Clothing of the Tang Dynasty

Clothing of the Tang Dynasty

skraddaren-elef:

Min Jumbles bringeth all the peasants to the yard.
And they’re like ‘please giveth, for I am starving’
And I was like bitch, no, because I ate ‘em all already.

Seriously, through. I did. These never even made it into the cooling rack (except for the few that were artfully assembled for this photo)

Jumbles (jambals, or any of the other five hundred spellings thereof) were supposedly created around 600 bc by a monk, but there are various other recipes that are more or less the same documented regularly from the 1400’s and onward.

This is really the MVP of medieval cookie recipes. Alone, it can be used to make four different types of cookies, and if you add other ingredients and spices, the combinations are endless.

I used a modern recipe and altered it to use medieval ingredients by switching out the refined sugar for honey

Jambals:

2 cups sifted flour
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp cream (or milk)
1 stick butter (softened but not mushy)
2 egg yolks
¼ tsp salt
(Optional anis seeds)

Mixture flour and powdered sugar for rolling

Mix dry ingredients together, then add wet ingredients and mix together with your hands until it feels like play doh. Chill for at least half an hour (or don’t, I’m not the boss of you and we all got places to be)

Preheat to 350f and prepare baking sheet with parchment paper.

For sugar cookies:
Roll out and cut out shapes as you would normal cookies, or drop as spoonfuls onto baking sheet

For jambals:
Take small amounts and roll out into thin squiggly logs, then make fun shapes like knots and pretzels.

Bake 12 minutes on top rack until lightly golden brown

Reblogging because you know I am totally going to make these tomorrow and tell you all about it.

The everyday mind: that is the way.
Buried in vines and rock-bound caves,
Here it’s wild, here I am free,
Idling with the white clouds, my friends.
Tracks here never reach the world;
No-mind, so what can shift my thought?
I sit the night through on a bed of stone,
While the moon climbs Cold Mountain.
-Verse 23, Words from Cold Mountain, Han-Shan, 9th century

(This isn’t necessarily the verse in the painting – it’s just a verse I like.)

From Wikipedia: 

Hanshan (Chinese: 寒山; pinyin: Hánshān; literally: “Cold Mountain”, fl. 9th century) was a legendary figure associated with a collection of poems from the Chinese Tang Dynasty in the Taoist and Chan tradition. No one knows who he was, or when he lived and died.

You can read Words from Cold Mountain translated into English here: [Poetry in Translation]

There is also a graphic novel. 😀 [Find it in a library near you!] [Painting: Hanshan and Shide (寒山拾得圖) Yintuoluo (因陀羅, late Yuan dynasty), Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)]

The everyday mind: that is the way.
Buried in vines and rock-bound caves,
Here it’s wild, here I am free,
Idling with the white clouds, my friends.
Tracks here never reach the world;
No-mind, so what can shift my thought?
I sit the night through on a bed of stone,
While the moon climbs Cold Mountain.
-Verse 23, Words from Cold Mountain, Han-Shan, 9th century

(This isn’t necessarily the verse in the painting – it’s just a verse I like.)

From Wikipedia: 

Hanshan (Chinese: 寒山; pinyin: Hánshān; literally: “Cold Mountain”, fl. 9th century) was a legendary figure associated with a collection of poems from the Chinese Tang Dynasty in the Taoist and Chan tradition. No one knows who he was, or when he lived and died.

You can read Words from Cold Mountain translated into English here: [Poetry in Translation]

There is also a graphic novel. 😀 [Find it in a library near you!] [Painting: Hanshan and Shide (寒山拾得圖) Yintuoluo (因陀羅, late Yuan dynasty), Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)]

Tang Dynasty (618-907) Bibliography

(Don’t mind the pic. We took our color schemes from ponies, because of reasons.)

Benn, C. (2010). China’s golden age: everyday life in the Tang dynasty. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004.
[Link]This was a great all-over source for me, especially since I didn’t want to just “do the outfits.” I would consider this a must-have for Tang Dynasty research.

