Daopao

', also known as ' when used as a  during Chinese opera performances,   and   when it is blue in colour, is a traditional form of  in  and is also one of the most distinctive form of traditional clothing for the Han Chinese. The was one of the most common traditional form of outer robe worn by men. literally means "Taoist robe"; however, despite its name, the were and is worn by men, and did not imply that its wearer had some affiliation to taoism. The can be dated back to at least the Ming dynasty but had actually been worn since the Song dynasty. Initially the daopao was a form of casual clothing which was worn by the middle or lower class in the Ming dynasty. In the middle and late Ming, it was one of the most common form of robes worn by men as casual clothing. The was also a popular formal wear by the Ming dynasty scholars in their daily lives. It was also the daily clothing for the literati scholars in the Ming dynasty. In the late Ming, it was also a popular form of clothing among the external officials and eunuchs sometimes wore it. The was also introduced in Korea during the Joseon period, where it became known as  and was eventually localized in its current form.

The can also refer to a type of, which were worn by practitioners of taoism, when the term is used in its literal form. This form of worn taoist practitioners and taoist monks continued to be worn in the Qing dynasty as they were exempted from the  policy. The of the Taoist also continue to be worn by modern taoist priests, although it may come in different names.

History and origins
Some sources posit that a form of without a cord had evolved from the, which refers to the military-style garments which had supposedly been influenced by the northern nomad warriors from the north in the past. According to Antonia Finnane who noted the 《觚不觚錄》of Wang Shizhen (1526-1590), the three robes which evolved from the -style was the, the chengziyi (程子衣) worn with a chord around the waist, and the worn without chord. The of this period was a type of new garment which only appeared in the Ming dynasty and was likely localized from and developed under the influence of the jisün the Yuan dynasty. The was developed in the late Ming and bore some similarities with the. In the same ancient text, Wang Shizhen also noted that the was also called. However, the was another kind of  which had predated the Yuan dynasty and can be traced back to the Tang dynasty.

Other Chinese sources also indicate that the had been worn since the Song dynasty (960–1279). After the year 960 AD, the belted was worn by the Taoist priests in order to distinguish themselves from others. The broad and elegant robes which were initially worn by Taoist priests were known as the (sometimes translated as "Taoist priest robe").

Song dynasty
In the Northern Song dynasty, Taoism was highly revered. During this period, the also became very popular and was greatly appreciated by some hermits and scholars during the Song dynasty and was mentioned in some poems written by Wang Yucheng and Fan Zhongyan. Some scholars, such Shi Manqing (994 –1041), who was a celebrated scholar in the Northern Song dynasty, would often wore a with a scarf worn in a free style. The Shi Manqin-style was liked by some officials who were in their retirement; and therefore, they dressed in this form of.

In the Southern Song dynasty, it was Neo-Confucianism which arose and flourished; a new form of became fashionable; this form of  was the garment worn by the scholars which followed the   Confucianism. In the book Rules of Moral Teaching study by Zhu Xi, Zhu Xi stressed on the importance of dress code as being the first step for a person to be a "decent person". Since Zhu Xi put so much emphasis on the dress code, the literati eventually gradually developed their own dressing style as an accepted custom, which included the which was worn as a form of leisure clothing. Contemporary observers living in the Southern Song dynasty, such as Shi Shengzu (1192－1274), also noted that the return of the classic-style apparel in the Song dynasty had made the popular. In Volume 2 of the chapter 《》in the 《》, Shi Shengzu reported that the had been made popular by the use of  and the shoes called ; he associated the reason behind the popularity of  with the attire style of the Taoist priests, which he observed, had remained unchanged for centuries. He also concluded that the apparel system of the three ancient Chinese dynasties, referred collectively as the, could still be found among the attire-style of the Taoist priests.

Ming dynasty
During the Ming dynasty, the traditional clothing system of the Han Chinese, the, was restored following the fall of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The and the  continued to be worn in the Ming dynasty; the  was similar to the  in the Ming dynasty, with the presence of decorative border trims on the  as an exception. However, despite the restoration of the -system by the Ming dynasty court, the shape of some garment, including the, had some differences from the ones worn in the Tang and Song dynasties as the clothing in the Ming dynasty had undergone a series of adjustments to their shapes. The shape of the Ming dynasty, and its colours, was strictly regulated by the political systems, rules and regulations of the time.

Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty is a full-length. It has a large frontal outer placket and smaller frontal inner placket. There is a pair of ties at the small placket and two pairs of ties on the large placket which is used for closing the garment. The sleeves are large but are narrower around the wrists. It characterized by a cross collar, which closes at the right side in the front, in a style called. It is also not completely stitched at the two sides and allows for side slits to begin below the waist level. At the sides of the robes, there are side panels in the form of concealed swing or pendulum structure (i.e. a front and back swings at each sides of the robe). These side panels at these slits, are called, and they were designed to conceal undergarments. The neckline of the robe is often decorated with white or plain collars. The collar can be either the same or a different colour to the main pieces of fabric. However, the collar is generally the same colour as the hems. An optional additional protective collar called  could also be sewn to the first collar. The either be white or dark in colour.

A belt called  was also fastened around the waist. In total, the structure of the Ming dynasty was made up of 10 parts.

Ming dynasty
In the Ming dynasty, the was a wide-sleeved, crossed-collar robe which closes to the right in a style called ; it also had dark edging at the edges of the collar, sleeves, and placket. In the collar edge, the was sometimes inserted. The Ming dynasty was similar to the, except for the addition of edges decoration on the robe. Belts, like the  and the  (i.e. a ribbon or a thin rope made of silk) was also used around the waist when wearing the.

