Dress Features of the Liao，Jin，Western Xia and Yuan Dynasties

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In the Liao，Jin，Western Xia and Yuan dynasties，the nomadic nationalities invaded Central Plains and overthrew the regime of the Han nationality，creating aparallel development environment for the two main parts of Chinese dress culture：the Han nationality’s dress and the minorities’dresses.The integration of the minorities’bold and unconstrained dress style with the Han nationality’s magnificent and luxurious dress style injected new vitality into the ancient Chinese dress culture.Silk was a special local product as well as the most costly dress material in ancient China.After occupying Central Plains，the nomadic nationalities，such as the Qidan，the Nuchen，the Dangxiang，the Qiang，and the Mongolian，made their own nationality’s dresses more beautiful by using the local silk dress materials.In the place where the Qidan nationality lived，some immigrants of the Huihe（Ouigour）nationality could make gowns of the silk tapestry with cut designs.In the Western Xia dynasty，there were some silk tapestryworkshops in their territory.After the foundation of the Yuan dynasty，the Mongolian had ever captured some skilled weavers in the Western Regions and sent them to Hongzhou for silk production.Since they lived together with locals，the Han nationality mastered their handicraft very quickly.

Since Central Plains was dominated by the nomadic nationalities，the Han nationality’s Confucianism，crown clothing system，yufu system，official dress system and others had been adopted，just making some small alterations to the dress style so as to suit their own nationalities and the working people.Such alterations were made only for the purpose of practicality and simplification，which，to some extent，promoted the reform of the Chinese traditional dresses.The dresses with the traditional flower patterns of the Han nationality were adopted in the dress of their own nationality.Discovered from the unearthed cultural relics at the site of the Liao fuma（husband of an emperor’s daughter or sister）tomb in Chifeng，Inner Mongolia，the flower patterns in the dress for the Qidan include the dragon，phoenix，peacock，lotus，jade-like stone，whose the style is quite same to that of the Han nationality in the Five Dynasties.