Bonds, A. B. (2008). Beijing opera costumes: The visual communication of character and culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii.
[Link]This was interesting, but not super helpful for Tang. The appendix with garment diagrams, especially the pleating, was the only thing I used this for. It may be useful for other time periods, with the caveat that this is a modern stage interpretation of historic garments.

H. C. [user25056]. (2014, May 3.) How to wear a traditional Chinese garment called ‘Quixiong Ruqun’[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGSylLPJ42o
I’m not sure if I would have figured out how the skirt works if I hadn’t seen this video.

Johns, J. (4 June 2011). China’s disappearing clothing. We Drive East.  Retrieved from: https://wedriveeast.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/chinas-disappearing-clothing/
This blog of a Fullbright scholar is centered on the history of Chinese breast-binding, but as I can’t read Chinese, her summaries of Chinese sources describing the evolution of undergarment was invaluable.

Ling, S. (14 Dec 2012). More on the Hezi (Undergarment). Dressed up dreams. Retrieved from http://dressed-up-dreams.blogspot.com/2012/12/more-on-hezi-undergarment.html
More interesting information about the Hezi – take with a grain of salt.

Ling, S. (22 Nov 2012). (An extremely long post on) Tang costume history. Dressed up dreams. Retrieved from http://dressed-up-dreams.blogspot.com/2012/11/an-extremely-long-post-on-tang-costume.html
Overview of Tang Dynasty clothing. Not many sources cited.

Mei, H. (2011). Chinese clothing. New York: Cambridge University Press.
[Link]This is a pretty slim volume, and she takes a lot from 5000 Years. Still, the information is good, if brief.

Ministry of Culture, People’s Republic of China. (2003).Secrets of Women’s Underwear in Ancient China. ChinaCulture.org. Retrieved from http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_artqa/2006-08/04/content_84371_4.htm
I’m not sure what to think of these little articles – you get no sense of real authorship. Still, the information is in line with what I found elsewhere.

Ravenfea (18 Jun 2010). Ramie fabric – the new (old) linen? Ravenfea: Maker of various fabric things.Retrieved from http://raevenfea.com/learning/ramie-fabric-the-new-old-linen/
Overview of linen vs. ramie.

Shaorong, Y. (2004). Traditional Chinese clothing: Costumes, adornments and culture. San Francisco: Long River Press.
[Link]
This is even slimmer than Mei’s book, but it goes garment by garment, so it’s helpful regardless of time period.

Vainker, S. (2004). Chinese silk: A cultural history. Newark, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
[Link]This was an invaluable source for me when it came to materials – it has lots of amazing photos of extant fabrics, and some great discussion about what weaves, colors, and techniques were used.

Zhou, X. & Gao, C. (1987). 5000 Years of Chinese costume. Tsui-Yee Tang (Ed.) Hong Kong: China Books and Periodicals.
[Link]If I could only own one book of this list, 5000 Years would be it. It’s huge, it’s got lots of great reproduction diagrams of outfits along with period illustrations, and it covers pretty much everything. I focused on Tang, but it has sections for each time period. It can be spendy, but I had success with interlibrary-loan.

If you’re interested in my overview/construction notes – I’ve got them right here.

Tang Dynasty (618-907) Bibliography

(Don’t mind the pic. We took our color schemes from ponies, because of reasons.)

Benn, C. (2010). China’s golden age: everyday life in the Tang dynasty. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004.
[Link]This was a great all-over source for me, especially since I didn’t want to just “do the outfits.” I would consider this a must-have for Tang Dynasty research.

Bonds, A. B. (2008). Beijing opera costumes: The visual communication of character and culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii.
[Link]This was interesting, but not super helpful for Tang. The appendix with garment diagrams, especially the pleating, was the only thing I used this for. It may be useful for other time periods, with the caveat that this is a modern stage interpretation of historic garments.

