Cultural Influences on Toy Design

A thesis submitted to the

Graduate School

of the University of Cincinnati

in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

Master of Design

in the School of Design

College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning

By

Hui Wang

Bachelor of Technology, Beijing Forestry University

June 20, 2012

Committee Chair: Gerald Michaud

Committee Member: Margie Voelker-Ferrier and Mikiko Hirayama Abstract

Traditional cultures are human treasures. It is necessary to preserve traditional cultures.

Due to political, economic, cultural influences, and globalization, the loss of traditional culture becomes a severe problem and needs to be addressed.

Education is an important means of spreading culture. For children, toys can be great educational tools as well as entertaining playthings. Through playing with appropriate educational toys, children learn a lot while having fun. Therefore, it is possible for children to learn traditional culture by playing with toys.

This thesis focuses on finding how cultural influences can be integrated into toys. By integrating Han ethnic clothing with dolls as an example, I discuss the impact it can bring to children’s traditional cultural education and propose guidelines for cultural educational toy design.

2 3 Acknowledgement

“Thank you” is not enough to express my appreciation to my thesis committee members.

But still, I would like to first thank Professor Gerald Michauld for his kindly two years’ company of advising me during my entire master of design program. Thank him for always wanting me to accomplish what I want to pursue as a designer, and thank him for enlightening me and pulling me back to the right track at every stage of the thesis.

Also, I want to acknowledge Professor Margie Voelker-Ferrier. It would not be possible for me to design and make all the dolls garments without her teaching. There are so many things I have learned from her. Thank her for letting me step a little into the beautiful fashion world, which always has been one of my dreams.

And surely, gratitude goes to Professor Mikiko Hirayama as well. She gave me tremendous insight on Chinese culture by showing me new perspective of Chinese art history, which provided great support to the culture part of my thesis.

Finally, I extend my gratitude to my family, and thank all my professors and classmates of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning.

4 Table of Contents

Abstract...... 2

Acknowledgement...... 4

Table of Contents...... 5

List of Figures...... 7

Chapter 1 the Forgotten Human Treasure...... 9

Chapter 2 Meet Hanfu...... 14

2.1. What is Hanfu...... 14

2.2. The development of Hanfu in history...... 15

Shenyi...... 15 Jialanpao...... 17 Ruqun...... 18 Beizi...... 20 Bijia...... 21

2.3. The significance of Hanfu to Chinese culture...... 22

2.4. The disappearance of Hanfu and current situation...... 23

5 Chapter 3 Culture education at home...... 26

Chapter 4 Toy is more than plaything...... 28

Chapter 5 Doll wears Hanfu...... 30

5.1. Early investigation...... 30

5.2. Building prototype for testing...... 31

5.3. Testing procedure...... 37

5.4. Testing Results...... 40

Chapter 6 Conclusion...... 45

Bibliography...... 48

Appendices...... 50

1. Role definition of Chinese women in the history...... 50

2. Textile in the USA...... 52

6 List of Figures

Figure 1 Zaju...... 11

Figure 2 Quju...... 16

Figure 3 Jialanpao...... 18

Figure 4 Ruqun...... 19

Figure 5 Beizi...... 20

Figure 6 Bijia...... 21

Figure 7 Doll’s Shenyi design...... 32

Figure 8 Doll’s Ruqun design...... 33

Figure 9 Doll’s Jialanpao design...... 35

Figure 10 Doll’s high waist Ruqun...... 36

Figure 11 Figure for question 1 in testing...... 38

Figure 12 Figure for question 2 in testing...... 39

7 Figure 13 Testing Participants holding the doll for testing...... 40

Figure 14 Question Accuracy before and after playing with the dolls...... 42

8 Chapter 1 the Forgotten Human Treasure

The history of design interprets the history of culture as well as technology and art.

Design is highly influenced by culture in both form and content.

In China, the culture of the Qin and Han dynasty led to the grandeur of Qin and Han design, Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties’ design shows the mingling of thought, Song and Yuan design shows rational thinking.

For instance, The Wei and Jin period had a mixed culture. Though an age of continuous war and frequent changes in political power, it was a time with prospering in arts and culture, and significant scientific development. The traditional Han culture was influenced by the northern nomadic tribes who settled down in the central plains China.

Clothing, bed, dance and instruments of the Northern Hu people became integrated into

Han people’s life because communication between ethnics was carried on.

