Ancient Chinese summer dresses: More clothes that the ancients bravely wore than their descendants today

How the ancients deal with the heat with clothing has always been a big question mark of the descendants today.

Currently, we can wear short sleeves, shorts, short skirts in the hot sun, but with the ancients, how do they usually wear on hot summer days? Because the ancients always felt so conservative, many people said that they would still wear many layers of thick clothes no matter how hot the weather was.

However, it is only outfits when going out, and at home they will have a completely different way of dressing. 

In ancient times, ancient people rarely wore tight clothing when at home. Because everyone has their own room, no one can see who wears it, so they just need to wear comfortable clothes. 

Before the Wei - Xun - Nam - North dynasties, men liked to strip and women "worshiped" the wide-legged pants. This wide-legged pants are also worn with deep robes (long dresses with upper and lower tops) and the inner wears (loincloth).

Wide leg pants.

Ancient men often did not have too many taboos in dress, especially in the summer. They often strip naked, wear loose-fitting pants, and even choose to wear a single long, tulle dress.

An illustration of an ancient men's summer outfit.

What about ancient women? Women in the past used to wear cool clothes when they were at home. Many types of ultra-thin tulle dresses have been used, diverse designs such as open legs or shoulder openings. Some even wear super short skirts that have lengths above the knees.

If you learn, you will discover that in the past, there were some very cool fabrics even when wrapped in many layers of the body, wearing in summer is not uncomfortable. In Chinese history books once mentioned it as an ancient treasure: To sa y (robes sa). 

This article is as thin as a cicada's wings, can even be folded and fit into a box of matches. However, what makes this shirt special is not because of the thinness of the fabric, but rather that it helps cool the wearer.

In the summer, the ancients used to wear many layers of medical robes, not only preventing direct sunlight from entering the body but also creating airflow between the layers of fabric and human skin. Therefore, the wearer can feel very cool even in the hottest summer. 

Health report.

Although To sa y is suitable to wear in the hot summer, ordinary people cannot afford it. So how did the poor in the old days solve this problem? Exactly, they rely on two "magic weapons" : bamboo tops and linen outfits.

Linen fabric up to now has always been used to make summer dresses. As for the architecture, the material of this costume is very cheap. Although you don't have much money, every family can own it. Bamboo robes are worn as underwear, not only preventing sweat from wetting outer clothes but also helping to create an "air conditioning system" on the skin surface.

Thanks to all these fabrics, the ancients in China, even without today's electrical equipment, could overcome the hot summer every year.

Anti-heat bamboo robes of ancient Chinese.