Dofu

(I'm working on character designs with fashion based on the Ming Dynasty and I love cloud collars; but, although I'm not aiming to be 100% accurate, I still wouldn't want this character to look overdressed for a semi-formal gathering/dinner... I know you're not a time traveler so you can't, like, tell me historical opinions directly— but in your opinion, would it have been too much?)

Tbh if your character’s design is based on the Ming, they shouldn’t be wearing a cloud collar at all. Cloud collars were first popularized as popular fashion in the mid 17th century during the Ming-Qing transition. They only became associated with ceremonial dress later on in the Qing. The “cloud collars” of the Ming Dynasty proper referred to 云肩通袖, a brocaded pattern woven into the fabric of a robe instead of a separate accessory. The only cloud collars as separate garments worn in the Ming appeared on fantasy artworks, and they were worn by performers portraying female deities or dancers wanting to make their movements look better. I know a lot of hanfu shops advertise their cloud collars as Ming Dynasty but if you look at the artworks they referenced they’re without exception from the Qing (or fantastical artworks from the Ming that did not depict real fashion). In short, unless your character is cosplaying a goddess, they shouldn’t be wearing a cloud collar at all.

Ming Dynasty formal robe with woven cloud collar patterns. This design usually extended down the sleeves and had a horizontal strip on the skirt as well.

Fantastical artwork (presumably of the shinü genre) depicting a woman wearing a separate cloud collar. This is not meant to be realistic at all. It’s the first image that comes up on Google when I search for “Ming Dynasty cloud collar”.

Qing Dynasty (mid 18th century) painting showing the cloud collar as everyday fashion.

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Led by one of the longest reigning emperors in Chinese history, the Kangxi era spanned more than half a century (1662-1722) and witnessed constant and numerous changes to Han women’s fashion. The fashion of this period had a distinct silhouette and various vibrant and unusual color palettes. Contrary to the lofty elegance and austerity of the Ming-Qing transition, fashion in the Kangxi era was much more lively.

The most significant change in this era happened in hairstyles. The front section of the 三绺梳头 hairstyle became taller and more voluminous, eventually needing the support of hair rats, creating the fabled 牡丹头 mudantou (“peony hair”). This is probably the most distinctive and recognizable feature of Kangxi era fashion.

Kangxi era artwork showing two women in peony hair. The back of the hairstyle with the coiled strand of hair and long twin swallow tails is visible.

Kangxi era woodblock print showing woman in peony hair. The popularity of red undergarments providing a flash of color was continued from the Shunzhi era.

Figurine from the era showing the front and back of the peony hairstyle.

In terms of clothing, the same garments that were popular prior in the Shunzhi era and among the Southern Ming states continued to be popular. The standard outer garments remained a robe with standing collar, a 马面 mamian skirt and an optional sleeveless jacket with a standing collar which closes at the center front. Standing collars were still commonly closed with metal clasp buttons or 子母扣 zimukou, though fabric buttons and tie strings weren’t unacceptable. A fabric sash could be worn around the waist. Skirts began to acquire increasingly high numbers of pleats. Foot binding was still en vogue, and red shoes seemed to be a popular choice for foot bound women throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Red undergarments (the under-robes and pants whose edges would be visible, not necessarily the innermost layers) were still all the rage.

Kangxi era artworks.

While skirts were commonly white in this period, plain ones in other colors were also fashionable.

A newly popularized accessory was the 云肩 yunjian or the cloud collar. These were large, flat collars that usually took a quatrefoil shape and were worn around the neck.

Undated example of a cloud collar laid flat, to show its construction.

Section and closeup of painting 乔元之三好图 by 禹之鼎 Yu Zhiding, 1676, showing women musicians wearing cloud collars. It can be seen that they are wearing something else on top of the cloud collar, a smaller collar with petal like shapes and an attached standing collar, something apparently called 阁鬓 gebin. This would become a wardrobe staple in the 18th century. 

A group of women playing cards, the one with her back to us is wearing a cloud collar. We can also see parts of the red under-robes and pants.

Kangxi era woodblock print showing a lady wearing a cloud collar (the contrasting color of the standing collar could be because it’s attached to the cloud collar instead of the robe). It should be noted that while Han men in real life wore Manchu fashion, in artworks, theatrical performances and while lounging at home they were commonly depicted as wearing “Han style” garments, which were less accurate late Ming fashion and more of a unique Qing style of Han costuming, developing what could be considered Han men’s fashion in the Qing. It’s just that these clothes are limited to the realm of artistic representation and not worn on real, everyday occasions.

This is a more realistic depiction of menswear from the same period; the womenswear depicted is congruous with that in more stylized artworks where men wore Han style garments.

We also start to see the popularity of 抹额 mo’e, a headband with a pointed front and oftentimes a round jewel, worn low on the forehead.

Kangxi era painting, the seated lady is wearing a mo’e.

Snippet of a painting ca. 1670s or 80s showing a lady wearing mo’e. You can also see how her robe closes down the center front instead of under the right armpit, as there is no diagonal line across the chest area.

