Han Clothing, as a direct symbol of Chinese traditional culture, is also active in BC when more current Chinese youth are getting interested in Chinese culture. With more young people gathering for Han clothing, an interest group is easily formed. The Hanfu Culture Association is the group of people who are interested in Han clothing which is closest to us.
Hanfu Culture Association is a Han clothing club located in Vancouver. They perform a strong connection between Han clothing with local people, international students, and people who are interested in Han clothing and Chinese traditional culture.
Han clothing is trending
Han clothing is traditional clothing for the Han ethnic group in China. This kind of clothing includes a considerable amount of types of clothing pieces with the development in the long histories of different dynasties.
Han clothing has always been the symbol of Chinese culture as language and writing characters. It represents the general appearance of Han ethnicity and also the culture absorbed from other cultures to form the current existing Han clothing.
Han clothing is reviving in the recent two decades because the clothing was not continuously inherited during wartime. Many young people start to love traditional culture and clothing with the effort of people who promote traditional culture and clothing.
The revival of Han clothing is also bringing new energy to Han clothing and forming new trends in Han clothing. Many young people are wearing Han clothing pieces with shirts, pants, and modern clothing to form a more convenient and easy way to wear Han clothing in current social trends. It fits more living scenes and guides more people who are interested in Han clothing to start trying Han clothing more acceptably.
Hanfu Culture Association in Vancouver
Hanfu Culture Association is a registered non-profit organization for Han clothing in British Columbia and has been for twelve years since they set up in 2010. They formed in Vancouver and expanded to 700 members in three years. They had become a recognized young group on Canada’s west coast. Hanfu Culture Association uses Han clothing as a stepping stone, meant to promote the beauty of Han clothing with the base of Han culture.
Hanfu Culture Association is holding a thematic gathering, celebrations and performances independently or with other local Chinese or western organizations for Chinese traditional festivals or western festivals.
Association is getting great reflections in the Chinese community and has been reported many times in newspapers and television. They had already become the first organization out of four Chinese organizations in Vancouver to be chosen as a collaborative partner. As they are also actively joining activities in China, they are also relatively reputable in the Han clothing community in China.
Traditional Cultural events Held in BC
Hanfu Culture Association is holding many different events throughout these years. There are always enjoyable events, such as traditional tea parties, Spring garden parties, and many activities related to traditional festivals. They always produce great photographs and share them online with their communities.
The reproduction of traditional weddings is the most memorable event in their event collection. On October 9th of this year, the association decided to reproduce and show the traditional wedding from the Ming dynasty in Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver.
“It’s hard to decide to recreate the wedding scene for us,” the leader said.
It is not easy to collect needed references with the lack of history learning and faded colour of drawing records. They still want to share their happiness with their hard work with the Chinese community here.
“Here is a symbol and representation of Vancouver in the one hundred places to go in a lifetime. I know the reason now,” said an old lady who attended the wedding event.
The association created the Ming wedding based on the records in the historical records of the Ming dynasty. They slightly streamlined the process and tried their best to hold the ceremony in the late Ming-style garden.
The Hanfu Culture Association set the attending audience as people who were invited to the wedding. Audiences can copy and write make-up poems when entering the garden, watch the wedding ceremony show, and take part in the pot game. They can also join the Han clothing photo taking in the traditional style study room.
Connection through Han clothing
Hanfu Culture Association is also aiming to be a community connection for local people and the Chinese community through Han clothing. They are promoting their events through online social media. They also share information and media pieces for more people to join the events.
The garden party or Han clothing exhibit events always have local people participating. They are interested in Chinese culture and most of them are interested to experience Han clothing through the events. Local participants are loving their activities and are always willing to bring their families with them to enjoy the events.
The Hanfu Culture Association always cooperates with local Chinese cultural organizations in Vancouver, including Chinese projects at the University of British Columbia and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden etc. They also have corporations with the Vancouver public library for cultural events.
“We are also trying to hold events with more communities or organizations that are not Chinese communities to show our culture,” said the association leader.
As Han clothing is separating and trending in current media platforms, more and more people become Han clothing lovers or get interested in Han clothing. The association leader says “it is easy to find us through online platforms and welcome them to join us.” Their events are providing platforms for mates who have the same interests to know each other. The events are also providing chances for overseas children to know Chinese culture and feel the traditional culture. They can join the activity as volunteers or participate in the activity to understand and learn the Han culture that is brought by Han Clothing.
The Han clothing Association is planning to expand their club to more surrounding places. They are striving to seek collaboration with more clubs, social organizations, or merchants. The association lists potential Cooperative partners through annual event planning and communicates with them to form long-term partnerships. For example, they will use free Han clothing experience as an assistant to invite off-campus Chinese cultural organizations to hold lectures or interactions such as calligraphy, traditional Chinese painting, Chinese folk music, dances or more.
Han clothing, as a simple obvious cultural symbol, is connecting Chinese culture in an oversea country and provides a great sense of belonging for international Chinese students. The plentiful activities and events are attracting more people to start knowing Chinese culture.
The associations always use “beginning with clothing and crowns, reaching broader places” as their value to dig and inherit the traditional aesthetic value. They believe culture is in people’s daily life.
The association also wants to express, “Our promotion actions will be based on seeking common ground while reserving differences, inclusiveness and striving to promote traditional Chinese Culture as a value shared by multi-ethnic groups. Learning and reading different ethnic cultures equally with respect. Hopefully, we can integrate with them and learn from each other.”
Here are the social media accounts for Hanfu Culture Association.
- Instagram: @vanhanfu
- Xiaohongshu: @温哥华汉服学社Hanfu Culture Association
- WeChat: vanhanfu
- Email: hanfuclub@gmail.com
- Website: https://vancouverhanfu.com
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