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TO THE TEACHER OBJECTIVES OF THE UNIT: To examine one aspect of the cultural changes that have occurred in China during the twentieth century. To provide material for thinking about class and gender differences in China and how they have been manifested and reproduced. To offer an alternative approach to issues of western influence. TEACHING STRATEGIES: Since everyone has to make decisions about what to wear, students should have no difficulty recognizing that a person's choices make statements about personal identity and affiliation. Students could be asked to consider the choices available to people occupying different statuses, and how they have changed over time. Issues of western influence, its meaning and impact, could also be fruitfully discussed by considering the case of clothing. Besides issues of how clothing looks,
students could be asked to discuss issues relating to its creation and
how changing technology has affected women's lives. WHEN TO TEACH: Although some teachers may wish
to incorporate the material on traditional clothing when teaching about
the Ming or Qing dynasties, this unit was designed above all to
highlight the ways ordinary life has changed since the beginning of the
twentieth century. It could be introduced near the end of a
chronologically arranged course as a review of the magnitude of changes
since the end of the Qing. |
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Clothing may seem like a mundane part of our everyday lives. To many, dress is merely a practical concern that warrants no more than superficial notice. But in every culture clothing is one of the most powerful and ubiquitous forms of visual communication. |
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By using visual clues provided by clothing, people quickly 'place' each other, making guesses about the gender, social status, occupation, ethnic or national identity, and so on of those they encounter. By manipulating the same sets of signals, people can declare their individuality, indicate their beliefs, or signify their membership within various groups through how they dress. At any given time and place there are conventional ways of expressing meaning through one's clothing, but over time these conventions change in response to changed political circumstances, technology, and fashion. This unit will explore the role clothing played within Chinese culture. In China, by Ming and Qing times, clothing indicated not only differences in class and gender, but also ethnicity, as the two major ethnic groups, Han Chinese and Manchu, wore distinct clothes. This unit will begin by looking at these traditional patterns, then consider how the great social and political changes of the twentieth century altered this system. As you view the images in this unit, keep in mind the following questions:
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