A Preliminary Study of Mongol Costumes in the Ming Dynasty

The Yuan dynasty was the first great unified empire founded by an ethnic minority in Chinese history. A great number of ancient sources have proven that under the Yuan, the Mongols＇ distinctive costumes, expressive of their nomadic identity, exerted an influence upon Chinese fashions of the time. Even after the collapse of the Yuan, Mongol dress did not disappear but became even more popular in various forms throughout the following Ming dynasty. On the basis of examination of a large number of historical written materials, this paper makes an in-depth study of the various styles and uses of Mongol-style clothing in the Ming dynasty. It provides a panoramic survey in an attempt to outline the use and evolution of Mongol styles in the Ming and to examine some representative case studies in detail. Thus, besides discussing traditional issues in the history of clothing, such as the use, design changes and abandonment of Mongol clothing in the Ming dynasty, it initiates a series of studies from a sociological perspective, offering a preliminary study of the groups who wore Mongol-style clothing in the Ming dynasty, including their occupations, their reasons for using these costumes, and how this mode of dress influenced the social psychology of the period. It also attempts, via clothing, to discuss the changes in transitional Chinese society arising from the movement of nomadic ethnic groups in northern China to the hinterland （another question to be addressed）.

元朝是中国历史上第一个由北方游牧民族建立的大一统王朝。元代的蒙古服饰样式具有鲜明的北方游牧民族特色。大量的资料表明，蒙古服饰不仅在元朝时期对当时的中国社会服饰行用状况产生了一定影响，而且在元王朝崩溃之后，仍然以不同形式在明代社会广泛传播行用。本文立足于历史文献的钩稽，在对文献记载进行总体研究后，对蒙元服饰诸种主要样式在明代的行用状况进行个案考察，并对其行用人群以及行用原因、社会心理等等进行初步考辨，希冀勾勒出蒙元服饰遗存在明代社会行用及演变之脉络。从服饰这一微观角度窥视金元时代以来北方民族内迁对中国古代社会造成的影响。