Hanfu Movement

Hanfu Movement

The Hanfu Movement (simplified Chinese: 汉服运动; traditional Chinese: 漢服運動; pinyin: Hànfú yùndòng), also known as the Hanfu Revival Movement (汉服复兴运动; 漢服復興運動; Hànfú fùxīng yùndòng), is a homegrown, grassroots cultural movement in China seeking to revive or revitalize Han Chinese fashion, aesthetics and cultural identity via public wearing of pre-Qing dynasty traditional ethnic clothing of the Han Chinese, i.e. hanfu. The movement began as a subculture of nostalgic pastime among elegance-seeking, historically conscious netizens, and has since evolved into a trendy nationwide movement boasting a new clothing industry with millions of young fashion-conscious consumers. It has also slowly gained traction amongst the Chinese diaspora, especially in countries like Singapore. As of 2025, the hanfu market in mainland China is worth over 20 billion yuan with over 7,000 businesses. The Hanfu movement started in 2003, and its emergence can be credited to Zhang Congxing, a Singaporean Chinese who wrote an article about Wang Letian, a Zhengzhou man who was photographed dressed in a homemade shenyi, a type of robe often worn as Confucian academic dress. This spurred online discussion and spontaneous acts of imitation, culminating in the formation of a rapid-growing organic movement. Its ready adoption by trendy fashion-conscious young women has been accelerated by social media, which then were predominantly online forums, has helped to propagate the trend via photo sharing, traditional clothing design comparisons, cosplaying, and historical and philosophical discussions. Later online platforms such as Bilibili, Instagram and Douyin have further contributed to its resurgence by allowing youth to showcase and easily share their dress fittings and experience.

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