1
冕冠長冠委貌冠皮弁冠爵弁冠通天冠遠湤冠高山冠進賢冠法冠武冠建華冠方山冠巧士冠卻非冠卻敵冠樊噲冠術氏冠鶡冠幘佩刀印黃赤綬赤綬綠綬紫綬青綬黑綬黃綬青紺綸后夫人服
This chapter treats the mianguan and other crown types, the ze, sword and seal regalia, the graded ribbons, and the dress of the empress and imperial consorts.
2
范曄、司馬彪等
Compiled from Fan Ye, Sima Biao, and associated sources.
3
上古穴居而野處，衣毛而冒皮，未有制度。 後世聖人易之以絲麻，觀翬翟之文，榮華之色，乃染帛以效之，始作五采，成以爲服。 見鳥獸有冠角髯胡之製，遂作冠冕纓蕤，以爲首飾。 凡十二章。 故《易》曰：「庖犧氏之王天下也，仰觀象於天，俯觀法於地，觀鳥獸之文，與地之宜，近取諸身，遠取諸物，於是始作八卦，以通神明之德，以類萬物之情。」 黃帝、堯、舜垂衣裳而天下治，蓋取諸乾巛。 乾巛有文，故上衣玄，下裳黃。 日月星辰，山龍華蟲，作繢宗彝，藻火粉米，黼黻絺繡，以五采章施於五色作服。 天子備章，公自山以下，侯伯自華蟲以下，子男自藻火以下，卿大夫自粉米以下。 至周而變之，以三辰爲旂旗。 王祭上帝，則大裘而冕； 公侯卿大夫之服用九章以下。 秦以戰國即天子位，滅去禮學，郊祀之服皆以袀玄。 漢承秦故。 至世祖踐祚，都於土中，始修三雍，正兆七郊。 顯宗遂就大業，初服旒冕，衣裳文章，赤舄絇屨，以祠天地，養三老五更於三雍，於時致治平矣。
In earliest times people lived in caves and the wilderness, wore pelts and raw hides, and had no fixed dress code at all. Later sages introduced silk and linen, took inspiration from the plumage of kingfishers and the sheen of costly furs, dyed cloth to match those colors, and so established the five-color system that became formal dress. Noting how birds and beasts wore crests, horns, and beards by nature, tailors fashioned caps and crowns with hanging tassels as deliberate head ornaments. The full set comprises twelve symbolic motifs. The Book of Changes thus says of the sage-king Baoxi: "he read the sky and the earth, studied the markings of animals and the lay of the land, took lessons from his own body and from things around him, and from this devised the eight trigrams to link human ritual with spiritual power and to give order to the myriad phenomena." The Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun are said to have “let robe and skirt fall straight,” and good government followed—an image drawn, tradition holds, from the trigrams Qian and Kun. Because Qian and Kun embody distinct patterns, ritual dress paired a black upper robe with a yellow lower skirt. The twelve emblems—sun, moon, constellations, mountains, dragons, and the rest, down to the paired axe motifs—were woven in the five prescribed colors into the imperial vestments. The emperor wore all twelve motifs; high nobility stepped down by rank—dukes kept the mountain and below, marquises the “splendid insect” and below, and so on until ministers were limited to the humbler symbols. The Zhou revised the scheme, reserving sun, moon, and stars chiefly for flags rather than the robe itself. For the supreme sacrifice to Heaven the king donned the heavy fur outer robe and the jeweled mianguan. Nobles and senior officials were limited to nine emblems or fewer on their court dress. The Qin founders, rising from military conquest, discarded classical ritual; even suburban sacrifices were performed in undecorated black. The Han at first continued the austere Qin wardrobe. Only when Guangwu took the throne and fixed his capital at Luoyang did the court revive the three ritual enclosures and set the seven directional suburban shrines in order. Emperor Ming finished what his father had begun: he appeared in full mianguan with hanging pearls, brocade upper and lower garments, and crimson ritual shoes, to worship Heaven and Earth and to host the aged worthies at the three Yong—by then the dress code matched the peace of the age.
