You will find the most typical example from the dress of Qing's Emperor and his empress. In addition to his official consort, the empress, the emperor generally had a very large harem of concubines with whom he might father many children, yet all of the emperor's offspring were considered children of the empress. Different dynasties use different colors to make imperial dresses and the Longpao was not always yellow. The ensembles included seasonal variants. In addition, there were a long list of offical rites and duties that the emperor of China had to observe in order to "legitimize" his role as the Son of Heaven, and, as will be seen in the following, thesw rites and duties were part and parcel of an orderly social structure that carved out a role for every member of Chinese society, from the highest station to the most lowly, for if ancient Chinese society could be described by a single word, that word would have to be "structured". Testimonial – depending on the circumstances), wished to give himself a title that would place him in the ranks of China's ancient mythical and semi-mythical sovereigns. 61.8 x 467.8 cm The end of the Warring States Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was the culmination of a long process of the consolidation of numerous warring states, with gradually fewer and fewer but larger states emerging, as lesser (not necessarily smaller, just less powerful) states were absorbed by more powerful states, until, in the end, the 'last state standing' was the Qin State. considered an official duty. Zhuanxu led the Han Chinese people, called at this time the Shi (the tribes, or clans), eastward to the coast (present-day Shandong Province). parents and in expression of the anciently established Chinese state ideology which held that the emperor was not divine but divinely appointed. Other objects of imperial worship were the sun, the moon, Confucius, the emperors of earlier dynasties, the god of agriculture (in a ritual which included the symbolic plowing by the emperor of the first furrow The role of the emperor in Chinese society is an ancient and tradition-bound one, but also a role that is bound up with myth, since the earliest Chinese rulers are at least half if not wholly mythical. the Cycle of Birth and the Cycle of Destruction, both of which continually repeat themselves. Only the emperor's household could have 9 tripod cauldrons, the rulers of vassal states could have 7, high-ranking government ministers (of which there were 9!) The son generally followed the father on the throne, though this was not etched in stone; if there was no male child to succeed the emperor, a younger brother became the new emperor. As indicated, the color yellow was reserved exclusively for the emperor in ancient times, though in later, less autocratic times, mere mortals could also use the color yellow, though, as indicated, not likely in the presence of the emperor! These rituals formed part of the emperor's ancestral worship, which was a practice common to all ancient Chinese religions, from the pre-Taoist, animist religions to Taoism to Chinese Buddhism. Requisite silks, gauzes, satins, brocades and damasks of the highest quality were woven in the imperial weaving factory in Suzhou, and the clothing was sumptuously embroidered and embellished with gold, pearls and precious stones. Additionally, the color yellow is linked to the dragon, which in turn is linked to the emperor, as will be seen in the following. Many of them were brilliant in a certain area but very flawed in other areas. When it comes to Jin dynasty, they prefers red instead for emperor wardrobe design. Just as the color yellow signifies Earth, which, in turn, is the Middle Kingdom, with Heaven above the Middle Kingdom and Humanity below it, meaning that Earth – and, by extension, the emperor – is at the center of everything, the number 5 also signifies the middle, or center position, of the ancient Chinese single-digit numbering system upon which all other numbers were believed to be built (as indicated, the world had not yet discovered the existence of the number 0): 1 - - - 5 - - - 9. The Three Sovereigns are mythical demi-gods who are credited with having introduced all of the elements of culture on which ancient Chinese life was dependent, such as hunting and fishing, agriculture, herbal medicine (Chinese Traditional Medicine), the discovery of tea (and how to drink it) and even the art of writing (as in the so-called Oracle Bone script) and how writing could be used in divination, or the art and science of seeing into the future on the basis of burning animal bones (i.e., shoulder blades or tortoise shells) onto which had been written pointed questions addressed to Heaven. These rituals were ancient, and the continuity of these rituals and the traditions they expressed were in the hands of an enduring bureaucracy. They were considered to be morally perfect. By the time of the subsequent dynasty, the Shang Dynasty (CE 1700-1027), the Nine Tripod Cauldrons of the Nine Provinces had become a symbol of the sovereign's power and authority. You will find the most typical example from the dress of Qing's Emperor and his empress. The emperor's personal worship of Heaven at the Temple of Heaven took place during the winter solstice and on New Year’s Day (from 1742 on). When the conquering Manchus overthrew the reigning Ming dynasty and established the Qing dynasty in 1644, they announced that the Ming had lost the Mandate of Heaven. Alas, not all – nor even the majority – of Chinese emperors lived up to this ideal, even remotely. Of course today, most references to the emperors of the post-Qin period make do with the shortened "Di" suffix, even though in older texts, one sees the longer "Huangdi" suffix. In addition, as will be seen in the following, there are constraints by the people upon the emperor – the "divinity" of the Chinese emperor, unlike a European sovereign, for example, was not invested in the office; a Chinese emperor had to make himself worthy of that office – as well as the more customary situation, where the role of the emperor acts as a constraint upon the people. Besides, China is a nation worship dragon. The Lantern Festival. Apart from bright yellow, red, blue and light blue were also reserved colors for the emperor in Qing dynasty. For example, the fur of a black fox and the color yellow were reserved for high level officials and members of the imperial family in the Qing dynasty. Anonymous court artists, Qing dynasty House servants would typically address the emperor as Wan Sui Ye (Lord of Ten Thousand Years [萬歲爺]). The dragon is also associated with the color yelow, for there is an old Chinese saying that goes "Long zhan yu ye, qi xue xuan huang" ("When the dragon fights, its blood turns yellow" [當龍的戰鬥, 其血液變成黃色]). The cumulative set of rituals and duties that befell an emperor was extensive, even if they were subject to review and revision by each emperor, though an emperor did not make drastic changes in these rituals and duties, for the sake of the continuity of his legitimacy. Therefore the emperor's words, as long as he enjoyed the Mandate of Heaven, were as commands from Heaven itself. ), but, unlike most other peoples, the Chinese people have an ancient tradition of grouping things into not only 3s, but 4s, 5s, 8s, etc. He could be overthrown, and this would be considered legitimate. The commonly known Dragon Robes are embroidered with golden dragons were mainly from Qing dynasty, the level and quality of making imperial dressing had reached a peak status. In continuing to worship the Ming emperors as they did, the Qing were asserting the legitimacy of the entire system that dictated who could “rightfully” be an emperor of China, because in fact it was this system that allowed them to present themselves to the populace as “Sons of Heaven” rather than as conquering foreigners who had no legitimate claim over China. An emperor ruled under an era name (nianhao [(年號)]), often several such auspicious-sounding era names as they took the emperor's fancy, though Ming and Qing emperors ruled under a single era name (some may see the practice of multiple era names as arrogance while others might see it as a form of artistic expression whereby the emperor also sought, in some measure, to identify himself with writers, poets, artists and other members of the intelligentsia, in much the same way that the famous French king, Francois I (he was France's king when a 14-year-old Catherine de Medici arrived in France to learn "French ways" as a prerequisite to marrying Francois I's second son, Henry I, who would in fact succeed Francois I, the marriage having been arranged by none other than Pope Leo X, Catherine's uncle), liked to hang out with artists and bohemians). Chinese emperors wore Longpao to go to court every day, it was one type of their official uniforms. But the people also had a right to depose an emperor who did not fulfill his divine appointment. Chinese religious rituals are especially based in Chinese folk religion and Confucianism but are influenced by Taoism and Buddhism as well.