A Complex Necklace

At any royal or imperial court, formal dress and the symbols on it were used to assign and display rank. This is comparable to the epaulets and insignias on military uniforms, or crowns and coronets in accordance with ranks of nobility in European traditions. At the Qing court, this type of necklace became a similar symbol of rank. The various members of the imperial family and the highest military and civil officials were all allowed to wear one befitting their rank. This particular necklace was worn by the highest members of the Qing court: the emperor, empress-dowager, empress, or crown prince. We can see it in the portrait of Empress Xiaozhuang above (the first picture). Women also wore two other necklaces with small beads made of coral crossed in front of their chest. Similar necklaces can be seen in portraits of officials and emperors from the earliest to the last days of the dynasty.

They are a feature of official dress that is unique to the Qing dynasty. No other dynasty in Chinese history has incorporated similar necklaces as a part of court or official attire. This begs the question: why their sudden appearance during this period?

The Manchus completed their conquest of the territories of the old Ming dynasty halfway through the 17th century. This is right around the time the imperial necklaces start to make an appearance in official portraits.[cf, p 135] The obvious explanation would be the most simple, but also incorrect: the Manchus conquered China and introduced the imperial necklaces, and the necklace was already a cultural feature of the Manchus before this, much like their queues. In fact, it was not. These necklaces did not emerge from Manchu culture, nor were they ever a part of the preceding Ming dynasty’s official dress. The origin can be found in a different tradition entirely, for which we will soon look to western China.

For now, it is important to stress that the necklaces evolved from simpler forms to become complex and uniquely Qing artifacts. Unique here means not just that it originated in the Qing dynasty and was not found elsewhere: it also signifies that the necklaces carry within them an amalgamation of features that only came into existence precisely because the necklaces originated in the multi-ethnic Qing empire and its diverse traditions.

So let us find out where the necklace came from, and how it changed.