论中国古代服饰的文化形态

On the Cultural Formation of Ancient Chinese Costumery

服饰作为一种人类社会的生活方式和客观存在,作为一种文化符号,它所具有的历史信息含量是巨大的。古代服饰的发明和流传,初衷是御寒和生存,而后逐渐增加了舒适美观的功能。古人思索服饰与生存的关系而出厚生的观念。统治者推广服饰,关怀民生,同时又通过服饰辨等威而定秩序。上述理解也是对《易经·系辞下》"垂衣裳而天下治"一语的合理解释。

Costumery,as a cultural symbol and a manifestation of the way of life or life-style,is an objective existence,which carries a lot of information concerning a nation's history.In ancient times,people invented and wore clothes with the original intention of protecting themselves against the cold weather,and later on some other functions,such as comfort and beautification,were added.Ancient people studied clothing and personal adornments in relation to human survival,forming their idea of improving people's living conditions;rulers insisted on the popularization of clothing and personal adornments to show their concern for the people,and in turn clothing and personal adornments helped to fix the social hierarchy.The above understanding of clothing and personal adornment is a reasonable explanation of the ambiguous quotation 'deigning the clothes and the country will run well' (Book of Changes).