The Evolution of the Cheongsam: First Shoots of Modernity — The Late Qing Dynasty to the 1920s

｜Women's Clothing in the Late Qing Dynasty

During the mid-Qing Dynasty, in an effort to preserve the martial spirit and Manchu traditions, the Jiaqing Emperor (reign 1796–1820) issued imperial edicts forbidding royal daughters from imitating the attire of Han Chinese women. However, by the late Qing Dynasty, as national strength waned and social corruption grew, an anomalous boom in the commodity economy fostered a cultural obsession with conspicuous luxury. Regardless of whether they were Manchu or Han Chinese, women's clothing became excessively decadent, adopting a chaotic luxury where beauty was defined by intricate, heavy embellishments and multi-layered pipings and borders.

Around this time, a small standing collar began to be added to the traditional round neckline—initially low, it gradually grew taller. Concurrently, influenced by Western fashion culture, aesthetic values began to shift: garments became more form-fitting to accentuate a slender silhouette and natural bodily curves.

Furthermore, the distinction between Han Chinese and Manchu women's attire grew increasingly blurred, as both styles evolved toward a narrower and longer silhouette. While Manchu long robes showed a trend of shortening, Han Chinese jackets elongated to below the knee. During this period, it became common to see Han Chinese women wearing long robes, just as Manchu women donning jackets and trousers were no longer a rarity.

｜Women's Clothing in Hong Kong and Guangdong

When Hong Kong was occupied by the British in 1841, its population was a mere few thousand. Following over half a century of development—coupled with the domestic turmoil and foreign aggression of the late Qing Dynasty and the Xinhai Revolution—an increasing number of immigrants relocated to Hong Kong to escape the unstable political climate on the Mainland. By 1921, Hong Kong’s population reached 580,000, the vast majority of whom were Cantonese Chinese, with women accounting for 40 percent.

Although they lived in a Hong Kong where Western and Chinese cultures intersected, most Chinese residents maintained intimate ties and frequented back-and-forth travel with their hometowns in Guangdong. During this period, Hong Kong's cultural identity remained firmly anchored in China; its fashion and lifestyle trends looked to major Mainland cities for leadership, and Hong Kong women’s apparel faithfully followed domestic styles.

At this time, the "cheongsam" (qipao) had not yet made its debut on the Mainland. However, a fresh aesthetic philosophy championing simple elegance, practicality, and lightweight, form-fitting comfort took root, laying the crucial foundation for Hong Kong’s enduring changshan (cheongsam) culture.

｜The Transformation of Women's Clothing After the Xinhai Revolution

Following the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, the imperial system was overthrown, causing the dress hierarchy to collapse. Coupled with the influx of Western and liberal ideologies, this brought a massive shock to women's clothing; the attire of the late Qing Dynasty, along with the royal sense of opulence it embodied, increasingly came to be stigmatized as a symbol of backwardness. Once restrictions were lifted after a long period of confinement, eccentric and bizarre outfits briefly emerged in society. In 1913, because women's clothing in Guangdong Province was becoming increasingly peculiar, the Ministry of Education of the Republican Government issued an edict mandating that female students aged 14 and above must wear black skirts.

During the early years of the Republic of China, as women gained greater access to education, female self-awareness began to awaken, and progressive thinking arose. Female students popularized a new ensemble characterized by simple, elegant colors and minimalist patterns, consisting of either a jacket with trousers or a jacket with a skirt, known as the "Civilized New Attire" (Wenming Xinzhuang). Featuring a form-fitting overlap jacket with a curved hemline paired with a skirt that revealed the ankles, this silhouette became narrower, longer, and more tailored. It projected a refined and intellectual image, successfully becoming the mainstream of female fashion in the early Republican era. This new trend in women's apparel first gained popularity in Beijing and Shanghai before spreading south to Guangzhou.

｜New Fashion Trends for Women During the New Culture Movement

Following the May Fourth Movement of 1919, it became a trend among female students to wear male long robes (changshan) during protest marches. This was likely a manifestation of gender equality, or perhaps a preference for the convenience and sleekness that the robes offered; soon, other progressive female students followed suit.

This practice of women wearing male robes began to transform in the 1920s. Initially, these robes were made of thick, solid-colored fabrics and featured traditional tailoring methods, such as seamless shoulders and integrated sleeves (yuanshen chuxiu). Worn over long trousers, they were far simpler to construct and wear than standard jackets and skirts. However, driven by an innate love for beauty, women soon began introducing stylistic variations to these once indistinct robes. The long, straight sleeves evolved into trumpet-shaped "inverted wide sleeves" (dao daxiu), while the side slits at the hem were gradually narrowed.

New elements were introduced: elegant, lightweight fabrics adorned with refined patterns were adopted, and embellishments like decorative pipings, traditional frog closures (pankou), or machine-made lace were integrated.

