When many people watch costume TV dramas, they are often a little confused, why the official clothes of the ancients are embroidered with birds and beasts, and are jokingly called the clothed animals by posterity, in fact, it stems from the fact that Confucius was called "Phoenix"!
Let's first explain the official uniforms of the Dynasty!
Very representative, the civil official one pin xianhe, two pin jin chicken, three pin peacock, four pin cloud goose, five pin white wagtail, six pin heron, seven pin pelican, eight pin yellow oriole, nine pin quail. Military attaches one pin, two pin lion, three pin, four pin tiger leopard, five pin bear, six pin, seven pin Biao, eight pin rhinoceros, nine pin seahorse.
The Qing Dynasty is about the same!
I checked the history of the Ming Dynasty, zhu Yuanzhang rose from the lowest level of society and established the Ming Dynasty.
The first thing is to justify your regime.
Restore the Han and Tang dynasty clothes!
Folk wear beards is forbidden!
Zhu Yuanzhang believed that the royal family should be equipped with a five-clawed golden dragon suit as standard.
In order to show favor to his courtiers, Zhu Yuanzhang would give himself a python suit, a flying fish suit, a bullfighting suit, and a unicorn suit.
The ornamentation of these garments is not within the rank system of officials, because it is similar to the dragon shape and is a symbol of honor!
In the belly of the python, the python has four claws. It is used to reward the minister of culture and military affairs who has made great achievements, or the king of a vassal state.
Flying fish pattern belongs to the special clothing of the Kinshiki Guard!
The bullfighting suit is awkward, the bullfighting pattern is also python-shaped, with four claws and a fish tail, and the bull has two horns that bend downwards.
The officials of the Ming Dynasty were very bad, and Zhu Yuanzhang killed corrupt officials all his life, and still killed them endlessly!
Later generations jokingly called the officials of the Ming Dynasty, as well-dressed animals!
Some people are also confused, why does Zhu Yuanzhang like birds and animals so much?
In fact, this has to start from the ancient Chinese cultural tradition. Dragons, phoenixes, turtles, and unicorns are called the Four Spirits!
There are also four major divine beasts, namely the Green Dragon, the White Tiger, the Suzaku, and the Xuanwu. The green dragon is the god of the East, the white tiger is the god of the West, the Suzaku is the god of the south, the Xuanwu is the god of the north, and the turtle and snake are combined.
The green dragon and the white tiger are brave and martial, as the gods of the evil, and the image appears mostly on the palace gate, the temple gate, the city gate or the tomb building and its utensils. Beginning with the Han Dynasty, the dragon was identified as the symbol and representative of the emperor.
The white tiger symbolizes might and the army, and in ancient armies, there were white tiger flags and soldier symbols with white tiger statues. In "Water Margin", there is a bridge section, Lin Chong mistakenly entered the White Tiger Hall.
Suzaku, whose shape is bird-like, is located in the south, fire attribute, and the spirit beast of heaven.
Xuanwu is the god enshrined in Taoism. According to legend, it is a large turtle in the North Sea, which is used as a pillar to support the entire Penglai Immortal Mountain, and the imperial tombs are mostly turtles with steles.
Speaking of this, everyone must be able to understand that the ancients' preference for birds and animals has formed a cultural tradition that symbolizes the life of the world.
The book "Erya" describes the phoenix, and the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" and the "Commentary on the Interpretation of Texts" all have the worship of the phoenix, and in the eyes of the ancients, the phoenix is a sacred bird that integrates the advantages of all animals. Represent holiness!
In ancient times, the status of the phoenix was superior to that of the dragon! Later, the dragon became the symbol of the emperor. The image of the phoenix came to the folk, implying auspiciousness.
Gradually became the title of a highly respected person in the folk, and the first person to be given the wind was Confucius. Because Confucius made outstanding contributions to the cause of education.