Background of Dress Development in the Sui and Tang Dynasties
2 min readThe Sui and Tang dynasties are the peak of Chinese feudal culture and society，which not only provided people with better material life and freer social culturalenvironment，but also promoted unprecedented development of Chinese culture.In this period，the dress style wasn’t limited only to one pattern.Its casual style represented the lasting vitality of the society.
In 581，the Sui dynasty was founded，putting an end to the splitting situation since the Eastern Han dynasty.It is，following the Qin and Han dynasties，another unified feudal dynasty，controlled by Han nationality.Afterwards，in the Tang dynasty，the society was further developed，with an environment of stable politics，booming economy，opened culture and active thinking.The Chinese traditional dressculture in the Tang dynasty was all-embracing，splendid and gorgeous.A1l dresses，for officials and common people，or for men and women，had shown striking features of new age and nationality，which unfold a very splendid page in Chinese history and pushed the Chinese traditional dress to a new phase.
Background of Dress Development in the Sui and Tang Dynasties In the period of the Sui and Tang dynasties，the nation’s territory was expanded.To maintain the nation’s stability and security，the rulers drew up a perfect political system based on the practice since the Qin and Han dynasties.
Therefore，the correspondent dress system with complete regulations and strict grade division was also established.Different grades might be distinguished through different dress colors and ornaments.
In the Sui and Tang dynasties，the textile industry developed rapidly and the silk reeling technology also made great progress，which had developed from the simple silk reeling frame to the more advanced hand reeling machines.The plant and processing of flax were almost spread to the whole country.The silks produced inHebei，the yarn in the southern China，and the satins produced in the Peng and Yue areas were all beautiful dress materials，providing a guarantee for the distinct dress style of the Tang dynasty.In addition，the printing and dyeing technology made further progress due to the advent of advanced technologies，such as tie dying，exact match printing（make rubbings from inscriptions，pictures on stone tablets or bronze vessels），especially the application of mordant.
In the Sui and Tang dynasties，the middle-upper class preferred silk dress.
Besides，various types of silk were processed in different ways，and then were made into colorful brocade，silks special for the court use，embroidery，picture made of silver，gold，copper foils as well as natural and artificial minerals，dyed and printed flowering figures.The designs were novel，fancy and beautiful.The designs of the dress and amice were continuously innovated.The commons could also wear thesilk dress of plain color，but as the silk was so expensive for them，the main dress material was still gunny cloth.
