Clothes Dress Culture Research

"Feather-clothe" is one of the most common clothing imageries in Chinese literature, which often appears in Poetry, Ghost Stories, Folklore, and Legendary. When we examine the history of Chinese clothing, the styles of "feather-clothe" show great diversity, which has resulted in its complex ambiguity in literary imagery. In ancient China, the society full of gemeinschaft, the clothing’s function to define "Noble and Humble, High level or Low level" is magnified, mainly to maintain the social order and gender order. However, although the "feather-clothe" truly existed in the history of apparel styles, it’s fantasy and romance features make it different from traditional Chinese attire. As a cultural symbol,"feather-clothe" contains multiple symbolic meanings and profound cultural connotation.This article tries to state the development process of "feather-clothe"in costumes, and to explore the potential national spirit and multiple symbolic meanings behind the word.This article consists of six parts:The first part is a brief introduction, which includes the meaning and value of the topic, the current situation of academic research on "feather-clothe", as well as the research methods.The second part mainly discusses the evolution of "feather-clothe", which can be divided into four stages. The first one can be traced back to ancient times, from the totem worship and Toba decorative dress customs. The second stage is about the ancient use of the feather’s physical characteristics:People produce rain gear using feather, and gradually developes it into extravagant costumes. The third stage is the "myth stage", in this stage, the "feather-clothe" becomes imagery of immortal Taoist theory. The fourth stage is "literati stage", when "feature-clothe" is favored by the literati and becomes the symbol of fashion trends.The third part analyzes some "feather-clothe" related fairy stories, using theory of sympathetic magic, and explores the mythological prototype, as well as revealing the association between "feather-clothe" and the concept of "free space".The fourth part relies on the idea that "birds exists as a sorcerer", analyzes the immortal faith from ancient medicine man, alchemists, and Taoist believers, which reveals the association between "feather-clothe" and the concept of "free space".The fifth section discusses the reasons why "feather-clothe" became the fashion trends among the ancient literati. Then the article represents the cultural spirit behind "feather-clothe" and the role it plays in the spiritual system construction from Yang Weizhen’s example.Finally, the conclusion of the article summarizes of the feather-clothe’s evolution history and its triple symbolic meanings, and confirms its profound cultural connotations.