foreigners contact firstly with Ao Dai can understand

1

Lady Borton, Huu Ngoc, "Ao dai women's Long Dress", (World Publisher, 2011)

9

easily the meaning of Ao Dai in the last part of the book with the translation into English of the name of Ao Dai In general, this is the record, comment on Ao Dai under foreigner's perspective, the book's audience as foreigners

"Vietnam Costume"2 is the book to analyze, arrange Vietnam's clothes in each period, describing costumes of everyone, the young and old, all kinds of hats, accessories, jewelry, shoes, hair the author was too greedy to want to explain, to list all the things together with long history clothes of Vietnam in a book Therefore,

an explanation has no depth However, unlike many documents describing Ao Dai

by words, this book also attach images to help readers better understand the shape

of costumes But attaching photos that are not a real image as the shape of shoes, hats making it difficult to imagine the real shape because of the lack of precision

of photos If the book classifies images of Ao Dai of each period or each type can understand easier

"Food Culture and traditional costumes of Vietnamese"3 is an essay published in

a book This book includes two main topics: food and clothing; contents related to costumes, explained by each division and in each period, but there is no picture attached, it is difficult to understand and imagine In particular, the part related to jewelry accessories accompanying drawings, not have actual images; is clearly divided into many obvious topics such as: hat, scarf, shoes, jewelry but the explanation is still monotonous, scattered In addition to, these issues, as the above mentioned book, due to covering many contents as: Foods and costumes in normal days, anniversaries, anniversary worship, marriage technical textiles, color and costume jewelry lead to counter-productive, contents do not have depth On the basis of this book, if it is studied by an intensive way, if will have a great value in studying about Ao Dai

10

In addition, the "Outstanding Vietnam women before the 20th century"4 wrote famous women in the history of Vietnam before 1884 Ao Dai for both men and women, but people only think that it is as property costumes of women This book introduces traditional Ao Dai worn by Hai Ba Trung when battling with Han Dynasty

Secondly, materials of Ao Dai studied at foreign countries, they are notes explaining the meaning of Ao Dai, describing appearance, a brief of Ao Dai Among them, there are also materials written in a foreign language by the Vietnamese

"Ao Dai and La Hat, symbols of the Vietnamese"5 writing about Ao Dai be divided into three main points: Ao Dai in normal days, holidays, jewelry and accessories The book explains, describes types, features, appearance, and accessories of costumes through poetry and Vietnam traditional folk song At a whole view, contents of costumes are poor, especially for the jewelry for the absence of illustrations, it is difficult to understand

"Vietnam and Vietnamese"6 explains, classifies types of costume by northern and southern regions, and alternates proverb related these costumes However, the book explains by one diverse way, issues such as appearance, color, features, history, dresses, and alternates additional explanations such as proverbs, poetry makes ramble contents

"People and culture in Southeast Asia"7 writes much about Ao Dai; including, a brief explanation of the history and meaning of Ao Dai, color of Ao Dai to each location, status in society, who wear, when to wear, the first personal impression

17 century

"Confucius problem of with Vietnam traditional social & Vietnam historical research"13 emphasized a practice that the lack of researchers learns about Vietnam, the training of expert studying of Vietnam is a urgent matter "Understanding about Vietnam"14 This document edited from the document of Vietnam and foreign about wars and women's roles in each period "Viet Nam family rules & social behavior of people of Vietnam"15 written rules in family in the north and south of Vietnam In addition, "Vietnam's cultural identity in transition period"16 analyzed historical experience of Vietnam, consider the introduction and cultural influence of the West

Ha Sun, " Viet Nam family's rules & social behavior of Vietnamese people", (Pusan University

of Foreign Studies Publisher , 1994)

16

Han Hong Ryeol, "Vietnam's cultural identity in transition period" (National Geographic Association Publisher , 1999)

12

and China, explained material culture in dressing of Vietnam However, the study did not achieve a good quality due to a excessive fragmentation of topics

Fourthly, studying of the appearance of a new type of Ao Dai under the influence

of time in the 1920s, 30s and modern Chinese clothing

First of all, considering the Qi Pao (also known as cheong-sam) of China, studies analyze a general and systematic way with characteristics of the design by time

"Studying the change of Chinese women's costume first half of the 20th century"17divided China's history a systematic way into the period: Periods of beginning, introduction, development, growth, decline, and dividing clothes in detailed by silhouette 18, adjust 19, embroidery motifs "Studying changes and styles of China women's costume by the introduction of Western culture",20 wrote the introduction

of Western culture into China of the 20th century, the receiving attitude of people and arranging history of clothing in each period Meanwhile, "Characteristics of the design of Qi Pao appear in the modern fashion design"21 defined the concept about

