Everything about Mandarin Square totally explained
A
Mandarin square (
traditional Chinese: 補子;
simplified Chinese: 补子;
pinyin: bŭzi;
Wade-Giles: putzŭ), also known as a
rank badge, was a large embroidered badge sewn onto the surcoat of an
official in
Imperial China. It was embroidered with detailed, colourful animal or bird insignia indicating the rank of the official wearing it.
Ming Dynasty
Mandarin squares were first authorized for wear in
1391 by the
Ming Dynasty. The use of squares depicting birds for civil officials and animals for military officials was an outgrowth of the use of similar squares, apparently for decorative use, in the
Yuan Dynasty. The original court dress regulations of the Ming Dynasty were published in
1368, but didn't refer to badges as rank insignia. These badges continued to be used through the remainder of the Ming and the subsequent
Qing Dynasty until the imperial system fell in
1912.
Ming nobles and officials wore their rank badges on full-cut red robes with the design stretching from side to side, completely covering the chest and back. This caused the badges to be slightly trapezoidal with the tops narrower than the bottom. The Ming
statutes never refer to the number of birds or animals that should appear on the badges. In the beginning, two or three were used. In a typical example of paired birds, they were shown in flight on a background of bright cloud streamers on a gold background. Others showed one bird on the ground with the second in flight. The addition of flowers produced an idealized naturalism.
Qing Dynasty
There was a sharp difference between the Ming and Qing styles of badges: the Qing badges were smaller with a decorative border. And, while the specific birds and animals didn't change much throughout their use, the design of the squares underwent an almost continual evolution. According to rank,
Qing-Dynasty nobles had their respective official clothes. Princes, including
Qin Wang and
Jun Wang, usually wore black robes as opposed to the blue robes in court, and had four circular designs, one on each shoulder, front, and back, as opposed to the usual front-and-back design. Specifically, Princes of the Blood used four front-facing dragons,
Qin Wang had two front-facing and two side-facing dragons, and
Jun Wang had four side-facing ones; all had five claws on each foot.
Beile and
Beizi had a circular design on their official clothing, the former having two front-facing dragons, the latter two side-facing ones; these dragon had only four claws on each foot. National Duke,
General,
Efu, "Commoner"
Duke,
Marquis and
Count had two front-facing, four-clawed dragons on square designs, whereas
Viscount and
Baron had cranes and golden pheasants, as for Mandarins of the First and Second Class.
Image:rankbadge.jpg|3rd Civil Rank (Peacock). Applique. Late 19th century/early 20th century.
Image:Rankbadge2.JPG|5th Military Rank (Bear). Kesi. Circa 1860.
Tables
The specific birds and animals used to represent rank varied only slightly from the inception of mandarin squares until the end of the Qing Dynasty. These tables show this evolution.
(
Musicians used the
Oriole.)
Military
| Rank |
Ming (1391–1526) |
Ming and Qing (1527–1662) |
Late Qing (1662–1911) |
| 1 |
Lion |
Lion |
Qilin (after 1662) |
| 2 |
Lion |
Lion |
Lion |
| 3 |
Tiger or Leopard |
Tiger |
Leopard (after 1664) |
| 4 |
Tiger or Leopard |
Leopard |
Tiger (after 1664) |
| 5 |
Bear |
Bear |
Bear |
| 6 |
Panther |
Panther |
Panther |
| 7 |
Panther |
Panther |
Rhinoceros (after 1759) |
| 8 |
Rhinoceros |
Rhinoceros |
Rhinoceros |
| 9 |
Rhinoceros |
Sea Horse |
Sea Horse |
Civilian
| Rank |
Ming (1391–1526) |
Ming and Qing (1527–1662) |
Late Qing (1662–1911) |
| 1 |
Crane or Golden Pheasant |
Crane |
Crane |
| 2 |
Crane or Golden Pheasant |
Golden Pheasant |
Golden Pheasant |
| 3 |
Peacock or Wild Goose |
Peacock |
Peacock |
| 4 |
Peacock or Wild Goose |
Wild Goose |
Wild Goose |
| 5 |
Silver Pheasant |
Silver Pheasant |
Silver Pheasant |
| 6 |
Egret or Mandarin Duck |
Egret |
Egret |
| 7 |
Egret or Mandarin Duck |
Mandarin Duck |
Mandarin Duck |
| 8 |
Oriole, Quail or Paradise Flycatcher |
Oriole |
Quail |
| 9 |
Oriole, Quail or Paradise Flycatcher |
Quail |
Paradise Flycatcher |
Further Information
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