Mamianqun

Mamianqun (simplified Chinese: 马面裙; traditional Chinese: 馬面裙; pinyin: mǎmiànqún; lit. 'horse face skirt'), is a type of traditional Chinese skirt. It is also known as mamianzhequn (simplified Chinese: 马面褶裙; traditional Chinese: 馬面褶裙; lit. 'horse-face pleated skirt'), but is sometimes simply referred as 'apron' (Chinese: 围裙; pinyin: wéiqún; lit. 'apron'), a generic term in English to refer to any Chinese-style skirt, or 'paired apron' in English although they are not aprons as defined in the dictionary. The Mamianqun is a type of qun (Chinese: 裙; pinyin: qún; lit. 'skirt') a traditional Chinese skirt worn by the Han Chinese women as a lower garment item in Hanfu^{[1][2]: 54 [3]} and is one of the main representative styles of ancient Chinese-style skirts.^[4] It originated in the Song and Liao dynasties and became popular due to its functionality and its aesthetics style.^[5] It continued to be worn in the Yuan,^[3] Ming, and Qing dynasties where it was a typical style of skirt for women^[6] and was favoured for its unique aesthetic style and functionality.^[5] Following the fall of the Qing dynasty, the mamianqun continued to be worn in the Republic of China, and only disappeared in the 1920s and 1930s ^[5] following the increased popularity of the cheongsam.^[7] As a type of xifu, Chinese opera costumes, the mamianqun maintains its long tradition and continues to be worn nowadays.^[2]: 54 In the 21st century, the mamianqun regained popularity with the emergence of the Hanfu movement.^[8][9] The mamianqun has experienced various fashion changes throughout history.^[10] It was typically paired with ku, Chinese trousers and Chinese jackets,^[10][3][11] typically either the ao or gua.