Official Robes

Ancient China was a feudal society with a rigid hierarchy. This hierarchy was clearly reflected in its clothing. Because ruling regimes needed stability and stability in turn required order, such order was manifested in clothes, especially officials' clothes. In ancient China, everybody had to abide by clothing rules, which not only involved daily customs, but also constituted a part of the state's social institutions. All of the dynasties had rules and orders that stipulated the textures, colors, patterns and styles of clothes in detail. Imperial kinsmen's clothes, civil and military officials' clothes and ordinary people's clothes were all strictly separated, and people who violated the rules were punished. This practice of standardizing and limiting the clothes and headwear of various social classes, officials, and ordinary people was obviously intended to maintain the ruling order but also enhanced the culture of Chinese clothes.

A common image of ancient Chinese official robes is of county officials wearing black gauze caps with two wings on both sides like two copper coins, a jade belt and black boots with white soles. But, in fact, this is a comic image of Chinese officials popularized during the Song and Ming dynasties. Ancient Chinese officials' clothes were quite diverse and different dynasties had different rules, and sometimes even changed the rules several times within the same dynasty. Changing the color of officials' clothes was usually related to the state's stability and politics. Official robes often epitomized Chinese people's world view and understanding of political power, and this should not be overlooked when considering clothing of this type.

Official robes had caps, which showed authority. During the Han Dynasty most civil officials wore the "virtue cap" with a turban below it. Military officials wore a large military cap, supplemented with a flat turban. The turban was a kind of kerchief worn by men of all ranks in the Qin and Han dynasties. However, officials' turbans were worn below their caps, while ordinary people wore only turbans.

In the Wei Dynasty, Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, a translucent stiff cap was made by applying lacquer to loose and light black gauze to make it erect, and to make the top vaguely visible.

In the Tang Dynasty, both officials and ordinary people wore scarves but they went through different styles and stages of development. The early scarf was a low kerchief wrapped on the head. Later, a turban made of phoenix tree wood, silk, vines, grass, and leather was added under the scarf like a fake chignon, giving a fixed scarf shape. From the middle period of the Tang Dynasty, caps with fixed shapes were formed gradually, and they were still called scarves. In the Zhenguan Period, caps with low and flat tops were called the "flat and small style" and were very popular; during the reign of Emperor Gaozong and the reign of Wu Zetian, the top of the scarf was lifted and separated into two petals called the "imperial Wu family style"; during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, the cap sloped down to the forehead and was called the "Kaiyuan inner style." The scarf's two corners, also called feet, at first hung naturally to the neck or below the shoulders like bands. Later, they were gradually shortened, bent upwards, inserted into a knot behind the head, and called the "soft-corner" scarf. After the middle period of the Tang Dynasty scarf corners were round or broad like hard wings curling slightly upwards, and the middle parts were like silk strings. Because they could move, or bounce, these scarf corners were called hard corners or hard feet. It is said that this scarf style became popular because Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty often wore it.

In the Song Dynasty, officials' scarves extended to the left and right. It is said that they were long so that officials were prevented from whispering to each other when they stood in court.

In the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties, China's feudal ruling system was at its most sophisticated and in this period officials' caps changed from the scarves of the Tang and Song dynasties to the black gauze caps of the Ming Dynasty. The style did not change much: the original temporary wrapping style changed into the fixed cap style. This was the point at which the black gauze cap became a symbol associated with officials.

Wearing a scarf or black gauze cap, a round-collared robe (Tang), a round-collared gown (Song) or a coiled-collar robe (Ming), a jade waistband, and black leather boots became the typical image of ancient Chinese officials' clothes.

The official robes of these three dynasties did not change much in style, and official ranks were related to the color of the clothing. For example, in the fourth year of the Zhenguan Period of the Tang Dynasty (630) and the first year of the Shangyuan Period (674), two decrees made stipulations about clothing colors and ornaments. The second decree was more detailed: "Level-3 and higher civil and military officials' clothes are purple with 13 ornaments on the gold and jade band; Level-4 officials' clothes are deep red with 11 ornaments on the gold band; Level-5 officials' clothes are light red with 10 ornaments on the gold band; Level-6 officials' clothes are deep green with 9 ornaments on the silver band; Level-7 officials' clothes are light green with 9 ornaments on the silver band; Level-8 officials' clothes are deep blue with 9 ornaments on the chalcopyrite band; Level-9 officials' clothes are light blue with 9 ornaments on the chalcopyrite band." The Study of the Music of the Tang Dynasty says, "The colors of Tang officials' clothes depend on their official ranks." These rules regarding clothing colors lasted until China's last feudal dynasty - the Qing Dynasty - exited the stage of history, with only minor adjustments throughout its history. During the Ming Dynasty, the rules were at their most detailed, as can be seen in the following table.