4
天子、三公、九卿、特進侯、侍祠侯，祀天地明堂，皆冠旒冕，衣裳玄上纁下。 乘輿備文，日月星辰十二章，三公、諸侯用山龍九章，九卿以下用華蟲七章，皆備五采，大佩，赤舄絇履，以承大祭。 百官執事者，冠長冠，皆祗服。 五嶽、四瀆、山川、宗廟、社稷諸沾秩祠，皆袀玄長冠，五郊各如方色云。 百官不執事，各服常冠袀玄以從。
For the great sacrifices to Heaven, Earth, and the Bright Hall, the emperor, the three highest ministers, the nine senior officials, and certain enfeoffed nobles all wore the tasseled crown with black bodice and cinnabar skirt. The imperial carriage robe bore all twelve emblems; dukes and feudal lords stopped at nine; the nine ministers and below used seven—all in the five prescribed colors, with the great jade girdle-pendants and crimson court shoes for the highest rites. Rank-and-file ritual officers wore the tall “long cap” and the plain black vestments appointed for their tasks. For the great mountains, rivers, lineage shrines, and soil-and-grain altars, officers wore the black changguan, while each of the five directional suburban rites used the color of its compass sector. Officials not directly officiating simply put on everyday caps and black dress to join the procession.
5
冕冠，垂旒，前後邃延，玉藻。 孝明皇帝永平二年，初詔有司採《周官》、《禮記》、《尚書·皋陶篇》，乘輿服從歐陽氏說，公卿以下從大小夏侯氏說。 冕皆廣七寸，長尺二寸，前圓後方，朱綠裏，玄上，前垂四寸，後垂三寸，系白玉珠爲十二旒，以其綬採色爲組纓。 三公諸侯七旒，青玉爲珠； 卿大夫五旒，黑玉爲珠。 皆有前無後，各以其綬採色爲組纓，旁垂黈纊。 郊天地，宗祀，明堂，則冠之。 衣裳玉佩備章採，乘輿刺繡，公侯九卿以下皆織成，陳留襄邑獻之云。
The state crown was the mianguan—front and rear veils of pearls, with jade beads strung on the hanging threads. In 59 CE Emperor Ming directed the ministry to harmonize the Rites of Zhou, the Book of Rites, and the “Gao Yao” text: the emperor’s regalia followed the Ou-yang interpretation, while that of the bureaucracy followed the two Xiahou traditions. The standard mianguan measured seven inches by a foot two, round toward the audience and square at the back, lined in red-green and covered in black silk, with twelve white-jade strings of pearls whose tie-colors matched the wearer’s ribbon. Dukes and enfeoffed lords were limited to seven pearl strings of green jade. Senior ministers wore five strings, threaded with black jade. These crowns had veils only in front; cords and tassels matched each man’s ribbon, with yellow silk wads at the temples. It was reserved for the greatest state sacrifices—to Heaven and Earth, the imperial ancestors, and inside the Bright Hall. Court dress displayed the full set of emblems and jade girdle ornaments: the emperor’s was embroidered, while nobles and officials wore loom-woven brocade said to have been sent up each year from Xiangyi.
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長冠，一曰齋冠，高七寸，廣三寸，促漆纚爲之，制如板，以竹爲裡。 初，高祖微時，以竹皮爲之，謂之劉氏冠，楚冠制也。 民謂之鵲尾冠，非也。 祀宗廟諸祀則冠之。 皆服袀玄，絳緣領袖爲中衣，絳褲襪，示其赤心奉神也。 五郊，衣幘褲襪各如其色。 此冠高祖所造，故以爲祭服，尊敬之至也。
The “long cap,” also named the fasting cap, stood seven inches high, was stiffened with lacquered mesh over a bamboo frame, and looked like a narrow board on the head. When Liu Bang was still a commoner he fashioned such a cap from bamboo bark—the “Liu family cap,” modeled on southern Chu headgear. Folk nicknamed it the “magpie-tail cap,” but that name is a mistake. It was prescribed for ancestral rites and other major temple sacrifices. Wearers paired it with plain black robes, crimson-trimmed underlayers, and red legwear—symbolizing an undivided heart turned toward the gods. At the five directional suburban altars, kerchief, leggings, and socks matched the color of the rite’s compass direction. Because the founder himself had devised it, the court treated this cap as the most solemn possible ritual headgear.
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委貌冠、皮弁冠同制，長七寸，高四寸，制如覆杯，前高廣，後卑銳，所謂夏之毋追，殷之章甫者也。 委貌以皁絹爲之，皮弁以鹿皮爲之。 行大射禮於辟雍，公卿諸侯大夫行禮者，冠委貌，衣玄端素裳。 執事者冠皮弁，衣緇麻衣，皁領袖，下素裳，所謂皮弁素積者也。
The deferential cap and the leather crown shared one silhouette—like an upside-down bowl, higher in front—corresponding to antiquity’s Wu zhui of the Xia and Zhang fu of the Shang. Court tailors built the deferential cap from black gauze and the bian cap from tanned deerhide. At the great archery ceremony in the ritual park, participating nobles wore the deferential cap with a black “duan” jacket and undyed skirt. Officiants instead donned the leather crown, ink-dyed hemp coat with black facings, and white pleated skirt—the combination classic texts call “leather crown, plain accumulation.”