The 披风 pifeng, a long sleeved coat that closes at the front with a single button or tie string, oftentimes with a strip of fabric around the neck opening, was popular at this time as well. Unlike in the late Ming when the protective fabric strip was commonly white or otherwise a single color, in the early Qing it could be patterned and decorated.

Snippet of a Kangxi era painting showing a lady wearing mo’e and a paddy field robe.

Standing collars could now be in a contrasting color to the rest of the robe. I’m not sure if this was achieved by making the collar out of a different colored fabric, or by wearing a standing collar robe with the same color throughout, and then wearing an additional collarless jacket in a different fabric.

Decorative elements began to reappear on skirts, in styles wholly different and alien to their Ming Dynasty predecessors. A feature of this time was the addition of a square or circular patch of embroidery to the front and back 裙门 qunmen (the unpleated sections of a mamian skirt). This was likely made possible by the rising popularity of embroidered patterns as opposed to woven, brocaded ones in the Ming, as embroidery was less restrictive and allowed freeform designs of patterns and motifs. As for robes, a common decorative pattern was 团花 tuanhua, consisting of roundels or circular shapes filled with motifs like flora and fauna, animals, script, geometric shapes and others. Roundel patterns originated in Ming Dynasty court dress, which were continued in many styles of Qing court dress, and were commonplace as a decorative layout for Han women’s clothes of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Kangxi era woodblock print showing a vibrantly dressed woman. Her robe has floral tuanhua decorations (presumably embroidered) and her skirt has the square decorative patch.

Woodblock print showing a sleeveless jacket with tuanhua patterns set against a wavy patterned background.

Kangxi era woodblock print. The woman to the left wears a skirt with a circular decorative pattern, the women to the right wears a mo’e and a pifeng. The man’s stylized Han robe has clear tuanhua patterns.

As we draw closer to the 18th century, the volume of women’s hairstyles began to move toward the back, and we start to see more frequent appearances of the pifeng. Robes also became longer, hitting ankle length and almost concealing the entire skirt. The transition to the Yongzheng and early Qianlong era aesthetic was underway.

闲敲棋子图 by Yu Zhiding, 1697. The volume of the pompadour moved toward the back of the head, and the pifeng is of a “paddy field” pattern. 水田衣 shuitianyi or “paddy field” robes were popularized in the Kangxi era, robes made of patched geometric pieces of fabric.

One of the slogans that aren't translated on the banner is kinda difficult to translate.

דגל על בניין הרוס מעניין לי את הכוס.

Easiest translation would be "I don't give a shit about a flag on a destroyed building." But way more provocative. And it rhymes.

With the meaning of, if you destroy a building you aren't redeemed by planting a Pride flag on the rubble.

Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism:

for any address to twitter you can replace the “x.com” with “nitter.net” and you will be able to browse as if you have an account. Lifesaver.

the last thing anyone needs is fearmongering that makes it sound like lawmakers are so idiotic can't even, for example, ban CSAM without making it illegal to share ANY images online.

I have extremely bad news for you about our lawmakers.

This is NOT a slippery slope argument, it is an argument with very clear precedents and lots of evidence of harm done. There isn't dangerous stuff going on in tech right now, there has been dangerous stuff going on in tech since "tech" has existed.

SESTA/FOSTA, passed by lawmakers to prevent human trafficking, is why it's so easy to get trans women on tumblr banned for posting 'mature content'. It has also made human trafficking worse, made sex work more dangerous, and sanitized the internet to the point that it's difficult to post photos of classical sculptures or instructions on how to perform a breast self-exam on most platforms.

The DMCA, passed by lawmakers to protect copyright holders online, is frequently used to censor criticism, cover up reporting on corporate malfeasance, and prevent buyers from having true ownership of digital purchases.

Lawmakers are CONSTANTLY attempting to use "But this would protect children/prevent the sharing of CSAM" to attack Section 230, a legal provision that prevents platforms from being held liable for the content they host. The proposed changes lawmakers idiotically present actually would drastically erode your ability to post ANY images online, would not make anyone safer, and would further consolidate the power held by platforms like Google and Meta while making it harder for smaller online platforms to exist.

The original sin of all of this (in the US at least) is the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which was passed in 1986 to regulate charges and sentences for computer-based crime and has been used since to prosecute security researchers and activists, and has been responsible for tremendously disproportionate sentences levied against people charged with computer-related crimes.

The people who write and pass laws about computers and the internet don't understand computers or the internet. The people who advocate for these kinds of laws either don't anticipate the second-order consequences or anticipated the consequences and wanted fallout like the sanitation of the internet or the criminalization of downloading journal articles.

（Peking Opera performance at the 2014 Chinese New Year Gala)

Hellooooooo~

Oh, goodness, that's a deep well to dive into xD There's a lot to know about Chinese opera.