Qi Pao, described the origin, the change over time, characteristics of design , which shows the direction of modern designs Qi Pao had a lot of differences and similarities with Ao Tu Than22 and Aa Dai of Vietnam, the document should be useful in studying characteristics of Ao Dai "Characteristics of ethnic minorities' costumes appear in modern costumes of China"23 studied costumes of China-a country consisting of many ethnic minorities like Vietnam, the book handling an overall way of costume materials of China and implications in costume

13

In addition, "Comparing body in costumes of Korean and Western under a traditional perspective"24 not only referred to the importance of body shape to wear, but also compared costumes of Eastern and Western In particular, the mention of specific designs of Korean costume Hanbok is to hide the body of wearers, the book emphasizes awareness and standards of different beauties from people of the East

Asia and West This point is very similar to characteristics of Vietnam's Ao Dai “to

close tight."

"Ethnic clothes: Ethnic clothes of some countries in the world in the form of creation"25 arranged in a system of the type of clothing, characteristics of costumes for each country, which have divided Ao Dai into two parts: top and bottom to explain, describe the shape of Ao Dai enclosed photos In contrast, the book "Asian Traditional Costumes"26 handled information about clothing of women and men, culture and history of Vietnam "Ethnic Culture of countries in the world"27 divided costumes of the Vietnamese ethnic minorities into 15 types for analysis, but this study has not any depth

self-"Studying similar characteristics of fashion of the 1920s and 1960s,"28 described fashion trends from the beginning period of Ao Dai - 1930 to the development period- 1960 "The flow of world fashion,"29 has a detailed classification of costumes of the 1920s, 30s and analysis to help readers capture fashion

14

4 Subjects and scope of study

Objects of this study are all kinds of Vietnamese costumes attaching a word "Ao", with purposes to explain how specific types and external appearance of all kinds of costumes in the process of transformation of the "Ao", from the moment we know"Ao Yem" - first costumes appeared in Vietnam, until the appearance of "Ao Dai" On the basis of available materials, this article developed a systematic study, the depth of Vietnamese costumes, studying hidden beauties of Ao Dai, and analyzing effects of it with Vietnam's costumes

For the Vietnam's document divided into sections: Documents about Ao Dai and costume history of Vietnam, Vietnam's history, women, wars in Vietnam, the image ofAo Dai abroad For information about costumes of China and Korea, through documents to find information about the shape and history of Qi Pao and Hanbok from the start of the exchange of each country with Vietnam, sorting change history

of clothes of each country to compare with changing of Vietnam's Ao Dai In addition, the Article also studied the shape and type of costume, the process of historical change and European clothing, fashion trends around 1920, 30 and 1960

70, Ao Dai re-developed and coped with new challenges; research key processes of changing clothes due to the influence of Western culture with traditional costumes

16

Chapter1: ORIGIN AND PROCESS OF FORMING THE AO DAI AS

WE KNOW NOWADAYS

1.1 Vietnamese cultural costume

1.1.1 Origin of Vietnamese cultural costume

Many materials on archeology, linguistics, ethnography have shown that tens of thousands of years ago, there were those who originally lived on the land in the territory of Vietnam Many artifacts of stone, ceramic, brass showed the mark of weaving techniques, weaving tools and objects, drawn, carved, along with a costume This shows that Vietnam's costume has a long history

In fact, Giao Chi People has woven fabric of jute, hemp and banana silk to create beautiful, cool, lightweight fabric so that they are suitable with tropical climate South Books wrote: "They took the banana silk woven into two fabrics" hy "and" khich ", are Giao Chi to AD period, Lac Viet people knew to plan strawberries, raise silkworms Especially, in the Red river delta fed by the fertile alluvium, which has had a big mulberry, cotton, jute, hemp, banana development, creating rich and diverse areas of textile materials for weaving development This is the main cause, forming the variety of fabrics and costume development history of the region

Costumes of the most ancient of Vietnam have appeared since the Hung Vuong through the carvings on the Dong Son drums 30 excavated in areas such as: Ngoc Lu (5000 BC Tay Lich), Hoa Binh, Hoang Ha

Hung Vuong in usual activities, women had short shirts, tight skirts, dresses with the buffer short skirts, brackets, belt with tassels hanging people wear these types

of dresses with feathers, leaves, hats with feathers and all kinds of jewelry such as

30

Drums was a very unique bronze percussion instruments of the Southeast Asia, appears from Bronze Age, "in line", http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr% E1% BB% 91ng_% C4% 91% E1% BB% 93ng

17

earrings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, rings etc in different materials such as stone , copper, bone, shells in the festival31

