19th Century East Asian Clothing

Nineteenth-century dress changed in different ways across Japan, China, and Korea. Japan introduced Western-style court dress in 1872.⁴ In Qing China, Manchu and Han women's clothing remained distinguishable.¹⁶ In Korea, the term hanbok emerged in the late nineteenth century to distinguish Korean clothing from newly arriving Western styles.²¹

Japan: From Edo to Meiji

Edo-Period Dress

For most of the 19th century, Japanese dress followed Edo-period traditions. Men and women wore variations of the kimono, a wrapped garment secured with a long waist sash called an obi,⁴² and its fabrics, colors, and patterns displayed the wearer's taste and wealth.³

Dress was closely tied to social class. Samurai men wore hakama, wide pleated trousers or divided skirts, over the kimono; for formal occasions they wore the kamishimo, an ensemble of hakama and a matching sleeveless, stiff-shouldered vest (kataginu).^1,2 Swords symbolized the privileged status of the samurai.⁶ Merchants, who were increasingly wealthy but low in status, faced sumptuary laws restricting the fabrics they could wear — and responded with subtle luxury, such as forbidden red or purple cloth worn beneath everyday clothing, or kimono lined with higher-quality cloth.³ The lower classes wore kimono of cotton or linen rather than silk,⁵ and informal cotton summer kimono (yukata) were usually stencil-dyed in indigo blue.³⁶

Women's kimono could reflect age and marital status. The long-sleeved furisode was worn by children and unmarried women on special occasions.²⁹

For the garment's development beyond this century, see kimono history: kosode, sleeves, obi, and modern dress.

The Meiji Restoration and Western Dress

The Meiji Restoration of 1868 brought sweeping reforms that extended to clothing. The new government mandated Western-style military uniforms for its armed forces and encouraged officials to adopt Western dress as a symbol of modernization.^4,5 In 1870 the imperial court ordered a Western suit for Emperor Meiji,⁵ in 1872 Western-style formal dress replaced traditional court dress,⁴ and in 1873, after cutting off his topknot, the emperor was photographed in a Western-style army uniform.³⁵

Other reforms dismantled the dress of the old order. An edict of 1871 encouraged samurai to cut off the chonmage topknot, and short Western haircuts became increasingly popular.³⁴ In 1876 the government banned the public carrying of swords, ending the most visible sign of samurai status.^6,34 Police and postal workers were put into Western-style uniforms in 1871 and railway staff the following year, and in the 1880s uniforms were prescribed for students of government universities and colleges.⁵

At the Rokumeikan, a Tokyo hall the government built in 1883 to promote Western ways, the wives of high-ranking officials and nobles attended balls in Western dress, and in 1886 the Imperial Household Minister set out four types of Western dress, modeled on French court wear, for women at court.⁴ In 1887 Empress Shōken issued a statement encouraging women to adopt Western clothing.⁴

Yofuku and Wafuku

The general population, however, continued to wear traditional garments for daily life, and many Japanese still wore kimono every day well into the twentieth century.^5,33 This created a dual wardrobe of yofuku (Western clothing) and wafuku (Japanese clothing): by the end of the century, businessmen, teachers, doctors, and bankers in the cities wore suits during business hours.⁵

Women adopted Western dress far more slowly than men: outside elite circles, Western fashions began to spread among women only in the late 1920s.⁵ Late in the century, a new schoolgirl uniform emerged that combined a kimono with maroon hakama, a practical outfit that let girls move freely.^7,8 The transition was slow: Western clothing was widely adopted by working men and women in the cities only in the 1930s.⁵

China: Qing Dynasty Dress

In Qing dynasty China, the Manchu court dress system, centered on the dragon robe, remained in force.³² The Qing rulers were Manchus, and they required their officials to dress in Manchu style as a sign of loyalty to the dynasty.¹⁴

