The Ne Zha series of movies has released materials about Ne Zha’s appearance when he was a child. Many people are interested in the “bellyband” that Ne Zha wore as a child. However, underwear wasn’t called a bellyband in every dynasty. So, we have to start from ancient – style underwear.

Ⅰ. Abdominal Wraps and Bellybands

Simply put, in ancient times, underwear wasn’t just for women. Children and adults also wore it. However, underwear varied in different dynasties. Generally, there were two types: abdominal wraps and bellybands. According to Collected Anecdotes of the Qing Dynasty (《清稗类钞》) in the Republic of China era, “A breast – binding cloth is a small undergarment worn on the chest. It’s also called an abdominal wrap or a belly – covering. It’s made of a square – foot piece of cloth, tightly fastened to the front chest to prevent wind and cold from invading. Commonly known as a bellyband. Both men and women wore it.” An abdominal wrap can be understood as what we now call a “tube top”, referring to underwear. However, as the name implies, it was mainly used to cover the stomach, not the chest. And a bellyband is just a piece of cloth.

Ⅱ. Liangdang

Let’s first talk about underwear. Underwear styles varied throughout different dynasties. For example, during the Han and Jin dynasties, a type of underwear called “Liangdang (裲裆, chest – protectors)”  emerged. As described in the poem “The two – part Liangdang shares one piece of fabric, and the abdominal wrap has eight pleats on both sides”, its style was a bit like what we now call a vest. Initially, it was worn by men. But during the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was also adopted by fashion – conscious women. Both men and women could wear it, and men could even wear it as outerwear.

Ⅲ. Hezi

During the Tang Dynasty, because the waist of the skirt was tied up to the chest area, there were also special underwear styles. One such example is the “Hezi (诃子)”. However, there are currently no physical specimens of Hezi. It is only suspected to exist in paintings like Ladies with Head – ornaments (《簪花仕女图》) and some unofficial historical records. Legend has it that it has some connection with Yang Guifei.

Ⅳ. Tube Tops

Among the characteristics of Song – Dynasty clothing, part of the tube top would be exposed, so there were more styles of underwear. Generally, the common types included one – piece tube tops (non – pleated, “工” – pleated tube tops, and triangular – darted tube tops), and the tube top from the Huang Sheng Tomb (which has two “cat – ear” – like parts, as shown in the picture above).

The cultural relic in the picture above is a tube top made of printed silk with patterns of persimmon calyx, rhombus, and flower motifs. It was unearthed from the Song Dynasty tomb in Huashan (花山), Nanjing. It has ties on both sides, and there is a fold in the middle of the upper part. It is 50 centimeters long, 116 centimeters wide, the ties are 51 centimeters long, the fold is 5 centimeters wide, and 10 centimeters deep.  

Ⅴ. One – piece Cloth with Ties for Enclosure

As the name suggests, a one – piece style means that it is a single piece of cloth that is enclosed and fastened with ties. It can be divided into types with or without folds in the middle (without physical evidence to confirm), triangular folds, or “工” – shaped folds, etc. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, there were also types that were fastened with buttons, which were also called the “Reunion Front Fastening (合欢襟)”. However, from the current practical situation, the type without folds does not seem to fit very well when worn.

During the Ming Dynasty, a type of “Zhuyao (主腰)” similar to a vest appeared. It may have coexisted with other types of underwear. This vest could be worn with the front pieces facing each other or crossed over, showing its flexibility. Some people also collectively call the underwear of the Ming Dynasty “Zhuyao” instead of “tube top”, which is just a difference in terms.

The above types of underwear, after the Han and Jin dynasties, were basically exclusively worn by women. However, men also wore underwear. Generally, men wore bellybands in the style of the vest shown in the picture above. Some scholars have also proposed that this trapezoidal underwear might be a continuation of the “Baofu (抱腹, abdominal wrap)” from the Han and Jin dynasties.

So, what did the bellybands worn by children in the past look like? Actually, it was the same kind of bellyband. From works such as Song – Dynasty children’s paintings, we can see that it was a piece of cloth, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, tied at the back, and it was a back – revealing style. And its main purpose was to protect the stomach from getting cold.

Summary

The term “bellyband” was already recorded in the Ming Dynasty. Liu Ruoyu (刘若愚) in the Ming Dynasty wrote in Records of the Inner Court Regulations in the Forbidden City (《酌中志·大内规制纪略》): “The stolen items were hidden in the bellyband and carried with the person day and night.” It seems that things were hidden in the bellyband and carried around. Nowadays, it seems that we call all kinds of underwear “bellybands”, but in fact, they are all different. However, no matter how it develops, the form of Chinese underwear basically consists of two parts. One is the front crotch cloth piece, and the other is the ties or straps. Although they are all underwear, each dynasty had its own unique style.