8
爵弁，一名冕。 廣八寸，長尺二寸，如爵形，前小後大，繒其上似爵頭色，有收持笄，所謂夏收殷{曰籲}者也。 祠天地五郊明堂，《雲翹舞》樂人服之。 《禮》曰：「朱幹玉鏚，冕而舞《大夏》。」 此之謂也。
The “noble skullcap” (juebian) was sometimes classed among the mianguan family. It measured eight by twelve inches, flared like a bronze jue, dyed on the crown to suggest a cup’s rim, and fastened with a hairpin—the forms antiquity knew as the Xia shou and Shang xu caps. Dancers in the “Cloud Ascent” performance wore it for Heaven, Earth, the five directional rites, and the Bright Hall. The Book of Rites describes dancers bearing red shields and jade axes, capped for the “Great Xia” suite. The passage refers to this very headdress.
9
通天冠，高九寸，正豎，頂少邪卻，乃直下爲鐵卷梁，前有山，展筩爲述，乘輿所常服。 服衣，深衣制，有袍，隨五時色。 袍者，或曰周公抱成王宴居，故施袍。 《禮記》「孔子衣逢掖之衣。」 縫掖其袖，合而縫大之，近今袍者也。 今下至賤更小吏，皆通制袍，單衣，皁緣領袖中衣，爲朝服云。
The “pierce-heaven” crown rose nine inches, perfectly upright with a slight backward tilt, an iron roll forming the brim, a embossed “mountain” in front, and a horizontal tube—this was the emperor’s everyday court cap. He paired it with a deep-layered robe—effectively a gown—whose color shifted with the ritual season. Commentators link the robe to the Duke of Zhou cradling the boy king at ease—hence the loose outer robe. The Record of Rites: “Confucius wore the broad-sleeved garment.” Those sleeves were pieced and widened under the arms—much like the modern administrative robe. By Later Han even junior clerks wore a standardized robe and inner shirt with black facings as everyday court dress.
10
遠遊冠，制如通天，有展筩橫之於前，無山述，諸王所服也。
Princes wore the “far-roaming” crown—like the imperial cap but with a transverse tube in front and without the mountain-and-tube insignia of the Son of Heaven.
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高山冠，一曰側注。 制如通天，頂不邪卻，直豎，無山述展筩，中外官、謁者、僕射所服。 太傅胡廣說曰：「高山冠，蓋齊王冠也。 秦滅齊，以其君冠賜近臣謁者服之。」
The high-mountain cap was also called the “side-pour” crown. Shaped like the imperial cap but perfectly vertical, without the mountain motif or side tubes, it marked ushers, directors, and many civil officials. Grand Tutor Hu Guang explained: “The gaoshanguan was probably the cap of the king of Qi. After Qin conquered Qi, the conquerors handed that royal cap down to palace ushers."
12
進賢冠，古緇布冠也，文儒者之服也。 前高七寸，後高三寸，長八寸。 公侯三梁，中二千石以下至博士兩梁，自博士以下至小史私學弟子，皆一梁。 宗室劉氏亦兩梁冠，示加服也。
The “advance-the-worthy” cap evolved from the ancient black cloth crown and identified scholars. It measured seven inches in front, three in back, and eight along the brim. The number of raised ribs signaled rank—three for the highest nobles, two for senior salary officials and academicians, one for everyone below. Even imperial kinsmen wore the two-ridged cap as a mark of honorific distinction.
13
法冠，一曰柱後。 高五寸，以纚爲展筩，鐵柱卷，執法者服之，侍御史，廷尉正監平也。 或謂之獬豸冠。 獬豸神羊，能別曲直，楚王嘗獲之，故以爲冠。 胡廣說曰：「《春秋左氏傳》有南冠而縶者，則楚冠也。 秦滅楚，以其君服賜執法近臣御史服之。」
The law cap, also called “behind-the-pillar,” identified judicial officers. This stiff five-inch cap with iron upright and mesh “tube” was worn by censors and the senior staff of the Ministry of Justice. Popular speech called it the “unicorn-goat” law cap. Legend made the xiezhi a one-horned creature that knew justice from injustice; Chu’s kings turned its image into headgear. Hu Guang cited the Zuo tradition: a prisoner in a “southern cap” meant the distinctive Chu court crown. Qin’s annexation of Chu left that royal cap to Han censors and close attendants.
