June 30, 2025

Making Sense of “Mao Suit” and “China Dress” Nomenclature

By Mark Schreiber 

Both in day-to-day conversation and in writing, we often need to bridge the gaps between the way we express things in our own language and the way speakers of other languages say what are essentially same things. I was reminded of this when the English-language news services and television networks described North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as wearing a “Mao suit.” Neither Japanese nor Chinese use such a term. Nor, apparently do the North Koreans, who refer to Mr. Kim’s upper garment matter-of-factly as tatkin’gis yangbok, literally a closed collar, western-style garment. 

If Japanese were to attempt a chokuyaku (direct translation) of “Mao suit”—and I’m glad they didn’t—it might be 毛服 (mofuku), which would probably not work, because it’s too close to 喪服 (mofuku, funeral garb). 

With occasional exceptions, the Japanese media generally refer to the garment in question, which is a tunic with a closed collar and four outer pockets, as 人民服  (jinminfuku, literally, “people’s clothing”). “Jinmin” carries the nuance that it is worn in communist countries, which often apply 人民 (jinmin, people) to their official name, such as in 中華人民共和国 (Chuka Jinmin Kyowakoku, People's Republic of China) and 朝鮮民主主義人民共和国 （Chosen Minshushugi Jinmin Kyowakoku, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). The cognoscenti of matters Asian, however, know that neither Chinese on the Mainland and Taiwan, nor 華僑 (kakyo, huaqiao or overseas Chinese), refer to the garment as a Mao suit or a jinmin suit, but rather as a 中山装（Zhongshan-zhuang, a Sun Yat-sen suit). 

 

 

 

 

    Note that the character here used for “suit,” 装 (zhuang) is the so in the Japanese word 服装 (fukuso, literally meaning clothing-clothing). I’ve touched on this subject before, but because of the large number of homonyms, Sino-Japanese proper nouns and verbs often tend to double up in this manner to avoid confusion. 

The Sun Yat-sen suit (or Mao suit) is believed by some to have been at least partially inspired by the Norfolk jacket, a coat that was popularized in the British upper classes around the late 1860s. Revolutionary leader and first president of the Republic of China Dr. Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙, 1866–1925), was said to have personally consulted with a guild of tailors in the port city of 寧波 (Neiha, Ningbo) to design the garment that bears his name. Remarkably, however, the Sun Yat-sen suit owes its Chinese name to Japan. 

In the course of his life and after his passing, Sun was known by numerous names and aliases. In Taiwan, for instance, he is reverently referred to as 国父 (Guofu, father of the country). The most common name, used both in Japan and China, is 孫文 (Sun Wen or Son Bun). Yet another name is 孫中山 (Sun Zhongshan), and if you read the characters for Zhongshan in Japanese you get Nakayama, which is what it was originally intended to be. 

Here’s the story: While seeking support and funding from his compatriots to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and establish a republic, Dr. Sun traveled in Japan. It was feared that agents of the Chinese imperial government might try to abduct him, so while sojourning in Kyushu a Japanese friend, Miyazaki Tōten, gave Sun a Japanese alias, 中山 樵  (Nakayama Kikori). The alias stuck, and in addition to Sun’s distinctive garment, nearly every city and town in China has a street named 中山路 (Zhongshan Lu, Zhongshan Road) in Sun’s honor, using his Japanese alias. 

After Sun’s death in 1925, the garment came to be known as Zhongshan-zhuang in Sun’s honor. So the trademark tunic worn by Chinese leaders from Sun Yat-sen to Xi Jinping could be said to owe its origins to a British design with a Japanese name. 

The Sun Yat-sen suit had a counterpart in Japan during the Pacific War, when the government campaigned against conspicuous consumption with the slogan 贅沢は敵 (zeitaku wa teki, extravagance is the enemy). Males not serving in the armed forces were obliged by the National Uniform Edict of November 1940 to wear a brown- or khaki-colored tunic referred to as 一般国民服 (ippan kokumin fuku, national uniform). A similar regulation to standardize women’s and children's clothing was enacted in April 1942, but never enforced. 

Today, the term マオカラースーツ (mao karā sūtsu, Mao-collar suit)
is widely used in the fashion industry as a garment having a vague resemblance to the Mao suit, but with less political baggage. So here for once the English and Japanese are identical, but the Chinese-style standing collar (often rendered in English as “Mandarin collar”), remains at variance. While we’re on the subject of nomenclature as applies to modes of dress, I guess it's worthy of mention that translators must also deal with similarly chaotic terminology over Chinese female apparel. The garment typically referred to in English as a cheongsam has become チャイナドレス (chaina doresu, “China dress”) in Japanese. Cheongsam (長衫), a Cantonese word, is pronounced changsan in Mandarin, and written with characters meaning “long shirt.” It is an upper garment worn by both genders, usually over trousers. In standard Chinese, however, the women’s dress we call cheongsam is expressed by a completely different word, qipao (pronounced “chee-pow” and written 旗袍), which combines 旗 (hata, a banner) with 袍 (ho, a gown).  Today’s qipao—sometimes referred to in English as a “Mandarin dress”—have evolved over the past several centuries, from a heavy, rather shapeless housecoat worn by high-born Manchu women to a popular form-fitting dress donned by Chinese urbanites in the 1920s, which today can still be seen in use for bridal gowns and flight attendants’ uniforms. Historical examples of the qipao’s evolution can be viewed at the Qipao Museum in Hetu’ala, inside a theme park that features a restoration of the ancient Manchu capital. It’s located within Fushun City, Liaoning Province, near the provincial capital of Shenyang.

(Adapted for the SWET website by the author, June 30, 2025. © 2025 Mark Schreiber)

Captions (courtesy Mark Schreiber)
1 Note Mao Zedong’s mode of dress on China’s current 5-yuan banknote and Sun Yat-sen (aka Sun Wen) on a 1937 5-yuan banknote.
2 Example of a Norfolk jacket, the English tunic believed to have inspired Sun Yat-sen's apparel.
3 While on a visit to Changchun, Jilin Province in June 2018, I made the chance acquaintance of Mr. Zhang, an actor who impersonates Mao in films and at various events. He responded favorably when I extended my hand and said 世界人民大団結万岁（Shijie renmin datuanjie wansui, long live the unity of the world’s people).
4 A few of the many variations of the qipao (cheongsam or mandarin dress) on display at the Qipao Museum in Hetu'ala, Liaoning Province.
5 From 1898, Hong Kong-based Kwong Sang Hong, Ltd. used a pair cheongsam-clad beauties to promote its “Two Girls” line of cosmetics.