[1] The term qizhuang can also be used to refer to a type of informal dress worn by Manchu women known as chenyi, which is a one-piece long robe with no slits on either sides.

[1][2] In the Manchu tradition, the outerwear of both men and women includes a full-length robe with a jacket or a vest while short coats and trousers are worn as inner garments.

[5]: 40  The Manchu people also wore hoods which provided insulation and were essential to protect the wearer from the cold Northeast Asian winters.

[5]: 39–40 Manchu coats (and robes) were typically closed fitting and had 4-slits opening on 4 sides (2 sides of the garment, back and front) to facilitate ease of movements when horseback riding;[5]: 40 [6] their sleeves were long and tight with their sleeves cuff ending in the shape of a horse's hoof, referred as matixiu (Chinese: 马蹄袖; pinyin: mǎtíxiù; lit.

If we adopt Han people's clothes easily and gradually lose the skill of archery and horse riding and no longer worship martial arts, isn't that a pity that we will keep these weapons but have no reasons to practice them".

[8]: 59 In the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the earliest ancestors of the Manchu were the Sushen people who lived in the Songhua river basin in China.

[2] According to Guo Pu's commentary in Shanhaijing, the Sushen people resided north of the Liaodong Commandery lived in caves and only wore pig hides for clothing and in winter, they would smear grease on their bodies to protect themselves from the wind and cold.

[2] Throughout the Jin, Liao and early Qing dynasties, the Jurchen retained their traditional customs of wearing feather caps and coats.

[11]: 42  The young Jurchen girls would wear a tube-shaped, five-colour beads which were engraved with ornamental design made of bird-neck bone.

[21] In general, the Jin dynasty Jurchen clothing were similar to those worn by the Khitans in Liao, except for their preference for the colour white.

Yuanlingpao with tight sleeves (closing to the left side, with pipa-shaped collar) were worn by men with leather boots and belts.

[22]: 136–137  It is also recorded in the section Carriages and Costumes of the History of Jin Dynasty that Jurchen clothes were decorated with bears, deer, mountains and forest patterns.

[19]: 57, 61–62  The tribeswomen in the painting Cai Wenji returning to Han wear Jurchen attires consisting of leggings, skirts, aprons made of animal hide, jackets, scarves, hats made of fur or cloth; Wenji also wears Jurchen-style attire consisting of an ochre yellow jacket, silver yunjian (a symbol of high rank), boots, and fur hat with ear flaps; the tribesmen wear typical sheng Jurchen clothing with the exception of a Han Chinese official.

[33][34] Following their conquest of the Ming dynasty, the Manchu continued the wearing the Ming-style dragons robes but altered them by adding fur at the collar and cuff and sable at the skirts.

[27]: 25  In 1636, a proclamation was passed to guide the principles that the Manchu rulers had to avoid adopting the traditional clothing dress code of the Ming dynasty with the Manchu rulers reminding their people that adopting Han Chinese customs of the Ming dynasty would make their people become unfamiliar with shooting and horseback riding.

[7] Hong Taiji who developed a dress code after 1636 stipulated that there was a direct connection between the adoption of Han Chinese's clothing, speech and sedentary lifestyle and the decline of the earlier Conquest dynasties (Liao, Jin, and Yuan).

[5]: 40 [35]: 60–61 [note 2] In 1637, Hong Taijji reminded his people that the "wide robes with broad sleeves" of the Ming dynasty were completely unsuitable to the Manchu lifestyle and expressed his worries that his descendants would forget the source of their greatness (i.e. Manchu conquests were founded on their horseback riding and their archery skills) and adopt Han Chinese customs.

[5]: 40  In the same year, Manchu noblemen and women were ordered by the early Qing court to wear freshwater Manchurian pearls in their headwear, including hats and hairpieces.

[2] During the Qianlong reign, some banner women transgressed the ban of wearing Hanfu and Han Chinese jewelries (specifically earrings).

[5]: 40  The Manchu women's chanyi and chenyi (informal robes) both became popular in the reign of the Qianlong Emperor and were worn with a long neck ribbon called longhua.

'Illustrations of Imperial Ritual Paraphernalia') commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor by the year 1759 as he was concerned that the customs of the Manchu people would be diluted by the Han Chinese ways.

[25] The Huangchao liqi tushi was therefore published and enforced by the year 1766; it contained a long section regulating the clothing worn by the emperors, princes, noblemen and their consorts, Manchu officials along with their wives and daughters, and also stipulated the dress code for Han Chinese men who became a mandarin and were serving the Manchu court, along with their wives and by the people who were waiting for an appointment.

[37]: 34 [38]: 343 The Northern Expedition entered Beijing in 1928 and held disdain towards the city; their soldiers treated people who worked in the old government as captives and wanted to "wipe out everything": they banned Manchu women's hairstyles and the wearing of magua; they also prohibited temple fairs to follow the Chinese calendar.

[39]: 87 According to the Manchu tradition, the outerwear of both men and women includes a full-length robe with a jacket or a vest while short coats and trousers are worn as inner garments.

[25][44]: 22  The emperor, princes, noblemen and high officials wore hats, called chaoguan, which were regulated and worn accordingly to the seasons (winter and summer), ranks, and gender.

[25][note 5] The first to fourth degrees princes and imperial dukes had to wear blue, brown or any other colour unless the Emperor bestowed them with a golden yellow robe.

[25][note 6] The first to fourth degrees princes and imperial dukes had to wear blue, brown or any other colour unless the Emperor bestowed them with a golden yellow robe.

[52] Gunfu was a form of surcoat with circular embroidered roundel, which was part of the official court dress since 1759; it was worn over the chaofu or jifu.

[25] Semiformal non-official dress for women were lavishly decorated with embroidery and used contrasting borders by the mid-19th century reflecting the influence of Han Chinese culture.

Xinfu (行服) are travel clothing which were typically used on surveying trips and hunting excursions which usually involves horse riding and archery.