Garment collars inhanfu are diverse and come in several shapes,^[1] includingjiaoling (cross-collars, overlappingcollars at the front which closed on the right or left sides),duijin,yuanling,liling,fangling,tanling. Some forms of collars were indigenous toChina while others had been adopted from theHufu of other non-Han Chinese ethnic minorities and/or from the clothing worn by foreigners.

Chineserobes, such as theshenyi and thepaofu as a general term, as well asChinese jackets must typically cover the right part of their garment.^[2] Styles of garments which overlap at the front and close to the wearer's right side are known asyouren (Chinese:右衽;lit. 'right lapel'). Theyouren closure is a style which originated in China and can be traced back to theShang dynasty.^[3] Theyouren is also an important symbol of theHan Chinese ethnicity.^[2] Theyouren closure was eventually adopted by other ethnic minorities and was also spread to neighbouring countries, such as Vietnam, Korea and Japan.

Chinese people also wore another form of closure known aszuoren (Chinese:左衽;lit. 'left lapel'), which generally refers the way garment overlaps on the front, like theyouren closure, but instead closes on the left side.[2] According to theShuowen Jiezi 《說文解字》, a form ofpaofu, known asxi (襲), was a robe with azuoren closure^[4][5] while the coat known aszhe (褶; sometimes also referred asxi), typically used as part of thekuzhe, was also axi (襲) according to theShiming.^[6]

The use ofzuoren, however, was typically associated with funeral practices. This can also be found in the chapterSang da ji (喪大記) of theLiji (禮記):

"At both the dressings the sacrificial robes were not placed below the others. They were all placed with the lapel to lie on the left side. The bands were tied firmly, and not in a bow-knot [小斂大斂，祭服不倒，皆左衽結絞不紐]."

According to ancient Chinese beliefs, the only moment the Han Chinese were supposed to usezuoren was when they dressed their deceased.^[2] This funeral practice was rooted in ancient Chinese beliefs; especially in theYin and Yang theory, where it is believed that the left side is theYang and stands for life whereas the right side is theYin which stands for death.^[7]

Therefore, according to the Yin and Yang theory, the left lapel of a garment needs to be found outside (which is in the form ofyouren closure) to indicate that the power of theYang aspect is suppressing theYin aspect, which thus symbolizes the clothing of living people.^[7] On the other hand, thezuoren is a representation of theYin aspect surpassing theYang aspect, and thus, garments with azuoren closure became the clothing worn by thedeceased.^[7] It was therefore ataboo inChinese clothing culture for a living person to wear clothing with azuoren closure.^[7]

There are exceptions in which living Han Chinese would wear clothing with azuoren closure. For example, in some areas (such as NorthernHebei) in the 10th century, some ethnic Han Chinese could be found wearing left-lapel clothing.^[8] It was also common for the Han Chinese women to adopt left lapel under the reign of foreign nationalities, such as in theYuan dynasty.^[9] The practice of wearing thezuoren also continued in some areas of theMing dynasty despite being a Han Chinese-ruled dynasty which is an atypical feature.^[9]

Thezuoren closure was also associated with the clothing of non-Han Chinese, ethnic minorities, and foreigners in ancient times. Some ethnic minorities generally had their clothing closing in thezuoren-style^[2] according to what was recorded in ancient Chinese texts, such as theQiang.^[10]: 101 As a result, the traditional way to distinguish between clothing of the"Barbarian" (i.e. non-Han Chinese),Hufu, and Chinese clothing,hanfu, was typically by looking at the direction of the collar.^[11]

This can also be found in theAnalects whereConfucius himself praisedGuan Zhong for preventing the weakenedZhou dynasty from becoming barbarians:^[12][13][14]

"But for Guan Zhong, we should now be wearing our hair unbound [pifa], and the lapels of our coats buttoning on the left side [zuoren]. [微管仲，吾其被髮左衽矣]."

Based on Confucius' sayings,pifa zuoren (simplified Chinese:被发左衽;traditional Chinese:被髮左衽;pinyin:bèifà zuǒrèn;lit. 'unbound hair left lapel'), bound hair and coats which closed on the left side, was associated with the clothing customs of the northern nomadic ethnic groups who were considered as barbarians.[12] From the standpoint of theHuaxia culture,pifa was a way to reject refined culture and being turned into a barbarian.^[10]: 101

By theHan dynasty, since Confucius himself was the first person to use the phrasepifa zuoren to refer toNon-Zhou dynasty people, this phrase became a commonmetaphor for primitiveness.^[10]: 103 When used by the ancient Chinese literati, the concept ofpifa zuoren became a phrase, which held the symbolic of foreign people who were living a barbarous and civilized lifestyle; this concept also became a way to emphasize the customs differences between the Han people and other ethnic minorities and draw the line to distinguish who was were considered as civilized and barbarians.^[10]: 103 Thezuoren thus also became a reference toHufu and/or to the rule of foreign nationalities.^[2] Of note, some non-Chinese ethnicity who adoptedHanfu-style sometimes maintain their left lapels, such as theKhitans in theLiao dynasty.^[15]: 267

Jiaoling youren (Chinese:交領右衽) were cross-collars which overlapped on the front and closed on the right side following theyouren (右衽) rule;^[16] they can also be described as cross-collar garments closing to the right side, or y-shaped collar. Thejiaoling youren started to be worn in theShang dynasty in China.^[17][18] This form of collar eventually became one of the major symbols of the Sino Kingdoms^[16] and eventually spread throughout Asia.^[18] Garments and attire which used thejiaoling youren collar include:shenyi,jiaolingpao,mianfu,pienfu,diyi,dahu, andtieli.

