{"id":1204,"date":"2021-02-12T10:30:14","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T16:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biblionalia.info\/leah\/?page_id=1204"},"modified":"2021-02-12T10:30:15","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T16:30:15","slug":"8-tang-dynasty-banbi-jacket","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.biblionalia.info\/leah\/8-tang-dynasty-banbi-jacket\/","title":{"rendered":"8: Tang Dynasty Banbi (\u534a\u81c2), Jacket"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This information is derived from a larger write-up I did for an A&S Competition entry – you can read the final version of that entry in my documentation vault.<\/a> I also made a short video about this project, which you can view on the Kingdom of Meridies’s YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banbi<\/em> (\u534a\u81c2, b\u0103n-b\u012b<\/em>) means \u201chalf-covered arm\u201d and refers to the short-sleeved jacket that was in style in the earlier half of the Tang Dynasty (Figures 1-9).1<\/a><\/sup> These garments were worn outside of the shirt, and functioned like a vest,2<\/a><\/sup> but there are some depictions where the jacket appears to be tucked into the skirt (Figure 3). Like the shirt, the jacket had a front opening that tied with a ribbon (Figure 4).3<\/a><\/sup> It could be worn either tucked into the skirt or on top of it (Figures 3, 4), and it appears that this move to \u201couter garment\u201d happened in the early 8th century.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The banbi<\/em> was first worn by \u201cmaids of honour,\u201d but the fashion trickled down to commoners.5<\/a><\/sup> Strict families did not allow their women to wear the banbi<\/em> at all, and its popularity declined as a result.6<\/a><\/sup> The depictions we have of women wearing a banbi<\/em> are all labeled as attendants and serving women, so these families likely did not want to be seen as of a lesser rank. Based on the estimated dates of the figurines and mural paintings (Figures 1-9), the banbi<\/em> was most popular at the end of the 7th and beginnings of the 8th century, though we do have some depictions of the banbi <\/em>from the late 8th century (Figure 9). It is worth noting that as various Tang emperors tried to impose social order via sumptuary laws that banned the production and possession of elaborately woven (jin<\/em>) or embroidered silks, we see the banbi<\/em> in visual art depicted in plainer fabrics before disappearing entirely.7<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click on the images in galleries to enlarge them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n