This article sheds light on the intricate relationship between the revival of Hanfu, traditional couture from the Han Dynasty, and rising Chinese nationalism among Chinese youth living in the United Kingdom. Mobilizing the theoretical tool ‘affective economies’, we explore how particular feelings and values are assigned and attached to Hanfu, and thereby circulate among young Chinese migrants. We begin by examining the Hanfu movement to interrogate how Hanfu is reinvented based on a selective historicity of the past, serving as a specific cultural product for China’s rejuvenation. We then move on to analyze a series of in-depth interviews conducted between December 2019 and July 2020. We probe the lived experiences of young Hanfu supporters, who are members of the UK Han Culture Association, and the cultural events organized by the Association, in order to scrutinize the ways Hanfu conjures up an imagined community suffused with nationalism. Drawing upon on the affective economies of Hanfu, we discern the following three key findings: First, we argue that there are both positive and negative affective attachments to Hanfu, such as homesickness, loneliness, alienation, happiness, pride and beauty, which impinge on migrant bodies, assigning values to Hanfu and the Hanfu-related cultural events. Second, we show through the analysis of the fieldwork materials the paradoxical desire for chuguo (going abroad) and huiguo (returning to the nation) in the hearts of the young migrants. Finally, we argue that Hanfu circulates as a ‘mnemonic thing’ that signifies a specific imaginary of Ancient China, where young migrant’s aiguo (love of the nation) sentiments are then ‘stuck’ to this reinvented fashion.
Chen Fan is a PhD candidate from the Department of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Chen’s research interests sit between youth culture, media usage, and visual culture, with reference to a specific area: relationship between youth pop culture and nationalism in contemporary China, and young generations’ recreation of traditions through consuming and producing pop culture.
Dr. Penn Tsz Ting Ip is Assistant Professor at the Department of Cultural Industry and Management at the School of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her research interests include cultural studies, media studies, television studies, migration studies, urban studies, post-colonialism, globalization, women and gender studies, and affect theory.