The image of an ancient official wearing a black gauze cap shown in New Year pictures           Wearing a gauze hat,jade belt and hanging a drooping board and a plate with tassels and decorating chest part with ornamental patch similar to python pattern.This os a marquis pfficial robe of Ming Dynasty.   The clothes for Tang Dynasty civil officials.The styles of robes, hats and shoes were slightly different. A drawing of Ming Dynasty first rank civil official robe with ornamental patch. This New Year picture shows the dress image of Qing officials of all different ranks.

    The mention of ancient Chinese official uniforms almost always leads to the Chinese opera type of character - one dressed in a round collar gown, a black gauze cap with wings on each side, a white jade belt and black boots with white sole. In reality, Chinese official uniform is by far more complex than that. Each dynasty had rules of its own, which could be changed many times even within a dynasty.

    There is no official uniform without the cap. In Han Dynasty, civil officials wore caps with a ze or kerchief lining the cap, while the military officials wore a hat designed for their ranks. Men of all social strata in Qin and Han Dynasties all wore a kerchief, the only difference being that the commoners wore no cap or hat above it. In Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, officials wore gauze hats, which were painted and stiffened with lacquer.

    Both officials and the common people in the Tang Dynasty wore futou or turbans. The early futou was just a close-fitting piece of cloth wrapped around the head. Later on a kerchief was put under the turban padded with wood, silk, grass or leather to form the shape of hair buns. After the mid Tang Dynasty, the cap finally took shape, still given the name futou. The two corners of the futou are round or wide, tipping slightly upwards.

    The Song Dynasty futou was unique in that it had two straight tips protruding at both sides, intended, some say, at preventing officials getting their heads too close to whisper when in court.

    Later on the official headdress evolved from the futou of Tang and Song Dynasties to the black gauze cap of the Ming Dynasty. There were no significant changes to the style. The difference was that the turban, which could be wrapped and unwrapped, became a cap of a fixed shape. "Black gauze cap" also became a synonym for the government official status, used until the present day. No significant changes were made in the Tang, Song and Ming official gowns. There were clear rules specifying the appropriate color for each of the ranks, with slight modifications made in each dynasty. This system was passed down until the Qing Dynasty ended in history.

    In Tang Dynasty the woman emperor Wuzetian had all official wear embroidered gowns, specifying that civil official gowns were embroidered with birds and military official gowns with beasts. The Ming dynasty followed this tradition, distinguishing types and ranks of officials with buzi, embroidered pieces attached to the chest and back of gowns indicating the wearers' ranks.

    To the ruling class of early Qing Dynasty who was intent on defining rigid court ceremonies, the official attire was used as an important instrument to distinguish social status. The Qing rulers invented the most complicated system of official attire in Chinese history, strictly defining the color, decorative patterns and style of official uniform in books with clear illustrations, intended to be passed down to all generations to come. The court even set up supervisory office ensuring that all rules are followed in the making of official uniform, and all court attire are complete with the most refined weaving and embroidery, and complimented with complete set of ornaments.

    The most distinguishing elements of the Qing official uniform are the horse-hoof shaped sleeve and the Mandarin jacket style. However, the use of buzi, or ornament patches, was borrowed directly from the previous Ming Dynasty. The court insignia badges clearly distinguished the civil and military officials with embroideries of birds or beasts. Emblems with different animals were used to further distinguish the ranks and authority of these officials. The emblems embroidered on the decorative patches were however different from the Ming Dynasty in that they were much more decorative, often accentuated with an elaborately embroidered border.

    In terms of style, the Qing buzi was embroidered on the outer jacket worn over the gown with front closure, and the front embroidery was done in two pieces at each side. The black gauze cap of the Ming Dynasty was replaced by the Hualing or feathered cap. The number of "eyes" on the peacock feather was used to differentiate each different rank. The official court uniform and daily uniform were both worn in different layers of robe, jacket, gown, vest, and decorative  _ patches, complimented by court beads, court belt, jade ornaments, colored silk ribbons and perfumed sachel. Officials wore court beads made of jade, agate, coral, or sandalwood, and silk ribbons of bright yellow, turquoise or azurite, all according to their ranks.

    Female relatives of the officials also wore elaborately decorated dresses. Inlaid brims were lavishly used in their dresses, complimented by pearls, jade ornaments and embroideries on the hemline, the chest and the sleeve edges. Pleats were fixed with silk threads, and even the sole of socks and shoes invisible to others were covered with embroideries. This attitude was passed down by the most privileged throughout the dynasties, in which only the most leisurely could have appreciated the intricacy of these details.

    Out of all details in Chinese official uniform, the buzi was the most outstanding feature to mark the relationship of garment and power. These ornament patches had birds and beasts of all kinds, both real and mythical. For civil officials, real birds such as cranes, golden pheasants, peacocks, wild geese, silver pheasants, egrets, larks and quails were used, together with mythical birds that look like a cross between an egret and a peacock. In the buzi of military officials, there were recognizable animals such as tigers, lions and panthers, as well as beasts apparently coming out of someone's imagination. Different animals were used to signify different ranks.