Court and Official Dress

Officials wore dragon robes under a surcoat bearing mandarin squares — embroidered badges indicating rank through specific bird or animal motifs.^9,32 Civil officials wore birds, from the crane at the highest rank down to lesser birds, while military officials wore animals such as the lion and tiger.^13,31,43,44 For the full list of birds and animals by rank, see Chinese rank badges. The robes themselves were cut in the Manchu style, with sleeves ending in angled cuffs called horse-hoof cuffs, a reminder of the importance of horses in Manchu identity.¹⁰

Rank was also displayed on the head. Officials wore hats topped with a colored finial, or hat button, whose material — ruby, coral, sapphire, lapis lazuli, gold — indicated grade, and the emperor could award the honor of a peacock feather.^11,12,13 A court necklace completed the formal ensemble.³²

Everyday Dress and the Queue

Han Chinese men had been required since the conquest to adopt Manchu-style dress,¹⁴ while some historians trace the qipao to the long one-piece robes of Manchu women.⁹ By the end of the dynasty, men commonly wore a long robe, the changshan, with a short jacket called a magua, a name meaning riding jacket.^37,38

Men were required to wear the queue: the front of the head shaved and the remaining hair grown long and braided down the back. Imposed on the Han Chinese when the Qing conquered China in the seventeenth century, the queue was a symbol of submission to the dynasty.^14,15 Followers of the nineteenth-century Taiping Rebellion were known as "long hairs" or "hairy rebels."¹⁵

Women's Dress and Footbinding

Manchu and Han Chinese women dressed differently.¹⁸ Manchu women wore long one-piece robes and tall platform shoes with a central pedestal, sometimes called flowerpot shoes.^16,17 Han Chinese women wore a jacket with a skirt.^16,18

Han women were also subject to footbinding, the practice of tightly binding young girls' feet to create a small, lotus-like shape considered beautiful.²⁰ Manchu women did not bind their feet, and a Qing proposal of 1664 to ban the practice was withdrawn before it took effect.^17,19 Late in the century, Western missionaries campaigned against footbinding, and the reformer Kang Youwei set up an Anti-footbinding Society, beginning a campaign that would succeed only in the twentieth century.²⁰

It was in Shanghai, in the 1920s, that the modern qipao took shape; Seliverstova traces it to the Manchu one-piece dress.³⁹ Early styles were loose-fitting, becoming more fitted in later decades.⁴⁵

How the qipao emerged in the twentieth century, and why its origins are debated, is traced in qipao history.

Korea: The Hanbok Under the Late Joseon

On the Korean peninsula, the hanbok continued as everyday dress under the Joseon dynasty.²¹ Women wore the short jeogori jacket paired with the voluminous chima skirt, while men wore the jeogori with baji trousers.²¹ Over these, men wore a long outer robe, and a man of standing wore the gat, a wide-brimmed hat of finely woven horsehair and bamboo, joined and lacquered, over his topknot.²²

Koreans wore white so widely that they were sometimes called the "white-clad people."^21,23 Most people wore plain, undecorated white, while bright colors were worn at court and appeared in the multicolored sleeve stripes of children's and brides' jackets.²¹

In the 1880s the government began to simplify Korean dress, promoting the narrow-sleeved durumagi overcoat for men of all classes in place of the many wide-sleeved robes that had distinguished rank.^24,25 In 1900 the everyday uniform of officials was changed to a Western-style uniform.²⁶ In 1895 an order requiring men to cut off their topknots provoked fierce resistance, because Confucian teaching held that the body, including the hair, was a gift from one's parents.^22,27 As in Japan, these sartorial reforms reflected deeper tensions between preserving tradition and embracing change under external pressure. For hanbok under Japanese colonial rule and Korea's later school-uniform reforms, see modern East Asian clothing.

