{{Short description|Traditional Chinese sleeveless and collarless vest}} {{Infobox Chinese | c = 比甲 | pic = 明式比甲|150px | piccap = A woman wearing a Qing dynasty bijia. | p = Bǐjiǎ }}
'''Bijia''' ({{Lang-zh|c=比甲}}) is a long, sleeveless jacket of Mongol origins which has opened side slits.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Finnane |first=Antonia |title=Changing clothes in China : fashion, history, nation |date=2008 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-14350-9 |location=New York |pages= |oclc=84903948}}</ref>{{Rp|page=|pages=46, 68}} The bijia started to be worn in the Yuan dynasty when it was designed by Empress Chabi.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Zhao|first=George Qingzhi|title=Marriage as political strategy and cultural expression : Mongolian royal marriages from world empire to Yuan dynasty|date=2008|publisher=Peter Lang Pub|isbn=978-1-4331-0275-2|location=New York|pages=240–241|oclc=192134589}}</ref> The ''bijia'' eventually became one of the most typical form of women's clothing item in the Ming dynasty<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Hua|first=Mei|title=Chinese clothing|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-18689-6|edition=Updated|location=Cambridge, United Kingdom|pages=41|oclc=781020660}}</ref> and in the Qing dynasty.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Wang|first=Anita Xiaoming|date=2018|title=The Idealised Lives of Women: Visions of Beauty in Chinese Popular Prints of the Qing Dynasty|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26585538|journal=Arts Asiatiques|volume=73|pages=61–80|doi=10.3406/arasi.2018.1993 |jstor=26585538 |issn=0004-3958|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It is also a type of hanfu which has been revived in present days.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-02-16|title=A Brief History of Chinese Outfit for Girl - Bijia (vest) - 2021|url=https://www.newhanfu.com/3398.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-23|website=www.newhanfu.com|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226034030/https://www.newhanfu.com/3398.html |archive-date=2021-02-26 }}</ref>
== History ==
=== Yuan dynasty === The bijia originated from a long-length Mongol vest.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=46|pages=}}<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Schlesinger|first=Jonathan|title=A world trimmed with fur : wild things, pristine places, and the natural fringes of Qing rule|date=2017|isbn=978-1-5036-0068-3|location=Stanford, California|pages=31|oclc=949669739}}</ref> According to the ''Yuan shi'', the invention of bijiia is attributed to Empress Chabi during the Yuan dynasty.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Shea|first=Eiren L.|title=Mongol court dress, identity formation, and global exchange|date=2020|isbn=978-0-429-34065-9|location=New York, NY|pages=89|oclc=1139920835}}</ref> Empress Chabi designed the bijia so that it would be a convenient form of attire while riding horses and shooting arrows.<ref name=":1" /> The front region of the bijia designed by Empress Chabi was made of 1-piece of fabric, and its back region was twice longer than the front region.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=Lee|first=Lily Xiao Hong|title=Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II : Tang Through Ming 618-1644.|date=2015|publisher=Taylor and Francis|others=Sue Wiles|isbn=978-1-317-51562-3|location=Hoboken|pages=25|oclc=905984401}}</ref> It was collarless and sleeveless, and there were two loop straps which attached to it.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> It also had no lapels.<ref name=":6" /> The bijia was first worn by the Yuan dynasty emperor but it later became popular among commoners.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|title=5000 years of Chinese costumes|date=1987|publisher=China Books & Periodicals|others=Xun Zhou, Chunming Gao, 周汛, Shanghai Shi xi qu xue xiao. Zhongguo fu zhuang shi yan jiu zu|isbn=0-8351-1822-3|location=San Francisco, CA|pages=164|oclc=19814728}}</ref>
=== Ming dynasty === After the fall of the Yuan dynasty, Mongol fashion of the Yuan dynasty continued to influence some styles of clothing worn in the Ming dynasty; this included the persisting usage of bijia.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=46|pages=}}<ref name=":4" /> The bijia became a type of women clothing in the Ming dynasty, and by the middle of the Ming dynasty it had become a favourite form of dress for women, especially young women.<ref name=":7" />