9 At the same time Buddhism entered China and Daoism was developed.

Wide sleeves and long robes, flying ribbons and floating skirts, elegant and majestic hair ornaments, all these became the trend of Wei and Jin garments. (Hua, M., 2000)

Above, is a description of Zaju. It is a kind of female clothing which appeared in the Wei and Jin period.

Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties was a time period that had frequent wars.

Scholars had no place to show their talents, even though they wanted to serve their country. Those scholars decided not to follow all the rules they obeyed before an started to liberate themselves and show individuality. As a result, wearing loose and relaxed clothing became a fashion among them. For woman, dress became floor length, large sleeves elegant and graceful. And Zaju is one of those dresses. (Fig.1)

10 Figure 1 Zaju

With the rise of Buddhism, decorative motif for example lotus and honeysuckle largely appeared on clothing, the color and patterns on clothing became brighter and more magnificent.

At the same time, clothing, bed, dance and instruments of the Northern Hu people became popular among Han people because northern nomadic tribes came to the south and communication between ethnics was carried on.

Not only in China, not only in the history. Culture has a big influence in design in every country, from the past to present. 11 Design can be linked to culture through the incorporation of cultural values in products. Cultural values shape the way people behave within their community. The embodied values in products also play a part in regulating people’s attitudes within the society. The values integrated in products give users their cultural identity. Cultural values can be incorporated in products by designing appropriate signs or features which represent those values. Cultural values provide designers with a rich and varied set of materials that inspire new design ideas (Gaver 2001), and which are a way of finding connections with users’ traditions.(Moalosi, R., Popovic, V., & Hickling-Hudson, A., 2010)

Culture is a source of inspiration, but due to political, economic, globalization and other reasons, the loss of traditional culture becomes a severe problem and needs to be addressed.

The effects of globalisation are becoming increasingly evident. Globalisation has achieved a level of homogeneity of cultures through the influence of multinationals and of mass media communication and information. It could be said that globalisation strives for cultural compatibility and destroys its diversity in the process, by denying or ignoring cultural identity. On the other hand it could also be argued that some originally homogenous societies are becoming heterogeneous by becoming multicultural societies. Some societies have embraced globalisation, while others try to defy it or are selective.

In the quest, for compatibility through a level of standardisation, there is a danger of a loss of cultural identity and tradition. Examples are the traditional Japanese and Chinese literature or calligraphy that is written right to left and books that are read back to front. Through shortcomings in software it has become difficult to realise this and subsequently it has become a rarity in traditional media, such as newspapers, and is almost non-existent in electronic media. Thereby, a significant part of a culture has been ignored and could possibly be lost because of shortcomings in ‘global’ software. (Shen, Siu-Tsen, 2006)

12 Among all the Traditional cultures, one that has disappeared in people’s sight is the traditional clothing of Han Chinese, Hanfu.

13 Chapter 2 Meet Hanfu

Clothing is closely related to human’s civilization origin. It is a mark of the beginning of culture. Over time, it has obtained more and more social content.

Clothing is both a symbol and external reflection of an ethnical traditional culture.

Clothing interprets the suppression or liberation of human thinking, and reflects the delay or improvement of times and societies.

2.1. What is Hanfu

Hanfu refers to the pre-17th century traditional clothing of the Han Chinese, the predominant ethnic group of China.

Hanfu encompasses all types of traditional clothing worn by the Han Chinese ethnic

14 group. It has a history as long as the history of the Han Chinese people. Hanfu was eliminated by Manchu invaders by force in the 17th century, and is largely unknown in

China today, except among a small group of people advocating the revival of Hanfu as a

Chinese national costume.

According to Chinese tradition, Hanfu can be traced back to the Yellow Emperor, a great sage king of ancient China whom legend says ruled in the 27th century BC. Hanfu itself has a recorded history of more than 3000 years. It was worn by Han Chinese people from the semi-legendary Xia Dynasty (c. 21st century BC - 16th century BC) all the way to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The traditional dresses of many Asian countries have been influenced by Hanfu, especially those of Japan and Korea.

2.2. The development of Hanfu in history

Shenyi

Shenyi is a type of Han Chinese clothing worn from the pre-Shang periods to the Han

Dynasty. ”Shen” means deep and “Yi” means garment, so “Shenyi” literally means to deeply wrap up the body with clothing. The long dress has large sleeves, upper garment

15 and lower dress are connected, but divided by a seam.