H. C. [user25056]. (2014, May 3.) How to wear a traditional Chinese garment called ‘Quixiong Ruqun’[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGSylLPJ42o
I’m not sure if I would have figured out how the skirt works if I hadn’t seen this video.

Johns, J. (4 June 2011). China’s disappearing clothing. We Drive East.  Retrieved from: https://wedriveeast.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/chinas-disappearing-clothing/
This blog of a Fullbright scholar is centered on the history of Chinese breast-binding, but as I can’t read Chinese, her summaries of Chinese sources describing the evolution of undergarment was invaluable.

Ling, S. (14 Dec 2012). More on the Hezi (Undergarment). Dressed up dreams. Retrieved from http://dressed-up-dreams.blogspot.com/2012/12/more-on-hezi-undergarment.html
More interesting information about the Hezi – take with a grain of salt.

Ling, S. (22 Nov 2012). (An extremely long post on) Tang costume history. Dressed up dreams. Retrieved from http://dressed-up-dreams.blogspot.com/2012/11/an-extremely-long-post-on-tang-costume.html
Overview of Tang Dynasty clothing. Not many sources cited.

Mei, H. (2011). Chinese clothing. New York: Cambridge University Press.
[Link]This is a pretty slim volume, and she takes a lot from 5000 Years. Still, the information is good, if brief.

Ministry of Culture, People’s Republic of China. (2003).Secrets of Women’s Underwear in Ancient China. ChinaCulture.org. Retrieved from http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_artqa/2006-08/04/content_84371_4.htm
I’m not sure what to think of these little articles – you get no sense of real authorship. Still, the information is in line with what I found elsewhere.

Ravenfea (18 Jun 2010). Ramie fabric – the new (old) linen? Ravenfea: Maker of various fabric things.Retrieved from http://raevenfea.com/learning/ramie-fabric-the-new-old-linen/
Overview of linen vs. ramie.

Shaorong, Y. (2004). Traditional Chinese clothing: Costumes, adornments and culture. San Francisco: Long River Press.
[Link]
This is even slimmer than Mei’s book, but it goes garment by garment, so it’s helpful regardless of time period.

Vainker, S. (2004). Chinese silk: A cultural history. Newark, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
[Link]This was an invaluable source for me when it came to materials – it has lots of amazing photos of extant fabrics, and some great discussion about what weaves, colors, and techniques were used.

Zhou, X. & Gao, C. (1987). 5000 Years of Chinese costume. Tsui-Yee Tang (Ed.) Hong Kong: China Books and Periodicals.
[Link]If I could only own one book of this list, 5000 Years would be it. It’s huge, it’s got lots of great reproduction diagrams of outfits along with period illustrations, and it covers pretty much everything. I focused on Tang, but it has sections for each time period. It can be spendy, but I had success with interlibrary-loan.

If you’re interested in my overview/construction notes – I’ve got them right here.

Lindisfarne Gospels and Luttrell Psalter

The British Library has a lot of digitized manuscripts online, which is awesome for SCA Scribes. Two of their best known treasures haven’t yet made the move from their old site, “Digitized Manuscripts”, to the new one, “Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts” – the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Luttrell Psalter. That’s because the Lindisfarne is a Cotton manuscript and the Luttrell is an Additional, and both of these collections haven’t yet made the transition yet.

The old site (DM) is actually really cool – when you click “View Bindings,” you get a viewer that allows you to page through the digitized manuscript and zoom in on elements. The new site (CIM) only gives you one high-res image and one slightly smaller one (in additional to thumbnails). They do have some detail scans, but it’s not the same (as you can imagine).

Lindisfarne Gospels (Cotton MS Nero D.IV)

[Link]c. 700-3rd quarter 10th Century
Lindisfarne, Northumberland
Eadfirth, Bishop of Lindisfarne (690-721)

Luttrell Psalter (Add MS 42130)

[Link]1325-1340
for Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, Irnham, Lincolnshire

You can see the BL’s Access/Reuse/Copyright notes concerning images here: [Link]

Images used in this post are from Wikipedia.