Furthermore, through the picture painted in the north of the relics was considered

to be 3000 years ago, we can recognize the dress of the people at that time, according to the conjecture that shape is Loin- cloth, a men's clothing Scholars of history, culture, culture of clothes have started from the period of ancient civilization Van Lang, the first State of the ancient Vietnamese (in 287 BC ~ 258 BC)

[PHOTO 1.1]

From Ao Tu Than associated with the operation of Hai Ba Trung According to the history of Vietnam, Hai Ba Trung is the common name of two sisters: Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, a legendary hero of Vietnam, was the head of the large-scale campaign against the domination of the Chinese military 38 ~ 42 BC, Hai Ba Trung rode elephant and worn clothes that have 2 separate flap going battle with invaders, it can

be surmised that this type was the source Vietnam traditional costume

31

Doan Thi Tinh, " Thang Long costumes-Hanoi", (Hanoi Publisher ), page.20,21

[PHOTO 1.2]

18

Thus, the period costumes of Vietnamese people have relatively completed from

dresses to jewelry, fabrics and color with diversities

In 1000 years of Chinese feudalism of the North have tried to assimilate

Vietnamese people by sinister policies from language, literacy, culture, costumes,

That's why almost during the first 10 centuries AD, notes on clothing as well as the

development of Vietnam's costumes extremely were rare

After the victory of Ngo Quyen on the glorious Bach Dang River (938) ended in

1000 in North of Vietnam and began the era of independence with new policies to

develop the country In 939, Ngo Quyen set titles, regulations, royal ceremonies and

colors and costumes for mandarins all levels These dynasties had more specific

rules about costumes of kings, mandarins, soldiers, and civilians with clothing,

colors, jewelry and various accessories In each period, each dynasty, costumes had

certain changes and a special for development and the uniqueness of Vietnam's

costumes

1.1.2 Classification and specificness of the first Vietnamese costumes

* Kho and Ao Yem

Cultural Vietnam's costumes in the early period were not clearly written, but we

can judge through photos on the antique copper excavated in the Dong Son, the

village was considered to be the root source of background culture of Vietnam

green field.32 At this time, men used Loin- cloth, was the oldest ancient costumes of

mankind, a long piece of cloth to hide the perinea area by taking wrapped round the

waist, the end Loin- cloth released on the front or back This costume is cool,

appropriate with tropical climate; everyone can wear, regardless of deviation

between the rich and the poor, high-low rights [PHOTO 1.3]

32

Pierre Huard, Maurice Durand, "Understanding Vietnam", (Social Science Publisher, 1993)

19

Women worn dresses, the top cloth covered the chest called Ao Yem Ao Yem is

a diamond or square having a rope on the neck and tie to the back, Yem functions depending on the person

Ao Yem can wear inside or outside, it's not only the long history shirt in the ancient traditional dress of women in northern of Viet Nam, but also are popular costumes appearing throughout Southeast Asia

In 11 ~ 13 century under Ly Dynasty, Ao Yem began forming typical shapes, it was worn by all Vietnam women at all levels of social classes, from supper to lower classes Ao Yem had a square cross the chest, two pieces of wire to tie the back of the neck, if the neck cut round called Yem Co Xay the sharp V-shaped neck called Yem Co Xe, bottom V that will deep down called Yem Co Canh

Color and type of Yem performed about the age and class of woman wearing it Typically, urban women often wear improved designs, with elegant colors such as: white, lotus, or red; farm laborers wearing brown Yem, ground color to match the simplicity of the village; Women in factories such as garment factory worn brown Yem

Lunar New Year, in cities as well as rural areas, all people were off work and worn Ao Yem Ao yem has been a popular shirt called a national dress of that time, all the Vietnamese girls enjoyed wearing it in festivals or rituals holidays Entering the 20th century, Ao Yem has gradually been replaced by the introduction of Western-style lingerie form; currently, Ao yem found in advertisements or documents Vietnam's ancient [PHOTO 1.4]

Previously, fabric of Loin- cloth and Ao Yem mainly woven from hemp or silk

of banana split banana trunk, when cotton and silk became common in Vietnam; they also use this material to sew

20

Photos of Loin- cloth and Flaps were also detected in foreign materials Especially, Korea had "Stories on Wan Byeok"33 Vietnamese described Vietnam by Chosun of Korea at the beginning of the 17th century The book described as follows: Vietnamese people at that time regardless of boys and girls, age and baby, everyone only used a silk fabric to cover the front and back, no longer than the knee, exposing thighs According to estimates, this was a Loin-cloth, men's clothing People cultivated mulberry, raised silkworm, took silk and weaved into sewing Loin-cloth, people at that time did not wear sandals, as the authors recognize, it showed a equal lifestyle , not distinguish between the rich and poor, high and low

of people

The book also referred to dyed black teeth, Vietnamese people considered it as a method to separate with China people with white teeth Moreover, Vietnamese people also thought that black teeth to distinguish from the evil and animals with white teeth "Dye teeth" was not only a custom in Southeast Asia at that time, but also spread out in many parts of Asia such as Japan, South China, and south India

