This is the fourth video in the Chinese Clothing: Past and Present series. In it Chu Yan, fashion designer and associate professor at Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, discusses the evolving fashions from the Tang Dynasty through to the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Clothing aesthetics and style in the Song Dynasty evolved to become simpler, plainer and more subtle, with the beizi (褙子 - a front buttoned gown) becoming the most distinctive costume of the period.