After the Jin dynasty (1115–1234 AD) was founded, the Jin dynasty rulers imitated the Song dynasty and decided to establish their own carriages and apparel system.
Terminology
During the Five dynasties period, the Mohe people started to be referred as the Jurchen people (), they were referred as such by the Khitans who had founded the Liao dynasty. The Liao dynasty eventually subdued the Heishui Mohe who lived along the Heilongjiang river, the Songhua river, and in the Changbai mountains. The Jurchens, therefore, emerged from the Mohe tribes who lived south and west of the Changbai mountains and north to the Bohai kingdom.
The Jurchen were classified into two categories based on their lifestyles; they were either sheng () or shou (). Being influenced by Chinese culture was perceived as "cooking" while non-Chinese "barbarians" were considered as being "raw". The sheng Jurchen lived a relatively primitive and indigenous lifestyle based on hunting and herding similarly to the lifestyle of their ancestors. By the 10th century, the sheng Jurchen were subdivided into two categories based on their geographical location: those living in the north and took their identity from the Heilongjiang river and were called the "Black Jurchens" while those in the south took their identity from the Changbai mountains were called the "White Jurchens"; the white Jurchens considered themselves as being more "civilized" and being kin people of the Bohai kingdom. Some remnants of the Bohai people became the subjects of the Jin after it overthrew the Liao dynasty; and by the mid-Jin dynasty, the Bohai people lost their distinct identity having been assimilated. By the 13th century, the Jurchens of Jin considered the sheng Jurchens as outsiders, barbarians, and sometimes even as their enemies.
History
The Jurchen founded the Jin dynasty in 1115 by Wanyan Aguda by overthrowing the Liao dynasty. Soon after having founded the Jin dynasty, the Jurchen elites abandoned their sheng ways of life having been first influenced by Bohai and later on by gaining much of northern China and the former Song dynasty population which were large in numbers. The Jurchens who lived in the Jin dynasty quickly adopted Han Chinese culture, and by the late 12th century, Hanfu had become the standard form of clothing throughout the Jin society, in particular by the elites.
Attempt to ban Chinese clothing and progressive assimilation of the Jurchen
In 1125, the Jin dynasty destroyed the Liao dynasty, and in 1127, the Jin invaded Northern Song and sacked the capital city, Kaifeng. There was about 30 million Han Chinese living under the rule of the Jin dynasty. In the early period of the Jin dynasty, the Jin dynasty court first attempted to impose Jurchen hairstyle and clothes on the Han Chinese population in 1126 AD and in 1129 AD. The Han Chinese style clothing was prohibited and the people had to wear a short scarf and left-lapelled clothing; if they did not obey, they were put to death.
After having conquered northern China, in 1126, a proclamation was issued by the Grand Marshal's office stipulating that the Jurchens had conquered all and it would be therefore appropriate to unify the customs of the conquered people to make them conform to the Jurchen norms; therefore the Chinese men living in the conquered territories were ordered to shave their hair on the front of their head and to dress only in Jurchen-style attire under the threat of execution to display their submission to the Jurchens. This shaving hair order and adopting Jurchen clothing was however cancelled just a few months after it was stipulated as it was too difficult to enforce.
In 1127, the Jin dynasty occupied the Northern Song capital and the territories of the Northern Song; the Han Chinese who were living in Northern Song territories became the majority population of the Jin dynasty while the Jurchen became an ethnic minority in the Jin dynasty; this led the Jurchen to make political concessions allowing the Han Chinese to practice their own culture.
The shaving hair and adoption Jurchen clothing imposition order on the Chinese was once again reinforced in 1129; however, it does not seem to have been strictly been enforced.
In 1138 AD, the Jin court adopted the Chinese robes for the emperor and the officials.
Sinicization policy
In the 1150, Emperor Hailing established a sinicization policy. The shaving the hair and adopting Jurchen clothing order was taken back under the Emperor Hailing who was Pro-Chinese allowing the Han Chinese to wear their Han clothing by lifting the ban in 1150 AD. Under his reign, the Chinese in Honan were allowed to wear Chinese clothing.