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Chinese, China

Jiangyi (robe of descent), 1800s

Description

Maker

Culture

Chinese

Title

Jiangyi (robe of descent)

Year

1800s

Medium

Silk, gilt paper, metallic-wrapped yarn; satin weave, embroidered

Dimensions

Center back length: 143.5 cm (56 1/2 inches)

Place

China

Type

Credit

Gift of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich

Object Number

35.417

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

From the Land of the Immortals

January 13 - April 22, 2012

This yellow jiangyi is heavily decorated with embroidered symbols. In addition to the standard square patch of Taoist cosmology (sun, moon, Three Purities, stars,
tower, and mountains), five dragons occupy prominent positions at the center and four corners of the robe, probably symbolizing the five Chinese directions (east,
west, north, south, and center). The dragon in the center is shown frontally flanked by two phoenixes. The others, shown in profile, fly amid auspicious symbols,
including cranes, bats, clouds, and flames. Below are abstract renderings of five mountains amid water, possibly a reference to the five islands of immortality, the residences of Taoist immortals that were said to float in the Bohai Sea, off China’s eastern coast. The red border is decorated with peonies alternating with shou (longevity) characters at both sides. The bottom border features the symbols of the Eight Trigrams of the Yijing (I-Ching or Book of Changes) interspersed with lotuses floating on cosmic waters.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Jiangyi (robe of descent) with the accession number of 35.417. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.