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Unknown Maker, Chinese

Jiangyi (robe of descent)

Maker

Culture

Chinese

Title

Jiangyi (robe of descent)

Year

1800s

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Geography

Place Made: China

Dimensions

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

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich

Object Number

35.417

Type

Costume

Exhibition History

From the Land of the Immortals

Chinese Taoist Robes and Textiles

Jan 13, 2012 – Apr 22, 2012

Label copy

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.

Image use

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Chinese

Jiangyi (robe of descent), 1800s

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

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

Gift of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich 35.417

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