After the Ming Dynasty (1644), Qing Manchu rulers use officials’ attire to foster social stability and economic development, reflected in painted and sculptural images. Elaborate Ming dynasty court attire was replaced with simplified Han Manchu traditional clothing, although some Ming traditions were retained. Manchu imperial dress codes had complex rules regulating hairstyle, uniforms, hats, shoes and ornaments for officials that reflected rank, status, occasions and seasons and non-compliance resulted in harsh punishment. By the Qianlong Emperor (1735–1796) codes applied only to scholars and officials. Through end of the Qing dynasty (1912) government and court officials were required to wear changsang coats modified from Ming attire but slimmer with buttons, loops and a slanted S-shaped collar and hats called a qing guanmao which were black velvet in winter and woven rattan in summer with a button or knob finial. The shape and color of one’s finial was regulated depending on the official’s rank which ranged from 1-9. For daily business or informal occasions, officials had to change the hat’s top. Qing attire make it easier for us to identify ancestors depicted as officials. Military officials wore a cylindrical cap with a higher back and lower front called a Pingshanze, while civil servants wore a variant called a Jieze.
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This extremely rare late Ming/early Qing dynasty antique-Chinese-wood-carving carving is divided in two parts and is significant for its juxtaposition of images as well as its unique iconography. The top is one of the Taoist officials in typical officials-attire: an official’s hat, a tiered robe with a red sash extending to the tops of the…
Civilian Chinese-officials in dynastic China were awarded much desired positions after passing rigorous exams, as the selected few were assured high status positions, a comfortable living and retirement benefits. Families did their Confucian duty portraying their ancestor-figures in paintings and carvings and memorializing and honoring them by maintaining their filial piety by displaying their images…
This fine Chinese wood carving is a seated ancestor figure portrayed as a Chinese official. By the 10th century, the Chinese bureaucracy was run by a class of scholarly elite officials who passed a variety of tough examinations in history, philosophy and the Confucian teachings of statecraft and ethics. Passing made them eligible for positions…
Ancestor-figures portrayed as Chinese officials were placed on a home altar with other house gods and Buddhist or Popular Religion images to bring “fu” to the household. During the Qing dynasty, designation as an official was so significant families sought to emphasize this achievement in their family ancestral figures. They normally have serious expressions and…
Honoring one’s ancestors through pictorial and sculptural images, especially a wood carving reflected the Confucian virtue of filial piety, although carved ancestral images were favored as the vehicle for a more intimate and continual communication. Ancestor figures were placed on a home altar for family members to venerate with daily offerings of joss (incense), fruit…
Designation as civilian Mandarin officials was so significant that families fervently sought to perpetuate this image through generations in carved and painted ancestral renderings, especially ancestor-figures. This civilian official sits in the traditional official’s pose with arms on short armrests in an an ornately carved high back chair, curved backrest, tall legs and vertical slats…
Mandarin-officials were very highly regarded bureaucratic scholars serving the government of Imperial China and were often honored by their family descendants who included ancestor-figures in Mandarin officials-attire on the family home altar or shrine from the Ming Dynasty through the Qing (aka Manchu) Dynasty. As part of ancestor-worship these figures were the highest form of…
Ancestor-figures like this portrayed as a Mandarin official were placed on a home altar along with other house gods and religious images to bring blessings of fu to the household. Mandarin officials were lesser status public officials who acquired this rank by passing rigid exams. In the Qing dynasty this designation was considered so significant…
During the Qing Dynasty, reverence for Mandarin officials and their associated high status with it was so significant that families sought to perpetuate this image through the generations in carved and painted renderings of their ancestors. Ancestor-figures were the highest form of filial piety, and ancestor-worship was a cornerstone of Confucianism. Stuart (p. 82) states…
In China a set of earthenware Zodiac attendant figures was made as a 12 piece grouping, with each figure holding a small calendar animal with each year represented by a different animal – rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig or boar – in a repeating 12-year cycle. Although…
Ancestor-figures portrayed as Chinese-officials were placed on a home altar with other house gods and religious images to bring fu to the household. During the Qing dynasty, designation as an Official was so significant families sought to emphasize this achievement in family ancestral figures. As traditional, this carve official has a serious expression, sits on…
Officials are often portrayed in Chinese woodcarvings in a stable seated position with feet placed and firmly planted on a plinth. This compact Qing portrayal presents a person of importance and control, and it is reinforced here with an intense expression and closed eyes making him a bit detached to fortify his status, rank and…
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