In the Warring States period, the style of the Shenyi must conform to the rites and rituals, its style fit for the rules with the proper square and round shapes and the perfect balance. It has to be long enough not to expose the skin, but short enough not to drag on the floor. The forepart is elongated into a large triangle, with the part above the waist in straight cut and the part below the waist bias cut, for ease of movement.

It ranks second in ceremonial wear, functional, not wasteful and simple in style. (Hua, M., 2000)

Shenyi evolved into Quju (curved gown) around Han dynasty, it has triangular front garment and round lower hem. The front garment wraps the body to the right from the collar to underarm, and is tied right below the waist with silk ribbon. (Fig.2)

Figure 2 Quju

16 At the same time Zhiju (straight gown) also appeared in West Han. At first it was not allowed to be worn at formal occasions, because unlike Quju’s fabric wraps around the body several times, Zhiju only overlap once in the front, which may expose body in some postures. By the time when underwear was improved, Zhiju became more popular and gradually replaced Quju.

By the Wei, Jing and Northern and southern Dynasties, style of clothing evolved into loose-fitting garments with open sleeves. These were called “bao yi bo dai” or loose robes with long ribbons, exemplifying the care free style of the wearer. Men’s long robes became increasingly casual and simple, while women’s long robes became more elaborate and complex.

Women wore dresses with decorative cloth on the lower hems of their dresses. These pieces were triangular, and hang like banners with rolled edges and embroidered decorative patterns. When the top of the lapel is wrapped up, these triangles create a layered effect and lend rhythm to the women’s movement. Wide sleeves and long hemline, together with the long silk ribbons tying the decorative cloth around the waist, add to the grace of the wearer. (Hua, M., 2000)

Jialanpao

Due to the exchange of different cultures, the round collar dress “Jialanpao” appeared in

Sui and Tang Dynasty. Originally as men’s wear it inherited the connection of upper and lower clothing of Shenyi, absorbed elements of narrow sleeve and round neck from the

Hu’s (Northern barbarian) dress. Used as officer attire, the order of merit is separated strictly by the textile color. Civilians can wear it, but only white ones. (Fig.3)

17 Compared with the gorgeous dress of the Ruqun, a full set of men’s riding attire on women had its own unique flavor. The typical men’s wear in the Tang Dynasty included the Futou or turban, round collar jacket and gown, belt on the waist and dark leather boots. Women dressed like this look sharp, unrestrained yet elegant. (Hua, M., 2000)

Figure 3 Jialanpao

Ruqun

Ruqun is one of the basic clothing forms that have longest history in China. “Ru” means upper garment, it usually has long and narrow sleeves. Crossing collars laced to the right, left side overlap the right side. “Qun” means lower skirt. When wearing, it was wrapped around body and laced to make it stable. Ruqun has its unique characteristics in fabric, print, color and width from dynasty to dynasty. (Fig.4)

In Warring State Period Ruqun has wide sleeves and lose top, civilian female wears

18 narrower top and shorter skirt, to be more efficient in doing chores they also have a waist dress. In Qin and Han Dynasty, the top is narrower but the sleeves are wider, short top, longer skirt that may touch the floor. By the flourishing Tang Dynasty, female

Ruqun’s waist has been raised up to their breast and the style very popular among court ladies.

Figure 4 Ruqun

The Tang women inherited the traditional style and developed it further, opening up the collar as far as exposing the cleavage between the breasts. This was unheard of and unimaginable in the previous dynasties, in which women had to cover their entire body according to the Confucian classics. But the new style was soon embraced by the open-minded aristocratic women of Tang Dynasty. Historical records on Tang garment all told us that in those days, Tang women often wore full sets of men’s clothes. It is not hard to imagine that Tang was a rather open society as far as women are concerned. (Hua, M., 2000)

19 Beizi

Beizi is a front closure overcoat that is popular among both men and women in Song

Dynasty. With unfastened front, it shows the inner coat. (Fig.5)

Figure 5 Beizi

Although there seems to be no social status or sex attached to the Beizi, it is still more common to find it on people of the higher or middle strata. The heavy laborers preferred short jackets and trousers for their convenience.