Official robes were at their most sophisticated during the Ming and Qing dynasties due to the embroidered patterns found on the front and back of the robes. According to books of the time, Wu Zetian bestowed embroidered robes on officials during the Tang Dynasty. Birds were embroidered on civil officials' robes, and beasts on military officials' robes. During the Ming Dynasty, these images directly led to the practice of distinguishing the ranks of civil and military officials via the embroidered patches they wore.

The Ming Dynasty's rules on official robes and their patches were as follows (a "cun" is a Chinese unit of measurement, traditionally the width of the thumb across the knuckle):

The above rules were not absolute and sometimes changed. In the Jiajing Period (1522-1566), Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty created detailed rules regarding officials' home clothes as well - for example, Level-1, Level-2 and Level-3 officials' clothes featured woven cloud patterns, Level 4 and lower officials' clothes did not have patterns but had blue edges, Level-3 and higher officials' clothes were edged with gold-thread, and gold thread was not used on the clothing of officials at Level-4 and below.

The rulers of the Qing Dynasty were Manchus. Because they valued convenience, Han clothes were banned and the new dynasty ordered the Han people to follow Manchu customs. Qing officials' clothes had distinctive Manchu characteristics - they mainly wore robes, gowns, traditional jackets and trousers. All these items had been loose-fitting clothes with broad sleeves but the Qing changed them to tight clothes with narrow sleeves. The front was fastened with buttons instead of the silk bands previously used by the Han. There was usually no collar, and a separate collar in the shape of an ox tongue was worn. Summer and winter hats were worn in the appropriate seasons, with peacock feathers inserted in the back.

It is interesting that even though Qing officials' clothes were quite different from Ming officials' clothes in style, Ming officials robes' patches remained on Qing official robes. Civil officials' clothes still had bird patterns, and military officials' clothes still had animal patterns, with only some adjustments. The Compilation of the Qing Dynasty's Regulations contains the following guide:

Back then, provincial judges and imperial supervisors still wore patches with xiezhi unicorn patterns, and other officials also used patches with Sun and cloud patterns, sunflower patterns and oriole patterns. Among Qing official robes, patched clothes were placed on robes with a slightly shorter body and flat cuffs, revealing the horse-hoof sleeves of the wearer's inner clothes. These robes had a big open collar at the shoulders and a string of court beads around the neck. It should be noted that although Qing official robes still had patches, the chest patch was divided into two sections because of the buttons down the front, which looked like a complete block after the buttons were fastened.

Although there were many rules regarding official cap buttons, court beads, jade bands and colors of clothing, robe patches reflect cultural meaning to the greatest extent. Civil officials' patches have patterns of animals from the real world such as the crane, golden pheasant, peacock, wild goose, silver pheasant, egret, purple mandarin duck, oriole and quail. There are also animals that are partly real, such as the paradise flycatcher, which looks like both the egret and the peacock.

The xiezhi unicorn on judges' patches is a completely mythological animal. According to The Book of the Later Han, "The xiezhi unicorn is a divine goat that can distinguish between right and wrong. The King of Chu once captured it, so it was used as a hat." In this legend, the xiezhi unicorn takes the form of a sheep or deer, but it looks like a qilin unicorn and pixiu beast in paintings. It is said that it can distinguish between right and wrong. Seeing decent people, it attacks evil and crafty people with its horn. Given this story, it is hardly surprising that the xiezhi unicorn appeared on judges' patches.

The patches assigned to military officials were also diverse. Some are real animals such as the lion, tiger and leopard, but the image of the bear is both like a bear and an ox, and the image of the rhinoceros is both like a buffalo and an a ox - so quite different from real rhinoceroses. The sea horse is depicted as a land horse running on blue water, which is, uniquely, the result of the Chinese view of this animal. These renderings of animals are very imaginative, showing that patches took on symbolic meaning in ancient Chinese people's minds as well as being part of the hierarchy of ancient Chinese society. These symbols were required for their ability to denote status and role and they did not need to be rooted in reality. For example, the qilin unicorn has some of the characteristics of an African giraffe - but it also has a horn but does not attack people, and has hoofs but does not kick people. It has long front legs and short back legs. It is good at running, has a hoarse voice, and can travel 1,000 li (a unit of distance) in a day... Isn't this a giraffe? But if we look at an image of a qilin unicorn we find that it is like a dragon, a horse, and a little bit like a lion.

The designs found on official robes are a highlight of Chinese clothing, epitomizing the ways in which ancient Chinese people thought - they are also cultural symbols.