Manchu Woman's Semiformal Court Vest (hsia-pei)

Court vests worn on formal occasions, unlike dragon robes, are constructed with a center front opening. The first two styles of vest reserved for the empress, imperial consorts, and crown princesses, were dark blue garments with horizontal bands of dragons. This example is of the third type. Its four ascending five-claw dragons on yellow ground indicated a garment appropriate to the wife of a first or second-degree prince.