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An apricot-ground ‘dragon’ robe, Jiaqing; image courtesy of the An apricot-ground silk embroidered ‘dragon’ robe, late 18th century;
Palace Museum, Beijing illustrated by R.D.Jacobsen, Imperial Silks: Ch’ing Dynasty Textiles in the
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, vol.1, Minnesota, 2000, pp.146-147, no.44

Dragon robes thus became supreme significant social markers Wearing robes decorated with dragons, therefore, facilitated the
representing access to power. The right to wear such garments Manchus’ transformation of their image in the eyes of the Han
was dependent on rank and status. The Manchu rulers of the Qing populations from chieftains to legitimate rulers of China. The Qing
dynasty were keen on projecting an evocative and powerful image robes, however, had their own distinctive shapes and trimmings. For
of themselves, and their court costumes conveyed legitimacy and example, the slits appearing at the centre seams, at the front and
heritage. Despite their initial reluctance to wear the same type of robes back hem, as well at the sides, were Manchu innovations that made
as their Ming predecessors, by the reign of the Kangxi emperor, the it comfortable for the garment to be worn during riding. In addition,
Manchu elites were keen wearers of richly-ornamented dragon robes dragon robes were secured at the waist with ceremonial belts
on semi-formal court occasions and official duties. suspending narrow and straight streamers, and sometimes, purses.
Other conspicuously-displayed accessories further identified Manchu
In Han Chinese thought, the five-clawed dragon was the quintessential dress, such as a hat, a surcoat and a necklace; see V.Garrett, Chinese
symbol of Imperial power, embodying royalty, dominion and expressing Dress From the Qing Dynasty to the Present, 2008, North Clarendon
the visual metaphor of the good ruler who behaved wisely for the VT, pp.16-17.
wellbeing of his subjects. Capable of flying high in the sky and diving
back into the sea, dragons were regarded as intermediaries between Compare with a related apricot-ground silk embroidered dragon robe,
Heaven and Earth and credited with extraordinary powers that late 18th century, illustrated by R.D.Jacobsen, Imperial Silks: Ch’ing
compared to those of the emperor. Even the number nine, for the Dynasty Textiles in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, vol.1, Minnesota,
dragons depicted on the present robe, is highly evocative and likened 2000, pp.146-147, no.44. See also a related apricot-ground dragon
to the power of Heaven. The product of three threes, nine has a long robe, Jiaqing, in the Qing Court Collection in the Palace Museum,
association with the emperor. In addition, the ‘Records of the Grand Beijing, acc.no.00042987.
Historian’ Shiji, completed during the first century BC, recounts that,
having tamed the floods that once engulfed the land, the mythical
emperor Yu divided the territory into the Nine Provinces and collected
bronze in tribute from each one. Thereafter he cast the metal into nine
large tripod cauldrons. These vessels thus were at the heart of ruler’s
possessions and symbolic conveyers of power.

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