Dudou#Name

{{Infobox Chinese

|pic=The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis - Embroidered infant undergarment.jpg

|picsize=250px

|piccap=A child's doudou from the early 20th century, missing its strings

|c={{linktext|肚兜}}

|p=dùdōu

|w=tu-tou

|l=belly wrap

|altname=Doudu

|c2={{linktext|兜肚}}

|p2=dōudù

|w2=tou-tu

|l2=[thing that] wraps the belly

|altname3=Doudou

|c3={{linktext|兜兜}}

|p3=dōudōu

|w3=tou-tou

|l3="wrappy"
"little wrap"

|kanji=腹掛け

|romaji=haragake

}}

File:Yếm đào.jpg woman wearing her yem as a blouse]]

A dudou ({{zh|肚兜, 兜肚, or 兜兜}}; also known by other names) is a traditional Chinese article of clothing that covers the front of the torso, originally worn as an undershirt with medicinal properties. With the opening of China, it is sometimes encountered in Western and modern Chinese fashion as a sleeveless shirt and backless halter-top blouse.

Name

In Ancient Chinese, {{lang|zh|{{linktext|兜}}}} referred to a kind of helmet or hood.{{citation |last1=Baxter |last2=Sagart |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Baxter & al.|2014}} |date=2014 |page=23 |url=http://ocbaxtersagart.lsait.lsa.umich.edu/BaxterSagartOCbyMandarinMC2014-09-20.pdf |first1=William Hubbard III |author-link=William Hubbard Baxter III |first2=Laurent |title=Baxter–Sagart Old Chinese Reconstruction, Ver. 1.1 |location=Ann Arbor |publisher=University of Michigan }}. By the time of the development of the dudou, it had taken on extended senses of encasing or enwrapping something as in a hood, scarf, or loose parcel.{{refn|group=n|In modern Chinese, it is most often encountered as yīdōu ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|衣兜}}}}), a word for pockets in clothing.}} Dùdōu may thus be understood as Chinese for "belly wrap" or "cover",{{citation |last=Pitts-Taylor |first=Victoria |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=66u24WAyO_YC&pg=PA46 |contribution=Breasts |title=Cultural Encyclopedia of the Body, Vol. I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=66u24WAyO_YC |publisher=Greenwood Publishing |location=Westport |date=2008 |page=46 |isbn=9780313341458 }}. referring to its early use to flatten the breasts and, within traditional Chinese medicine, to preserve stomach qi. Using the same characters, it is also known as a doudu{{citation |last=Williams |first=S. Wells |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C6NJAQAAIAAJ |title=A Syllabic Dictionary of the Chinese Language, Arranged According to the Wu-Fang Yuen Yin, with the Pronunciation of the Characters as Heard in Peking, Canton, Amoy, and Shanghai |location=Shanghai |publisher=American Presbyterian Mission Press |date=1889 |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C6NJAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA873 |contribution=兜 }}. or doudou.{{citation |last=Gao |first=Wanlong |author-mask=Gao Wanlong |author2-last=Wang |author2-first=Aiqin |author3-last=Weightman |author3-first=Frances |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Gao & al.}} |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Kqld5aZ63o0C&pg=PA51 51] |title=A Handbook of Chinese Cultural Terms |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kqld5aZ63o0C |date=2012 |publisher=Trafford Publishing |location= |isbn=9781466920057 }}.{{refn|group=n|In the 19th century, dudou and doudu were also irregularly transliterated as tu-teu and teu-tu.{{citation |last=Williams |first=S. Wells |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C6NJAQAAIAAJ |title=A Syllabic Dictionary of the Chinese Language, Arranged According to the Wu-Fang Yuen Yin, with the Pronunciation of the Characters as Heard in Peking, Canton, Amoy, and Shanghai |location=Shanghai |publisher=American Presbyterian Mission Press |date=1889 |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C6NJAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA917 |contribution=‘肚 }}.}} The latter form is diminutive and is particularly used for the dudous worn by Chinese children.{{citation |last=Snodgrass |first=Mary Ellen |title=World Clothing and Fashion, Vol. I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gO9nBwAAQBAJ |contribution=Children's Clothing, Girls |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gO9nBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |date=2014 |isbn=9781317451679 }}.

