id: 126531 accession number: 1948.69 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1948.69 updated: 2023-01-10 23:03:19.770000 Rank Badge (buzi), 1736–95. China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Qianlong reign (1735-95). Silk, satin weave; silk embroidery; overall: 31.8 x 30.5 cm (12 1/2 x 12 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1948.69 title: Rank Badge (buzi) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1736–95 creation date earliest: 1736 creation date latest: 1795 current location: creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund copyright: --- culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Qianlong reign (1735-95) technique: silk, satin weave; silk embroidery department: Textiles collection: Textiles type: Embroidery find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 31.8 x 30.5 cm (12 1/2 x 12 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: A Study Exhibition of Chinese Textiles of the Ming and Ch'ing Periods opening date: 1947-12-12T05:00:00 A Study Exhibition of Chinese Textiles of the Ming and Ch'ing Periods. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 1947-October 9, 1948). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: Rank badges (also called rank insignia or Mandarin squares) were used in China during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties to demonstrate the wearer’s rank. In 1391 new clothing regulations directed court officials to wear decorative squares indicating their rank—birds for civil officials and animals for military officials. During the Qing dynasty rank badge design was regulated, and certain creatures were associated with specific ranks. Qing badges depict a representation of the universe with a landscape and a central creature, surrounded by clouds and facing the sun. The sun represented the emperor and this composition showed the official’s loyalty to him. An official’s wife wore rank badges that mirrored her husband’s. Most of the examples in CMA’s collection depict creatures facing a sun on the left. Attached to the front and back of a ceremonial robe, rank badges were woven in pairs with identical imagery. One was divided vertically up the center to attach to the front of a robe with a center opening. Rank badges are generally square or rectangular, although round examples exist. They are typically satin weave or slit tapestry weave (kesi) silk. Satin weave badges often have dark backgrounds with silk and/or metal thread embroidery. Some badges incorporate peacock feathers or beads. Late in the Qing dynasty appliqué replaced embroidery to allow for quicker production and a change in rank. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cammann, Schuyler. “The Development of the Mandarin Square.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 8, no. 2 (1944): 71–130. page number: url: Cammann, Schuyler. “Embroidery Techniques in Old China.” Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America 16 (1962): 16–40. page number: url: Cammann, Schuyler. “Costume in China, 1644 to 1912.” Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin 75, no. 326 (1979): 3–19. page number: url: Cammann, Schuyler V.R." Other Mandarin Squares: Korean, Annamese and Unfamiliar Examples." Arts of Asia. [Kowloon, Hong Kong]: [Arts of Asia Publications], (March-April 1992). page number: p. 115-126 url: 香港市政局與香港東方陶瓷學會合辦 ; 遼寧省博物館協辦 ; 香港藝術館籌劃 = Heavens' embroidered cloths : one thousand years of Chinese textiles / jointly presented by the Urban Council, Hong Kong and the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong ; in association with the Liaoning Provincial Museum ; organized by the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong. Urban Council, Hong Kong. Urban Council, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, 遼寧省博物館, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, and Liaoning Sheng bo wu guan. 錦繡羅衣巧天工. Hong Kong: Urban Council, 1995. page number: url: Wrigglesworth, Linda. "Making the Grade", the Badge of Rank III: Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties : December 4th to 24th 1996, London. London: Linda Wrigglesworth, 1996. page number: url: Jackson, Beverley, and David Hugus. Ladder to the Clouds: Intrigue and Tradition in Chinese Rank. Berkeley, Calif: Ten Speed Press, 1999. page number: url: Hall, Chris. Power Dressing: Textiles for Rulers and Priests from the Chris Hall Collection. Singapore: Asian Civilisations Museum, 2006. page number: url: Watt, James C. Y. “The Giraffe As the Mythical Qilin in Chinese Art: A Painting and a Rank Badge in the Metropolitan Museum.” Metropolitan Museum Journal 43 (2008). page number: p. 111–15 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.69/1948.69_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.69/1948.69_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1948.69/1948.69_full.tif