The popularity of Beizi in the Song Dynasty is closely related in the cultural development of that era. Compared to Tang people who were much more extravagant in the way they dressed, while the Dong people preferred the reserved and contained elegance. (Hua, M., 2000)

20 Bijia

Bijia is a typical female’s jacket in Ming Dynasty, very similar to Beizi, but one big difference is that Bijia has no sleeves. The garment drapes below knee, lower dress is a little exposed. (Fig.6)

A Slender figure was the ideal of beauty for Ming women. The Bijia helped create a visual impression of slenderness.

In comparison with the Tang Ruqun, the Ming women’s garments were less lavish but more gentle and elegant. Neither was it as stiff and rigid as Song women’s wear. (Hua, M., 2000)

Figure 6 Bijia

21 2.3. The significance of Hanfu to Chinese culture

Hanfu plays an important role in Chinese Han ethnic identity.

China was originally called Huaxia. Xia means the grandeur of rite and social conduct, and Hua means the beauty of clothing. When combined together, “Huaxia” is used to represent Chinese civilization. The name shows the importance of Han Clothing in

Chinese culture.

Confucianism has played an important role in Chinese culture, it is a philosophy of human relationships intended to guide every member of Chinese society to play their role well, from the humblest peasant to the most powerful emperor. It stresses concepts like Xiao (filial piety), Li (etiquette), Ren (human kindness), and building harmonious relationships with all people.

With Confucianism, it was possible to keep the society in order for thousands of years in

China. It has been the main stream of thought throughout Chinese history.

22 Confucius considered Hanfu a very important part of Chinese ceremony and ritual because it indicated social status.

As mentioned, Hanfu was regarded by Han Chinese as a very important part of their culture. The wearing of appropriate styles of Hanfu was an important part of courteous refined behavior. Hanfu represents Han ethnic thinking and aesthetic. The dynamic, fluent lines and wide, elegant volume shows the Chinese pursuit of humanity and nature.

2.4. The disappearance of Hanfu and current situation

When Manchu ruled China during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), The Manchus foresaw that they would have great difficulty ruling the Han Chinese, who vastly outnumbered them and had a more sophisticated culture. Soon after the takeover of China proper, under the dynastic laws, all Han Chinese in the Manchu system were forced to dress in

Manchurian qipao instead of traditional Han Chinese clothing. All adult men were forced to shave their front hair and adopt Manchurian queue hairstyle, under the penalty of death. Only a small portion of Han clothing of women and children survived but was 23 “manchunized”. From then on, Hanfu was gradually replaced by Manchu-style clothing and was mainly extinct within a century of Qing rule.

By the end of 19 century, clothing in China had been influenced by western style; implicit expression of clothing in China became a more direct expression. In the 1950- 1960’s, practicality was the main concern, clothing was designed to be time and material saving.

In the 1960-1970’s, the Great Cultural Revolution unified people by making clothing with no color, no individuality and no gender distinction. Traditional Han Clothing vanished into the history.

The Hanfu movement was created in China to reintroduce Han Chinese clothing. It first begun around 2003, Wang Letian in Zhengzhou, China wore Hanfu in public, which inspired others to do the same. The main purpose of the Hanfu movement is to make

Han population aware of their ethnic clothing heritage and to revive cultural traditions.

Although the Hanfu movement has been carried on in China for almost 10 years by

Hanfu enthusiast all over China, Hanfu is still largely unknown in China today. When asked what the traditional clothing of Han ethnic is, many people would answer Qipao

24 or Tang Suit, which is reformed Manchurian clothing, When Hanfu is worn in public, it is mostly recognized as Japanese or Korean clothing, which was influenced by Hanfu in history.

25 Chapter 3 Culture education at home

When we talk about culture education in China, it is easy to relate to history and Chinese classes at school. By telling what has happened in the past conveys how Chinese behaved. By introducing ancient Chinese prose and contemporary Chinese writings shows how Chinese think.

Despite the education from the school, family also has a strong influence.

Filial piety is the core concept in Chinese traditional culture. The Chinese word for filial piety “Xiao” also means “to follow”. This concept still exists today. For children, following what their parents tell them to do is “Xiao”, and it is a standard of being a good child.

From the parent’s aspect, they are obliged to teach their children not only knowledge but also virtue and morality. Parents put emphasis on their children, strictly discipline them, wanting them to do well in school and even learn various skills outside school to 26 stay competitive among their peers. Parents also support them strongly. This became even more obvious after the one-child policy was carried out in China. The only child became the precious apple of the entire family.

