Some forms of collars were indigenous to China while others had been adopted from the Hufu of other non-Han Chinese ethnic minorities and/or from the clothing worn by foreigners. Styles of garments which overlap at the front and close to the right side are known as youren (Chinese: 右衽; lit. Chinese robes, such as the shenyi and the paofu as a general term, as well as Chinese jackets must typically cover the right part of their garment. The youren closure is a style which originated in China and can be traced back to the Shang dynasty. The youren closure was eventually adopted by other ethnic minorities and was also spread to neighbouring countries, such as Vietnam, Korea and Japan. Chinese people also wore another form of closure known as zuoren (Chinese: 左衽; lit. The use of zuoren, however, was typically associated with funeral practices. The youren is also an important symbol of the Han Chinese ethnicity. This funeral practice was rooted in ancient Chinese beliefs; especially in the Yin and Yang theory, where it is believed that the left side is the Yang and stands for life whereas the right side is the Yin which stands for death. Therefore, according to the Yin and Yang theory, the left lapel of a garment needs to be found outside (which is in the form of youren closure) to indicate that the power of the Yang aspect is suppressing the Yin aspect, which thus symbolizes the clothing of living people. On the other hand, the zuoren is a representation of the Yin aspect surpassing the Yang aspect, and thus, garments with a zuoren closure became the clothing worn by the deceased. According to ancient Chinese beliefs, the only moment the Han Chinese were supposed to use zuoren was when they dressed their deceased. There are exceptions in which living Han Chinese would wear clothing with a zuoren closure. It was therefore a taboo in Chinese clothing culture for a living person to wear clothing with a zuoren closure. For example, in some areas (such as Northern Hebei) in the 10th century, some ethnic Han Chinese could be found wearing left-lapel clothing. It was also common for the Han Chinese women to adopt left lapel under the reign of foreign nationalities, such as in the Yuan dynasty. The zuoren closure was also associated with the clothing of non-Han Chinese, ethnic minorities, and foreigners in ancient times. Chinese texts, such as the Qiang. 101 As a result, the traditional way to distinguish between clothing of the “Barbarian” (i.e. non-Han Chinese), Hufu, and Chinese clothing, hanfu, was typically by looking at the direction of the collar. Based on Confucius’ sayings, pifa zuoren (simplified Chinese: 被发左衽; traditional Chinese: 被髮左衽; pinyin: bèifà zuǒrèn; lit. From the standpoint of the Huaxia culture, pifa was a way to reject refined culture and being turned into a barbarian. By the Han dynasty, since Confucius himself was the first person to use the phrase pifa zuoren to refer to Non-Zhou dynasty people, this phrase became a common metaphor for primitiveness. The practice of wearing the zuoren also continued in some areas of the Ming dynasty despite being a Han Chinese-ruled dynasty which is an atypical feature. 103 When used by the ancient Chinese literati, the concept of pifa zuoren became a phrase, which held the symbolic of foreign people who were living a barbarous and civilized lifestyle; this concept also became a way to emphasize the customs differences between the Han people and other ethnic minorities and draw the line to distinguish who was were considered as civilized and barbarians. 103 The zuoren thus also became a reference to Hufu and/or to the rule of foreign nationalities. The jiaoling youren started to be worn in the Shang dynasty in China. Of note, some non-Chinese ethnicity who adopted Hanfu-style sometimes maintain their left lapels, such as the Khitans in the Liao dynasty. Jiaoling zouren refers to the cross-collars which closes on the left side instead of the right side. Garments and attire which used the jiaoling youren collar include: shenyi, jiaolingpao, mianfu, pienfu, diyi, dahu, and tieli. Han Chinese women were also found sometimes found in the paintings of the Ming dynasty, which is an atypical feature. They were also used to dress the deceased of the Han Chinese. Collars which runs parallel and straight at the front are called duijin (对襟). They could be found with or without a high collar depending on the time period. They were typically used by non-Han Chinese ethnicities in ancient China, but were also adopted by the Han Chinese in some circumstances, e.g. when they were ruled by non-Han Chinese rulers. Duijin could be used in garments and attire, such as beizi, banbi, and beixin. Yuanling can be overlapping to the right or closing at the front in the duijin manner. Yuanling could be used in garments and attire, such as yuanlingshan, yuanlingpao, panling lanshan, and wulingshan (无领衫). Yuanling shan, Qing dynasty. Yuanling banbi, which closes at the front in a duijin manner. High standing collars in the Ming dynasty are referred as shuling (竖领) or liling (立领). They appeared by the late Ming dynasty. Clothing with shuling dajin (竖领大襟), also called liling dajin or shuling xiejin or liling xiejin, has a standing collar and a large lapel which closes on the right. 93 There were two main forms of high standing collars garments based on their types of lapels and closure. The dajin placket is also called xiejin (Chinese: 斜襟; pinyin: xiéjīn; lit. Square collars are referred as fangling (方领). Clothing with shuling duijin (or liling (or shuling) duijin) has a standing collar and closes with a central front closure. Duijin (对襟) jacket with square collar, Ming dynasty. Tanling could be used in garments and attire, such as tanling banbi and tanling ruqun. Pianjin (Chinese: 偏襟; pinyin: piānjīn; lit. U-shaped collar are known as tanling (Chinese: 坦领; pinyin: tǎnlǐng; lit. The Manchu’s front overlap opening was a Manchu innovation; their clothing was closed with buttons on the centre front of the neck, right clavicle, and under the right arm along the right seams. This form of collar was influenced by the Manchu clothing. 63 The Manchu’s garments rarely showed high collars until the 20th century. 93 The Pip-shaped collar were worn in the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China. It could be found without or with a high collar (e.g. mandarin collar). The Manchu overlap was more shaped like an S-curved overlap; it ran straight to the right of the centre-front of the neck, drops down to the burst before curving to the right side. Ma, Xiaofang (2018). “Study on the Aesthetics of Han Chinese Clothing Culture in the TV Play q Nirvana in Fireq”. 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