Chinese opera incorporates every kind of opera that exists in China, pretty much every local region has their own style of Opera, there's about 360 different ones. There's Peking Opera, Huangmei Opera, Yue Opera (Shanghai/Shaoxing), Yue Opera (Guangdong province), Yu Opera, Chuan Opera, Kunqu Opera, Ping Opera, the city I'm in (Yangzhou) has Yang Opera, etc.

Out of all of these, the most famous would be Peking Opera (京剧/Jingju), it's recognized nationally as 国粹/Guocui meaning it originated in China and has deep cultural roots, representing a cultural heritage of the people. It has also been recognized by UNESCO as an international Intangible Cultural Heritage.

I'll focus on Peking Opera (my favourites are Peking Opera, Yue Opera (Shanghai/Shaoxing), and Huangmei Opera).

Peking Opera was created in the Qing Dynasty (last imperial dynasty of China). Back then, people in the performing arts were viewed as the lowest tier of society, parents did everything they could to prevent their kids from entering into a profession performing. Only when households were incredibly poor, did kids get "sold" into opera troupes. Yes, sold, like property. These kids would learn various skills like singing, acting, martial arts skills that would be used on stage. It was very brutal, getting up at dawn to practice splits, flips, and teachers back then would hit if you didn't meet their standards. No such thing as child labour laws back then.

There's a saying in China, "台下十年功，台上十分钟", behind the scenes ten years work, on stage ten minutes. Meaning For ten minutes on stage, a performer needed to work and practice for ten years, and this absolutely applied for Opera performers. Even today in China, it's well known that opera performers need decades of work before being able to perform on stage (yes, most opera performers even today got into it as children, not sold into a troupe like in the past, but being signed up for classes when they're very young to practice all the skills needed, kind of like ballerinas, there are certain skills that you just need to practice from young to learn for this artform).

Currently there's several major schools of Peking Opera. This refers to their singing style for particular characters. For example, for characters in the "Dan" category (旦角/Danjue - referring to young woman of wealthier families, elegant and well-mannered) there are 4 major schools: - Mei School (梅派) - Cheng School (程派) - Xun School (荀派) - Shang School (尚派)

The names refer to the person who created each school:

Mei Lanfang (梅兰芳)

Cheng Yanqiu (程砚秋)

Xun Huisheng (荀慧生)

Shang Xiaoyun (尚小云)

@margaritadaemonelix

You should just watch the Chinese New Year Chinese Opera Gala (春节戏曲晚会), the little snippet they do during the main gala is mostly just to tick a box, the heavy hitters are all at the opera gala.

I say this not as "boo-hoo poor baby nadi," I say this because I know worse is already happening to kids with long covid. Despite two rounds of democratic presidents since I was undergoing this torture, we still "No Child Left Behind," and I remember how students with even minor learning issues were taught by teachers when I was in public school. Now imagine you're a 8 year old with persistent brain fog and constant fatigue and weird gastrointestinal issues and imagine how teachers (whose jobs are still tied to student's standarized test scores over 20 years later) are treating them. How many of these kids are getting the opposite of attention? How many are getting crammed into already overpopulated and under-funded/staffed special education rooms? How many are branded as lazy and stupid and "problem" when they're literally sick and getting sicker because we can't even get schools to put an air filter in the room?

I have this passion for airborne illness caution because I can see just how many kids are living worse childhoods than I had. I can see the hundreds of thousands of kids across the country, the millions across the world, who struggle to pay attention to lessons not because they're uninterested or unintelligent but because they're in constant suffering no one will comprehend or lessen or excuse. And knowing what it's like, I don't want more kids to go through that: I was lucky to live through it, and many don't. Masking keeps kids safer. Air filtration keeps kids safer. Improved ventilation keeps kids safer. Frequent testing for respiratory diseases keeps kids safer. Paid sick leave keeps kids safer. Hybrid options for education keeps kids safer.

This Tumblr post is the first time someone has explained to me *why* I couldn’t feed them before those instances.

every single time i have had to say, "i understand that if he had food or water, he could aspirate it into his lungs under anesthesia. i am not lying to you." THEN someone would make a little note and i would stop being repeatedly asked.

not a single time was that risk explained to me. the only reason it came up was because i already knew. i still don't understand why it isn't standard pre-op counseling or pre-op check information, when me as a parent acknowledging the actual risk also put THE MEDICAL STAFF at ease because i conveyed that i had informed understanding as reason to not lie about giving my kid food.

Drained water from places suffering from drought for absolute pennies.

Made African mothers dependent on their milk formula, which they gave for free, until their milk dried up. Then they required them to purchase it, mothers could not afford it, mixed in too little to fulfill nutrient needs, and mixed it with polluted water. Children died.

Used slavery to produce their cocoa.

Pushed for water to be considered a “want” not a “need” and is at the forefront of arguments that water is not a human right.

Poisoned Chinese infants with melamine in their milk formula.

Demanded Ethiopia pay a debt owed to Nestle, during a FAMINE.

Price-fixed food items.

Contributed to deforestation for their cocoa farming.

The worst thing is, Nestle owns TONS of other brands, making it difficult to avoid for certain products.