Centennial of Modern China 辛亥革命100周年 (part 1)

This year is the 100th anniversary of the 1911 revolution 辛亥革命, it is hard to imagine China is only 100 years from  the last imperial court.  Modern China is younger than most of the great nations of the world. The French revolution (1789) and the American Revolutionary war are both 100 years older. In Asia, Japan's Meiji Restoration (wholesale modernization) started in 1868.  The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia was roughly in the same era in 1917.  Lucille Ball, the star of the I Love Lucy TV show, was born a few months before the birth of the Republic of China.

So what happened in 100 years? The number one reason for overthrowing the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) was to restore the majority Han rule.  China was twice ruled by minority invaders, the Mongols during the Yuan Dynasty and the Manchus during the Qing Dynasty. To that end, the 1911 revolution was a success, the Manchus court was toppled relatively bloodlessly and the Manchus have been co-existing peacefully with the Han people since. It is now impossible to distinguish Han and Manchu visually and our "traditional" Chinese costumes are actually Manchu horseman riding garbs.

Tight fitting clothes with exposed buttons, this young man has no respect for tradition

You're going look very silly in real traditional Han clothing these days

Today, the traditional Han clothing can be seen only on movie sets. For a least 2000 years, Han clothing or "han fu" 漢服 had always been loose fitting with no buttons. The lapel had to be on the right side even the whole thing made it really hard for a right handed rider to shoot an arrow. There were attempts for reform but tradition won out every time.
 






Incredibly, what's once considered shocking has become a Chinese traditional, it's hard to imagine many Han men died refusing such barbaric costumes in the 1600s. The Manchus forced the Han men to adopt their style of shaved head and tight fitting clothes.  The iron wrist policy said "keep your head and lose your hair; or keep your hair and lose your head", 1000s of Han men chose the second option.

Three cowboys in horseman outfits comparing empires

I'm  a great admirer of Greek antiquity, but if you visit Greece today, you'll find Greeks with mostly Christian names and their Presidential Guards wear national costumes similar to the Turks. What happened to heroic names like Ajax and Achilles? What happened to the toga?
OK, maybe the toga is a little impractical.

 

Unsafe for bicycle riding