WHILE most people pursue Western fashion styles, two true supporters of Chinese traditional dress can be found in China's modern history.

　　One is Lin Yutang (1895-1976), the famous scholar and author of "My Country and My People". He was well known for his Chinese style of gown when giving lectures in colleges at home and abroad.

　　Lin had some interesting thoughts about traditional Chinese clothing. He said Western clothing aimed to highlight the figure but traditional Chinese clothes aimed to conceal it. He thought Chinese dress gave real liberty to the body.

　　He also found it strange that Western people should restrain themselves with an uncomfortable tight belt at the waist, a vest and close-to-body underwear.

　　"Wearing traditional Chinese clothes, air can reach every part of my body, it is so comfortable," he said.

　　Another supporter of Chinese dress was also a scholar. Gu Hongming (1856-1928) was skilled in several foreign languages and he wore traditional Chinese costumes and a long queue all his life.

　　Even when visiting foreign countries, he never changed his mode of dress. His stubbornness in this regard enhanced his already high reputation.

　　Styling gown

　　Interesting stories about Chinese costumes would take several days to relate because the history of Chinese dress is such a long and complicated one.

　　The general style of Chinese costume is mainly clean and simple and goes back more than 5,000 years although it has experienced lots of innovation.

　　The gown, which is the main item of Chinese fashion, perfectly reflects such styling.

　　The gown has a loose and wide body, sleeves and bottom, sometimes with a loose belt at the waist. It looks very simple today but it can look very different when worn by different people or made from different fabrics.

　　We can still find the gown in ancient paintings and the loose and easy-to-wear style was thought as the best way to reflect the personality of the Chinese which is calm, natural and peaceful.

　　Traditional Chinese costume had a strong focus on creating vertical lines. It always applied vertical lines such as in the long sleeves and in the long, loose lower part of the garment. Obviously such styling makes people look taller.

　　In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the style of qipao (costumes for women at that time) was even looser

　　Women then wore high-heeled shoes and had high hair styles to make them look taller than the women of any other era.

　　So, traditional Chinese clothing makes the wearer look slim and tall and this makes up for the smaller stature of Chinese people. And such smooth vertical styling also suits the softer line in face and figure of Chinese people.

　　On the other hand, classic Western fashion expands the fashion horizon. The sleeves and gowns balloon out with layers of lace in an overstated and flamboyant style. The fashion may suit Western people's tall figures but it certainly does not suit the Chinese.

　　Tide and trend

　　Ancient Chinese clothing can be classified into two groups: coat and skirt, and one-piece. The former was mainly worn by women and the one-piece by men.

　　Retaining the basic styling, Chinese traditional costumes changed with different dynasties of different cultures and economic power.

　　During the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, a booming economy provided people with a peaceful existence. Travellers from outside China gathered in Chang'an and Luoyang, the capitals, to promote international cultural exchanges. The cultures of central Asia especially influenced the design of Chinese clothing.

　　The re-unification of China in those days after a long period of war had also introduced new fashion concepts and dress became more splendid. At that time, women still enjoyed a high status in Chinese society.

　　Their situation was better than it became in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Although they had dropped to a lower status, their charm and talents still won admiration from all sections of society.

　　Because of the growing intensity of feudal ideology, the patterns of dress and accessories gradually became conservative in the Song and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties.

　　Clothing was used to show a person's social status. From that time on, distinctions in colour, design and adornment were strictly laid out to tell the differences between the emperor, aristocrats, officials and the common people.

　　Stringent rules were devised and enforced as to the colour and design of clothing and the type of fashion accessories. Yellow was the most noble colour and if ordinary people wore it, they would be accused of rebellion and sentenced to death. Green, red, black and white were thought of as "pure" colours to be worn by people of high status.

　　As to patterns, the pictures of animals and plants were widely used on traditional clothing and accessories. The designs were balanced and symmetric. The patterns displayed the dragon, the phoenix, cranes and magpies, all auspicious animals representing nobility, luck, fortune and longevity.

　　Today, traditional Chinese costumes have all but totally disappeared. Only waitresses or models wear them. Western-style clothing fashions swept the country in one generation.

　　"But from my point of view, the more national, the more international," said Bao Mingxin, a professor at Shanghai Donghua University and a well-known fashion expert.

　　Bao said he was happy to see something of a renaissance of "China Chic" in recent years. "From my knowledge, though local designers have tried hard to recapture the gorgeousness of Chinese costumes through the qipao since the mid-1980s, they haven't had much success so far," he said.

　　"Their achievement is still in the shadow of the 1930s."