ETHAS 039021

Chine veste-surtout impériale

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039021
Imperial surcoat, gunfu 袞服
China
Early 19th century
Embroidered satin
Acquired in 1977
A dragon with five claws, seen from the front, is embroidered on the front, back and shoulders of the jacket; the red character of longevity (shou 壽) can also be seen. The medallion on the left bears a rooster embroidered over the sun; the medallion on the right has a rabbit over the moon; this jacket therefore belonged to the emperor himself. It is thought to be earlier than the mid 19th century, because the character of longevity was replaced at that date by a constellation and a mountain, two more of the twelve imperial symbols.

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Inventaire original MEG. Registres tapuscrits, volumes 19 à 59
Registres_tapuscrits/39021.pdf

 

Power

Power within a society is expressed firstly by the superiority of physical force and weapons. It is then consolidated by the development of administrative, governmental and economic systems and a hierarchy, which may be highly centralised, as in China and Japan, or more diversified, as in India or the former East Indies.

Imperial China

Despite the immensity of its empire, the Chinese court was the most centralised and one of the most sumptuous in the world until its downfall in 1911. Its power depended on a formidable administrative pyramid and the uniform use of Chinese writing throughout the empire.

Empress Dowager Cixi escorted by eunuchs, around 1903-1904 © Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M.

Empress Dowager Cixi escorted by eunuchs, around 1903-1904 © Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Bibliograpy

  • CRICK, Monique et DUCOR, Jérôme (dir.). 2004. Sous la griffe du Dragon. Costumes de cour de la dynastie Qing (1644-1911) des collections Baur et du Musée d'ethnographie de Genève. Catalogue d'exposition. Genève: Collections Baur / Milan: 5 Continents Edit, n° 16

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