Dragon Robe Item Number: 1050/1 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Blue 'longpao' robe with rounded neck, slender sleeves, hoofed cuffs and side opening with frog closures. There are side slits in the sides, back and front. On the front and back are four-toed dragon, bat, ruyi sceptre, scroll, pair of rectangular and circular ornaments, wave, coral and cloud motifs and the Buddhist and Daoist symbols of good fortune in gold couching on a blue ground. The collar and border bands have dragon, bat and cloud motifs in gold couching on a black ground. The sleeves are black with dragon, bat and cloud motifs on the cuffs. The inside lining is light blue silk.

History Of Use

This robe would have been worn by an official. The Qing dynasty emperors were Manchu, and the cut and contours of their clothing reflected their identity as nomadic horsemen. The overlap at the front would have protected the wearer from the wind as he rode. The cuffs of the sleeves, called “horse-hoof cuffs” because of their shape, decorously covered the wearers’ hands when he prostrated himself before the emperor.

Iconographic Meaning

The nine elaborate dragons stitched onto the surface of the robe were imperial symbols, and the lavish silk, almost covered with heavy gold and silver thread, was in itself an image of wealth and power.