Magua (clothing)

Magua
A Chinese laborer wearing a magua painted by Pierre-Louis Delaval
TypeJacket
Place of originChinese-speaking world, China

The magua (Manchu: ᠣᠯᠪᠣ olbo, simplified Chinese: 马褂; traditional Chinese: 馬褂) was a style of jacket worn by males during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), designed to be worn together with and over the manshi changshan (滿式長衫) as part of the Qizhuang. Magua is at waist length, with five disc buttons on the front and slightly short, wide sleeves. The garment was available in a number of styles: singlet (Chinese: 单; pinyin: dān), clip (Chinese: 夹; pinyin: jiá), leather (Chinese: 皮; pinyin: pí), cotton yarn (Chinese: 纱; pinyin: shā), quilted (棉; mián) and others. It was worn by Manchu people throughout China from the reign of the Qing Shunzhi Emperor (r. 1643–1661) until the time of the Kangxi Emperor, (r. 1661–1722),[1] whence it became popular throughout Qing China.

Rendered literally in English as "riding jacket", the magua had its origins as a simple tabard-like item of clothing intended to protect the changshan during riding and normal everyday activities. However, with time the magua itself became more elaborate, becoming for officials part of their uniform of office; one variation of the magua, the imperial yellow jacket, becoming an indication of Imperial approval of an individual.

The magua is considered the predecessor of the balsam jacket (鳳仙裝, fèngxiān zhuāng)[2][3] and the tangzhuang.

  1. ^ 袁傑英紡沈蓁. 中國旗袍 (in Chinese). 中國紡織出版社. 2000. ISBN 7506417073.
  2. ^ Nickerson, Peter (2005), "Attacking the Fortress: Prolegomenon to the Study of Ritual Efficacy in Vernacular Daoism", Scriptures, Schools, and Forms of Practice in Daoism: A Berlin Symposium, Asien- und Afrika-Studien der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, No. 20, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 117–185, ISBN 9783447051712.
  3. ^ Cheng Hong-sheng (2008), "The Qipao, the Western Dress, and the Taiwanese Shan: Images from 100 Years of Taiwanese Clothing", in Jiang Yajoo (ed.), Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, vol. 9, Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 300–323.