In areas, that tends considered dying black teeth to measure women's beauty of years old.34 Wan Byeok arrived Central South of Vietnam, not the North, where China dominated Dying black teeth combined with Ao Yem as a method to show women' beauty

* Ao Giao Linh or Giao Lanh

Vietnamese traditional dress had many kinds, the oldest kind was Ao Giao Linh, then the occurrence of Ao Tu Than and Ao Nam Than Ao Giao Linh was the most ancient dress, did not have an accurate material when it used Some scholars argued that Ao Giao Linh is the precursor of Ao Tu Than, but no evidence to prove Its

Ao Tu Than with the waist and brown skirt, but in the holidays or festivals, they worn white, red or pink lotus Yem, a skirt or yellow pants , brown, gray or black Ao

Tu Than [PHOTO 1.6]

Ao included 2 integral pieces in the front, 2 clasped pieces behind middle of back; edges of the two pieces connected to each other and hide inside When wearing Ao Tu Than, it was not necessarily to tie back, can tie in front or behind

In ancient times, when garment techniques were rudimentary, fabric was woven largely, have four pieces to create an Ao Notable point was not only the aesthetic beauty of external forms, but also the subtle disguise excess fabric edges

non-by applying 2 pieces35, whipping, then flip it over to wear When wearing Ao Tu Than, women can combine with the waist not have buttons Characteristics of

35

Whip-stitch is by sewing edges of the fabric to tie together Can sew one or two, three times in the stitching Use when fixing collar and lapel

Ao Tu Than is typical for Kinh Bac 37, for both men and women can wear when participating in events, ceremonies or holidays Under the domination of China, the influence from Qi Pao38-clothes of Manchu China, Vietnamese has transformed Qi Pao to be suitable with living and climate of Vietnam, Ao Tu Than can be considered the forerunner of today's new style Ao Dai

By the early 20th century, Ao Tu Than has been regarded as the national dress of Vietnam, but due to the emergence of new types of Ao Dai, so we only can find Ao Dai in traditional ceremonies

The basic shape of Ao Tu Than formed by the strong influence of China cultural costumes North Vietnam subjected about 1,000 years of Chinese domination from

111 BC In the 18th century, the costume of the ruling class and the involved classes changed due to the introduction of China's culture, the quality of fabric and colors had meticulous regulations: blue for managers, brown or black for civilians, bride and groom wear red in marriage In particular, yellow is specified as only the King, costumes of officials and soldiers are different, depending on which officer’s

36

Ruot tuong, that lung bao (also known as that lung ruot tuong) was a type of cloth, used for holding money or rice, worn around the waist or abdomen Nguyen Viet Huong, "food culture and traditional costumes of Vietnamese ", (Vietnam National University, Hanoi Publisher , 2006), pp.139

23

normal days or ceremonies After King Le, Dao Nho captured in society, costume

of managers is reproduced like China.39

But, not only for costumes of the management classes, had common people, had China forced to change the dress to be similar to China In history, there were many Kings having a lot of efforts to preserve the cultural identity of Vietnamese costumes In fact, the most influential in the 18th century, Minh Mang King (1820 ~ 1840) the Nguyen Dynasty, unified North, Central, South and making policies to consist costumes among regions, until 1832 Received costumes of Thanh Dynasty, China

* Ao Nam Than

Ao Tu Than developed from Ao Nam Than, distinguished from each other by the number of added fabric According to Professor Ngo Duc Thinh- scholar of studying culture, Ao Nam Than born and improved from Ao Tu Than.40 Meanings

of Ao Nam Than 41 made by 5 fabrics King Gia Long (1802 ~ 1819), Ao Nam Than, with innovation by adding a fabric in Ao Tu Than This costume combines long and privacy stype of Ao Tu Than, a characteristic of the north, starting from Nguyen dynasty widely used in the noble and bourgeoisie classes

Ao Nam Than sewed as Ao Tu Than, but right front flap made of a fabric body, while the left flap made of two body fabric as behind Unlike Ao Tu Than revealing Yem, Ao Nam Than covered body, this is the precondition for shape of new style

In addition to above meanings, 5 buttons also meant to symbolize five elements (metal, wood, fire, water, earth) by Confucian perspective Clearly Ao Nam Than expresses of Vietnamese, but still bearing influences of Confucianism At the same time, according to five elements, the left is east, the right is west.42 Typical characteristics of southeast agricultural culture, of the North West is nomadic culture In Vietnamese culture costume in ancient times, when people considered the left as more, it clipped on the left hand, later under the assimilation policy of China, it moved to right hand The Chinese considered tucking shirt on the left hand

of people of the South is description form.43

Depending on the region, Ao Nam Than brings different colors Especially in Hanoi, Hue, Saigon, the color of Ao Nam Than is separate with other areas.44 In the holidays, women worn many shirts and skirts Inside of skirts are natural color, outside colored The South has hot weather, people also short or cool shirts.45