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武冠，一曰武弁大冠，諸武官冠之。 侍中、中常侍加黃金璫，附蟬爲文，貂尾爲飾，謂之「趙惠文冠」。 胡廣說曰：「趙武靈王效胡服，以金璫飾首，前插貂尾，爲貴職。 秦滅趙，以其君冠賜近臣。」 建武時，匈奴內屬，世祖賜南單於衣服，以中常侍惠文冠，中黃門童子佩刀云。
The great martial cap was the standard headgear of military officers. Palace attendants gilded the cap with a front cicada plaque and sable tail—hence the nickname “Marquis Huiwen crown.” Hu Guang explained: “King Wuling of Zhao copied Hu dress, using a gold knob to ornament the head, sable tails inserted in front, for exalted offices. After Qin swallowed Zhao, that princely cap passed to inner-court favorites." When the Southern Chanyu came in during Jianwu, Guangwu presented him with court dress that included the golden cicada cap and yellow-gate boys with ritual swords.
15
建華冠，以鐵爲柱卷，貫大銅珠九枚，制以縷鹿。 記曰：「知天者冠述，知地者履絇。」 《春秋左傳》曰：「鄭子臧好鷸冠。」 前圓，以爲此則是也。 天地、五郊、明堂，《育命舞》樂人服之。
The “splendid bloom” crown stacked nine large bronze beads on an iron scroll frame in a deer-antler pattern. A gloss states: heaven-knowers wear the “narrative” tube; earth-knowers wear ridged shoes. The Zuo text mentions Zheng’s Zi Zang and his fondness for the kingfisher-feather crown. Its rounded front matches that description. Dancers in the “Nurturing the Mandate” pageant wore it for cosmic and suburban rites.
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方山冠，似進賢，以五采縠爲之。 祠宗廟《大予》、《八佾》、《四時》、《五行》樂人服之，冠衣各如其行方之色而舞焉。
The square-mountain cap looked like the scholar’s cap but was built from iridescent thin gauze. Temple musicians in the major choreographed suites wore caps and coats dyed to the color of the cosmic direction they represented.
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巧士冠，前高七寸，要後相通，直豎。 不常服，唯郊天，黃門從官四人冠之，在鹵簿中，次乘輿車前，以備宦者四星云。
The “ingenious gentleman” crown rose seven inches in front, with an open band running straight over the crown. Four eunuch attendants alone wore it at the suburban Heaven sacrifice, marching just ahead of the imperial chariot as stand-ins for the “four stars” of their constellation.
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卻非冠，制似長冠，下促。 宮殿門吏僕射冠之。 負赤幡，青翅燕尾，諸僕射幡皆如之。
The “repel-wrong” cap copied the long cap but with a tighter, shorter skirt. Palace gatekeepers and lead ushers wore it. They shouldered crimson flags with blue swallow-tailed streamers—the standard usher banner.
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卻敵冠，前高四寸，通長四寸，後高三寸，制似進賢，衛士服之。
The “repel-enemy” crown—four inches high fore and aft, three at the rear, cut like a scholar’s cap—went to the palace guard corps.
20
樊噲冠，漢將樊噲造次所冠，以入項羽軍。 廣九寸，高七寸，前後出各四寸，制似冕。 司馬殿門大難，衛士服之。 或曰，樊噲常持鐵楯，聞項羽有意殺漢王，噲裂裳以裹楯，冠之入軍門，立漢王旁，視項羽。
Fan Kuai’s famous rush into Xiang Yu’s camp gave this emergency military cap its name. It was nine inches broad, seven tall, with four-inch brims front and back like a miniature state crown. Guards donned it during the Sima Gate emergency. Tradition adds that Fan Kuai wrapped his shield in a torn skirt, jammed on this cap, burst through the gate, and glared at Xiang Yu from Liu Bang’s side.
21
術氏冠，前圓，吳制，差池邐迤四重，趙武靈王好服之。 今不施用，官有其圖注。
The Shi-style round Wu cap, tiered in four rippling layers, was a favorite of King Wuling of Zhao. Later courts retired it, though the archives still preserved its illustrated regulations.
