Research

Xiaojian Li

Private Collections and Public Institutions

私人收藏与公共机构

A private collection is worth what can be researched, cited and seen in it. Drawing on exhibition, publication and donation, this essay considers the routes by which private holdings enter public scholarship, and the limits of each.

Xiaojian Li

Qing Imperial Costume Regulations Through Surviving Objects

从传世实物看清代宫廷服饰制度

Qing dress regulation set out in writing the forms, motifs and colours available to each rank, yet surviving garments do not always answer to the text. This paper distinguishes three relations between object and regulation — conformity, divergence and adjustment — and argues for the value of material evidence in understanding how the system actually worked.

Xiaojian Li

Reading Kesi: Technique and Identification

缂丝的工艺特征与识别

Kesi is woven with continuous warps and discontinuous wefts, leaving the fine slits at the edge of each colour area that are its most immediate identifying feature. This study sets out the principle of the technique, the common methods of changing colour, and the points to observe in distinguishing kesi from embroidery and from figured weaving.

Xiaojian Li

Evolution of Dragon Motifs During the Qing Dynasty

清代历朝龙纹的演变

The dragon is the most tightly regulated motif in Qing dress, yet its form changes continuously across more than two centuries. Working from surviving garments, this study sets out the successive characteristics of the Qing dragon under five headings — the proportion of the head, the treatment of the mane, the form of the claw, the movement of the body, and its relation to the surrounding clouds — and considers the limits of using the motif as evidence for dating.

Xiaojian Li

Forms and Symbolism of Cloud Motifs in Qing Textiles

清代云纹的形态与象征

Cloud motifs in Qing textiles are at once ornament and structure. Beginning from the basic unit of head and tail, this study examines changes in density, arrangement and interlocking across the dynasty, and describes the work clouds do compositionally — dividing, linking and supporting — together with the shifting relationship between cloud and principal motif.