Its various Chinese names are typically left untranslated in English.{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jRhgAwAAQBAJ |title=Translating Chinese Culture |last1=Liu |first1=Eric T. |last2=Pellatt |first2=Valerie |last3=Chen |first3=Ya-Yun 'Yalta' |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Liu & al.|2014}} |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jRhgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 68] |isbn=9781317932482 }}. In Chinese sources, the dudou is sometimes mistranslated as a "bellyband",{{citation |title=Cultural China |contribution-url=http://traditions.cultural-china.com/en/215T13100T15486.html |contribution=Dudou |publisher=Shanghai Xinhong Cultural Development |location=Shanghai |access-date=2016-05-08 |archive-date=2016-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503114004/http://traditions.cultural-china.com/en/215T13100T15486.html |url-status=dead }}. which more commonly refers to a variety of other devices including a horse's harness{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary |date=1887 |contribution-url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/17486 |contribution=ˈbelly-band, n. |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford }}. and a compression garment used by expectant mothers.{{citation |last=Whitmore |first=Elizabeth |contribution-url=http://health.howstuffworks.com/pregnancy-and-parenting/pregnancy/issues/belly-bands.htm |contribution=Health: Belly Bands |title=How Stuff Works |date=2010 }}. The oddity arises from the similarity of the dudou's purpose (though not construction or appearance) with the Japanese haramaki. In the 19th century, it was translated or glossed as a Chinese "stomacher" or "corset". The dudou is also sometimes translated or glossed as an "apron"{{citation |last=Harding |first=Fred |title=Breast Cancer |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=0h2gDLv3MOEC&pg=PA284 284] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0h2gDLv3MOEC |date=2006 |publisher=Tekline Publishing |location=Aylesbury |isbn=9780955422102 }}. or "bib"{{citation |contribution=doudu |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbIsJ2tZJS4C&pg=PA91 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=gbIsJ2tZJS4C&pg=PA91 91] |title=The Complete Costume Dictionary |last=Lewandowski |first=Elizabeth J. }}. owing to its similar appearance.

History

The dudou's original development is sometimes credited to Yang Yuhuan, the curvy consort of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang still remembered as one of China's Four Beauties,{{citation |contribution=History of Dudou |contribution-url=http://www.chinese-fashion.com/dudou.html |title=Chinese Fashion }}. at that time, dudou was called hezi (訶子), but the importance of the stomach as the origin of the body's blood and qi in traditional Chinese medicine{{citation |last=Maciocia |first=Giovanni |title=The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 3d ed. |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=m_hwCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA194 194] |publisher=Elsevier |location=Edinburgh }}. has meant that variations of the undershirt are found as early as the Qin's tunic-like xièyī {{nowrap|(t {{lang|zh|{{linktext|褻衣}}}},}} {{nowrap|s {{lang|zh|{{linktext|亵衣}}}}).{{citation |contribution=Secrets of Women's Underwear in Ancient China |contribution-url=http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_artqa/2006-08/04/content_84371.htm |title=China Culture |publisher=Ministry of Culture |date=2003 |access-date=2016-05-05 |archive-date=2008-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830090113/http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_artqa/2006-08/04/content_84371.htm |url-status=dead }}.}} The dudou proper was popularized under the Ming dynasty beginning in the mid-1300s{{citation |last=Snodgrass |first=Mary Ellen |title=World Clothing and Fashion, Vol. I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gO9nBwAAQBAJ |contribution=Brassieres |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gO9nBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA82 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |date=2014 |isbn=9781317451679 }}. around the time of the Black Death.{{refn|group=n|The modern form of the dudou appears in Chinese movies anachronistically throughout all of Chinese history, as in Feng Xiaogang's 2006 Tang-era Banquet.{{citation |last=Chen |first=Yachen |author-mask=Chen Yachen |title=Women in Chinese Martial Arts Films of the New Millennium |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QmSIiSXyL88C&pg=PA120 120] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QmSIiSXyL88C |contribution=The Chinese Hamlet's Two Women and Shakespeare's Chinese Sisters: Qing Nü and Wan'er in The Banquet |date=2012 |publisher=Lexington Books |location=Plymouth |isbn=9780739139103 }}.}} Versions of it were worn by female babies in medieval China until age three. Male babies also wore dudou. The medicinal aspect of the dudou was underscored by its common incorporation of small pockets to hold snatches of ginger, musk, or other herbs intended to boost the stomach's qi.{{citation|title=China Daily|date=4 March 2011|contribution=The Ancient Art of Women's Underwear|contribution-url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2011-03/04/content_12117686_2.htm}}.{{Better source needed|date=October 2021}} Its red form is also held to ward off evil spirits in Chinese folk religions.