22
諸冠皆有纓蕤，執事及武吏皆縮纓，垂五寸。
Every crown had cord tassels, but working officers and soldiers hitched them short—about five inches of hang.
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武冠，俗謂之大冠，環纓無蕤，以青系爲緄，加雙鶡尾，豎左右，爲鶡冠云。 五官、左右虎賁、羽林、五中郎將、羽林左右監皆冠鶡冠，紗縠單衣。 虎賁將虎文褲，白虎文劍佩刀。 虎賁武騎鶡冠，虎文單衣。 襄邑歲獻織成虎文云。 鶡者，勇雉也，其鬥對一死乃止，故趙武靈王以表武士，秦施之焉。
The field version—popularly the “great cap”—used a ring knot, green edging, and twin pheasant plumes bolt upright: the true “pheasant cap.” Household guards, tiger braves, feather-forest archers, and related colonels all wore this pheasant cap with thin gauze tunics. Elite tiger brave units paired the cap with striped breeches and white-tiger motif blades. Mounted tiger braves wore the same crown with tiger-striped surcoats. Xiangyi county reportedly sent up loom-woven tiger designs each year. The fighting cock-pheasant dies rather than yield, so Zhao’s martial king and later Qin used its plumes to brand elite troops.
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安帝立皇太子，太子謁高祖廟、世祖廟，門大夫從，冠兩梁進貢； 洗馬冠高山。 罷廟，侍御史任方奏請非乘從時，皆冠一梁，不宜以爲常服。 事下有司。 尚書陳忠奏：「門大夫職如諫大夫，洗馬職如謁者，故皆服其服，先帝之舊也。 方言可寢。」 奏可。 謁者，古者一名洗馬。
When Emperor An named a crown prince, the prince’s visits to the shrines of Gaozu and Guangwu were escorted by gate stewards in the two-ridged advance-the-worthy cap. The heir apparent’s groom of the stable wore the high-mountain crown. After the imperial shrines closed, Censor Ren Fang urged that the single-ridged cap be reserved for processional duty and not treated as everyday wear. The throne referred the proposal to the ministries for review. Director Chen Zhong submitted: “The gate grandee’s duties are like those of a remonstrance grandee, and the groom’s are like those of an usher; therefore each wears that office’s dress—this was the former emperors’ old rule. Chen Zhong urged the throne to set aside Attendant Censor Ren Fang’s proposal. The emperor endorsed that view. The text adds that “usher” was once simply another term for groom.
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古者有冠無幘，其戴也，加首有頍，所以安物。 故《詩》曰：「有頍者弁」，此之謂也。 三代之世，法制滋彰，下至戰國，文武並用。 秦雄諸侯，乃加其武將首飾爲絳袙，以表貴賤，其後稍稍作顏題。 漢興，續其顏，卻摞之，施巾連題，卻覆之，今喪幘是其制也。 名之曰幘。 幘者，賾也，頭首嚴賾也。 至孝文乃高顏題，續之爲耳，崇其巾爲屋，合後施收，上下群臣貴賤皆服之。 文者長耳，武者短耳，稱其冠也。 尚書幘收，方三寸，名曰納言，示以忠正，顯近職也。 迎氣五郊，各如其色，從章服也。 皁衣群吏春服青幘，立夏乃止，助微順氣，尊其方也。 武吏常赤幘，成其威也。 未冠童子幘無屋者，示未成人也。 入學小童幘也句卷屋者，示尚幼少，未遠冒也。 喪幘卻摞反本，禮也，升數如冠，與冠偕也。 期喪起耳有收，素幘亦如之，禮輕重有制，變除從漸，文也。
Early ritual dress used caps alone, without the wrapped kerchief; wearers steadied regalia with a forehead band before the ze evolved. Therefore the Odes says: “How fine is he in his capped kui,” meaning this. As the three ancient dynasties refined their codes, and even into the Warring States era, court dress served both civil and martial display. The Qin state distinguished its generals with crimson head-wraps to signal rank, then refined the look with stiffened forehead panels. The Han kept the tablet, layered the cloth back from the brow, and linked kerchief to band in the shape still seen on mourning ze. That wrapped headcloth took the name ze. Etymologists gloss ze as “dense binding” around the skull. By Emperor Wen’s time the ze had acquired a tall front panel, side “ears,” a domed crown, and rear ties—universal from palaces to yamen. Civil servants wore longer side tabs on the ze, soldiers shorter ones, keyed to their headgear. Secretariat officials sported a square rear flap called the “word-receiver,” advertising integrity and closeness to the throne. At the five seasonal suburban rites, kerchief colors matched the directional vestments. Junior clerks in black robes donned green ze through spring to “help” the eastern qi, doffing them at summer’s start. Military staff habitually wore crimson ze to heighten their formidable look. Uncapped lads wore open-top ze to show they were still minors. Young boys beginning lessons wore ze with a small rolled crown, a sign that they were not yet grown enough for full adult headcloth. Mourning ze folded backward echoed antiquity; their stacked layers paralleled those of mourning caps. Even in reduced mourning, ze gained ear-tabs and ties; the code eased ornament step by step rather than all at once.