45

Ao Mo (multiple layers) just wears many classes together, Ao Cap: consists of two interlocking Nguyen Viet Huong has above mentioned essay, pp.138

25

By the early 20th century, with the combination of the dress of Paris, Ao Nam Than converted into a new-type Ao Dai Ao Nam Than has discreet left front flap, covering all inside, there are a lot of similarities with new model Ao Dai, Ao Nam Than is new style Ao Dai.

1.2 Origin of forming and the process of transformation of Vietnamese traditional Ao dai

Ao Dai known to the entire world as cultural symbol, a symbol of feminine gentle beauty of Vietnam women However, Ao Dai not only reserved for Vietnam women, but also for men Ao Dai of women designed by cleverly complex lines, many colors and materials, Ao Dai of men designed wider with simply materials and colors is black and blue, white pants, wrapping towel and holding umbrella

In this topic, I do not focus on studying Ao Dai including Ao Dai for men and women I mainly focus on analyzing the origin, describing characteristics and evaluate the symbolic value of costume beauty of women's Ao Dai

The origin has always been a problem existing many mixed opinions Some people considered that Ao Dai is a combination of Ao Tu Than with Qi Pao (X ng

xám / S n xám) of China This is a point responded by the appearance of two

types of clothing as well as cutting characteristics having many similarities Many people argue that Vietnam's Ao Dai has an influence on Ao Dai Cham Some people thought that Ao Dai is the same as Ao Dai Tay Therefore, to find out the source of the Vietnam's Ao Dai is extremely difficult, Although Ao Dai has what the orgin or combination, influence from anything, Ao dai is delicate innovative products of Vietnamese and cultural values

1.2.1 Effect of Chinese Qi Pao

In the history of Vietnam has long under the colonial period of China (1000 years

of south domination period), later when Vietnam won independence after 938 with Ngo Quyen victory, Vietnam still to hell many times under the invasion of China

26

Therefore, China's influence to the development of Vietnam's costumes in general and Ao Dai in particular was a long process of history and China's seal of undeniable designs

From the ancient of Vietnam to now, Vietnam was invaded many times by China and dominated for nearly 10 centuries, China's culture has gradually introduced in Vietnam Culture Dress was no exception to this The China of dress is a common situation in Southeast Asia, the Vietnam's culture was mixed and influenced by China, in particular, can see the great influence from China for pants of Ao Dai It can easily be found throughout the history of Vietnam, the evidence on the influence of China's culture to Vietnam's costumes

China began to invade Vietnam from Han( ), continued to Tong( ), Ming ( )

and Thanh Dynasty( ) The introduction of Chinese culture, in Vietnam was

repeated 2 trend confrontation and introduced to this culture

King Ly Thai Tong (1028 ~ 1054) in 1040 has preserved the traditional textile methods of Vietnam for women to avoid dependence on textile methods of Tong Dynasty in China

Minh Dynasty invaded Vietnam (1407) carrying out a policy of assimilation and want to change costumes in the style of China, after defeating the aggression of the Minh Dynasty in the reign of Le Huyen Tong King (1663 ~ 1671) and to preserve the cultural characteristics of ethnic costumes, in 1666 the king ordered the 'From now, women did not wear pants, a belt' So, pants are popular in Vietnam after the Chinese Han dominated, has been banned in the Northern region

Quang Trung Emperor (1788 ~ 1792) has declared the war against China with reasons "beating for long hair, beating for black teeth", comes from the desire to preserve cultural identity - 'keeping long hair, holding s sword to preserve cultural identity'

Ao Nam Than, and is the basic shape of morden Ao Dai

Qi Pao ( : Ky Bao) is a kind of Chinese traditional costumes, or seen in

Name pronunced in Cantonese concept (truong sam, meaning long dress) Vietnamese known by the name of Qi Pao / Cheongsam In English, it is known under the name Chinese dress, Qi Pao, Mandarin Dress, Chipau, cheongsam people known under the name "Qi Pao"(Ki Trang) is the most This is a mandatory costume for women of Man Dynasty Thanh Emperor after unifying districts, promoting national modes Ethnic Man known "Ki People", their costumes called

‘Ki trang’ or ‘Xuong xam’ for both men and women

Qi Pao of Ethnic Man Chau - living on a horse, costumes designed with a long style having cutting road from the waist down on both side of feet for more convenient when riding horses, using thick fabrics for cold climate of Man Chau, but Vietnam used Ao Nam Than48 to be suitable with climate, and personalities