The  which is a costume in, is a derivative of the Ming dynasty  which was worn by the Ming dynasty scholars as an every day formal attire. It is also a derivative of the which dates back from the Zhou dynasty.

In the Qing dynasty, actors who performed in Chinese opera performance were allowed to wear and -style  as they were exempted from the  policy. Therefore, the was therefore allowed to be worn and continues to be worn even in present days, where it is now one of the most common form of costumes worn on stage.

When used in Chinese opera, the is a form of informal dress worn by performers who hold the  role types, which include the   and the. Performers playing female roles could also wear a called , which was also used as an informal robe.

Construction and design
The is structurally different from the : the  has a trapezoid body, narrower sleeves which is tubular in shape, the sleeves are longer than the wrists, and water sleeves are also added; there is an asymmetrical closure where the right side is right below the shoulder and neck intersection while the left crossing over is tied right under the right arm in a style called. There are also differences in the shapes and forms of the depending on the role types:

Actors performing the role of men wear a full-length while actors performing the role of women wear a knee-length ; the male  has a  closure while there are two types of closure for the, one which has a  closure and one which has front central closure,  a style which can be referred as.

The  often wears of pastel colours, which is embroidered with flowers and has water sleeves.

Korea
The was imported from the Ming dynasty to Korea during the Joseon period, where it became known as  and was eventually localized in Korea gaining its current form. In this period, the intellectual current which had been popularized in Joseon was the Zhuzi studies (viz. : and ) which was of Chinese origins. According to the Joseon literati, Sŏng Tae-chung, who visited Japan in the 1764 at a time when the Ming dynasty had already fallen, when asked what he wore as a robe and headwear by Ryūzan, Sŏng Tae-chung answered that he was wearing the and the  which were the attire of the ancient sages 《冠幅巾衣道袍, 乃古聖賢所着》; the  and  were both Confucian attire and dressing style which had been adopted in Joseon.

The traditional clothing worn by the Taoist community is connected to pre-modern Chinese clothing and styles. Tradition-based taoists will often wear the traditional robes and liturgical clothing for formal religious and ritual occasions while Zhengyi priests and taoists priests outside mainland China tend to wear Western clothing in their daily lives. The traditional taoist robes can also be worn as a daily lives clothing by the Quanzhen monastics in mainland China. There were many forms of daojiao fushi in the ancient China.

Daopao/ hechang
Some forms of taoist robes are also referred as crane robes (hechang, 鶴氅). The Taoist priests' daopao which date back to at least the 1800s is not cross collared and instead looks like a beizi in terms of construction and design; a clothing artefact showing this style of daopao is now stored in museums such as the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. The Taoist's priest daopao are commonly worn by the Taoism priests. It is worn by middle-ranks Taoist priests; it is red in colour and has motifs at the back and front, on the sleeves. Theses motifs decorations can include, the bagua and cranes.

Jiangyi
Jiangyi, also known as "robe of descent" which refers to either the descent of a priest from the altar or of the spirits to the altar, is a common form of Taoist priest's clothing. The jiangyi is a sign of the higher priestly rank and is worn by grandmasters. It was worn at least since the Ming and Qing dynasties.

It looks similar to a poncho in structure; when worn, the robe sits squarely on the shoulders of the Taoist' priest; it is usually fastened across the front with two silk ties which are sewn just above the waist level. It is made of embroidered silks and is composed of a large square of satin fabric folded into two to form the shoulder line; the shoulder lines continues to the hem of the sleeves. The robe is slashed in the middle to form the collar of the robe. It is typically trimmed with border decorations.

Daoyi
The Quanzhen monastic taoist priests and nuns wear a wide-sleeved, cross-collared gown called daoyi (道衣; lit. "robe of the Dao") which closes to the right; it is a standard type of clothing. The sleeves of the daoyi is referred as "cloud sleeves"; they are wide, open at the ends, and their sleeves are so long that it is past the fingers when extended but can be even longer. In the Quanzhen order, the dagua is worn as one of the ordinary clothing while the deluo is a formal clothing.

Deluo
The deluo (得罗) is a cross-collared gown with large sleeves. It is worn by Taoist priests of the Quanzhen order is a formal ritual dress which is indigo in colour. The blue colour is a symbolism for the east and represents having been descended from the first patriarch of the Quanzhen school, Donghua dijun. In large temples (e.g. Baiyunguan in Beijing), the deluo would be worn by monastics on festival days; the deluo would have wide sleeves which could reach 45 cm.

Daogua
In the Wengong temple in Hanzhong, the cross-collar daopao is the standard form of attire and is referred as daogua ( depending on context). Their daopao is cross-collared at the front, and the sleeves are so long that only the fingers can escape from the sleeves. It is made of thick garments and is blue or black in colour. The daogua can be found in 3 types: dagua (a long cross-collar robe which reaches the ankles and has a 42 cm wide sleeves), zhonggua (中褂; a cross-collar robe which reaches the mid-calf and has slightly narrower sleeves than the dagua), and xiaogua (小褂; a cross-collar robe which reaches the hip and has sleeves which could either be the same size or narrower than a zhongua; the xiaogua is more similar to a jacket than a robe).

Similar garments

 * Sengyi (僧衣) - Long buddhist robes abbot.
 * Hai Qing (海青) - Buddhist ritual garment.
 * Zhiduo, also known as zhishen (直身) - a style similar to the daopao except that it was decorated with outside pendulums.
 * Dopo (clothing) - A Korean equivalent