Paofu

Paofu (Chinese: 袍服; pinyin: páofú; lit. 'robe'), also known as pao (Chinese: 袍; pinyin: páo; lit. 'robe')^: 90 for short, is a form of a long, one-piece robe in Hanfu, which is characterized by the natural integration of the upper and lower part of the robe which is cut from a single fabric. The term is often used to refer to the jiaolingpao and the yuanlingpao.^: 90 The jiaolingpao was worn since the Zhou dynasty and became prominent in the Han dynasty.^: 13 The jiaolingpao was a unisex, one-piece robe;^: 234 while it was worn mainly by men, women could also wear it.^: 12 It initially looked similar to the ancient shenyi; however, these two robes are structurally different from each other.^: 10–13 With time, the ancient shenyi disappeared while the paofu evolved gaining different features in each succeeding dynasties; the paofu continues to be worn even in present day.^: 14 The term paofu refers to the "long robe" worn by ancient Chinese,^{: 15 : 217} and can include several form of Chinese robes of various origins and cuts, including Changshan, Qipao, Shenyi, Tieli, Zhisun, Yesa.