Textiles and Craft

The textile traditions discussed below include:

• Chinese silk embroidery flourished, above all in Suzhou, which earned the title City of Embroidery under the Qing; its fine split-silk needlework was used for clothing and household furnishings⁴⁰
• Japanese resist dyeing — including stencil-dyed katazome and tie-dyed shibori — decorated everything from luxurious silk kimono to cotton summer kimono³
• Kasuri, cotton cloth woven from threads resist-dyed in indigo before weaving, was made by farming families for work wear and formal wear, and production in regions such as Tottori peaked in the late Edo and Meiji periods⁴¹
• In the Ryukyu Kingdom, now Okinawa, brightly colored stencil-dyed bingata cloth was worn by the royal court and nobility²⁸
• Among the Ainu of Hokkaido, robes woven from the inner bark of elm trees were decorated with bold appliqué patterns³⁰

Common Myths About 19th-Century East Asian Clothing

"The qipao is ancient traditional Chinese dress." The modern qipao emerged in the 1920s, initially in loose-fitting styles, before becoming more fitted.⁴⁵ Accounts that trace its ancestry point to the one-piece robe worn by Manchu women under the Qing dynasty, but its origins are debated.^9,39

"Japan stopped wearing kimono after 1868." Many Japanese still wore kimono in daily life well into the twentieth century. Western dress spread first through uniforms, men's official clothing, and the elite.^5,33

"Clothing reform was simply Westernization." Reformers often had their own aims. Empress Shōken's 1887 call for Western dress urged women to choose domestically made cloth to improve Japanese production and trade,⁴ and Korea's 1884 dress reform, which narrowed sleeves for all classes, helped erase the visible symbols of social hierarchy.^24,25