Jiaoling zouren refers to the cross-collars which closes on the left side instead of the right side. They were typically used by non-Han Chinese ethnicities in ancient China, but were also adopted by the Han Chinese in some circumstances, e.g. when they were ruled by non-Han Chinese rulers. Han Chinese women were also found sometimes found in the paintings of theMing dynasty, which is an atypical feature.^[9] They were also used to dress the deceased of the Han Chinese.^[2]

Collars which runs parallel and straight at the front are called duijin (对襟).^{[19][20]: 22} Garments with duijin collars can either be closed at the centre front^{[20]: 22 [21]} or be left opened in the front.^[19] They could be found with or without a high collar depending on the time period.^[1] Duijin could be used in garments and attire, such asbeizi,banbi, andbeixin.

• 
  Daxiushan with duijin collar, Song dynasty
• 
  Beizi with duijin collar, Song dynasty
• 
  Shan with duijin collar, Song dynasty
• 
  Beixin with duijin collar, Song dynasty

Round collars are called yuanling (圆领)^[1] or panling (盘领).^[22][23] In ancient China, clothing with round collars were typically introduced and/or influenced by foreign ethnicities, such as theDonghu,^[24][25] theWuhu,^{[24][26]: 317} and the foreigners from Central Asia, such as theSogdians,^[27][28] and the Mongols,^[25] at different point in time. Yuanling can be overlapping to the right or closing at the front in the duijin manner.^[1][29] Yuanling could be used in garments and attire, such asyuanlingshan,yuanlingpao,panling lanshan, and wulingshan (无领衫).^[29]

• 
  Yuanlingshan closing on the right, Ming dynasty
• 
  Panling lanshan, Ming dynasty
• 
  Yuanlingshan closing on the right, Ming dynasty
• 
  Yuanlingbanbi, which closes at the front in a duijin manner.
• 
  Qing dynasty
• 
  Yuanling shan, Qing dynasty.

High standing collars in the Ming dynasty are referred as shuling (竖领) or liling (立领).^[1] They appeared by the late Ming dynasty.^[30]: 93 There were two main forms of high standing collars garments based on their types of lapels and closure.^[1]

Clothing with shuling dajin (竖领大襟), also called liling dajin or shuling xiejin or liling xiejin, has a standing collar and a large lapel which closes on the right.^[29] The dajin placket is also called xiejin (Chinese:斜襟;pinyin:xiéjīn;lit. 'slanted placket').

• Shuling dajin
• 
  Shuling dajin, High collar with overlapping front, Ming dynasty
• 
  Shuling dajin, High collar with overlapping front, Ming dynasty

Clothing with shuling duijin (or liling (or shuling) duijin) has a standing collar and closes with a central front closure.^[1]

Fanling refers to thelapel collars, typically categorized as Hufu-style collars

Square collars are referred as fangling (方领).^{[4]: 166 [1]}

• 
  Zhaojia (罩甲) with square collar, Ming dynasty
• 
  Duijin (对襟) jacket with square collar, Ming dynasty.

U-shaped collar are known as tanling (Chinese:坦领;pinyin:tǎnlǐng;lit. 'flat collar/ open-hearted collar').[31] Tanling could be used in garments and attire, such as tanlingbanbi andtanling ruqun.

Pianjin (Chinese:偏襟;pinyin:piānjīn;lit. 'slanted placket'), also calledPipa-shaped collars and sometimes referred as 'slanted' collar in English,^[21] were form of collars which overlaps and closes to the right side with a big lapel.^[21] This form of collar was influenced by theManchu clothing.^[21] The Manchu's front overlap opening was a Manchu innovation; their clothing was closed with buttons on the centre front of the neck, right clavicle, and under the right arm along the right seams.^[32] The Manchu overlap was more shaped like an S-curved overlap; it ran straight to the right of the centre-front of the neck, drops down to the burst before curving to the right side.^[33]: 63 The Manchu's garments rarely showed high collars until the 20th century.^[30]: 93 The Pip-shaped collar were worn in theQing dynasty and theRepublic of China.^[34][21] It could be found without or with a high collar (e.g.mandarin collar).^[21]

• 
  Pipa-shaped collar in Han woman ao (jacket), Qing dynasty
• 
  The collar of this ao (jacket) was influenced by the pipa-shaped collar, Qing dynasty
• 
  Manchu pipa-collar, Qing dynasty
• 
  Manchu pipa-collar, Qing dynasty
• 
  Manchu pipa-collar, Qing dynasty

• Han Chinese clothing
• List of Han Chinese clothing
• Hufu

• Chinese traditional clothing
• Hanfu
• Necklines

• CS1 maint: location missing publisher
• CS1 errors: missing periodical
• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from May 2024
• Articles with permanently dead external links
• CS1 maint: others
• CS1 Chinese (Taiwan)-language sources (zh-tw)
• CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Chinese-language text
• Articles containing simplified Chinese-language text
• Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text