28

The shape of Ao Nam Than and Qi Pao is similar Body side of the side from waist having cutting long line to the end of the body, collar-style Chinese collar 49, bottom The pants buckle at the waist This is inherently clothing of the aristocracy but was popular as casual clothing

All cultures have developed and changed with the introduction Similarly, Ao Tu Than is Vietnam traditional costumes influenced directly from Qi Pao of China and reshape Pants of Qi Pao has affected Ao Tu Than and created a new style called Ao Nam Than In particular Ao Nam Than affected by the method of connecting the collar and changing from skirt to Qi Pao pants Interference process that gradually affect the apparel design of Ao Tu Than to Ao Nam Than(this costume to the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century is still popular even in North of Vietnam) From Ao Tu Than, Ao Nam Than, Ao Mo Ba Mo Bay of Vietnam combined with cutting lines waist of the Chinese Qi Pao especially in combination with pants of nomadic population has created a Vietnam ao dai in beauty and sexy design, but discreet It can be said that the Vietnam Ao Dai is a harmonious combination of many different costumes but the mark of China Qi Pao in Vietnam

Ao Dai is undeniable and in fact this is cultural exchanges Vietnamese are always smart to exploit the beauty of others and combine with the beauty to create a perfect product

[TABLE 1.1.]

Comparing Chinese Qi Pao and Vietnamese traditional Ao Dai

49

Chinese collars, also known as Mandarin having straight collar, this shirt of chinese., (Dictionary

of fashion materials, committees of fashion, 1997)

29

Photos

Clothing of ethnic Man Chau in the end

period of Thanh Dynasty (Photos) The shape of Ao Dai in 1885

Origins Traditional costumes of ethnic Man chu

China

Vietnamese traditional costume is made

up of effects of ethnic Manchu in China

Meaning Means 'kind of length and width of Thanh

Materials Silk is a major component Made of silk or soft material

How to

wear

Mainly wear with skirts but in the winter

can wear with skirts or pants

Wearing body of Ao Dai wih large pants

1.2.2 Effects of Cham’s Ao Dai

It is always a difficult question to answer that when did Ao Dai Cham begin, and also have many different opinions the origin of Ao Dai Cham linked to the history

of South of Nguyen Kings Bui Minh Duc said: "Ao Dai of Vietnam women started from Nguyen Phuc Khoat King (the end of eighteenth century) with a platform of Cham women's Ao Dai, combined with Ao Tu Than in the North" "Ao Dai with two-flap of Hue women's may be influenced Cham"

Trinh Nguyen conflict, the Southern of Nguyen Lord "Lord Nguyen Phuc Nguyen proclaimed as a king He summoned people to find methods to proclaim a King and develop a new country He has changed the celebration of music, culture and costumes To change Northern women wear skirts, Southern women should

Ton That Binh said: "The currently beautiful Ao Dai through a development process It is formed from Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat Lord heard Nghe An people having a sentence" bat dai thoi hoan trung nguyen" from Doan Quoc Cong to now about eight lifetime He immediately ordered boys and girls to use clothes of the North to show changes, women worn short narrow sleeves, it is the product of North-South reconciliation "According to Le Quy Don: "Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat was inside, after occupying Chiem Thanh Country, opening border to the south, Le Quy Don said that there was a period of prosperity in peace Nguyen Phuc Khoat Lord announced as a King having a political, administrative, social policies with the discipline, but not having the national name However, foreigners traded Hoi An gate known as "Quang Nam Quoc" To demonstrate the independent spirit, Lord Vu Vuong Nguyen Phuc definitely has focused on issues of social reform, but it is important to improve customs"50

Therefore, there were many ideas that Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat had an important role in the formation of Vietnamese traditional Ao Dai to reconcile the secret beauty of Ao Dai Cham- Southern culture and sexy beauty with sawn waist line of the Chinese Qi Pao - Northern culture to create perfect and sexy Ao Dai Along with the influence of Chinese culture and internal culture of Vietnamese, Ao

50

Ton That Binh, "A Story of Nine Lords, Thirteen Kings of Nguyen Dynasty", (Youth Publisher, 2006), page.29

31

Dai in the early years of XX century with the strong interaction with the West have been modified to suit with the new era - New modern Ao Dai

1.2.3 Effect of French-western costumes

France from the 1800s to the present is the center of modern fashion from But

1860 Vietnam was invaded by the French, after Patenotre agreement in 1884, French culture introduced in Vietnam Especially, Cities of French culture has spread rapidly, changing daily activities of people of Vietnam Meanwhile, cultural dress appeared wearing suit, tie, socks and leather shoes