With those two premises, Chinese children are highly influenced by their family, especially by their parents. They inculcate ethnic norms to their children and try to make the environment beneficial to their children’s future.

As a result, when parents buy toys for their children, they intend to choose toys that are helpful to their children’s growth and an educational toy is a priority choice.

Our informants report how often their parents would favor some toys over others on the grounds that they were educational. (Sutton-Smith, B. 1986)

27 Chapter 4 Toy is more than plaything

Childhood is a great time to learn about the world, and toys can be educational tools as well as attractive entertaining playthings.

For example, character role play toys make children to think about the characters. A kid could play “doctor” to examine a “patient”, or may be a “soldier” and defend against

“enemies”. By imitating their action and language, children experience the emotion of the character and understand the character’s responsibility and attitude to life.

During this process, children develop the concept of self, skills of communication and aesthetic taste. They form positive personality and traits, obtain good habits and establish correct values.

My target is little Chinese girls of age 7 to 10. Studies have shown that many little girls are born with the love for dolls, this includes Chinese girls. 28 Girls had six times as many female dolls and nine times as many baby dolls as boys did, but boys and girls had about the same number of male dolls in the boys’ rooms, however, “dolls” were usually in such categories as cowboys and soldiers, probably comparable to today’s action figures.

Study 1 demonstrated that toys are still seen as strongly gender stereotyped in very predictable ways. Dolls and toys focused on domestic activities were consistently seen as being for girls; weapons, vehicles, and action figures that represent aggression or violence were consistently seen as being for boys. (Owen Blakemore, J.,E., & Centers, R. E., 2005).

Dolls have also shown educational impact in history, and one big example is Miss Barbie.

She has stepped into the always fashionable shoes of more than one hundred twenty careers for fifty years. People have both positive and negative opinions about her, but what can be sure is that Barbie showed girls that they can be in non-traditional fields and be feminine at the same time.

With all of the many and varied careers under Barbie’s belt, whether she stands as a forward- thinking role model for girls to be whatever they want to be or a sex symbol putting fashion before function depends on whom you ask. Ruth Handler, as well as countless others, believed Barbie was all about choices and being able to remain feminine while succeeding in a man’s world. (Stone, T. L. , 2010)

With huge popularity among little girls and the big influence it can cause, I choose dolls as the tool of educating and want to see what it can bring to culture education.

29 Chapter 5 Doll wears Hanfu

5.1. Early investigation

To find out whether it is possible to teach little girls in China about Han Chinese culture using dolls and their clothing, I started with finding the proper doll for testing.

Based on questions about doll appearance preference, I did a survey in Beijing, China on

27 girls aged 7 to 12.

The results show that those girls prefer human figure dolls with a teenage or grownup body figure. I was concerned if they would mind having visible joints in dolls, but it turned out that most of the girls felt there was no problem, and they thought it was good because those joints brought the doll better movability when doing poses.

30 I also asked if they could recognize the clothing in several pictures of girls wearing Hanfu.

Half of the girls said they did not know what it was, and the rest of them answered those were either Japanese or Korean dresses, which were influenced by Hanfu in the past.

This also shows Hanfu is unknown among the young generation.

5.2. Building prototype for testing

Based on the research results, I decided to use two 16 inch tall ball-jointed dolls as my prototype model for testing. 16 inch size shows great clothing detail and the joints between body parts enables better movability. The two dolls I used are Lillian from

Mystic Kids (China) and Misora from Dreaming Doll (Korea).

I started to design and make Hanfu garments for them, and ordered well matched wigs.

There are four garments that correspond to four doll scenarios I designed for testing.

31 The first garment is a black brocade Shenyi robe with red hem and cuffs. Shenyi is for ceremonial wear with black silk employed in garments for sacrificial ceremonies. This garment is designed for the doll to be worn at a solemn memorial ceremony. (Fig.7)

Figure 7 Doll’s Shenyi design

32 The second garment is a Ruqun made out of ordinary cotton cloth in dim earth tone.

Ruqun has been the mainstream clothing for the civilians throughout ancient Chinese history. The garment also has a waist dress to go with it, and is set as an outfit for a girl staying at home doing housework. (Fig.8)

Figure 8 Doll’s Ruqun design

33 Those two dresses both have collars crossed and tied to the right. The left side of the garment lay on top of the right side. This is how clothing is worn by Living Han Chinese and clothing with cross collar is common among all the Hanfu in different time periods.

