Doing hanfu: An ethnographic study of embodied meaning-making practices of contemporary young Chinese

This research looks at the everyday lives of young Chinese people across online and offline spaces in China and the Netherlands. It shows how their daily activities, including the way they speak and write, dress, and present themselves, are closely connected with bigger forces such as Chinese official nationalism, modernization, and globalization. The study is based on ethnographic fieldwork with self-defined Hanfu (lit. Han clothing) fans in Beijing, China, and the Netherlands. It consists of four parts, each focusing on a different area: storytelling, clothing, branding, and the creative use of traditional Chinese language in contemporary China and the Netherlands. Through these practices, young Chinese shape multiple identities, such as fans, Chinese, women, or migrants, and give new and diverse meanings to Hanfu material culture.