26
古者君臣佩玉，尊卑有度； 上有韨，貴賤有殊。 佩，所以章德，服之衷也。 韨，所以執事，禮之共也。 故禮有其度，威儀之制，三代同之。 五霸迭興，戰兵不息，佩非戰器，韨非兵旗，於是解去韨佩，留其係璲，以爲章表。 故《詩》曰「鞙々佩璲」，此之謂也。 韨佩既廢，秦乃以採組連結於璲，光明章表，轉相結受，故謂之綬。 漢承秦制，用而弗改，故加之以雙印佩刀之飾。 至孝明皇帝，乃爲大佩，衝牙雙瑀璜，皆以白玉。 乘輿落以白珠，公卿諸侯以採絲，其玉視冕旒，爲祭服云。
Ancient courtiers all wore graded jade pendants to mark rank. The leather kneepad above the sash likewise differed by station. Pendants advertised moral standing—the inward truth of the costume. The kneepad marked readiness for ritual service—shared ceremonial equipment. Thus ornament and deportment stayed metered; the three dynasties held those rules in common. Endless warfare led hegemons to strip off heavy jade sets yet keep linked beads as badges of office. The Odes’ “gleaming linked pendants” refer to this simplified regalia. Qin replaced jade sets with bright silk cords knotted to seal-stones—origin of the named “ribbon” (shou). Han kept Qin’s ribbons and layered on the double seal and court knife. Emperor Ming introduced the great court girdle—white jade pounding-teeth, paired disks, and huang plaques. The emperor’s set used pearl stringing; nobles used colored silk, with jade grades matching their crown tassels for sacrifice.
27
佩刀，乘輿黃金通身貂錯，半鮫魚鱗，金漆錯，雌黃室，五色罽隱室華。 諸侯王黃金錯，環挾半鮫，黑室。 公卿百官皆純黑，不半鮫。 小黃門雌黃室，中黃門朱室，童子皆虎爪文，虎賁黃室虎文，其將白虎文，皆以白珠鮫爲钅剽口之飾。 乘輿者，加翡翠山，紆嬰其側。
The imperial dress knife was gold-inlaid with sable and sharkskin panels, lacquered fittings, and polychrome felt linings. Kings of blood carried gold-inlaid hilts with ring mounts and black scabbard chambers. Civil officials’ knives were plain black scabbards without the sharkskin half-panel. Eunuch ranks color-coded scabbard “chambers”; tiger guards bore tiger motifs; all used pearl and sharkskin at the throat of the sheath. The emperor alone added a jadeite mountain mount with hanging tassels on the blade.
28
佩雙印，長寸二分，方六分。 乘輿、諸侯王、公、列侯以白玉，中二千石以下至四百石皆以黑犀，二百石以至私學弟子皆以像牙。 上合絲，乘輿以縢貫白珠，赤罽蕤，諸侯王以下以綔赤絲蕤，縢綔各如其印質。 刻書文曰：「正月剛卯既決，靈殳四方，赤青白黃，四色是當。 帝令祝融，以教夔龍，庶疫剛癉，莫我敢當。 疾日嚴卯，帝令夔化，慎爾週伏，化茲靈殳。 既正既直，既觚既方，庶疫剛癉，莫我敢當。」 凡六十六字。
Double ritual seals measured about 1.2 inches long and 0.6 inch square. Seal material followed rank—white jade for the throne and top nobility, black horn for mid officials, ivory for humbler clerks and students. Imperial cords carried white pearls and crimson tassels; lower ranks used blended red silk keyed to the seal stone. The spring amulet’s incantation invokes the gang-mao charm’s power over the four quarters in their proper colors. It calls on the fire god Zhurong and dragon spirits to ward off plague—no demon may resist. The summer yan-mao face adds lines commanding the spirit Kui to transform hidden banes. It ends by declaring the charm square and true so that illness cannot prevail." The full inscription ran to sixty-six graphs.
