Page 261 - Trang Phục Việt Nam

fringed chuddar. Another kind of cap was the tế đằng (knitted from thin strips of rattan), inlaid
with jade. On ceremonial occasions, the King wore the giao lĩnh golden-gauze robe and a cap
with drooping silk tassels. The aristocrats wore the củng thần cap, adorned with golden
designs of bees and butterflies, with varying sizes depending on the official ranks.
In the eight year of Thuận Tông’s reign, the King imposed a ban on royal officials wearing
broad-sleeved tunics, and narrow-sleeved tunics were allowed instead. The sizes of the
sleeves are not mentioned in historical records. The following year, codes for headgear and
dress for royal officials were formulated. Civil and military officials of the first-rank wore purple
clothing; second-rank, deep red; third-rank, scarlet; fourth-rank, green; fifth, six and seventh
rank, bluish green; eighth and ninth rank, blue. Non-ranking people and the King’s favorite
servants wore white clothing. Court servants wore trousers instead of tunics.
Apart form the tattooing customs, the Trần soldiers branded “Sát Thát” on their arms to
show great determination to drive out the Yuan-Mong invaders. These were popular customs
at the beginning of this period.

Some documents state that after the second and third resistance wars against the Yuan
invaders (1281-1288), a kind of headgear named Ma Lôi hats were put in use. These hats
were made from bamboo splints so that they were very hard and enduring. They originated
from the Ma Lôi region, which now belongs to the Mỹ Văn district, Hưng Yên province. This was
because General Trần Khánh Dư, who defended the VânĐồnPass (in present day Quảng
Ninh) realized that our soldier’s costumes and the invaders’ costumes were relatively similar.
Thus, he commanded his soldiers to wear Ma Lôi hats so that when going into battle, they
would not be mistaken. This highlights that fact that there was once no consistency in terms of
soldiers’ costumes.
Male singers and dancers wore brocade trousers, the torso uncovered and entertained
people at royal parties. The female dancers and musicians wore tightly fitting shirts with
narrow sleeves. There were also broad sleeves, waistbands over the shirt flap tied in the
shape of 8. They also wore long and wide dresses with strips of silk around the waist, the
loose straps extending to the knees and resembling a lovely spreading skirt. This recalls the
dress styles of the ancient Vietnamese boys and girls. Dresses were made of feathers or
leaves in the festivals of the Hùng Kings period. The clowns wore brocade or embroidered
shirts. Till the end of the Trần Dynasty, adornments were still diverse and included bracelets,
and strings of beads made of tortoise-shell, bone and horn, with little use of gold and silver.

Costumes of the common people

For the common people, there was a ban on white clothing, and anyone found wearing
white would be punished. Exceptions, however, applied to women. This was probably
because white clothing was only for royal servants to wear so as to avoid confusions. Clothing
in such colors as blue, red, yellow, purple was also banned. The King also made a royal
decree to prohibit the dress style of the Northern people.

Women often wore a black four-panel shirt, with a 13cm-wide white cloth sewn to the collar
inside. They often had a haircut that was 10cm in length. This lock of hair would then be tied
high up, and the tail was curved and tied again in the shape of an ink-pen. With this hairstyle,