'crane cloak'), or dachang (Chinese: 大氅) when it features large sleeves and knotted ties at the front as a garment closure.

[2] According to Zhu Xi, the beizi may have originally been clothing worn by concubines and maidservants, and it was then named after these people as they would always walk behind their mistress.

[9][10] According to Ye Mende, the beizi was initially worn as a military clothing with "half-sleeves"; the sleeves were later extended and hanging ribbons were added from the armpits and back.

[5] In earlier times, the beizi did not exist according to both Zhu Xi and Lu You, and it only became popular by the Late Northern Song dynasty.

[4] Examples of beizi artefacts worn by women dating from Song dynasty were unearthed from the tomb of Huang Sheng.

[15] In the 17th and 18th century AD, the beizi (褙子) was one of the most common clothing and fashion worn by women in Qing dynasty, along with the ruqun, yunjian, taozi and bijia.

[7] The beizi and pifeng which are based on various dynasties regained popularity in the 21st century with the emergence of the Hanfu Movement and were modernized or improved.

[6] By the late Ming dynasty, the beizi (also known as pifeng) had become longer and almost covered the skirts completely which came to look almost like the men's clothing and the sleeves grew larger trailing well below the finger tips.

[20] In the Ming dynasty, beizi can be secured at the front either with a metal or jade clasp button called zimu kou (Chinese: 子母扣).

[25] In Joseon, fans with white feather and the hakchangui became the representative clothing of Zhuge Liang, hermits, and scholars who followed taoism.

[27][28] The Ao Nhat Binh was further developed in the Nguyen dynasty to denote social ranking of women through the use of colours and embroidery patterns.