A brown-ground embroidered 'dragon' robe (Jifu), Qing dynasty, Jiaqing period | 清嘉慶 醬地繡金龍暗八仙紋吉服袍

E&J Frankel, New York, 1981. 

E&J Frankel，紐約，1981年

The Emperor's Old Clothes, E&J Frankel, New York, 1981. 

《The Emperor's Old Clothes》，E&J Frankel，紐約，1981年

The décor on this jifu, (吉服, literally, 'auspicious' dress), or longpao, (龙袍, [imperial] dragon robe) follows the standard Qing disposition of five-clawed dragons (long, 龙) amid clouds across the entire surface of the garment. The standing water (lishui, 立水) border at the hem features piled wind-swept waves on which float the Eight Buddhist Symbols ( ba jixiang, 八吉祥), symbols for the Eight Precious Things (ba bao, 八宝), the attributes of the Eight Daoist Immortals (ba xian, 八仙), large peony blossoms, and several motifs that function as rebus. The term 'hurricane waves' was coined by Alan Priest in the 1940s to describe this variation of lishui, which first appeared on some jifu robes during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The dragons, as is typical, are depicted with couched gold-wrapped threads while the rest of the embroidered decoration uses colored floss silk. However, what is remarkable is the choice of embroidery stitches for executing these colored silk elements.

The embroidery employs a single stitch commonly known in the West as 'pekin', 'peking', or 'pekinese' stitch, (Beijing zhen, 北京針). It is also known as lasuo xiu (拉锁绣, literally 'zipper stitch').¹ It is a composite stitch involving two elements: a row of closely spaced back stitches and a second element interlaced in continuous loops moving forward two and back one through the previously laid down back stitches. It is time-consuming and requires consistent, exacting skill to maintain the proper tension and spacing of each parallel row of back stitches and well as rigorous consistency in placing the interlacing elements.

The effect is spectacular. The density of the silk floss and the play of light on the filament of the interlaced elements, which lie in different directions, intensifies the appearance of color and offers crispness to the edges of each design motif. Single rows of pekin stitch worked in red silk back stitches with a fine gold-wrapped yellow silk interlacing thread outline motifs. The skill required to achieve this without snagging the metal thread when it is pulled through the silk back stitches is even more astounding. A single line of these gold-wrapped thread loops marked the lower edge of the embroidered designs at the hem and edges of the cuffs and facings, an attention to detail rarely seen on any other embroidery for the court. It suggests the piece may have been specifically ordered for the imperial household.

There is confusion in literature concerning beijing zhen or lasuo xiu and seed, or knot stitch (dazi xiu, 打籽秀). Both were caught up in the early twentieth century in 'old China hand' accounts of handicrafts, where the term 'forbidden', possibly referencing the residence of the emperor, was attached to types of complex embroidery with the implication such embroidery was used exclusively for the court. A second term 'blind' was applied to such embroidery with the explanation that small scale and complicated manipulation in making this stitch caused needle workers to lose their eyesight.

Dazi xiu embroidery has a long history in China. Schuyler Cammann cites Han dynasty examples recovered from the Noin Ula, the Xiongnu burial site located in Mongolia north of Ulan Bator and notes that the stitch was used sparingly during the Ming and during the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty.² However, the wide-spread use of dazi xiu for large areas of design flourished in the nineteenth century. The appearance of beijing zhen or lasuo xiu stitching coincides with development. Both techniques were used largely on dress trimmings and smaller personal accessories and occasionally on late Qing dynasty rank insignia badges.

The exclusive use of beijing zhen or lasuo xiu stitching on a court dragon robe remains a puzzle. 

John E. Vollmer, New York City