29
乘輿黃赤綬，四採，黃赤縹紺，淳黃圭，長二丈九尺九寸，五百首。
The emperor’s ribbon mixed four colors on a pure yellow boss, nearly three yards long with five hundred woven “heads.”
30
諸侯王赤綬，四採，赤黃縹紺，淳赤圭，長二丈一尺，三百首。
Kings of Liu blood wore a red-based four-color ribbon about twenty-one feet long.
31
太皇太后、皇太后，其綬皆與乘輿同，皇后亦如之。
The two dowagers and the reigning empress used the same ribbon scheme as the emperor.
32
長公主、天子貴人與諸侯王同綬者，加特也。
Senior princesses and top imperial ladies who matched princely ribbons did so by special favor.
33
諸國貴人、相國皆綠綬，三采，綠紫紺，淳綠圭，長二丈一尺，二百四十首。
Kingdom nobles and chancellors wore triple-hued green ribbons about twenty-one feet long.
34
公、侯、將軍紫綬，二採，紫白、淳紫圭，長丈七尺，百八十首。 公主封君服紫綬。
Dukes, marquises, and generals bore purple-and-white ribbons seventeen feet long. Ennobled princesses and dames wore the purple grade.
35
九卿、中二千石、二千石青綬，三采，青白紅，淳青圭，長丈七尺，百二十首。 自青綬以上，縌皆長三尺二寸，與綬同採而首半之。 縌者，古佩璲也。 佩綬相迎受，故曰縌。 紫綬以上，縌綬之間得施玉環鐍云。
Ministry heads and salary-class two thousand piculs used a three-color blue-green ribbon seventeen feet long. Above that rank a shorter “ni” cord matched the main ribbon’s colors at half density. That secondary cord descended from the old jade-link strings. Because it paired with the main shou, ritualists called it ni. Purple ranks and higher might add jade rings and metal slides between the two cords.
36
千石、六百石黑綬，三采，青赤紺，淳青圭，長丈六尺，八十首。 四百石、三百石長同。
County-level salaries wore black-based triple hues sixteen feet long. The four-hundred and three-hundred picul grades used identical ribbon lengths.
37
四百石、三百石、二百石黃綬，一採，淳黃圭，長丈五尺，六十首。 自黑綬以下，縌綬皆長三尺，與綬同採而首半之。
Lower magistrates bore plain yellow ribbons fifteen feet long. Below black rank, both cords shortened to three feet while keeping the half-density rule.
38
百石青紺綬，一採，宛轉繆織圭，長丈二尺。
The lowest salaried grade used a twelve-foot blue-black cord in twined weave.
39
凡先合單紡爲一系，四系爲一扶，五扶爲一首，五首成一文，文采淳爲一圭。 首多者係細，少者係粗，皆廣尺六寸。
Weavers counted threads: four plies to a bundle, five bundles to a “head,” five heads to a pattern block forming one color boss. Higher strand counts meant finer weave, yet every ribbon stayed the same width.
40
太皇太后、皇太后入廟服，紺上皁下，蠶，青上縹下，皆深衣制，隱領袖緣以絛。 剪氂蔮，簪珥。 珥。 耳璫垂珠也。 簪以玳瑁爲擿，長一尺，端爲華勝，上爲鳳皇爵，以翡翠爲毛羽，下有白珠，垂黃金鑷。 左右一橫簪之，以安蔮結。 諸簪珥皆同制，其擿有等級焉。
Dowagers entering the temple wore dark layered robes; for the silkworm ceremony they shifted to green tones, always deep-robe cut with tape-edged hidden collars. They added a yak-hair veil, hairpins, and ear pendants. Earrings. “Ear dang” meant pearl drops at the lobe. Their hairpins were tortoiseshell shafts a foot long, topped with jeweled “floral crests,” phoenix finials of jadeite feathers, pearl strings, and gold picks. Cross-pins fixed the headdress and veil knot. The same basic design scaled by rank in pin ornament.
