Cheongsam

The Cheongsam (Chinese长衫/长衫, Pinyin Changshan, long gown ') or Qipao (Chinese旗袍, Pinyin qipao W.-G. ch'i- p'ao ) is a traditional Chinese women's garment with typical features:

• High-necked collar,
• Ankle length,
• Buttons or loop fasteners at the shoulder
• And slits on the sides.

It is manufactured from fine fabrics such as silk or satin with low material consumption. The Cheongsam is, however - even in China - not everyday clothes, but a piece of clothing for special occasions.

The name adopted into English " Cheongsam " (长衫), which means long gown, comes from the Cantonese ( Jyutping: coeng4 saam1 ). In other parts of China, it is also called " qipao " (旗袍). This name comes from the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The Manchus divided the population in Banner (旗, qí ) and called themselves " banner people " (旗人, Qiren ). The usually worn by the Manchu women dress was now called " banner dress " ( qipao ). Even after the Revolution of 1911, which ended the Manchu dynasty, the dress has also been worn and the traditional garment for Chinese women.

The heyday of Qipaos were the 1930s, when Shanghai was the classic form. Later Qipaos differ mainly of them in length and fabric samples. The date of origin is explained by the fact that at that time ended the 2000 year old feudal China and first came into contact with the modern foreign culture.