旗袍-英文介绍

The qípáo (旗袍), qípáor (旗袍儿), or ch'i-p'ao, also known as the cheongsam or mandarin gown, is a body-hugging (modified in Shanghai) one-piece dress for women.

The English loanword cheongsam comes from the Cantonese pronunciation of the original Shanghainese term. In most western countries and in the Cantonese dialect cheongsam is the name of a garment worn by both men and women. Chinese who do not speak the Cantonese dialect view the cheongsam as an exclusively male dress and use the word qipao for its female equivalent. In Cantonese usage the word qipao is either interchangeable with the female cheongsam or refer to the two-piece qipao variant that is popular in mainland China.

When the Manchu established the Qing Dynasty over all of China, certain social strata emerged. Among them were the Banners (qí), mostly Manchu, who as a group were called Banner People (旗人 pinyin: qí rén). Manchu women typically wore a one-piece dress that came to be known as the