The Manchurian Princess

The princesses of the Manchurian court and maidens of noble families were a signature sight of China’s last dynasty, the Qing (1644-1911 C.E.). These ladies wore elaborate headdresses, elevated shoes, and long qipao gowns with lavish embellishments along with their collars, hems, and slits made of heavy satin or silk. Perhaps for every fashionista, beauty comes at a price, and this was indeed the case for Manchurian women.

Manchurian ladies wore huge fan-shaped headdresses decorated with flowers on the front and back, with two strings of tassels running down each side. What’s more, the ladies’ pedestal shoes had “heels” in the middle of the footwear, which forced them to walk in tiny steps while gently swinging their arms to and fro. Sewn with beautiful floral designs and patterns, the shoes are made and set atop an elevated base creating a flower-pot effect; hence they’re called “flower-pot shoes.”

Now, it’s important we don’t confuse between the Manchurian and Chinese qipaos. These two qipaos have similar designs but are strikingly different in terms of style. The Chinese qipao originated from Shanghai and became popular during the 20th century. They were evening dresses for women and were designed to be sleeveless and tight-fitted. The Manchurian qipao, however, is attire that could be worn in all seasons. Greatly adorned and made with satin or silk, these one-piece dresses ran from the collar down to the ankle, with a small opening down the side of the calves. The dresses are also worn with matching pants, ensuring only the head, hands, and feet are exposed. In the winter, Manchurian qipao also often embeds cotton or fur to keep the ladies warm.

So, what exactly are these ladies called? Their title, “ge-ge,” originated from a Manchurian term meaning “miss” or “lady.” Ge-ge are known, even to this day, for holding themselves with dignified grace and beauty while strolling the halls of the Manchurian court. They presented perfect posture and etiquette, greeting their superiors with a gentle toss of their hand-held silk handkerchief, or curtsying on the side to express respect. In public view, the ge-ge were a symbol of ultimate beauty and elegance, so they always had to be mindful of their every move to stay graceful.

With such high demands, perhaps the happiest time in the day of these ladies was when they took off their flower-pot shoes. Yet, this way of life was also deeply rewarding for themselves and inspiring for those who looked upon them and admired the purity of their beauty.

An Elegant Manchurian Bookmark
What better way to capture the image of Manchurian grace than your favorite page holder? Featuring a beautifully colored silhouette of a Manchurian princess on 24K gold, this ultra-thin and ultra-light bookmark comes with a tassel that will conveniently help you pick up right where you left off. Stylistic and practical, this bookmark will surely be any bookworm’s best friend.

How authentic are the accessories worn by the empress and concubines in hit TV drama?

The 70-episode Qing dynasty imperial drama Story of Yanxi Palace concluded on August 27 on video platform iQiyi, garnering more than 15 billion views by its finale. Yet, in Hong Kong, the final episode will air on TVB Jade this Saturday.

The whole city is astir over the drama, from its Qing dynasty settings to the ancient Chinese make-up and the intricate costume design.

What made the drama so successful? Thanks to the high standards and meticulous research of the production team, which made the whole drama come alive and immerse its viewers, employing an array of highly authentic props and remaining true to history.

Here we take a look at the accessories of the concubines who appear in the drama, find out the origins of these items and compare some of them with authentic ones from the Palace Museum in Beijing, in order to appreciate the Chinese imperial aesthetic.

Court Dress in Qing Dynasty

Dragon robes

Winter court hats of empress dowagers and empresses were made of fumed marten and sewn with red wefts. Their hats adorned with pearl, gold pheasant patterns, gems and jade ornaments had protective collar behind the neck with drooping bright yellow ribbons. Summer court hats were made of cyan velvet.

Empress dowagers, queens and high-ranked imperial concubines used cyan sheets with gold-wrapped metal trims to decorate their court costumes; images of dragons and Chinese charactersFu(blessing) andShou(longevity) were embroidered on the clothes. The winter court robes of empress dowagers, queens and high-ranked imperial concubines were bright yellow, and also decorated with images of dragon patterns. Necklines of dresses of empress dowagers and queens were made of golden filament and decorated with pearls, turquoises and jade ornaments. Three sets of necklaces were hung on the chest when empress dowagers and queens wore court robes. When an empress dowager or queen was in auspicious clothing, she always wore one set of necklace made of pearls, jade and other top-grade materials. Court necklaces of imperial concubines were decorated with ambers, each having 108 beads in four parts divided by three big ones.

In the Qing Dynasty only Emperors had the privilege of wearing the dragon robes decorative of the dragons with 12 insignia badges, whose designing include circular collar,big front,right border(opening),narrow and comprehensive sleeves with sleeve end of horse shoes shape.The demy front and back of the robe was sumptuously embroidered 9 dragons and embellished with gold, pearls and precious stones. In the front of the robe collar was embroidered with one front dragon each and at the joining of the left and right borders have decorative dragons each, while there is a front dragon at the end of horseheel-shaped sleeves. The collar and sleeves were brimmed with azurite gold satins. The clothing materials could be changed according to seasons, for instance, cotton, gauge, sandwich blend, or fur, etc.

Emperor's court crowns fall into two categories:winter and summer crowns.

The appearance of winter court crown is a slope-shaped round top edged with an upward brim.It is made of fur or black fox skin topped with jewel crown including golden screws carved golden dragons and clouds and embedded with oriental jewel. The jewel top is divided into three tiers:the bottom is a base decorated with 4 front dragons around 4 oriental pearls; the second and the third tiers was decorated with 4 rising dragons around 4 oriental pearls respectively; while each tiers has one oriental pearl connect. The jewel top decorated with 15 oriental pearls in total while a big oriental pearl was embedded on the top. 

Empress court crown

Empress winter court crown was made of black fur and whose appearance is in semi-conical shape embellished a red weft and a brim around it. The crown top is similar in appearance of a pagoda, which was divided into three tiers with one oriental peal and one phoenix decorated 3 big oriental pearls each and at each holding a big oriental pearl in the upper mouth.The red weft-knitting was embellished with 7 golden phoenixes while each phoenix was decorated with 9 oriental pearls and a cat's eye, while there were 21 pearls on each phoenix tail. The back of the crown was decorated with golden pheasants hanging down to the pearl knot with 5 pendant strings of 64 beads, which meant’the five elements, mental, wood, water, fire and earth, held by ancient to compose the physical universe’and two achievements. A collar protector shaped in bottle gourd hanging down from the brim lining in the back of the crown while under the collar protector hanging down two yellow silk ribbons without any jewel decoration. The left and right sides of the court crown was made of blue and green cotton flannel. Other moldings are similar to that of winter court crown.