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 Clothes and those for the use of an emperor
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.jpg) Imperial Jade Seal
Seal made of jade and
metal is called as imperial seal.
This Imperial Jade Seal is the seal specially
used by Emperor QianLong. |
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Three-inch “golden lotuses”, woman's bound feet
in feudal age
.jpg)
In the ancient ideas,
the daughters in aristocrat families would be foot-bound since very young. In
ancient China, girls with small feet were thought to be beautiful. Manual foot binding started from the Five
Dynasties. According to the ancient books, Li Yu, the Last Emperor of Southern
Tang once ordered a concubine good at dancing to bind her foot with silk and
enable her feet to bend upwards just like the crescent. Then, the concubine’s
dance was more graceful due to the thin-small feet and light-footed touchdown.
The other maids of honor imitated her one after the other. Till the Northern
Song Dynasty, the foot-binding became vogue in folklore. As the vogue passed
by, men of literature and writing all praised highly that “Three-inch Golden
Lotuses” was the necessary condition of a beauty. Moreover, different sizes
represented different statuses.
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1. Snuff bottle of female role in the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Qing
Dynasty
Snuff was
carried over from the West to China in modern times, which was kept in the
snuffbox at the earliest. However, when smoking snuff became the vogue in
China, for easy carryover, the snuff is placed in small medicine bottles, which
have developed gradually to the snuff bottle with practicability and artistry.
Although snuff bottle has a history of only 300 years,
since smoking snuff became the vogue in all social levels in Qing Dynasty, to
meet this requirement, snuff bottle show extraordinary talents in aesthetics
due to creativity and became one of the important characteristics of arts in
Qing Dynasty.
Q1. When did the snuff bottle become the vogue?
A1. It became the vogue from Qing Dynasty and its ancestor
is the gallipot.
Q2. What are the functions of the
snuff bottle?
A2. It was used for
refreshing in ancient times. The civil and military officials would smoke the
snuff bottle for refreshing when they were tired and out of spirits in the
court.
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Fair mug
  
(Fair mugs are divided
into gold dragon and green dragon ones. Gold dragon mug, seen from the name
including “gold”, we know it was used by the emperor, while, the green dragon
mug was used by the officials of that time. Pay attention! Fair mug is named
after that, when the emperor entertained the guests or visitants, he would
drink with them; the wine held in the mug would flow into the mechanism in the
mug when it exceeded 80% and then dropped in the dish under the mug. Look
carefully, when there were bubbles bubbling up from the mechanism (small
holes), the wine began to flow away. Accordingly, wines in the mugs of whether
the superior emperor or the common officials of that time could be only 80%, which
represented “Everyone is equal”. Moreover, the mug with this design told us
virtually “Everyone shall not be fond of drink!” (Green dragon mug used by
officials), (golden dragon mug used by emperor) and more importantly the
readable slogan “Do not drive after drinking and do not drink before driving!”
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Golden Embroidered Clothes
This work is of Early
Western Han Dynasty and the jade clothes of King of Yunnan in Shizhaishan
Ancient Tomb, with a length of 188cm and composed of 2498 jade pieces, like the
real clothes. The clothes is made through rectangular, square, triangular and
trapeziform jade pieces sewn with golden thread from the hold in the feet, with
a golden thread weight of 1100g. It is composed of 12 parts, i.e. the head
hood, mask, front and rear pieces of the coat, two sleeves, two gloves, two
trouser legs and two foot straps and is the buster of Chinese jade noblemen.
Ancient noblemen used jade clothes for encoffining and burial to pray for
immortal corpses. However, only the emperors could use the Golden Embroidered
Clothes. Dukes or princes under an emperor and princess could use the Golden
Embroidered Clothes, but great noblemen and princess royal could only use the
cooper embroidered clothes. Estimated according to the technological level
nowadays, a Golden Embroidered Clothes needs 100,000 work days. No one would
have this kind of financial resources other than the emperor and the
noblemen.
Ancient noblemen used jade clothes to pray for immortal corpses.
However, only the emperors could use the Golden Embroidered Clothes.
Afterwards, noblemen and princess could use the form of Golden Embroidered
Clothes for burial, but substituted by cooper embroidered clothes. A Golden
Embroidered Clothes needed 100,000 work days.
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Warm keeping hat
This is the warm keeping hat used by the emperor
for protection against cold.
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Source: Lujhou City The Forbidden CityMuseum
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