Since French government established University of Fine Arts in Hanoi, reform, improvement of traditional clothing has created a lot of new things by a majority of people with enthusiasm The color has changed from dark like brown, black, etc to the clothes with bright, these changes have broken and caused a lot of surprises, shocks

During that period, underwear culture has not yet developed, new Ao Dai were only one level, can see women's body Vietnamese feel characteristics of Western Europe because traditional clothing still worn in the period that wide armpit, with the type of jacket has 4 flap length, fixed by fabric belts, inside of Ao Yem is a kind

of breastplate and pants made a woman's curves not be disclosed

New Ao dai cut closely to the body with a short flap, all these influenced by French with European style to present the curve of a woman's body It can be seen that designers of France emphasized the body of new Ao Dai, to satisfy eyes of men

in the ruling class, but the reality is not Because this period Ao Dai was also not the kind of clothes to perform all body like modern Ao Dai

Le mur and Le Pho Ao dai in the 1930's are created by a combination with Ao Nam Than however, the actual expression of women's body was in 1960 Dakao a designer of Sai Gon applied lines to create Ao Dai

32

Vietnamese with nationalists are trying to get rid of French's colony eliminated and considered new Ao Dai created from French's influence is the damage to the culture and ideals of Vietnam

But could not stop efforts to reform Ao Nam than from receiving new elements

of Western culture Modern Ao Dai containing traditional beauty and nobility, but also achieving modern features Traditional Ao Dai of Vietnam - represents the harmony between tradition and modernity widely spread in a short time

1.2.4 Ao Dai development stages

First appearance of Ao Dai Le Mur

Before the Great Depression, World economy in 1929, the world was still full of potentials in the future In 1920 as the World economy was still abundant, the culture also developed In particular, this prosperity was also reflected in costumes and has great influence on the development of the fashion This change was not only in the West but also appeared in Vietnam - a colony of French

Initially, only a part of the new elite can enjoy a wealth of such cultural material, but then it has spread to all classes and to influence the culture of the whole society The introduction of Western culture with Western capitalism has led to the change

of formalism, including the style of dressing Traditional costume of Vietnam is in development, with new Ao Dai suits with world fashion trend 1920, 1930

World Fashion of the 1920s was expressed in a form of features and applications These models tend to dry with straight styles In contrast, in the 1930, popular fashion style was soft shape with a longer skirt, the body is cut to fit the body emphasized the chest, waist, buttocks of women

In 1930 Artist Nguyen Cat Tuong published Ao Dai known as Le Mur, with a typical use of fabrics imported from France and sewed by Western-style, the body almost had not lines appeared in traditional dress, wide sleeves and lotus leaf collar with different buttons Worn with white pants, with right hand to add some small

33

accessories such as wallet or umbrella His thoughts differ from that time about clothes He said that" The moral is often said: Clothes just to cover the body from wind and rain, cold, sun, we should not pay attention to beauty In my opinion, cloths used to cover the body, but it may be a mirror out of the knowledge of a country For any progress, art or not, just to see clothes of that country well enough

to understand "51

From which we can know new views on different clothes but in fact, at the time

of his enthusiasm that has not been accepted Ao of he was Phong Hoa and Ngay nay magazine spread widely, a Ao Dai Lemur have been prevalent, but except for a few women run the Western style, urban women of Vietnam still worn simple Ao Dai with the wide waist and tight neck as before Here are some characteristics of the Ao Lemur

[TABLE 1.2]

Characteristics of Ao Lemur

1 Western-style leaf collar

2 Plastic buttons of the western was square, round or flower patterns, when buttoning, very sturdy, colorful All kinds of buttons of China were no longer used, becasue of difficult inserting Plastic buttons around 50 years later replaced with artificial pearls,

3 Traditional sleeves with narrow inconvenience sleeves, bending not suitable with weather, the first design of Ao Dai was was in a form of short sleeves and wearing more glove Some people have considered it very

51

Nguyen Ta Cuc, designer gowns first in Vietnam in the early 1930s: Nguy n Cát T ng,

http://www.nghiasinh.org/?mode=noisan_chitiet&id_bv=333&PHPSESSID=6c3147e9c68f5ad94 e5836780ded6a

34

luxurious

4 The traditional body very ample, therefore, he has designed closely to the body to reveal the beauty of women Kind of skirt to wrap a few rounds previously made designs became both round and flat, but modern Ao Dai revealing women's body In fact, those Ao Dai are not really tight like now

Ao Dai, and lines were not deep

5 Below is a white pant, not merely referring to a particular form and style

Ao Dai Le Pho

In 1934, Artist Le Pho revised the western definition, adding Vietnam traditional elements of Ao Nam Than and creating a kind of new Ao Dai New Ao Dai displayed at the Women's Fair held in Da Nang and received positive responses, this period Ao Dai has many similarities with modern Ao Dai Upper body of Le Pho

