| C: | 百迭裙 |
| P: | Bǎidiéqún |
(), also known as Hundred-change skirt, refers to an ancient style of worn by Han Chinese women in ancient China and is currently worn as a lower garment item in .[1] [2] The is typically a long, wrap-around densely pleated skirt with two flat surfaces at each end of the skirt.[3] It started to be worn at least since the Song dynasty, where unearthed artifacts of what is now referred as were found in the Tomb of Huang Sheng of the Southern Song dynasty, Fuzhou, Fujian Province. It is also one of the two early Song dynasty prototypes of the .[4]
The is made of a single panel of fabric. Its pleats tend to be very narrow and/or dense and almost covers the entire circumference of the skirt, except for the two edges of the skirts which are left non-pleated. Due to the non-pleated edges of the skirt, the skirt form two rectangular flat panels, which are referred as ; when worn, the two of the overlaps each other appearing to be a single flat panel. It has a wide waist band and long ribbons which are used as ties.
The modern variation of the features narrow pleats, which are about one to two centimetres in term of pleat width. There is typically no rule on where the need to be located on its wearer's body, as such the can be found at the sides, back, or front depending on its wearer's desire.
The length of the can also vary depending if it worn alone or is combined with other garments: the classic is a long-length skirt which is about ankle or floor-length and can be worn as a stand-alone lower garment; it also the most commonly seen variation of the ; the, also called encircling, usually reaches the mid-calf and is used as an over-skirt which can be worn over another or ; the last type is the, which has a shorter compared to its pleated regions are floor-length; due to its special construction, the is the only form of which requires having its located at the front of the body.
