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Dragon robe: the ultimate luxury
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Close-up view on a dragon robe/ Courtesy of Dr. Shu-Hwa Lin
Treasures from another space and time, the five dragon robes, ever worn by the Chinese emporers, now lie in an air-conditioned room with many other garments in UH Costume Collection.
Dragons, symbols of Chinese monarchs, were rendered vividly by colored and sometimes gold threads in sitting or flying positions among natural elements such as wind, cloud, and fire, and auspicious symbols such as longevity cranes and happiness bats. The sumptuary laws commanded that only the emporer and his heir could wear five-clawed dragon robes, as shown in the photo.
One dragon robe could take decades to finish. On average, a team of craftsmen headed by one master bent over a robe for two years, depicting the order of the world and bestowing the best intentions on the robe with a collection of confucian, taoist and buddhist symbols.
Highly embellished in best quality silk and with top-notch craftsmanship, the hundred-year-old imperial wears are slowly decaying and will eventually vanish like the glory of the Qing dynasty they represent. Before they are gone, research on their cultural meanings and textile techniques is conducted by Dr. Shu-Hwa Lin and her team of the Family and Consumer Science Department at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
In a time when the "democratization of luxury" has diluted luxury into commodity as Dana Thomas revealed in her Deluxe book, dragon robes are the ultimate luxury because they are completely exclusive, one of a kind and difficult to produce.
Take a minute to click through the slideshow of the five dragon robes when they are still in good shape.
For more information: Dr. Shu-Hwa Lin 808-956-2245
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