In the Ming dynasty, the bijia was long in length and would reach below the knee level.<ref name=":2" /> It was embroidered on woven textile and a jade ornament would be attached at the front of the bijia as a front closure.<ref name=":2" /> Bijia created an illusion of slenderness, which women in the Ming dynasty sought after.<ref name=":2" />
=== Qing dynasty === In the Qing dynasty, Han Chinese women were allowed to continue the Ming dynasty clothing customs.<ref name=":3" /> The bijia remained very popular in Qing dynasty,<ref name=":7" /> and it was one of the most common forms of female clothing worn in the 17th and 18th century.<ref name=":3" /><gallery> File:Amorous Meeting in a Room Interior, Freer Gallery of Art.jpg|Woman wearing bijia (right). Woman wearing beizi (left). From the painting ''Amorous Meeting in a Room Interior,'' late 18th century Qing Dynasty. </gallery>
=== 21st Century === In the 21st century, the bijia regained popularity and is widely worn as a hanfu item.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-02-16|title=A Brief History of Chinese Outfit for Girl - Bijia (vest) - 2021|url=https://www.newhanfu.com/3398.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-03|website=www.newhanfu.com|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226034030/https://www.newhanfu.com/3398.html |archive-date=2021-02-26 }}</ref><gallery> File:People wearing Hanfu at IDO32 (20200118144012).jpg|Woman wearing a long, yellow bijia (middle), 2020. </gallery>
== Influences and derivatives ==
=== Theatrical beixin === {{See also|Xifu (Costume)|label 1=Chinese opera costume}}The Chinese opera '''beixin''' ({{Lang-zh|c=背心}}), also known as '''kanjian''', '''majia''', and '''beida''', were sleeveless vests which originated from both the Ming dynasty's long-length bijia worn by women from the lower-middle class and from the Qing dynasty's majia ({{Lang-zh|c=马甲}}),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ye|first=Tan|title=Historical dictionary of Chinese theater|date=2020|isbn=978-1-5381-2064-4|edition=Second|location=Lanham|pages=352|oclc=1128888776}}</ref> a type of vest which were worn by the Manchu.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Woman's domestic vest (majia)|url=https://collections.mfa.org/objects/22257/womans-domestic-vest-majia;jsessionid=9465E8DF06300335A88C473562033F49|access-date=2021-07-30|website=collections.mfa.org|language=en}}</ref><gallery> File:清 戯衣女尼背心-Theatrical vest for a female Buddhist priest MET 62 27 3 F.jpeg|Theatrical beixin for a female Buddhist priest (front view). File:清 戯衣女尼背心-Theatrical vest for a female Buddhist priest MET 173967.jpg|Theatrical beixin for a female Buddhist priest (back view). </gallery>
=== Majia === {{See also|Qizhuang}}
The majia ({{Lang-zh|c=马甲}}), the sleeveless riding vest of the Qing dynasty, evolved from the bijia which was popular among women during the Ming and Qing dynasties.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite thesis|title=Constructing Chinese America in Hawaiʻi: the Narcissus Festival, ethnic identity, and community transformation, 1949-2005|url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/12055|date=2005|degree=Thesis|language=en-US|first=Jinzhao|last=Li|hdl=10125/12055 }}</ref><gallery> File:MET 45 125 14 F.jpg|Sleeveless Jacket with Flowering Vine Pattern and Bands (front), late 19th–early 20th century File:MET 45 125 14 B.jpg|Sleeveless Jacket with Flowering Vine Pattern and Bands (back), late 19th–early 20th century File:MET 46 190 O1.jpg|Sleeveless Jacket, 19th century. </gallery>
== Similar looking garments ==
* Banbi * Song dynasty beixin - Sleeveless and translucent vests, which became a popular female fashion in the Southern Song.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kuhn |first=Dieter |title=The age of Confucian rule : the Song transformation of China |date=2009 |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-03146-3 |location=Cambridge, Mass. |oclc=192050158}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=265–266}} * Dahu * Zhaojia (罩甲) * Baeja - A sleeveless or very short-sleeved vest in Korea <gallery mode="packed"> File:Gauze Garment, Southern Song (33548384501).jpg|Beixin, Song dynasty File:宣宗出獵圖軸（局部）.jpg|Zhaojia, Ming dynasty </gallery>
== See also == *Beizi *Fashion in Yuan dynasty *Hanfu * List of Hanfu
== References == {{Reflist}}{{Types of Han Chinese clothing}}
Category:Jackets Category:Mongolian fashion Category:Chinese traditional clothing Category:Culture of the Yuan dynasty Category:Culture of the Ming dynasty Category:Women's clothing