41
皇后謁廟服，紺上皁下，蠶，青上縹下，皆深衣制，隱領袖緣以絛。 假結。 步搖，簪珥。 步搖以黃金爲山題，貫白珠爲桂枝相繆，一爵九華，熊、虎、赤羆、天鹿、辟邪、南山豐大特六獸，《詩》所謂「副笄六珈」者。 諸爵獸皆以翡翠爲毛羽。 金題，白珠璫繞，以翡翠爲華云。
The empress mirrored the dowagers’ temple and silkworm palettes on deep robes with taped hidden collars. She wore a formal wig-knot. Her regalia included the swaying bu yao crown, pins, and earrings. Her bu yao showed a gold “mountain,” pearl “cassia” sprays, nine blossoms to a finial, and six jeweled beasts—the Odes’ “six jia upon the side pins.” Every bird-and-beast finial used jadeite inlay for plumage. Gold plaques, pearl circlets, and jadeite flowers completed the crown.
42
貴人助蠶服，純縹上下，深衣制。 大手結，墨玳瑁，又加簪珥。 長公主見會衣服，加步搖，公主大手結，皆有簪珥，衣服同制。 自公主封君以上皆帶綬，以採組爲緄帶，各如其綬色。 黃金辟邪，首爲帶鐍，飾以白珠。
Imperial consorts of honor wore monochrome light green deep robes at the silkworm altar. They used a large hand-shaped coiffure, dark tortoiseshell pins, and full ear jewelry. Senior princesses gained bu yao for audiences while lesser princesses kept the large knot; all shared pin-and-earring rules. Titled women from princess rank up wore ribbons with belt borders dyed to match. Their belt slides were gold bixie beasts inset with pearls.
43
公、卿、列侯、中二千石、二千石夫人，紺繒蔮，黃金龍首銜白珠，魚須擿，長一尺，爲簪珥，入廟佐祭者皁絹上下，助蠶者縹絹上下，皆深衣制，緣。 自二千石夫人以上至皇后，皆以蠶衣爲朝服。
Elite wives wore dark veils, dragon-headed pearl pins, and fish-bone hairpins; temple duty meant black deep robes, silkworm duty pale green, all edged per code. From ministerial wives to the empress, the silkworm robe doubled as court dress.
44
公主、貴人、妃以上，嫁娶得服錦綺羅縠繒，採十二色，重緣袍。 特進、列侯以上錦繒，採十二色。 六百石以上重練，採九色，禁丹紫紺。 三百石以上五色採，青絳黃紅綠。 二百石以上四採，青黃紅綠。 賈人，緗縹而已。
High-ranking ladies could marry in twelve-hued brocades and multi-layered bordered gowns. Specially advanced nobles and marquises enjoyed the full twelve-color brocade palette. Six-hundred picul households could use nine hues but not the top three forbidden shades. Three-hundred picul rank allowed a five-color set within those limits. Two-hundred picul clerks were limited to four hues. Merchants could wear only pale yellow and pale green.
45
公、列侯以下皆單緣襈，製文繡爲祭服，自皇后以下，皆不得服諸古麗圭襂閨緣加上之服。 建武、永平禁絕之，建初、永元又復中重，於是世莫能有製其裁者，乃遂絕矣。
High nobles wore single-border coats; regulated brocade served sacrifice; from the empress down, archaic layered finery and private-chamber trims were banned. Early Eastern Han bans collapsed under later reigns’ fashion excess until tailors could no longer police the cuts and the court abandoned the fight.
46
凡冠衣諸服，旒冕、長冠、委貌、皮弁、爵弁、建華、方山、巧士，衣裳文繡，赤舄，服絇履，大佩，皆爲祭服，其餘悉爲常用朝服。 唯長冠，諸王國謁者以爲常朝服云。 宗廟以下，祠祀皆冠長冠，皁繒袍單衣，絳緣領袖中衣，絳褲襪，五郊各從其色焉。
The listed crowns, brocade robes, red shoes, great jade girdle, and braided shoes counted as sacrifice-only; everything else was routine court wear. Only the long cap, among princely households’ ushers, doubled as everyday dress. For lesser shrines and cult sites, officers wore the long cap with black robe, crimson-trimmed underlayers, and directional colors at the five suburban altars.
47
贊曰：車輅各庸，旌旂異局。 冠服緻美，佩紛璽玉。 敬敬報情，尊尊下欲。 孰誇華文，匪豪麗縟。
The historian’s verse praises how chariots suit their tasks and how each banner keeps its station. Crown and robe reach exquisite polish; girdle ornaments set off jade and seals. Ritual answered the moment with grave care: rank was honored and private appetite kept in its place. This was never vainglory in ornament—nothing here was swagger or empty sumptuousness.