Chinese Textile & Costume Research Archive

Xiaojian Li was born in 1984. He came to Chinese textiles and dress through his father, the collector Li Yulai, and has since worked for many years on collecting and researching the field. His material covers woven textiles from the Tang dynasty onwards, Ming-dynasty zhuanghua (polychrome supplementary-weft) and gold-brocaded silks, Qing court and official dress, and technical samples of embroidery.

In October 2017 the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology presented an exhibition of Qing-dynasty dress from the Li Yulai collection. Xiaojian Li took part in the accompanying symposium on Qing costume culture, speaking on the development and cultural meaning of dragon and cloud motifs across the reigns of the Qing dynasty.

In April 2018 the Museum of Textile and Costume at Donghua University, Shanghai, presented an exhibition of Chinese textiles and embroidery drawn from the family collection. One hundred and seven objects were selected, in two groups: historical woven textiles — among them a Tang-dynasty samite with paired birds in pearl roundels, a Yuan-dynasty gold-brocaded textile with geometric patterning, a Ming-dynasty zhuanghua satin length with dragon motifs, and a Ming-dynasty gold-brocaded silk with scrolling lotus — and court and official dress, including armour, chao robes (court dress), jifu robes (festive court dress), longgua (dragon surcoats), changyi (informal women’s robes), ritual robes and rank badges.

In December 2018 the China Cultural Centre in Moscow marked its sixth anniversary with an exhibition of Chinese fashion and costume art. Xiaojian Li contributed objects to the exhibition in his capacity as a collector.

In November 2019 he contributed to two volumes on Qing costume regulations and surviving objects — one on women’s dress, one on men’s dress — published by Donghua University Press. Both volumes read documentary regulation against surviving garments, addressing construction, motif and the codification of rank.

In August 2022 he donated ninety-seven objects from his collection to the Tsinghua University Art Museum: twelve garments, including a Qing-dynasty kesi (cut-silk tapestry) mang robe with dragon and cloud design, and eighty-five textiles and embroideries, among them a Qing-dynasty blue-satin-ground brocade with peony and grapevine motifs. The donation places the material in a public collection, where it is available for research, display and teaching.