When we often watch a court costume drama, we will find that
Ancient emperors were dressed in yellow dragon robes
However, only Qin Shi Huang was wearing a black dragon robe, and some historians showed that it was not that they did not want to, but that they did not dare. Why? Is there any truth to this?
In ancient times, there were four colors that were very important, namely black, white, red, and yellow, and black symbolized power and majesty, so it was self
Since the Zhou Dynasty, the heavenly sons of the past have mostly used black in the system of the six crowns
The six crowns are the costumes worn by the Son of Heaven on six different occasions, equivalent to the dress.
As we all know, after Qin Shi Huang unified China, in order to facilitate his rule, he did a lot of reform and innovation in various aspects, such as unifying coins, measurements, writing, etc., but there was one reform that was not passed down from generation to generation, that is, his dragon robe.
However, he felt that the six-crown system he had used before was too troublesome, so he ordered its abolition. In its place is the crown of heaven on the top of the head, which looks like a standing mountain, and the clothes are worn
"Cloaked in Robes"
, and the stipulation must be black up and down.
And the reason why Qin Shi Huang used black, there is another very important reason, that is, he is a very superstitious person,
He believed that fire was the totem of the Zhou Dynasty, while the Qin Dynasty was the water in the five elements
So the fire of the Zhou Dynasty was extinguished, and black represented water.
Since then, the Qin Dynasty has advocated black. In addition to integrating the five elements into the clothes, the costumes of the Qin Dynasty were relatively simple in style, but they were later changed to the form of trousers to facilitate riding and shooting.
But the world is always unable to escape
"Long time will be divided"
The cycle of cause and effect, when it comes to changing dynasties, the later dynasties are to look different from before, especially the clothing, so later dynasties have chosen dragon robes of other colors, although the Han Dynasty has inherited some of the characteristics of the pre-Qin, but they slowly also promote the red color that symbolizes fire.
When Emperor Wen of Sui first chose yellow to make a dragon robe, he believed that yellow was the most noble of all colors, and later emperors also agreed with this view, so yellow continued.
What's more, in the Tang Gaozu period, he was even more fascinated by yellow, and even wanted to dominate this color, and ordered that from then on, yellow would only be used by members of the royal family.
Historians explained that for thousands of years in China, only the clothes of Qin Shi Huang used black, although the cause was superstitious five elements, but later emperors did not think so, they were also superstitious, although they knew that black showed status and power.
But they are more afraid that black will bring ominousness, and the qin dynasty is the best proof of the short two lifetimes.
So later emperors wanted to use but did not dare to use black dragon robes, and later used yellow instead, but then again,
Qin Shi Huang's black dragon robe is unique and very flavorful
What do you think?
References: Records of History, Book of Tang