The term yuanlingpao literally translates to "round collar robe (or gown)", consisting of the Chinese characters yuanling and pao (袍).

[4] During the Eastern Han dynasty, some forms of Hanfu started to be influenced by the Hufu of the Hu people, leading to the emergence of garments with round collars, or yuanling.

The quekua had either a round or snug (plunged) collar, tight sleeves, and less overlap than the traditional Hanfu, which allowed for greater freedom of movement, especially for horse riding, and strongly impacted Chinese fashion.

[13]: 183, 185–186  In this period, the yuanlingpao worn by unearthed terracotta warriors were closed in the zuoren-style instead of youren-style, reflecting its Hufu characteristics.

In the Northern and Southern dynasties, the yuanlingpao of the Xianbei was localized by the Han Chinese, resulting in a loss of its association with Hufu and developed into a new form of Hanfu, called panling lanshan.

This evolution was achieved through the addition of a new seam structure called lan (襕; lán), which aligned with the traditional Hanfu style and followed the Han Chinese's shenyi robe.

Occasionally, the collar or lower button would be undone to form lapel robes,[14][5] a style sometimes referred to as fanlingpao (Chinese: 翻领袍; pinyin: fānlǐngpáo; lit.

This dressing custom of wearing fanlingpao-style robes was later inherited and developed into the yuanlingpao of the subsequent Tang and Sui dynasties.

[17] One distinctive feature of men's clothing during the Tang dynasty was a horizontal band, which could also be attached to the lower region of the yuanlingpao.

[20] Almost all figurines and mural paintings depicting female court attendants dressed in men's clothing are wearing Hufu.

[17] The Hufu which was popular in this period was the clothing worn by the Tartars and the people who lived in the Western regions,[22] which was brought from the Silk Road.

[5] In some unearthed pottery figures wearing fanlingpao dating from the Tang dynasty, it was found that the yuanlingpao had three buttons on the collar.

[25]: 275 [26]: 3  The yuanlingpao had a large overlapping region being held down by a broad strip of fabric[26]: 3 and a long line which divided the front part of the gown.

The difference between the yuanlingpao or yuanlingshan of the civilians and of the officials and nobles was the addition of a buzi (either a mandarin square or roundels rank badge[10]: 64 ) and the fabric materials used.

[11][note 3] The clothing of the Ming dynasty was predominantly red,[11] although, there were strict colour regulations depending on the ranks of officials.

[11][note 4] During an Imperial Funeral, Ming officers wore a grey-blue yuanlingshan without a Mandarin square, wujiaodai (Chinese: 烏角帶; pinyin: wūjiǎodài; lit.

The Ming dynasty yuanlingpao and yuanlingshan were typically characterized by the "cross-plane structure", with the back and front being bounded by the middle seam of the sleeves.

[11] Men's yuanlingpao and yuanlingshan also have side panels called anbai (Chinese: 暗擺; pinyin: ànbǎi; lit.

Among the exempted people were the Han Chinese women, who were allowed to continue wearing the Ming-style Hanfu, and on-stage theatre performers.

[38] The round collared robe called ho in the Sokutai (束帯), which was worn by the Japanese Emperors, and the noblemen,[39] was adopted from the yuanlingpao.

[42] However, this fashion gradually faded away from their daily lives due to the clothing reforms decreed by the Nguyen lords.