正面

The front of the court robe.

Yellow Satin Court Robe Embroidered with Golden Dragons

The yellow satin court robe embroidered with golden dragons dates back to Emperor Qianlong's reign of the Qing Dynasty. It is 144 centimeters in body length, and its sleeves are 190 centimeters long. Court robes were ceremonial garments worn by the emperor and empresses on important occasions such as sacrificial ceremonies.

This robe was for the emperor, embroidered with more than 40 lifelike golden dragons in diverse shapes. The forward-looking dragons on the chest and the back look majestic. The threads used to embroider the golden dragons are not pure fabric, but fine gold wires twisted on silk threads, so the scales of the dragons glisten with golden luster.

In addition, the robe is adorned with the "twelve ornaments", such as mountains, dragons, pheasants, axes, and bows, which symbolize the emperor's virtues. The "twelve ornaments" were initially used to praise legendary ancient rulers Shun and Yu and gradually evolved into exclusive patterns to decorate imperial apparel for ceremonial and sacrificial occasions in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In most cases, not all the "twelve ornaments" were embroidered on the garments.

The court robes of the Qing Dynasty had distinctive features of Manchu costumes such as bow-shaped tippet collars and horseshoe-shaped sleeves, all of which hearkened back to the Manchu traditions of horse riding and archery. After the rulers of the Qing Dynasty came to power in the Central Plains region, they embraced traditional Han culture while retaining their Manchu lifestyles. As such, China has been a unified multi-ethnic nation since ancient times.

背面

The back of the court robe.

明黃色緞繡金龍朝袍

明黃色緞繡金龍朝袍制于清乾隆年間，身長144厘米，兩袖通長190厘米。朝袍，是帝后在盛大典禮、祭祀活動時穿用的禮服之一。

此件為皇帝朝袍，繡金龍四十余條，造型豐富，細膩靈動。胸前、背后的正龍，瞠目張口，十分威嚴。繡金龍所用的“金線”，并非染制得來，而是將金箔切成細絲，捻繞于絲線芯上，以此繡龍，呈現出龍鱗閃閃的效果。此外，朝袍上繡十二章紋中的山、龍、華蟲（雉雞）、黼（fǔ)、黻（fú)等，象征帝王美德。這始于對舜、禹的歌頌，明清時期逐漸成為帝王禮服和吉服的專用紋樣，但多數情況下十二章紋并不繡全。

清代朝袍具有鮮明的滿族服飾特點，如形似滿弓的披肩領、馬蹄袖等，均彰顯其騎射習俗。清代統治者入主中原后，在接納中國傳統漢文化的同時，也保留了自身的民族特色，反映出中華民族自古以來就是多民族共同體，具有突出的統一性。