Young Chinese overseas spread the word on traditional style
Zhuo Tongzhou learned about hanfu when she was in Australia seven years ago — and the experience changed her life.
Zhuo, from Luzhou, Sichuan province, said that she took part in an event on cultural diversity when she was an undergraduate in Australia. Students from across the world were encouraged to attend the opening ceremony dressed in folk costumes.
“My classmates from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam all put on gorgeous and unique costumes, and I was overshadowed by them, as I wore a simple qipao,” she said. “That experience impressed me a lot.”
Zhuo, who has been interested in traditional Chinese culture since childhood, has learned about calligraphy, traditional painting, tea ceremonies and classical poetry.
The 26-year-old found that Han Chinese had a traditional hanfu costume, but this disappeared at the start of the Qing Dynasty (16441911). She became fascinated with the culture surrounding the costumes, even wearing one at her graduation ceremony at Sydney University in 2016.
Zhuo has collected more than 100 hanfu sets, but her love for the costumes is not confined to wearing them and showing others how beautiful they are.
After she graduated in hotel management, she astonished her family and friends by turning down good job opportunities to start a business involving hanfu culture.
She first made packs of delicate traditional pastries that featured Chinese paintings on the covers. Then, she donned a hanfu costume while she delivered the pastries. Zhuo acquired more than 2,000 customers in the first month and was frequently stopped by people asking to take her photo.
However, although the costume always attracted people’s attention, about 80 percent of them, including many Chinese, would mistake it for a Japanese kimono or the hanbok from South Korea, she said.
“I then realized that many people see the beauty of hanfu, but don’t really understand its culture,” she said.
Zhuo next decided to organize a talent show featuring hanfu culture.
With her income from the pastry shop, and help from other enthusiasts in Sydney, a show aimed at finding “hanfu ambassadors” started in the city in August 2016. More than 1,000 people applied to take part, and the 12 finalists competed by wearing the traditional attire at Sydney Town Hall, attracting an audience of more than 1,200.
“Hanfu disappeared in China a long time ago, and the Han people gradually forgot about it. I just want to tell the world that China also has its own beautiful traditional costume,” Zhuo said.
She now has a store in Sydney that rents the clothing and also acts as a photography business for people wearing it, providing a space for those interested in traditional Chinese culture to get together.
Coco Wu, cultural strategy consultant for market research company Kantar Worldpanel, said the rise of traditional culture is an irresistible trend in many industries.
“With China’s rapid economic development and increasing global influence, the younger generation has more confidence in its own culture,” she said.
As a result, while they are overseas, Chinese would be willing to promote hanfu culture, she said.
Zhou Zhiluo, 25, from Henan province, has worked in the Japanese city of Kyoto for two years as a stylist for hanfu costumes and related hairstyles.
She said that every time she wears the costumes on the streets in Japan, she draws appreciative looks, making her feel very proud of the attire. To her, hanfu is everyday dress.
The costumes have been welcomed by Chinese students in Japan, and many wear them for important occasions such as graduation ceremonies, she added. Every March, at the start of the country’s graduation season, the number of her customers rises sharply.
“Many Chinese students want to appear in hanfu for their graduation ceremonies because they don’t want to appear inferior to their classmates in terms of the traditional costumes they wear,” she said.