What is Da Hu?
Da Hu(褡护, dā hù), also known as “搭护”, which was a type of Bianfu(便服, casual wear) in the Ming Dynasty. The Tong Ya says: “Da Hu is a shirt with bald sleeves”, which means sleeveless, indicating that the Da Hu was a long garment with short sleeves or no sleeves, and had a certain origin with the Banbi of the Tang and Song dynasties. The “Juyi Record” records that: “The name of the Da Hu, or along with the Yuan dynasty, its style is not the Yuan dynasty Da Hu, when it is a slightly longer than the Gua (褂), a short-sleeved clothes.”
The basic form of Da Hu is cross collar, wrapping the right side before the left (交领右衽), with white collar protector, short sleeves or no sleeves, slit on both sides of the body, and the slit is connected with the outer or inner hem. In the Ming Dynasty, the Da Hu was a kind of half-sleeved dress with a hem outside, which was part of the dres's system of Ming officials.
How to wear the Da Hu? What to wear inside the Da Hu?
Da Hu early is often used as a jacket, after the middle wearing under the round collar robe, above the Tieli as a shirt exists.
Zhongyi → Tie Li → Da Hu → Round collar robe
Tie Li → Da Hu → Daopao or round collar robe
The Structure of the Da Hu
Under the influence of politics, the structure of Ming costume combined the characteristics of Tang and Song Hanfu and Mongolian and Yuan Hu costumes, and formed its own unique style, not only retaining the form of wide robe and large sleeves, cross collar and wrapping the right side before the left, but also using the form of front slit and side slit on the structure of Da Hu and Mamian skirt to facilitate activities, and the style and texture of costumes were very diverse.
Through the study of historical data, some means of three-dimensional modeling were already used in large quantities on clothing during the Ming Dynasty, such as split lines and pleats. The use of dividing lines in the sleeves, clothing body, and other positions was also common, and the use of A-shaped silhouette, pipa sleeve type, pleats and other structures greatly enriched the costume shape and structure of the Ming Dynasty.