Ao Dai combined the shape of traditional Ao Nam Than, 2 fabric body hugging women's body, without wide sleeves, close collar, buttons on the right side Lower body with long cut on both sides, two soft flying flap, wearing with white pants This Ao Dai combines between new and old type, highlighting the beauty and express women's body, it still is favorite Vietnam Ao Dai Here are characteristics

of Ao Dai Le Pho

[TABLE 1.3]

35

Characteristics of Ao Dai Le Pho

1 Upper body had 2 body with hugging body, right buttons, close collar, wide sleeve

2 Lower body made of fabric with two soft flag

3 This Ao Dai designed with the color body with white pants

4 Hair style often created a comfortable or sensitive way, and can be tied with a velvet cloth

In about 30 years later, Ao Dai were not more variable than the basic shape except for collar, border, and the waist Accordingly, the collar is high or low, lines

of shirt can be long or short, and the waist change from time to time these changes are also associated with the change of the shape of women's clothing, clothing designs change according to the fashion of the period

1960s, lingerie was introduced into Vietnam, the development of underwear accompanied by major changes in shape of Ao Tan Thoi Initially, Ao Dai is not required to wear fit as now, but with the popularity of underwear, use to change for

Ao Yem, the body shape of the chest has been corrected, so by sewing carefully of the body highlighting the curve at the waist and chest , curves of the body, help to emphasize the most charm of women

36

Then appearing the modern Ao Dai in some shops, like the current style with long sleeves, upper body divided into two parts before and after flap and the wide lower body flap, but can be seen that this type of clothing was much influenced by European and America fashion This time can see gorgeous Ao Dai by many Vietnam women considering themselves as modern woman with new fashion trends,

or wearing Ao Dai to express themselves with the diverse design, colors, and materials to suit with personality Now, at some shops such as Thanh Khanh appeared many new embroidery pattern fabric with flowers making Ao Dai become splendid, at Souvenirs and Tax commercial company also sell luxury silk fabrics with high prices stimulate the curiosity of the rich.52

However, since Vietnam has unified in 1975, the government has outlined disadvantages of Ao Dai Tan Thoi with the emphasis on the shape of women's body, called 'decadent Costume by capitalism is both provocative and ineffective in productive labor', then during 10 years of socialist experiment, whole territory of Vietnam had no way to hide traces of Ao Dai tan Thoi In contract, Ao Dai tan Thoi has received a new attention, Designer Tran Kim came to the United States, opened

a Shop of Ao dai in Long Beach, California and attracted the attention of the American by activities as opening competitions to select annual Miss Ao Dai Also featured elements of Ao Dai also affected works of famous French designers such

as Christian Lacroix and Claude Montana

http://blog.naver.com/lsc7379?Redirect=Log&logNo=20015765075, 12.08.2005

Sauce: WIKIPEDIA http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81o_d%C3%A0i

Can be divided Ao Dai into three parts: collar, body (before, following) and sleeve

38

* Collar: is the top part of Ao Dai Collar of ancient Ao Dai was Chinese collar standing with a height of 3-5cm, hard liners, and contoured edges to decorate (the allegations) High collar is high or low depending on the shape and taste of the wearer Also, now, there are kinds of innovation as boat collar, round snugly, or deep-cut

* My shirt includes two parts: front and behind parts Parts of Ao Dai are made

of a cloth in a row, without pairing fabric The length of Ao Dai could be length or longer than the knee, depending on styles and preferences of wearers _ On the previous body has a part: body buttons (button press), the end hook + Body Button (button press): button (button press) made of metal Button to the right, running from the collar, armpits, down to the waist

ankle-+ End Button: above buttons by hook at the waist (size), attached with below and behind flag People used hooks rather than buttons (button press) because

in order to ensure certainty, safe movement, movement of the dress If instead of a hook, moving is easy to mount, slip

+ Ben line: Are lines In the below body had four ben lines, 2 horizontal ben, 2 vertical ben Horizontal lines to create focal points for the chest make the chest look taller, sexier Vertical ben make the waist look slim

+ Ho: is a piece in the front, adding buttons

_ Below flags had 2 vertical Ben to make slimmer waist, AO Dai softer, sexier

* Sleeve: Hugging tapered sleeves and tying the arm neck of sleeves often round

Ao Dai worn with a wide tube, the same or different color But Pants has different color with the shirt, it will feel younger

** Sewing Ao Dai required having skills Except for sewing adjacent body, hand, for the most part to be hand-sewn each stitch to be skillful, careful without revealing sutures Therefore, only skillful tailors may sew Ao Dai