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bicultural icon!!! 🇺🇸🇨🇳🇺🇸🇨🇳 || caption for details(no one talk abt how i'm 5947383 decades late to this challenge.)

"bing chilling🥶🥶🍨" and "my pronouns are U/S/A🗣️🦅🦅🦅"-core

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today i bring to you hanfu x prom dress. i forgot abt the OC part and just decided to draw some npcs. "wait, but isn't the chinese traditional dress qipao?" kinda but not really!

china is super diverse b/c it is a massive country, but the han people make up the majority of china. i'm ethnically han, so that's what imma talk abt here ("hanfu" in chinese means "clothing of the han people"!)

chinese cultural dress is characterized by the dynasty + by ethnicity, similar to how western periods (baroque, rococo, romantic, etc) see different styles of clothing among each other (the dress i referenced was from the tang dynasty i think lol). my traditional clothing is not gonna be the same as that of the korean minority group's, the uyghurs', the tibetans', etc.

the qipao draws inspiration from the qing dynasty, the last chinese dynasty. before the qing dynasty, the slim fits and stiff-looking clothes that were carried over to the more modern qipao were not really a thing -- instead, for thousands of years, nobles wore hanfu, which were light, flowing dresses that resembled japanese kimonos and korean hanboks.

this is because the qing dynasty was ruled by the manchu people, not the han people like in previous dynasties. hanfu was outlawed with the goal of asserting dominance over the much larger group of han people.

i don't consider qipao to be the "true" traditional dress bc it originated in the 20th century and was a result of western influence + the establishment of the "republic of china". hanfu is more representative of the vast history of the han people, and holds much more cultural significance.

that said, i think both are gorgeous.

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i chose to draw my prom dress for my american side. prom/school dance culture is extremely american and is a HUGE deal here -- people buy their dresses and make dinner plans months ahead, spend weeks arranging schedules, deciding where to go for pictures, who's gonna be who's date, etc and then spend hours getting ready (my friends and i spent 5 hours before prom).

this is probably the only thing you see in media about american schools that is accurate -- we do have 600 dances a year and prom royalty is a thing. the dances themselves are super boring, but pictures, dinner, and hanging out with friends make it worth the $4958393 you spend on dance tickets.



my ancestors love and cherish me

happy birthday america. at least i don't have to play "firework or gunshot" at 1 am for the next 2 weeks
Jul 5, 2023
#hanfu
#prom
#china
#america
#krita
Comments
Each description you have given on the outfit is endearing :3 And the artwork is beautiful!! 💙💙💙 The hanfu is absolutely stunning 💗💗
AAAA SO PRETTY ✨💐💐💐 The hanfu looks beautiful and I love the choose of prom dress for usa:)) ty for participating love the colors too hlsfldshk❤️❤️