Professional Hanfu Stylist, Zi De Guqin Studio
*All conversations published have gained the consent of speakers.
The minute I began watching Zi De Guqin Studio’s videos, I was breath-taken. I had been interviewing Hanfu Revolutionists (a group of youths aiming to bring back the long-lost traditional apparel of China’s majority ethnicity) for a while, but I had never seen anything so… perfect. The majority of Hanfu pictures, for example, see Figures 1 and 2 below, looked regal and intricate, frozen in time. These representations of Hanfu were undoubtedly beautiful, but Zi De’s work had another level of dynamic aesthetic appeal—with videos and carefully planned dramatic charm, they made these ancient paintings come alive.
Figure 1. Photo credits to Dan Qing Hui Traditional Apparel, an apparel shop. The owner was another of my interviewees.
Figure 2. Photo credits to photographer Runxi Chen, whose assistant was also my interviewee.
Zi De does an excellent job of showcasing both male and female beauty and various types of it. Take the first video above, Chang’an Fantasy, as an example. A remarkable aspect of Zi De’s character design is that it always fits in with the instrument the character plays: three different types of men are shown, their personalities evident through their clothing. The flute, known for its gentle timbre and potential to create a free, reckless sound, fits in perfectly with the flutist’s jade-colored robe. Jade is a muted tone that suits gentleness, while the drapery of his robe suggests the image of a daredevil intellectual. His middle counterpart, the drummer, wears an open-collared red robe with a brocade brown vest. His character is thus more athletic but still remains a part of the aristocratic class, as the excellent fabric of his robe suggests. The voodoo drummer—the one clapping at a clay pot with his hands—is evidently older and a little more low-brow, as demonstrated by the patterned, half-sleeved shirt he sports. He is also perhaps of Hu (Persian, Uyghur, etc.) ethnicity, as the half-sleeve is taken from Hu clothing tradition. As for the women, the singing bowl (another excellent detail that hints at the Tang’s devotion to Buddhism) is less of a conventional instrument, and its artist is depicted with two hair buns, indicative of a younger girl. The baby blue and pink colors of the dress confirm this theory. The Guqin artist on her left is draped in a half-sleeved top with more prominent colors, also implying that she’s either of Hu ethnicity or very fashionable (the women at the front lines of fashion picked up Hu clothing, too.) The Guzhen artist on the far left is a much more traditional woman. The chest-high dress she wears is of Han ethnic origin, and the muted colors suggest a more reserved personality. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how all these different characters and their various color combinations fit into the same frame with perfect harmony. I guess that’s another ancient Chinese wisdom I haven’t figured out yet.
Their music itself is incredible, too. Before Zi De, I never knew that ethnic instruments could have such vital intensity. Let’s reuse the same music video as an example: the eloquence of 1:26 with the flute’s narration and the Guqin’s tonal changes; the playfulness of 2:53 with the voodoo drum’s solo and the Guzhen’s offbeat notes; and a magnanimousness of a flourishing metropolis at 4:50, told through a serious, traditional rhythm of the big drum and major chords of the Guzhen. Zi De unfolds a scroll of what the prosperous Tang Dynasty would be like at its heights; all the studio’s other videos are of the same quality, only depicting other dynasties or different themes through a dynasty. I highly recommend checking them out; those six hundred and forty-eight thousand subscribers aren’t lying.
Thus, I never expected Shucheng to reply when I reached out to her online; the young enthusiast was surprisingly down-to-earth.
“First question: what are your interests outside Hanfu?” I asked.
“I do traditional dancing. Oh!” she giggles, “that’s still related to Hanfu and traditional culture. I’m a licensed mermaid. Does that count?”
“Yes! Definitely. What got you into mermaid-ing?”
“I love how ethereal they are, and I really want to learn freediving. I’m a two-star diver now, and getting to three stars is my dream,” her expression softened.
I laughed. “There’s definitely a trend in the things you love to do! Hanfu, dancing, mermaid-ing—all of them are ethereal things. What else?”
“Oooh, my favorite!” her eyes lit up. Whispering, she asked if I was a fan of any male celebrities. She harbored a deep love for actor Yunxi Luo, custom-ordering his dolls for years. She’s especially excited when she speaks about Luo’s lean frame, yet I noticed her expression drooped a little when she eyed her chubby body. She proceeds to call herself “fat.”
I took a deep breath and started to tell her that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. She cut me off, laughing again, “Maybe that’s why I got into the industry. I vibe a lot with Tang Dynasty women and their standard that fat is pretty. Their clothes make me look gorgeous! I’m still working on self-esteem, but I’ll get there one day.”
I had no idea that the girl living the dream, whose social media posts consisted of being invited to events of every known television station in China and producing videos that reached millions of people, still had insecurities like that. “I’m proud of you,” I said, “you’re doing great work. The Tang Dynasty attire and other types of traditional apparel you’re styling make young girls see more options of beauty we can pursue.”
She nods. Regaining full energy, she begins gushing to me about the Tang Dynasty lifestyle shop she runs, which promotes customers to experience an ancient lifestyle. Her most popular item is the Tang Tea Banquet, in which people taste the long-lost Tang Dynasty recipes her team recovered and listen to professionals explain Tang tea culture next to them. “What are some of the foods?” I wonder.
“The water chestnut pastry—which isn’t your modern water chestnut cake—was very well-liked back in ancient times. Also, when you’re eating fruit yogurt and thinking it’s Western, know that it was already invented during the Tang! They used cherries, sugarcane juice, and cow- or sheep-milk pudding. My personal favorite would probably be a main dish, the twenty-four solar terms wontons. Tang people would make them with twenty-four different kinds of fillings, a filling for each wonton so they’re all different colors. The colors would then show through the transparent wonton skins. They’re awesome to eat and not so hard on the eyes either!” she giggles again.
One can tell that Shucheng really loves living and all the beautiful things in life. I wish her all the best in moving forward; her work will continue to educate and impact many.
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