Page 73 - Chiense TExtiles, MET MUSEUM Pub 1934

CHINESE TEXTILES
set greater store by their insignia than did the civil of-
ficials and have doubtless handed them down from one
generation to another with jealous care that the foreign-
er should not find them in the markets.
An almost complete set of the insignia of the eighteen
ranks may be seen in the Gallery of Fine Arts, Yale Uni-
versity, lent by Mrs. Julia St. Clair K~ and we have
learned much by the comparison of our own pieces with
the excellent examples in that collection, which is prob-
ably the most comprehensive in existence. It seems clear,
for instance, that the larger type of square in k' o ssu or
with a heavy gold background belonged to the Ming
dynasty, a theory which is borne out by a study of cos-
tumes in Ming funerary paintings, and we hope in time
to be able to assign any given insigne to the reign of a
definite emperor by its size and style.
In addition to the dragon and the various birds and
animals designating rank already mentioned, there are a
number of other imaginary birds and animals all augur-'
ing good fortune. It is commonly said that as the dragon
is the symbol of the emp:':ror, so is the phoenix the sym-
bol of the empress, and while in general this would seem
to be true, it must be remembered that there are two
phoenixes, and where it is designated as the feng-huang,
we have a dual creature, the fbzg being the male and the
huang the female, so that this phoenix may be a symbol
of both the emperor and the empress.
The ch'i lin, or unicorn, is found frequently outside of
the military insignia and belongs to the class of beasts of
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