Page 85 - Ming_China_Courts_and_Contacts_1400_1450 Craig lunas

Plate 7.12 Carved red lacquer table.
Lacquer on a wooden core, gilded
metal fittings, Xuande mark and
period, 1426–35, Beijing. Height
79.2cm, width 119.5cm, depth 84.5cm.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
FE.6:1 to 4-1973
emperor who ruled for only one year, and her son, the between the design of empress’ crowns and marriage and
Xuande emperor. The History of the Ming records that she had property laws. However, given their symbolic significance,
‘thorough knowledge of the government affairs of China and changes to the design of crowns and other aspects of regalia
abroad’ (Zhongwai zhengshi mo bu zhouzhi 中外政事莫不周知), could be symptomatic of broader trends in normative gender
and made most of the major military and state decisions relations, which the emperor and empress personally
during the early part of the Xuande reign. Moreover, she embodied.
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enjoyed extraordinary visibility in the wider realm. In 1429, Within the 50 years in question, we can observe a range
the Xuande emperor accompanied her on a visit to the of experiences in empresses’ lives. This was a period that saw
newly built imperial tombs where they were greeted by the contributions of Empress Zhang and Empress Xu to
crowds of people who had gathered at the site. On this court culture. Empress Xu’s strong character is suggested by
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journey, the empress summoned a peasant woman to the account that when she was still a princess she mobilised
enquire about her livelihood, and with the emperor tasted army wives to defend Beijing while her husband was away on
the foods that were offered. The importance of her role as a military campaign. As an empress, she is known for the
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mentor to the emperor and as a model empress is expressed publication of religious and didactic texts that were
in the historical records. Judging from the portraits, her presented as diplomatic gifts and distributed to members of
successor Empress Sun appeared to model herself the court and beyond. Yet it was also within this period that
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completely on the then dowager empress, including in terms
of the portrayal of her facial features. Plate 7.13 Blue-and-white porcelain dish, Xuande mark and period,
On the other hand, the adoption of an imperial symbol 1426–35, Jingdezhen. Height 4.5cm, diameter 20cm. British
that is conventionally associated with the emperor on the Museum, London, 1973,0726.361
costumes of empresses suggests a reduction in the scope for a
distinct visual language of female authority, such as the
representation of the Queen Mother of the West and her
entourage that were a feature on the crowns of Song
empresses. Instead, the emblem of dragons that Ming
empresses share with emperors and princes stresses their
place as wife and mother in the imperial bloodline, so that
empress-ship was conceptualised and integrated even more
firmly within the patriarchal system than before. The
greater emphasis on the patriline suggested by the empress’
dragon emblem is consistent with broader changes in society
from the Yuan dynasty onwards. As Bettine Birge observes,
there was a shift towards ‘Confucian patrilineal ideals’ in
China as a result of the ‘confrontation between Chinese and
Mongol culture in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries’.
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New marriage and inheritance laws were established that
favoured men over women, essentially stripping women of
their property rights and their freedom to remarry. These
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laws were adopted and promoted under the Ming dynasty.
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This is not to suggest that there was a direct causal link

The Empress’ Dragon Crown: Establishing Symbols of Imperial Authority in the Early Ming | 75