The dudou inspired similar fashions elsewhere in East Asia, including the Vietnamese yem and the Japanese haragake. Within China, it has remained a traditional item of Chinese clothing,{{citation |last=Xu |first=Xiaomin |author-mask=Xu Xiaomin |contribution=Do You Dare to Wear a Dudou? |title=Shanghai Star |date=20 June 2000 |contribution-url=http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/history/00-06-20/l06-dudou.html |access-date=5 May 2016 |archive-date=11 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711095707/http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/history/00-06-20/l06-dudou.html |url-status=dead }}.[https://mandarin-factory.com/ Mandarin Factory] particularly in traditional wedding attire.{{citation |last=Bao |first=Jiemin |author-mask=Bao Jiemin |title=Marriage among Ethnic Chinese in Bangkok |date=1994 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |page=155 }}. Generally, however, the dudou fell out of favor towards the end of the Qing as part of the drive to modernize the country, displaced by European-style corsets and bras.{{citation |last=Lu |first=Chang |author-mask=Lu Chang |contribution-url=http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/2003/1030/cu18-1.html |contribution=Keeping Abreast of Change |title=Shanghai Star |date=30 October 2003 |access-date=5 May 2016 |archive-date=22 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822192252/http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/2003/1030/cu18-1.html |url-status=dead }}. After a decade of public debate, the use of dudous for flattening breasts was formally outlawed, beginning in Guangdong in 1927.{{citation |last1=French |first1=Paul |last2=Crabbe |first2=Matthew |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|French & al.|2010}} |date=2010 |title=Fat China |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cdXO2qYQPckC |publisher=Anthem Press |location=London |isbn=9780857289780 }}. This change in fashion has sometimes been linked to the rise in breast cancer occurring around the same time. Dudous first became an object of Western fashion in the year 2000, when variations of the Chinese design appeared in the spring collections of Versace,{{refn|group=n|Vogue described the dudou-influenced pieces as "mischievous handkerchief blouses".{{citation |contribution-url=http://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2000-ready-to-wear/versace#review |contribution=Spring 2000 Ready-to-Wear: Versace |title=Vogue |date=2000 }}.}} Versus,{{citation |contribution-url=http://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2000-ready-to-wear/versus-versace#review |contribution=Spring 2000 Ready-to-Wear: Versus Versace |title=Vogue |date=2000 }}. and Miu Miu.{{citation |contribution-url=http://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2000-ready-to-wear/miu-miu#review |contribution=Spring 2000 Ready-to-Wear: Miu Miu |title=Vogue |date=2000 }}. It has since become a mainstay of some Chinese-influenced fashion designers.{{citation |last=Eceiza |first=Laura |title=Atlas of Fashion Designers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j6WC1OrLxbAC |publisher=Rockport Publishers |location=Beverly |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j6WC1OrLxbAC&pg=PA107 |contribution=Blanc de Chine |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=j6WC1OrLxbAC&pg=PA107 107–111] |date=2009 |isbn=9781616736057 }}. This development inspired some Chinese women, including Zhang Ziyi, to begin wearing the dudou as an article of outerwear,{{citation |last=Farrer |first=James |author2-last=Field |author2-first=Andrew David |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Farrer & al.|2015}} |date=2015 |title=Shanghai Nightscapes |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dcMECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA198 198] }}.{{citation |last=Farrer |first=James |title=Opening Up: Youth Sex Culture and Market Reform in Shanghai |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=uyA3u6-JzcUC&pg=PA311 311] |date=2002 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago }}. although many older Chinese remain (sometimes sternly) disapproving of this development.{{citation |last=Zhao |first=Jianhua |author-mask=Zhao Jianhua |title=The Chinese Fashion Industry: An Ethnographic Approach |date=28 February 2013 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hVZMAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 1] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hVZMAQAAQBAJ |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=London |isbn=9781847889355 }}.{{citation |last=Qiu |first=Xiaolong |author-mask=Qiu Xiaolong |title=The Mao Case |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eFJ_i-8jaroC&pg=PA2 2] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eFJ_i-8jaroC |date=2009 |publisher=Minotaur Books |location=New York |isbn=9780312538743 }}.

Design

The typical design of a dudou consists of a single rectangular, rhomboidal, diamond-shaped piece of fabric which covers the breasts and belly, tied to the neck and waist with attached strings. It is thus a form of halter top. Richer women use silk, yarn or brocade while the poor make do with cotton.

Popular colors are red, pink, and green and they are often embroidered with flowers, butterflies, or Mandarin ducks. Formerly popular designs included bats (homophonous with "happiness" in Chinese), peaches ("longevity"), guavas (whose many seeds caused it to represent fertility), and virtuous expressions.

Under the Ming and Qing, dudous were solely items of underwear and were used to flatten women's breasts, similar to a gentle corset. Wealthier families used bronze, silver, or gold chains instead of silk thread. The first dudous were simple rectangles, but by the Qing they had been turned to form a diamond shape, exposing more of the shoulders.

Some variants have a collar which is lowered around the head. Western-influenced dudous may be made of other fabrics, including leather or transparent cloth.