Besides indicating attire for different occasions it has different traits, and is also a hint for children to learn the proper way of dressing when playing with the doll.

The third garment is a purple tone brocade Jialanpao, which is a typical official wear during Tang Dynasty. Color shows the official rank, and purple ranked third at that time.

This is to be worn when the doll became a female officer in court.(Fig.9)

34 Figure 9 Doll’s Jialanpao design

The last garment is a high waist silk chiffon Ruqun with a scarf. This look appeared in many famous court ladies painting during the Tang Dynasty, and was said to be popular among girls working in court. This was to be worn when the doll started to work in the palace.(Fig.10)

35 Figure 10 Doll’s high waist Ruqun

36 5.3. Testing procedure

After I finished making garments for the dolls, I returned to Beijing, China to do further testing.

The testing was designed to find out whether children can learn about Hanfu after playing dress up with the dolls.

There are mainly three steps in testing:

1. Ask children questions about Hanfu based on proper way of dressing and clothing

identification. Try not to lead them, record their answer.

2. Have children choose the doll they like. Play dress up games with children, ask them

to pick appropriate outfit for different occupation or occasion and have them try to

dress the doll up.

3. Ask the questions in step one again, record their answer.

37 Record the whole process, after the testing, explain which attire should be worn at what occasion, answer the correct choice of the questions and explain the reason.

I have the following two questions for step 1 above.

1. Those are pictures of Han ethnic clothing, which of the two is the proper way of

wearing the clothing? (Fig.11)

1 2

Figure 11 Figure for question 1 in testing

38 2. Which of the two is the style that a civilian would wear in their daily life? (Fig.12)

1 2

Figure 12 Figure for question 2 in testing

The particular way the clothing was worn reflects culture. In Question 1, two symmetry pictures were shown. In the first picture, the left side of the garment lay on top of the right side and is tied to the right side of garment. In the second picture it is the opposite, right side on top and is tight to the left. The first picture shows the way living Han

Chinese people dress cross collar robe in the history. The opposite way of dressing was worn by minor ethnic or when Han Chinese people were buried.

Identification the function of clothing (occupation/social status) was an important role of

39 Hanfu, which was also an important part of Confucianism and Han Chinese culture. In

Question 2, picture 1 is Shenyi, which is a ceremonial wear. Picture 2 is Ruqun, which has been the mainstream clothing for ancient Han Chinese civilians. Picture 2 was more possible to be worn by civilians in their daily life.

5.4. Testing Results

Testing was done in Beijing, China in December 2013. In total there were 18 participants aged from 6 to 11 years old, 15 girls and 3 boys. (Fig.13)

Figure 13 Testing Participants holding the doll for testing

40 10 children chose the right answer (55.6% accuracy) for the first question “Those are pictures of Han ethnic clothing, which of the two is the proper way of wearing the clothing?” before playing with the doll and all of them got it right after playing with the doll. (Fig.14)

7 children chose the right answer (38.9% accuracy) for the second question “Which of the two is the style that civilian would wear in their daily life?” before playing with the doll and 17 children answered correctly after playing with the doll (94.4% accuracy).

41 Figure 14 Question Accuracy before and after playing with the dolls

I asked the children who chose the right answer after playing with the doll why they

42 changed their answer. Most of them said while dressing up the doll they noticed the direction the collars lay was the as the other picture, so they thought the other answer should be the correct way of dressing the doll.

For the second question, besides style, the garments designed for dress up are indicative of usage especially from color and fabric choice, which makes it easier for children to choose the right garment for specific occasion. I also asked why they changed their answer for the second question, and they mostly said the characteristics of the clothing.

For example sleeve shape, waist dress, and the garment in one piece or separate pieces matched with the style on the answer sheet. Compared to the other dress, the civilian dress is more likely to be in separate pieces, has narrow sleeves and maybe has a waist dress. It is closer to the other picture, so they changed their answer.

In general, the accuracy of the two questions is much higher after children played with the dolls. The answers were confidential during the whole process, so it is most likely that children did better on the questions because they played dress up game with the dolls. The questions are based on Hanfu cultural knowledge, so there is great possibility

43 that the children had better understanding of Hanfu culture because they had played with the dolls.

44 Chapter 6 Conclusion

This thesis demonstrates the importance of traditional culture, explains that design is highly influenced by culture in both form and content. Due to reasons such as globalization, the loss of traditional culture becomes a severe problem and needs to be addressed.

