A FINE CHINESE KESI SILK...

A FINE CHINESE KESI SILK COURT SURCOAT, Qing Dynasty, with centre front opening, the dark silk ground woven with two roundels filled with crane birds (for 1st civil rank) and encircled by precious objects, above a wide band of rolling waves, rock formations and lishni stripes, with teal lined interior, gilt metal and pearl fastening buttons.

Provenance: An Irish Private Collection, thence by descent

After the nomadic Manchu-Qing people overthrew Chinas Ming dynasty in 1644, they moved to quickly assert authority over the dominant Han population and established a dress code. Regulations codified dress for the imperial family, the Qing court and court officials, differentiating the ruling elite and government from the general populace and dictating that women dress according to the rank of their husbands. Clothes became so distinct that a wearer's position could be immediately ascertained. Court clothing was further divided into summer and winter dress. Summer robes were made of gauze or lined with silk and winter robes were padded with silk, or lined with fur. Yellow, considered to be the most auspicious shade, was reserved for the royal family. Noblemen were permitted to wear blue (the official Qing dynastic colour) or brown, while blue-black fabric indicated the wearer was a court official. Civil and military officials were divided into nine ranks, from first (highest) to ninth (lowest). Each rank was indicated by a corresponding animal, stitched on to a rank badge Civil ranks were represented by birds (Birds were selected because they featured frequently in literary works and literati paintings), while real and mythical animals indicated military status. Ming regulations issued in 1391 decreed that the insignia of first rank civil officials should be the Manchurian crane, a symbol of longevity and wisdom. As the rules did not specify the number of birds, Ming-period rank badges have between one and three. In the succeeding Qing dynasty one bird became norm. In 1748 the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736-1795) initiated a review of Qing court dress regulation. The commission was headed by the emperors uncle, and included representatives of five of the six government boards, compilers from the Hanlin Academy, a writer and staff of eight copyists and at least four artists. This action followed a long tradition in China of rectifying the imperial wardrobe by a new dynasty. The commission examined all previous Qing dress regulations and developed a strategy for dress and the ceremonial trappings of the court. After a decade of work, the commission presented an illustrated catalogue of all the ceremonial trappings of the imperial court in 1759. Entitled Huangchao liqi tushi, (literally August Dynasty Ritual Vessels Illustrated, often referred to as The Regulations for the Ceremonial Paraphernalia of the [Qing] Dynasty), these edicts were the most comprehensive sumptuary legislation ever to be issued by the Dragon Throne. Publication of the edict in a woodcut-illustrated edition occurred in 1766.

Margaret Medley, The Illustrated Regulations for Ceremonial Parphernalia of the Ching Dynasty, London, 1982; Gary Dickinson and Linda Wrigglesworth, Imperial Wardrobe, Berkeley, 2002, pp. 14-30

Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA. Rank and Style