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Iconographic Meaning

Such a tunic could have been worn on special occasions or for ordinary wear. Both married and unmarried women wore tunics of this type.

Specific Techniques

Custom made by tailors. The dye is very intense, and rubbed off easily. Women re-dyed these garments when this was needed.

Description

Wide, long flared tunic with a rounded lower edge, made of cotton fabric dyed with heavy purple dye. Round neck with low upright collar. Fastens at side with frog closings. Pocket inside the front closing where it overlaps. Deep creases forming squares on body of garment and angles where sleeves join it.

Narrative

This object is one of a number of old and no longer used objects collected from relatives of Mrs. Yau Chan, Shek –ying. She understood the purpose of the museum and of developing its collections, and encouraged her relatives to donate them. She also documented the objects for MOA based on her remarkable memory because, like most women her age, she had no opportunity to go to school. According to Tsang, Kiu, this tunic was made for her when she was in her twenties, approximately sixty years before the collecting date, 1980. She had kept it put it away because it was so nice that she couldn’t bear to wear it.
In 1980, Chik Wai Koon Village was about to be destroyed to make way for the development of Shatin new town, and its residents moved to new housing. They would then have to give up agriculture. Hakka people are one of the two original land-dwelling groups that settled the area that became the New Territories of Hong Kong. Their spoken language, and some customs, differed from those of the other original group, the Cantonese or Punti. The Cantonese arrived first and settled on the best rice-growing lands, while the Hakka began to arrive after the late 17th century and settled the more hilly lands. This tunic was probably made by a tailor in the town of Shatin.

Cultural Context

Ordinary wear or special occasions in warm weather.

History Of Use

Such sets of tunics and pants, if made of cotton or hemp, were worn by women while doing farm work or cutting grass for fuel. Hakka women were known for their ability to do heavy labouring work outdoors. Their clothing in general was plain, decorated only with the hand-woven bands worn on their aprons, head cloths, and hats. It was custom-made by tailors. This tunic is more decorated than was usual, with its ornamental black trim, and it could be worn on special occasions. The fabric of this tunic was called yeung bouh. Tunics of that time, c. 1915, had higher side slits and wider sleeves than did those worn later, which also were somewhat more fitted. After the mid-twentieth century the New Territories of Hong Kong began to undergo fundamental changes. The people who had been settled there before 1898, when the British colonizers claimed the area, began to give up rice agriculture and coastal fishing, turning instead to wage labour and increased employment overseas. By the end of the century, educational opportunities leading to the possibility of white-collar work also increased, together with western influences. These changes meant that objects and clothing once useful and appropriate were no longer needed and generally were discarded. Some were saved by their owners, who sometimes were willing to donate them to museums, sharing, also, their knowledge of how they were made and used. By the late 1960s, women were giving up traditional Chinese-style clothing in favour of western-influenced blouses and pants.