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| Dragon Robe (Longpao) |
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The robe embroidered with dragon patterns was made for the exclusive
use of an emperor during the Qing dynasty. The ritual of embroidering
dragon patterns on the emperor's robe, however, dates back to as
early as the Zhou Dynasty (11"' cen-tury-256 B.C.). During
the Yuan and Ming, the emperors were already wearing robes graced
with dragon patterns, but it was not until the Qing that they were
named "dragon robes" and became part of the official attire
system.
A dragon robe is either yellow or apricot-yellow in colour, and
embroidered with nine yellow drag-ons and five-hued auspicious
cloud patterns. The clouds are interlaced with twelve other patterns?the
sun, the moon and stars (representing the light of the throne),
mountains (synonymous to stability), dragon (symbolizing adaptability
to changes) auspicious bird (denoting elegance and beauty) water
reeds (which represent pu-rity and cleanness), and fire (meaning
light).
According to imperial Qing rituals, the emperor's dragon robe
was a kind of auspicious attire for lower-grade celebrations and
ceremonies-it was by no means the highest grade of imperial attire.
The dragon robe that was passed down from one emperor to another
is embroidered with a dragon on the front and the back, before
or behind the knees, on the shoulders, and on the lining of the
chest. Thus a total of nine dragons are embroidered on a dragon
robe.
Observed from the front or behind it, five dragons could be seen
at a glance, because in Chinese tradition the figures nine and
five tallied with the dignity of the throne.
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