Zhongshan SuitIt's the formal suit for Chinese men and one of the favorite clothes for Chinese leaders when they are in political occasions. Because Zhongshan suit is an invention of Sun Zhongshan, who is first president and founding father of the Republic of China.
Zhongshan suit was changed from an army uniform by Sun Zhongshan around 1923, because he thought the western suit was too complicated for the daily life and the traditional Chinese Changsam could not express the new spirit of times for the Chinese in a special time. (That was the period that China was transforming from federal society into capital society.) The four pockets were said to represent the Four Virtues cited in the classic Guanzi: Propriety, Justice, Honesty, and Shame. The five center-front buttons were said to represent the five Yuans (branches of government) cited in the constitution of the Republic of China and the three cuff-buttons to symbolize Sun Zhongshan's Three Principles of the People: Nationalism, Democracy, and People's Livelihood. |