Shenyi | |||||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||||
Chinese | 深衣 | ||||||||
Literal meaning | Deep clothing | ||||||||
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Vietnamese name | |||||||||
Vietnamese alphabet | Áo thâm y | ||||||||
Hán-Nôm | 襖深衣 | ||||||||
Korean name | |||||||||
Hangul | 심의 | ||||||||
Hanja | 深衣 | ||||||||
Literal meaning | Profound gown | ||||||||
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Shenyi (Chinese: 深衣; pinyin: shēnyī; lit. 'deep clothing'; Korean: 심의; Hanja: 深衣; RR: Simui; yr: sim.ui), also called Deep garment in English,[1]: 12 [2]: 135 means "wrapping the body deep within the clothes"[1]: 12 or "to wrap the body deep within cloth".[2]: 135 The shenyi is an iconic form of robe in Hanfu,[3] which was recorded in Liji and advocated in Zhu Xi's Zhuzi jiali《朱子家禮》.[4] As cited in the Liji, the shenyi is a long robe which is created when the "upper half is connected to the bottom half to cover the body fully".[3] The shenyi, along with its components,[5] existed prior to the Zhou dynasty[6][7] and appeared at least since the Shang dynasty.[3] The shenyi was then developed in Zhou dynasty with a complete system of attire, being shaped by the Zhou dynasty's strict hierarchical system in terms of social levels, gender, age, and situation and was used as a basic form of clothing.[3] The shenyi then became the mainstream clothing choice during the Qin and Han dynasties.[3] By the Han dynasty, the shenyi had evolved into two types of robes: the qujupao (Chinese: 曲裾袍) and the zhijupao (Chinese: 直裾袍).[1]: 13–14 The shenyi later gradually declined in popularity around the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern dynasties period.[3] However, the shenyi's influence persisted in the following dynasties.[3] The shenyi then became a form of formal wear for scholar-officials in the Song and Ming dynasties.[8] Chinese scholars also recorded and defined the meaning of shenyi since the ancient times, such as Zhu Xi in the Song dynasty, Huang Zongxi in the Ming dynasty, and Jiang Yong in the Qing dynasty.[3]
The shenyi was also introduced in both Goryeo and Japan, where it exerted influences on Confucian clothing attire in Korea and Japan. The shenyi is called simui in Korean, it was worn by followers of Confucianism in the Goryeo and Joseon period.[6][9]
有虞氏皇而祭,深衣而養老。夏后氏收而祭,燕衣而養老。殷人冔而祭,縞衣而養老。周人冕而祭,玄衣而養老。