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Judging from the above discussion, it is clear that the
                                                            design of Ming empresses’ crowns did not simply revive
                                                            earlier customs, but rather elements of the past were
                                                            selectively appropriated and modified. The Ming dynasty
                                                            also continued a regulation that began in the Southern Song
                                                            dynasty, whereby only the empress among imperial women
                                                            was allowed to reproduce the dragon motif on her costume.
                                                            Surviving Ming dynasty records provide detailed dress
                                                            codes that elucidate this distinction. As noted earlier, the
                                                            routine crown of Empress Xu depicted both dragons and
                                                            phoenixes. The significance of this is clear when it is
                                                            compared to the dress code of lower-ranked consorts.
                                                            According to the Statutes, the routine court dress of
                                                            secondary consorts (huangfei 皇妃) includes a crown of luan 鸞
                                                            and feng 鳳, and a robe embroidered with images of these
                                                                                                34
                                                            two mythical birds with similar appearances.  Feng is
                                                            usually translated as ‘phoenix’, whereas there is no
                                                            consensus on the English equivalent of luan.  Both appear
                                                                                               35
                                                            on the routine court costume of the heir’s consort, while
                                                            only feng appears on the costume of the wives of princes.
                                                                                                         36
                                                            The same observation can be made of first-grade
                                                            ceremonial costumes: the empress wore a crown with nine
                                                            dragons and four phoenixes, with a large dragon at the
                                                            centre.  This crown is paired with a dark blue robe
                                                                  37
                                                            decorated with pheasant (di 翟) motifs. Secondary consorts
                                                            wore a crown of nine pheasants and four phoenixes and a
         Plate 7.7 Anonymous, Official Portrait of Yuan Empress Chabi, Wife   robe decorated with further phoenixes, as did the heir’s
         of Qubilai Khan. Album leaf, ink, colour and gold on silk, height   consort.  The burial objects of Lady Wei 魏 (d. 1451), wife of
                                                                   38
         61.2cm, width 47.6cm. National Palace Museum, Taipei  Prince Zhuang of Liang 梁莊王 (1411–41), excavated from
                                                            their shared tomb in Zhongxiang 鐘祥, Hubei 湖北
         with flower design attached to the mouth of a central dragon   province, include finely crafted examples of jewellery
                          32
         motif on the crowns.  How this double hanging pearl   depicting phoenixes with elaborate tail feathers, which
         feature on Ming crowns is related to steppe customs will   would have been appropriate for her rank (Pl. 7.8).  Ming
                                                                                                     39
         require further research. But it is interesting to note that long   sumptuary laws contradict a common assumption that the
         pendants attached to crowns were a feature of gold crowns   phoenix represented the empress. In fact, according to the
         from the Silla kingdom (57 bce–935 ce) in the Korean   Statutes, the emblem that distinguished an empress from
         peninsula, which in turn may be connected to crowns found   other imperial and royal women during the early Ming
         in the Afghanistan region.                         dynasty was not the phoenix but the dragon, or the dragon
                              33
                                                            in combination with other divine birds. Indeed, in the
         Plate 7.8 Gold phoenix pendant, dated 1432, Yinzuoju 銀作局   context of ceremonial costumes, the textual records indicate
         (Jewellery Service). Height 14.2cm, width 7.8cm; weight 72.4g.   that the phoenix might even be lower in prestige than the
         Hubei Provincial Museum, excavated from the tomb of the Prince   pheasant in the hierarchy of motifs, since the ordinary
         Zhuang of Liang and Lady Wei at Zhongxiang, Hubei province
                                                            costume of a prince’s consort could only be decorated with
                                                            phoenixes.
                                                               The importance of the dragon as an emblem of the
                                                            empress becomes more pronounced in the portraits of
                                                            empresses that succeed Empress Xu in the period 1400 to
                                                            1450. The portrait of Empress Zhang 張 (d. 1442), consort of
                                                            the Hongxi 洪熙 emperor (r. 1425), appears very similar to
                                                            that of her predecessor (Pl. 7.9). They both wear the same
                                                            costumes and the overall design of their crowns appears the
                                                            same. However, when considered closely, the crown depicted
                                                            in Empress Zhang’s portrait clearly differs from the earlier
                                                            example and descriptions in the Statutes. The phoenixes that
                                                            adorned Empress Xu’s crown have all been replaced by
                                                            dragons, including the decoration on the curved extensions
                                                            at the back of the crown. The dragons on Empress Zhang’s
                                                            crown are also larger in size and fiercer, with powerful
                                                            bodies and flame-like forms emanating from them. Rather
                                                            than a ‘phoenix crown’, her crown can be more aptly



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