Why did ancient women not wear underwear, but only wear robes?
In ancient China, there were many mysteries, including peculiar dressing habits. People in ancient times often preferred to wear long dresses and robes that elongated downwards, creating a sweeping image on the floor. However, this style of clothing is rarely seen in daily life nowadays unless it appears on the red carpet.
Today, wearing underwear beneath clothes is common for both men and women. However, it is surprising that ancient women did not wear underwear. Many people may wonder why ancient women did not wear underwear. In fact, this was not because they were too “open-minded,” but rather due to their beliefs and classical lifestyle.

It is surprising that ancient women did not wear underwear.
Ancient women did not wear underwear because the concept of it did not exist at that time. Instead, they only wore robes and dresses. Although wearing robes was not as comfortable and convenient as wearing pants, women still chose to wear robes.
This is closely related to the social mindset of that time. In ancient society, men were often valued more than women. Therefore, women were often constrained by moral rules such as the “Three Obediences and Four Virtues.” There was a belief that the relationship between women and pants would affect the security and stability of the country.
Wearing pants could be seen as inappropriate because at that time, women’s legs would be separated, which was considered inappropriate according to the moral standards of that era. Therefore, ancient Chinese women often did not wear underwear or pants for a long time.

In the Han Dynasty, women began to wear pants, but they were special pants with wide legs and no bottoms.
Although women in ancient times did not wear underwear, they often wore more layers of clothing than today. Some even wore up to 3 layers inside and 3 layers outside, making it impossible for any light to penetrate into their bodies.
In the Han Dynasty, women began to wear pants, but they were special pants with wide legs and no bottoms. In fact, wearing this type of pants not only kept their legs warm on cold days but also facilitated the use of toilets.
So why did women in ancient times start wearing pants? This is related to the general Ho Quang of the Han Dynasty. Ho Quang, an influential general in the Han Dynasty court, implemented changes in women’s clothing. He always wished that the Empress, his granddaughter, would give birth to a prince to protect the Ho family’s power.
However, the health of the Empress and the Emperor was not good, and giving birth was very difficult. Ho Quang ordered all women in the palace to wear “pants with buttocks” to prevent the beauties in the palace from seducing the Emperor and vying for favor with his granddaughter.
However, the Emperor also realized that this was not appropriate. Subsequently, the court eunuchs came up with a solution, which was to have the palace women wear pants with buttocks but without bottoms, and then tied them together with a belt.
From then on, bottoms-less pants appeared for the first time, and later, long pants gradually became more popular in China.