Sources

1. Kamishimo — Victoria and Albert Museum (kataginu and hakama as samurai formal wear).Reference 1
2. Textile Bolt with Fine Komon Sharkskin Pattern, for Kamishimo — Kyoto National Museum (stencil-dyed kamishimo).Reference 1
3. The Art of Imitation — Jenny Hall, National Gallery of Victoria, 2025 (Edo sumptuary laws; luxury linings and hidden red or purple cloth).
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4. Section 2: Fashion — Modern Japan and France, National Diet Library (1872 court dress proclamation, Rokumeikan, Empress's 1887 recommendation of Western dress).
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5. Japan and the Australian wool industry, 1868–1936 — D.C.S. Sissons, in Bridging Australia and Japan: Volume 1, ANU Press (Western uniforms for police, post, railways, and students; suits at work; schoolgirl hakama).
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6. A Brief History of Swordsmithing — Japan Tourism Agency multilingual commentary database (1876 Sword Abolishment Edict).
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7. From Kitsch to Art Moderne: Popular Textiles for Women in the First Half of Twentieth-Century Japan — Masanao Arai, Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings, 1998 (maroon hakama of women students).Reference 1
8. Breaking the Dress Code: The Changing Role of Japanese School Uniforms — Nippon.com, 2018.Reference 1
9. Sober Luxury: Three Examples of Late Kesi Silk Tapestries in the Náprstek Museum — Helena Heroldová, Annals of the Náprstek Museum 34/2, National Museum, Prague, 2013 (rank badges on the surcoat; Manchu robe as origin of the 1920s qipao).
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10. Reigning It In: A Brief Look at Horse Hoof Cuffs — Max Quilliam, University of Alberta Museums, 2026.Reference 1
11. Day 97: 200 Objects in 200 Days — University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, 2017 (hat buttons by rank; peacock feathers granted by the emperor).Reference 1
12. Official's Winter Hat — Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.Reference 1
13. Chinese Hat Spheres — Amanda Girgis, Royal Ontario Museum, 2014 (hat finial materials by rank).
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14. A Question of Hairdos and Fashion — Xing Hang, Oriens Extremus 47, 2008 (the queue as a test of loyalty and submission).
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15. Hairy History — Han Rubo and Hatty Liu, The World of Chinese, 2019 (Taiping "long hairs").
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16. Fashion Fusion — Rachel Silberstein, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2016 (Manchu and Han women's dress).
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17. Shoe (one of a pair) — Victoria and Albert Museum (Manchu platform shoe).
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18. Exhibit showcases traditional Chinese dress — Olivia M. Hall, Cornell Chronicle, Cornell University, 2013.
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19. The Qing, the Manchus, and Footbinding: Sources and Assumptions under Scrutiny — John R. Shepherd, Frontiers of History in China 11:2, 2016.Reference 1
20. Lotus Shoes: The Stories of Chinese Women and American Women Missionaries — Keyang Zhao, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, 2024.
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21. Hanbok: traditional Korean dress — Jenny Kim, Victoria and Albert Museum.
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22. Gat (hat) — Victoria and Albert Museum.
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23. Joseon in Color: "Colored Clothes Campaign" and the "White Clothes Discourse" — The Review of Korean Studies 14:1, Academy of Korean Studies, 2011.Reference 1
24. Gapsin Dress Reform (갑신의제개혁) — Costume Dictionary, Academy of Korean Studies (1884 narrowing of sleeves across classes).
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25. A coat of equal colors — Lee Hoon-beom, Korea JoongAng Daily, 2005 (1884 durumagi reform).
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26. The Costume, the Pattern of Joseon Dynasty: Government Officials' Uniform, Black Dallyeong — Gyeonggi Provincial Museum, Google Arts & Culture.Reference 1
27. Hairstyles and Governing — Bae Myung-bok, Korea JoongAng Daily, 2003 (1895 haircut order and Confucian objections).Reference 1
28. Kimono from Okinawa — Barbara Szoradi, George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, 2023 (bingata).Reference 1
29. Furisode — Art Institute of Chicago (long-sleeved garment worn by children and unmarried women).Reference 1
30. "Attus" Amip (Man's Coat) — Ainu, c. 1860, Art Institute of Chicago (elm inner-bark fiber with appliquéd cotton).Reference 1
31. Rank Badge (buzi) — Cleveland Museum of Art (birds for civil and animals for military officials).Reference 1
32. Five-Clawed Dragon — Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2017 (dragon robe worn with hat, surcoat, collar, belt, necklace, and boots).
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33. Japanese kimonos from the late 1950s to the 1970s — Naoko Kikuchi, Textile Research Centre, Leiden, 2021 (daily Western dress spreading from the mid-1950s).
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34. 08-09 (1871) Japan Abolishes the Samurai Topknot — MeijiShowa: Vintage Images of Japan (1871 Cropped Hair Edict; 1876 Sword Abolishment Edict).
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35. The Origins of Goshin'ei — Taki Kōji, Art Platform Japan Translation Series, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan (essay of 1988; Emperor Meiji photographed in army uniform in 1873 after cutting off his topknot).Reference 1
36. Kimono (yukata) — Victoria and Albert Museum (cotton yukata, 1850–1880, usually stencil-dyed with indigo).Reference 1
37. Man's robe — Victoria and Albert Museum (changpao, 1900–1930, frequently worn with a short front-fastening jacket).Reference 1
38. Jacket (magua) — Victoria and Albert Museum (riding jacket, a name commonly used for a Chinese man's short jacket).Reference 1
39. Evolution in Style of Shanghai Women in the 1920s and 1930s — Yu. A. Seliverstova, RUDN Journal of World History, 2012 (Manchu one-piece dress; modern qipao developed in 1920s Shanghai).
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40. Embroidery Techniques from Around the World: Suzhou — Embroiderers' Guild of America, 2025 (Suzhou as City of Embroidery under the Qing).Reference 1
41. Yumigahama Kasuri Textiles — Tottori Prefectural Government, Google Arts & Culture.Reference 1
42. Obi — Victoria and Albert Museum (kimono secured with a long waist sash).Reference 1
43. Pair of rank badges — Victoria and Albert Museum (19th century; lion badges of a second-rank military official).Reference 1
44. Rank badge — Victoria and Albert Museum (19th century; tiger badge of a fourth-rank military official; birds for civil and animals for military ranks).Reference 1
45. Qipao — Peranakan Museum, National Heritage Board, Singapore (early qipao had loose-fitting silhouettes).
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