Rank Badge (buzi) (1850–99): Art, History and Details

Rank Badge (buzi) (1850–99) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Rank badges (also called rank insignia or Mandarin squares) were used in China during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties to demonstrate the wearer’s rank. In 1391 new clothing regulations directed court officials to wear decorative squares indicating their rank—birds for civil officials and animals for military officials. During the Qing dynasty rank badge design was regulated, and certain creatures were associated with specific ranks. Qing badges depict a representation of the universe with a landscape and a central creature, surrounded by clouds and facing the sun. The sun represented the emperor and this composition showed the official’s loyalty to him. An official’s wife wore rank badges that mirrored her husband’s. Most of the examples in CMA’s collection depict creatures facing a sun on the left. Attached to the front and back of a ceremonial robe, rank badges were woven in pairs with identical imagery. One was divided vertically up the center to attach to the front of a robe with a center opening. Rank badges are generally square or rectangular, although round examples exist. They are typically satin weave or slit tapestry weave (kesi) silk. Satin weave badges often have dark backgrounds with silk and/or metal thread embroidery. Some badges incorporate peacock feathers or beads. Late in the Qing dynasty appliqué replaced embroidery to allow for quicker production and a change in rank.

Object facts

• Title: Rank Badge (buzi)
• Date: 1850–99
• Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
• Type: Textile
• Technique: silk; slit tapestry weave (kesi)
• Dimensions: Overall: 29.5 x 32 cm (11 5/8 x 12 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1916.1330

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cammann, Schuyler. “The Development of the Mandarin Square.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 8, no. 2 (1944): 71–130.
• Cammann, Schuyler. “Embroidery Techniques in Old China.” Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America 16 (1962):
• Cammann, Schuyler. “Costume in China, 1644 to 1912.” Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin 75, no. 326 (1979).

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.