Traditional Han Chinese clothing, known as hanfu, is to the historical dress of the Han Chinese people, an ethnic group native to East Asia that composes around 91 percent of the Chinese mainland population. Hanfu was worn for millennia, dating back to about 2000 BC. After the establishment of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in 1644, hanfu was forbidden and disappeared in public life. However, today hanfu is making a comeback, with college students acting as a significant force in rejuvenating hanfu culture.

Qin Yawen, a senior student at the School of Arts at Soochow University in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, has been wearing hanfu nearly every day since her first year at university, making the traditional clothing a necessity in her life, according to the Yangtze Evening Post.

Deep affections

Qin, who majors in Chinese painting, has been dressing in hanfu for three years now. At the age of 20, she underwent a traditional hair-pinning ceremony in hanfu, the coming-of-age rite for young Han women in ancient China.

Qin told the Global Times that she has held a special affection for hanfu since she was a child, saying it has always given her a strong sense of belonging. Over the years, she has come to appreciate how hanfu reflects traditional Chinese culture.

"For example, the middle seam in the front and back of hanfu helps straighten the clothes, which represents the Confucian doctrine of the middle way," she said.

Qin explained that her obsession with hanfu is not drawn simply from the beauty of the clothing, but also her deep love for traditional Chinese culture.

"Clothing is just external. What I love most is our traditional culture, such as the Four Arts: music, board games, Chinese calligraphy and painting," she said. "All kinds of elements of traditional Chinese culture are interconnected with each other. You can't like one thing but dislike another."

Some are caught off guard by Qin.

"I was surprised at her clothing when I first saw her. But after she gave a speech in class on hanfu, I understand her motivations and can see the effects of her efforts. Honestly, I admire her courage," said a student surnamed Ma at Soochow University.

Rising popularity

Today, a growing number of college students have taken up the cause of reviving hanfu culture, participating in ancient ceremonies in hanfu during traditional Chinese festivals.

On the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a hanfu moon-worshipping ceremony was organized by college students in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. The activity was aimed at showcasing traditional Chinese culture for fellow students and bringing traditional Chinese festivals to campus, according to news portal chinanews.com.

Another group of college students celebrated this year's Dragon Boat Festival in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. Young people dressed in hanfu attended the dragon-boat race and explained hanfu culture to visitors.

Hanfu culture has also gained momentum among college students on several websites, including Weibo, Baidu Tieba (Baidu's forum platform) and renren.com, where the like-minded students can discuss hanfu culture and plan activities. Despite noble motivations, students like Qin have been the target of criticism. Some people maintain that hanfu fans are merely trying to gain fame through their odd dress.

"It is wrong to criticize Han Chinese people who wear their own traditional clothes," Li Zhonghua, a professor in Chinese culture from Peking University, told the Global Times.

Li noted that the trend of hanfu fever among college students may be the result of a movement to emphasize classic Chinese culture in education, which began in the late 1990s. He also echoed the students' statements that hanfu represents a larger traditional culture.

"These students are likely unsatisfied with the declining morality in today's society, hoping to go back to the past when  virtues were stressed more," Li said.