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Hanfu in Components: Sleeve Shapes (pt5)

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Review on sleeve structure (接袖/jie1 xiu4/sleeve connection) from part 2, structure conventions:

"Hanfu sleeves, on the other hand, are never connected at the armpit—they are connected halfway down the arm. In other words, the piece of fabric that forms the body extends to also cover the upper arm part of the sleeve. The actual sleeve piece is connected to the body at the bicep/elbow area via a flat seam. (In the case of half- or no- sleeve garments there might just not be a separate sleeve piece.)"

Sleeve pieces are also draped over the shoulder with no shoulder piece. Most sleeve shapes fall very roughly into the categories of小袖/xiao3 xiu4/'Small Sleeve' or 大袖/da4 xiu4/'Large Sleeve' types, though this can vary, and some sleeve shapes can be regarded as kind of a middle size, but there are so many ways to categorize them (size? Popularity? Chronology?), so here they are in no particular order.

I'm not gonna use pictures of clothing on people with this one, mostly because the shape is really hard to discern when the fabric draped and folds as hanfu is wont to do. Instead you get my shitty handwriting and graph paper drawings. Sorry.

直袖 / ZHI2 XIU4 / STRAIGHT SLEEVE

Hanfu In Components: Sleeve Shapes (pt5)

Very basic straight sleeve. It's a rectangle. Usually narrow (30-10cm wide in my experience in the industry), but there are also straight sleeves that are super wide (Famensi pishan, various Song beizi). The main requirement is that the bottom sleeve seam is parallel to the shoulder line. Pretty much timeless.

窄袖 / ZHAI3 XIU4 / NARROW SLEEVE

Synonymous with 箭袖 / jian4 xiu4 / 'Arrow Sleeve.' Very similar to a straight sleeve, but the sleeve cuff is slightly narrower than the root, so the line made by the sleeve seam is slightly tilted rather than straight across. The cuff is usually between 20-10cm wide, and the root is usually under 30cm. If the cuff is more than twice the width of the root I would be more inclined to call it a feijixiu (see below), but there's some overlap between these categories. Also pretty much timeless, usually used for inner layers or dailywear.

More specific names may describe variations of narrow sleeves like 羊腿袖/yang2 tui3 xiu4/sheep's leg sleeve from the Song dynasty, a super-narrow form-fitted narrow sleeve.

飛機袖 / FEI1 JI1 XIU4 / AIRPLANE SLEEVE

Can be considered a type of 窄袖, with a straight but diagonal sleeve hem. The cuff is typically about half the width of the root; the root is usually at least 25cm wide in my experience. 'Airplane sleeve' is a modern colloquialism that became popular because the sleeve's shape looks like an airplane wing.

This is very specific to Song Dynasty women's wear (and Yuan Dynasty women's wear, if you consider Yuan Dynasty hanfu). The artifact directly supporting this sleeve shape is the Huangshengmu zhaixiu duanshan.

垂胡袖 / CHUI2 HU2 XIU4 / DROOPING SLEEVE

Mid-width sleeve usually characteristic of the earlier dynasties, from the earliest times up to the Wei/Jin dynasties. Characterized by a fairly wide sleeve root and a narrower sleeve cuff, with a curved belly-like shape. The midpoint of the sleeve may or may not briefly widen beyond the width of the root before narrowing back down at the cuff, giving it a 'drooping' appearance.

廣袖 / GUANG3 XIU4 / VAST SLEEVE

Catch-all term for extremely wide-cuffed sleeves, commonly known as 大袖/da4 xiu4/large sleeve. Usually has a root of at least 30cm and a sleeve opening of 60-120cm. Present throughout most dynasties in different forms, most often as formal outerwear (大袖衫）in the Tang, Song, and Ming Dynasties. The shape connecting the

Most guangxiu from the Ming Dynasty are 廣袖收祛/guang3 xiu4 shou1 qv1/closed vast sleeves, meaning that the front of the sleeve is closed, sewn up to a small opening for the wrist to come through.

窄臂大袖 / ZHAI3 BI4 DA4 XIU4 / NARROW-ARM LARGE SLEEVE

Mostly specific to the Northern & Southern Dynasties, though I've seen a couple Tang figurines with similar silhouettes. Has a fitted sleeve root typically under 30cm, sometimes as narrow as 15-20cm, that opens up after the elbow to a wide 60-120cm sleeve opening.

琵琶袖 / PI2 PA2 XIU4 / PIPA SLEEVE

Mostly specific to the Ming Dynasty, an iconic sleeve shape named for its resemblance to the shape of a Pipa instrument, a plucked string instrument sort of like a lute. The sleeve root is normally between 30-45cm, opening up slightly to a maximum width of between 35-65cm, and then curving smoothly back up to a sleeve cuff normally between 10-25cm. Can vary wildly in size—there are 'small' pipa sleeves and 'large' pipa sleeves, with the large ones normally being part of formal outerwear.

弓袋袖 / GONG1 DAI4 XIU4 / QUIVER SLEEVE

Also mostly specific to the Ming Dynasty, can be considered a Pipa sleeve that doesn't widen far beyond the sleeve root, instead curving back up gently towards the sleeve cuff. Sometimes there's a pleat made at the root of the sleeve to help with movement. Often seen as a more convenient alternative to the Pipa sleeve. The quiver here is referring to the bag you put arrows in (not the movement 'quivering') because the shape looks similar.

半袖 / BAN4 XIU4 / HALF SLEEVE

The name 'half-sleeve' is actually fairly misleading, because most 'half-sleeve' garments are either closer to 1/3 sleeve or 3/4 sleeves. The important thing to remember is that short sleeve garments are almost always outerwear—with some exceptions (Tang mens banbi for example) they're usually meant to be worn over a long-sleeved inner layer. Ming Dynasty half-sleeves tend to be closer to 3/4 sleeves, some reaching almost to the wrist, but because long-sleeved Ming Dynasty garments often extend past the fingertips by a significant amount, you still get a decent amount of layering.

Half-sleeves may or may not have a 接袖/jie1 xiu4/sleeve connection piece; the sleeve may just extend out from the main body piece if the fabric width allows for it. They may be curved or linear, slightly flared (as with garments worn over pipa sleeves for example) or straight across.

無袖 / WU4 XIU4 / SLEEVELESS

Why stop at reducing sleeve length—get rid of them completely! Almost every dynasty has their own vest-like garment, whether it's the Ming Dynasty's 比甲/bi2 jia3, the Song Dynasty's 背心/bei4 xin1, or the Tang Dynasty's 唐褙子/tang2 bei4 zi0. Some may have a very small sleeve connection piece to extend the shoulder line outwards. Having a curved arm opening with a narrow shoulder width is very uncommon before the Qing Dynasty but not completely unheard of.

Note: Sleeve Construction

Just so you can see how these pieces actually look in the context of hanfu construction: this is fairly similar to how modern sleeves are made. The sleeve piece is just a mirrored double of how the sleeve looks from the front, you cut the whole thing out, drape it over the shoulder and then sew the bottom together.

Ok I procrastinated on this post for weeks but it is finally done!!! There are definitely some sleeve shapes that I didn't list out here, but most other shapes can be described as variations on the most common ones. Shoot me an ask if there's a sleeve shape that you really want to know about and I'll add it, or if you're having trouble identifying one :)

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