QiVMDL - Towards a Socially Constructed Virtual Museum and Digital Library for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage: A Case of the Chinese “Qipao”

Case Study: The Chinese “Qipao”

The “qipao” is widely regarded as traditional Chinese costume, better known in the western countries by its Cantonese name “cheongsam”. It is a figure-delineating side-fastening woman's dress with a high-necked collar and slits on both sides, assuming the status of the Chinese national dress during the twentieth century. In its original form, it is a formal garment of Manchurian women in the Qing Dynasty. Later, its design and style had been altered by Han women after continual improvement and evolution with western clothing styles.

Now it becomes a fashion statement and a symbolic expression of Chinese, Chinese values as constitutive pasts of ‘Asia values’ (e.g., Steele, 1999; Yang, 2003; Chua, 2003; Rowley & Jefferies, 1999). The “qipao” has its unique national style and oriental artistic aesthetics as the cultural heritage (Liu, 2009). This research project is supported by the Singapore Fashion Designers’ Society and Northeast Normal University (China). It is motivated by the need to make resources on “qipao” accessible to more people, and provide interactive ways of learning about “qipao” over the Internet.