This study is intended to examine the modernization of Chinese costumes through historical events, and to analyze the characteristics of the costume modernization process. The modernization of Chinese costumes appears to have begun with the Opium Wars, and the Nanjing Treaty(1842), the Beijing Treaty(1860) and the official residence of western people in Chinese territory. Afterwards, in order to initiate change, the Chinese people themselves implemented the Westernization movement(1861-94), placing an emphasis on the westernization of external elements such as technology and form, but aspects such as costume, deeply saturated in their traditions, do not appear to have changed significantly. Despite self-empowering movements such as these, as western forces diffused deeper into the Chinese mainland, neo-intellectuals formed the axis of a revolutionary movement. A major example can be found in the Xinhai Revolution(1911) revolution, which forbade the binding of feet and shaving of frontal hair and partially implemented western formal dress. Through these factors, the modernization process of Chinese costume demonstrates characteristics of an adherence to traditional dress and partial acceptance of western attire. Through this, we may understand the modern costumes of China, which adhered more to tradition than Japan, which pursued western costumes actively within a similar period, and Korea, which rushed modernization due to Japanese authority.