This paper examines how clothing in Ming-dynasty fiction functions as a visual and material register of social downfall and personal catastrophe. While existing scholarship often highlights garments as markers of status or virtue, I argue that attire also operates as a medium for expressing social pain, emotional rupture, and moral punishment. Drawing on vernacular novels such as Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan, Sanyan, Erpai, and Water Margin, this study explores how clothing encodes misfortune—through rags, mourning robes, unkempt appearance, or enforced nudity—and makes visible a character’s descent into disgrace, suffering, or social abjection. Three narrative patterns emerge. First, clothing marks transitions into states of suffering, such as in stories of exile, humiliation, or bodily punishment. Second, certain garments signify the emotional states of characters—sorrow, shame, or loss—by disrupting conventional dress codes. Third, "re-dressing" often signals narrative resolution or restoration, as renewed attire symbolizes redemption or social reintegration. I frame this analysis within theories of material culture and the history of emotions, arguing that clothing in these narratives visualizes affective experience and mediates between individual bodies and collective moral expectations. By focusing on the semiotics of clothing in scenes of misfortune, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of how Ming fiction materializes suffering and imagines the ethical consequences of social disorder.

Authors:
Menghe Tian, Donghua University, China
Yimeng Shi, Donghua University, China

About the Presenter(s)
Menghe Tian, Ph.D. candidate at Donghua University, researches Ming dynasty clothing culture, focusing on material culture, gender, and visual storytelling. Her current project explores clothing gifts in social networks.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/menghetian/

See this presentation on the full schedule – Wednesday Schedule

Bookmark