InAncient Chinese, 兜 referred to a kind of helmetorhood.[1] By the time of the development of the dudou, it had taken on extended senses of encasing or enwrapping something as in a hood, scarf, or loose parcel.[2][n 1]Dùdōu may thus be understood as Chinese for "belly wrap" or "cover",[3][4] referring to its early use to flatten the breasts and, within traditional Chinese medicine, to preserve stomachqi. Using the same characters, it is also known as a doudu[2][5]ordoudou.[6][n 2] The latter form is diminutive and is particularly used for the dudous worn by Chinese children.[8]
Its various Chinese names are typically left untranslated in English.[9] In Chinese sources, the dudou is sometimes mistranslated as a "bellyband",[9][10] which more commonly refers to a variety of other devices including a horse's harness[11] and a compression garment used by expectant mothers.[12] The oddity arises from the similarity of the dudou's purpose (though not construction or appearance) with the Japanese haramaki. In the 19th century, it was translated or glossed as a Chinese "stomacher" or "corset".[7] The dudou is also sometimes translated or glossed as an "apron"[9][13][14][15] or "bib"[5] owing to its similar appearance.
The dudou's original development is sometimes credited to Yang Yuhuan, the curvy consortofEmperor Xuanzong of the Tang still remembered as one of China's Four Beauties,[16] at that time, dudou was called hezi (诃子), but the importance of the stomach as the origin of the body's blood and qiintraditional Chinese medicine[17] has meant that variations of the undershirt are found as early as the Qin's tunic-like xièyī(t褻衣,s亵衣).[18] The dudou proper was popularized under the Mingdynasty beginning in the mid-1300s[13] around the time of the Black Death.[15][n 3] Versions of it were worn by female babies in medieval China until age three.[8] The medicinal aspect of the dudou was underscored by its common incorporation of small pockets to hold snatches of ginger, musk, or other herbs intended to boost the stomach's qi.[20][better source needed] Its red form is also held to ward off evil spirits in Chinese folk religions.[3]
The dudou inspired similar fashions elsewhere in East Asia, including the Vietnameseyem and the Japanese haragake. Within China, it has remained a traditional item of Chinese clothing,[21][22] particularly in traditional wedding attire.[23] Generally, however, the dudou fell out of favor towards the end of the Qing as part of the drive to modernize the country, displaced by European-style corsets and bras.[24] After a decade of public debate, the use of dudous for flattening breasts was formally outlawed, beginning in Guangdong in 1927.[25] This change in fashion has sometimes been linked to the rise in breast cancer occurring around the same time.[15] Dudous first became an object of Western fashion in the year 2000, when variations of the Chinese design appeared in the spring collectionsofVersace,[26][n 4]Versus,[27] and Miu Miu.[28] It has since become a mainstay of some Chinese-influenced fashion designers.[29] This development inspired some Chinese women, including Zhang Ziyi,[16] to begin wearing the dudou as an article of outerwear,[21][14][30] although many older Chinese remain (sometimes sternly) disapproving of this development.[3][31]
Popular colors are red, pink, and green and they are often embroidered with flowers, butterflies, or Mandarin ducks.[21] Formerly popular designs included bats (homophonous with "happiness" in Chinese), peaches ("longevity"), guavas (whose many seeds caused it to represent fertility), and virtuous expressions.[24]
Under the Ming and Qing, dudous were solely items of underwear and were used to flatten women's breasts,[21] similar to a gentle corset.[16] Wealthier families used bronze, silver, or gold chains instead of silk thread.[24] The first dudous were simple rectangles, but by the Qing they had been turned to form a diamond shape, exposing more of the shoulders.[24]