This thesis narrows the problem down to the culture loss of Hanfu, the Han Chinese ethnic traditional clothing, and tries to find a way to popularize Hanfu starting from children education. By showing toys can be educational tools as well as attractive entertaining playthings and dolls are popular among little girls, testing were done to find out whether dolls can teach children about culture.

The first testing was done to seek the proper doll for girls from age 7 to 10. Based on the result I found two dolls that meet the requirements. After designing and making the

Hanfu doll clothing for final testing, I tested 18 children of that age. The results show

45 that children did better on questions about Hanfu which suggests children have learned more about Hanfu after playing Hanfu dress up with the dolls.

According to the testing result, we can state that toys can be used as an educational teaching tool on culture.

Knowing this suggests more possibilities on having cultural education on children by using toys.

When designing toys in physical forms to convey a cultural message, for example through dolls’ clothing, it is important to think that children will touch the fabric’s texture and see the color and pattern. All those elements can create an impression on what the clothing might be used for and who will wear them, even if they are in a same style. Therefore it is necessary to consider how to relate textile, color and pattern to proper style in order to affect a child’s cognition, and lead them to discover the correct understanding of the clothing culture spontaneously.

46 The limitation of this thesis lies in that only one kind of toy has been tested. How can other toys contribute to cultural education and which toy does the best job remains to be solved.

Hanfu is beautiful and deserves to be preserved. Cultural influences design. We want to nurture children when they are little, and toys can be our great helper in cultural preservation.

47 Bibliography

Goldberg, S.(1981). Teaching With Toys: Making Your Own Educational Toys. Ann Arbor:

University of Michigan Press.

Hua, M.(2000). Chinese clothing: Garment Accessory and Culture. Beijing: China

Intercontinental Press.

Moalosi, R., Popovic, V., & Hickling-Hudson, A. (2010). Culture-orientated product design.

International Journal Of Technology & Design Education, 20(2), 175-190.

Owen Blakemore, J.,E., & Centers, R. E. (2005). Characteristics of boys' and girls' toys. Sex

Roles, 53(9-10), 619-633.

Shen, Siu-Tsen (2006). "Towards culture-centred design". Interacting with computers

48 (0953-5438), 18 (4), p. 820.

Stone, T. L. (2010). The good, the bad, and the barbie: A doll's history and her impact on us. New York: Viking.

Sutton-Smith, B. (1986). Toys as culture. New York, N.Y: Gardner Press, Inc.

Wu, X. (2010). The disappearing clothing of China. Jinan: Shandong Pictorial Publishing

House.

49 Appendices

1. Role definition of Chinese women in the history

Confucianism is the core of the Chinese traditional culture system. It was formed in the

Former Qin Dynasty, became dominate in Western Han and Eastern Han Dynasties and became more philosophical in the Ming and the Song Dynasties. It emphasizes human relations, and advocates harmony. There are five cardinal relationships,

1.the monarch and his subjects

2.father and son

3.husband and wife

4.brother and sister

5.friend and friend

Confucianism in feudal society highly praises women for being the caregiver for husband and children, and sets it as the role definition for women. It specified women’s social value. It deprived a female’s subjective consciousness and individuality, and constrained

50 them to the narrow space of family life. But on the other hand, the concept was reformed, because it thought highly of the impact that the wife has on her husband and the education on their children. A similar role for women in today’s society is significant to maintain family stability and motivate the society.

After the People’s Republic of China was established, Mao said “Times have changed, men and women are all the same”, many women stepped out of their homes and took part in nation construction and economic revitalization, and proved that “women hold up half the sky”.

While being as a social participant, women today in China continue play the role of family care giver at the same time. They rather bear the pressure from double roles than to give one up.

51 2. Textile in the USA

In the USA the textile industry has faded to a small fraction of what it once was. For young fashion designers who are trying to start their own business, it is a challenge to find appropriate fabrics for specific projects.

During my process of making Hanfu garments for my dolls, the first challenge is to find textiles suitable with the doll’s scale. Patterns on many novelty fabric designed for people’s clothing are too large to be used on a doll’s outfit.

The diversity of textile is another issue. I’m making traditional garments, despite cotton and silk chiffon, fabric like brocade is also needed. I had difficulty in finding proper fabric in the U.S., and had to buy the right brocade with proper scale and pattern back in China, which has a wider variety of choices that made fabric searching easier.

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