The Archaeological Observations Of Like-male Characters In Tang Tombs

In the Tang Dynasty,it was a kind of fashion for females wearing males' clothes.Ranging from the imperial elites to folk who occupied a lower social status,all of these representatives had already accepted this way of wearing.Since the 1950 s,along with the accumulation of archaeological excavations and unearthed materials,this special cultural phenomenon has increasingly attracted scholars' attention.This article revovling around the phenomenon of the female in male's clothes is divided into four chapters,which are aimed to explore a series of archaeological problems:The first chapter belonging to an introduction concludes the spatial and temporal scope of this study,the definition of related concepts,and overall reviews of the research findings.The second chapter gathers and reorganizes the archaeological evidence of females in males' clothes.The characters of such women in the tombs can be easily found on some medium,like murals,the potteries,the line carvings,the paintings and so forth.Among them,characters on the murals are in greater quantities than on others.Based on systematic studies of the tomb owner and the geographical distribution of tombs,it is found that in most cases these female figures appear in the tombs of distinguished owners who had higher social statuses.In terms of regional range,most of them centered in areas where once diffused massive Hu people.The third chapter combines the archaeological data with historical documents,which is going to reconstruct a periodical evolution by analysing the characteristics of our research objects including the robes,the trousers,the foot clothing and the accessories in different stages.This study points out that from Taizong period to Wuhou period,these like-men women were mainly featured by necked narrow-sleeved robes,and short-plain hoes.The accessories worn by the like-men maids during the period from Wuzhou to Xuanzong changed a lot.Separated petals at the top of head decoration.the round-necked and narrow-sleeved robes increased;From Xuanzong toTianbao years to the ninth-century maids are dressed in clothes decorated by round-necked and wide-sleeved robes,feet-to-ground gowns ball-shaped hat.The fourth chapter discusses the reasons why this phenomenon was popular in Tang.Dynasty.From the following five aspects: 1)open and pluralistic society,2)the influence of Hu culture,3)the spread of religious culture,4)women's consciousness of participating in political affairs,5)active participation in sports activities,The study reveals that the popularization of like-men characters in the Tang Dynasty has something to do with the open,inclusive and confident atmosphere.It is the exchange and integration of diverse cultures that creates such new cultural customs.