Furthermore, the traditional central front seam was discarded to give the front and back panels a more seamless, complete appearance and to prevent the fabric patterns from being disrupted; the inner panel was instead attached using a "hidden placket" (toujin) technique with barely noticeable seams. The sleeves were shortened so that even if the fabric width was only a little over two feet, there was no need to piece extra fabric onto the sleeves. The hem was narrowed to match the width of the hips, exposing the lower legs to be paired with silk hosiery.

By the late 1920s, these distinctly westernized and feminized long robes had become a common sight. For instance, in 1927, the 13th issue of the Shanghai-based "The Young Companion" (Liangyou) pictorial published design patterns for the "new-style cheongsam." Tailor shops across Shanghai eagerly emulated and refined these designs, a phenomenon that not only reflected the flourishing fashion scene of Shanghai but also catalyzed the widespread popularity of the iconic "Shanghai-style cheongsam" (Haipai qipao) in the years to come.

In 1929, the Nationalist Government promulgated the Law on Dress Codes (Fuzhi Tiaoli). Article 2 of this law stipulated that the upper garment (yi) of "women's formal attire" was broadly identical to the regulations for "men's formal attire" in the same ordinance. The only exceptions were that the male version had slightly shorter lengths and sleeves. This garment, characterized by an overlap front, a straight-cut silhouette, a square standing collar, and a central vertical seam running directly from the neckline to the hem, closely resembled the traditional men's long robe (changshan) of today. The law did not specify a name for this upper garment; it was neither referred to as a "robe" (pao) nor designated as a "cheongsam" (qipao).

Furthermore, the ordinance clarified that long trousers were to be worn beneath this upper garment, with the cuffs of the trousers aligning evenly with the hem of the outer coat. This design upheld the ancient structure of "upper jacket and lower skirt/trousers" (shangyi xiachang), albeit with an elongated upper garment and a shortened lower counterpart.

In the same year, the regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Education also noted that the uniforms for upper-primary and secondary schoolgirls were divided into two types: "short jackets" (duanshan) and "long robes" (changpao). The long robe was specified to "extend to the midpoint between the knee and the ankle, with the overall length aligned with the hemline." Although this category of women's apparel was not commonly termed a "cheongsam" (qipao) in official government language at the time, it achieved a high level of popular recognition and acceptance throughout society.

｜The "Cheongsam" and the Awakening of Female Self-Awareness

Guangzhou and Hong Kong quickly followed the fashion trends of major northern cities. Because these emerging women's garments closely resembled the ordinary jackets (shan) traditionally worn by Cantonese women—only elongated to cover shortened trouser legs—they came to be called "changshan" (long robes). As previously mentioned, the term changshan was not a new word in Guangdong and Hong Kong; since the long robes of both men and women were called changshan, this gender-neutral noun was remarkably fitting.

The typical long robe of Manchu women (qinv) in the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty was characterized by a wide, straight-cut silhouette with broad sleeves, reaching all the way to the ground to conceal the feet. The garment ornamentation was exceedingly intricate, with low neckbands, sleeve cuffs, lapels, and the robe body all adorned with multiple layers of exquisite, colorful embroidered pipings and borders, presenting an overall dignified and opulent appearance. Han Chinese women of the same period maintained the tradition of separate upper garments and lower skirts or trousers (shangyi xiachang). Their jackets and trousers embodied a sense of stately beauty through their loose forms, complemented by wide borders or delicate lace, while their skirts were adorned with dense, elaborate embroidery in a riot of colors. After nearly three hundred years of long-term integration, Manchu and Han apparel cultures influenced each other: the jackets of Han women gradually elongated, resembling Manchu long robes, while Manchu women's attire progressively shortened, revealing the feet just as Han women's garments did.

Following the success of the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, which overthrew the Qing government, both Manchu and Han long robes briefly fell into decline. By the 1920s, the Manchu women's long robe underwent a major transformation, giving rise to the new "vest cheongsam" (majia qipao)—a vest-like long robe worn over a short jacket. Subsequently, this long vest gradually merged with the short jacket (duanao), evolving into a long robe with integrated sleeves.

By eliminating unnecessary overlapping parts, it became the prototype of the modern cheongsam. This new style of long robe retained the wide, straight-cut characteristics of the Qing Dynasty robes but adopted simple pipings for decoration and featured "inverted wide sleeves" (dao daxiu) that extended to the wrists or elbows. Over time, the sleeves and the robe body gradually narrowed, and the hemline was shortened to mid-calf length, making its form increasingly similar to the men's long robes of that era. Although the changshan culture flourished in major cities on the Mainland, in early 20th-century Hong Kong, ordinary women rarely wore it, save for prominent ladies of elite families and social celebrities from the film industry. The changshan at that time was entirely hand-sewn, featuring a simple style based primarily on a straight-cut, curveless tailoring method, and the vast majority were not washable.