The Princesses of China
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I have to warn you up front, my Chinese pronunciation is terrible. I'm trying over here. I promised myself that I would not make a story about China. When I was invited at the last minute to attend a conference in Beijing, I was like, I'm just going to let it wash over me. I am not going to work. I'm not going to make a story about it. But then I couldn't avoid it. All right, maybe I will ask some of them where they got their clothes from. Because at all the major tourist sites, there were crowds of people, mostly women, dressing like 15th century Chinese royalty. I mean, huge, massive crowds of them, traffic jams of them, wearing long, fur-trimmed robes with long bell sleeves and elaborate vertical updos festooned with golden hair sticks, fans, makeup, teetering on heels.
To the clueless American, they kind of looked like iterations of Queen Amidala. They looked incredible. May I ask, where did you get your costume?
Here's no.
They're not yours? Yes. You rent? Yes. Ah. We all rent. Oh, everybody rents? Yes. From different places? Yes, yes. Okay, so they were renting these elaborate getups so they could post pictures on Red Note. You look amazing. I get it. That's something people would do.
Why are young Chinese women dressing like 15th–16th century princesses in tourist sites?
That didn't seem like something I needed to make a story about. But then I just couldn't stay away. Something about it felt like more than just cosplay.
Oh, okay. So I just asked, like, why you want to be here wearing this?
My friend, podcaster and producer Yebu Ji, played translator and helped me approach some of these princesses in a less embarrassing way.
They said because they are from the southern area, that's why they want to have a taste of it when they are visiting the Forbidden City.
Yabu and I were in the Forbidden City, which is the name of the sprawling imperial palace in the middle of Beijing. It was the home of the last royal dynasties, and it's a museum today, and its bright pagodas and high walls do make great photo backgrounds. But most importantly for these princesses, it's also the setting of a wildly popular TV series.
Wait, what's the name of the drama? They have an official translation of the name, but the Chinese is Zheng Huan Zhuan.
It's translated officially as Empresses in the Palace. It aired in 2012, and Yabu described the plot as women scheming for power and the emperor's attention by killing each other's babies.
OK. And also I ask, like, is any of the inspiration from the drama? Then say absolutely yes.
OK. People dress like their favorite TV shows, take pictures of themselves and put them on Red Note. Makes sense. Can I, like, ask you what you think is up with it? Yeah. What's your opinion?
Well, I did my fellowship in cynicism, so I don't really have any positive.
Yebu is such a hater.
I can see a lot of very young kids are dressing like that here in this very historical site. It means something to them to have a dream for a day. I support them. You know, if they want to have a dream, go have a dream. I think one thing about China is because we know that modern days is very complicated. It's a lot of policy related and people are a little afraid to talk about modern scenarios. But if it's history, you feel you are more free in history.
I did notice, flipping through channels in my hotel room, It's like a period drama. This is also a period piece. World War II drama. that nearly all of the soap operas and movies and scripted TV were historical dramas. This looks like People's Army era. This is like a comedy that's a period drama. Everyone's in robes. This is another war period drama. Oh, here's People Fighting with Nunchucks period movie. This rules. China is the land of the future, where all the cars are electric and park themselves, where you pay for everything with your phone, where the high-speed rail seamlessly transported me 818 miles in four and a half hours, and where I was given a professional manicure while I waited to get into a hot pot restaurant.
And yet, when it comes to fashion, China is decidedly nostalgic, not for the People's Army or for World War II. This retro fashion is decidedly older.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:17
2
Why are young Chinese women dressing like 15th–16th century princesses in tourist sites?
1:17–7:36
3
How did the TV drama 'Empresses in the Palace' influence modern costume rental culture?
7:36–25:30
4
What is Hanfu and why are Ming Dynasty styles suddenly popular again?
25:30–41:57