China's royal robes on display in Hong Kong

02 Aug '13

2 min read

Royal costumes of China’s Qing emperors are on show in Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Museum of History in Kowloon city.

The exhibition titled ‘The Splendours of Royal Costume: Qing Court Attire’ features over 130 costumes picked from a collection of over 100,000 textile pieces on show at the Palace Museum’s collections.

Over 60 percent of the 130 pieces have never been showcased outside the Mainland prior to this, while 30 percent of the pieces have been put up for display for the first time.

The pieces on show include official, festive, regular-wear, travel, military and leisure costumes of the rulers and the staff.

The collection includes the dragon robe of Emperor Yongzheng, festive robe of Emperor Shunzhi, court robe of Emperor Qianlong, matrimonial dragon robes of Emperor and Empress Guangxu, leisure dresses of Empress Dowager and the surcoat of Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing dynasty.

The court attire of the Qing dynasty depicts the hierarchical system of the imperial court system and also how the system of Qing court attire served to differentiate rank and status in society.

To help the visitors better understand the detailing of the Qing court attire, the museum is also hosting two multimedia programs called ‘Seasonal Activities of an Emperor’ and ‘Making a New Robe for the Emperor’.

The first program presents a range of costumes that the emperor and empress donned in different seasons and at various occasions during the year like New Year, grand inspections, the Seven Sisters Festival and while paying homage to the heaven.

The second program tries to explain the process of preparation of the emperor’s costume and also details about their designs and fabric.

The expo organised by the Hong Kong Museum of History and the Palace Museum would run till October 7, 2013.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India