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Plate 7.3 Empress’s crown in Collected Statutes of the Great Ming Plate 7.4 Empress’ robe in Collected Statutes of the Great Ming (Da
(Da Ming huidian大明會典), reprint of the 1587 edition (Taipei Ming huidian大明會典), reprint of the 1587 edition (Taipei 1963),
1963), juan 60.35, p. 1084 juan 60.36, p. 1084

embroidered with dragon motifs. Empress Xu’s appearance crowns had indeed become a part of the standard
in her portrait matches the Yongle-period description of an accoutrement of empresses. It is beyond the scope of this
empress’ routine court dress in the Statutes, including specific chapter to trace the development of empress’ crowns in
details such as the red coral that highlights the mouth and China, but interactions with steppe cultures in the north
crown of the phoenixes near the front of the headdress. where elite women customarily wore tall gilded crowns, as
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Empresses in China’s history did not always wear crowns well as links with ornate decoration on religious icons, are
as part of their ceremonial outfit. The Zhouli 周禮 (Rites of potentially worthwhile avenues for further research. 20
Zhou), dating from the 3rd century bce, names the In the portraits of Song empresses, also in the National
ceremonial costumes worn by emperors and empresses, Palace Museum, Taipei, we find crowns that are similar in
which formed the basis for imperial dress codes of subsequent design to those from the Ming dynasty. The crown
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dynasties. According to the Zhouli, empresses wore robes depicted in the portrait of Empress Yang 楊 (1162–1232) of
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that were decorated with colourful pheasant motifs, known the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), for instance,
by various names such as zhi 雉, hui 翬 and di 翟. This design contains many of the elements inherited by the Ming. It is
continued in the Ming dynasty on the first-grade ceremonial dome-shaped, with a principal dragon motif surrounded by
costumes of empresses. However, the same text makes no smaller dragons, phoenixes and flowers, as well as curved
mention of matching headdresses for empresses, even though panels extending from the back (Pl. 7.5). Perhaps this is the
those worn by emperors are listed. It was only centuries later ‘dragon phoenix flower hairpin crown’ mentioned in the
during the Song dynasty (960–1279) that crowns officially History of the Song. While there are clear similarities between
became a part of the written dress code for empresses. Prior the crowns depicted in Song and Ming portraits, there are
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to this, elite women wore a variety of headdresses, wigs as also a number of significant differences. One distinctive
well as elaborate hair ornaments that appeared to be dictated feature of Song crowns that does not appear on the Ming
more by fashion than by official regulation. According to versions is the small figures located among the dragons and
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the Song shi 宋史 (History of the Song), consorts could wear phoenixes. In Empress Yang’s portrait, some of these figures
crowns decorated with nine pheasants and four phoenixes. are riding the mythical creatures; others are positioned as a
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In 1139, after the capital moved to the south, the dress code procession along the rim. This feature can also be found in
was amended to stipulate specifically that only empresses the portraits of other Song empresses, none as spectacularly
wore a ‘dragon phoenix flower hairpin crown’ (long feng hua rendered as in the portrait of Empress Liu 劉 (969–1033),
chai guan 龍鳳花釵冠). Portraits of Song empresses in the consort of Zhenzong 真宗 (r. 997–1022). In this portrait, the
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National Palace Museum, Taipei, confirm that elaborate empress is shown with a crown decorated with a large group

70 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450