裋褐 (shùhè): coarse cloth garment

Meanings

Gǔshí pínmín zhǐ néng chuān shùhè.

In ancient times, the poor could only wear coarse cloth.

Tā shēn zhuó shùhè, hùn zài bǎixìng zhōngjiān.

Dressed in rough clothes, he blended in among the common folk.

register

Strictly literary/historical. You'll see 裋褐 in classical texts about peasants and hermits, never in modern conversation.

history

Records like 《史记》 contrast 裋褐 (peasant garb) with the silk robes of nobility, making it shorthand for poverty and rustic simplicity.

裋 shù

褐 hè