Overview:

Court necklace, also called court beads or chao zhu, was a unique
ornament in Qing dynasty (1644 - 1912). It was a necklace worn together
with court robes for the imperial family and court officials. [6] Court
necklace, originating from the Buddhist rosary, was composed of 108
small beads, four dividers (Buddha head or fu tou), three reminders (ji
nian) and a back cloud (bei yun). [5]

The use of court necklace was restricted to the imperial nobles and high-
ranking officials. The materials of the beads and the color of threads which
comprised for their court necklaces were also regulated strictly. So, court
necklace served as a marker of officials rank and status. [6]

Court necklace [9]

Contents
1. History
2. Appearance & Symbolism
3. Materials
4. Rules
4.1 Rank
4.2 Occasions
4.3 Distinctions between men and
Women
5. See also
6. Reference
History:
The origin of the court necklace was from the Buddhist rosary. The early Qing emperors and earlier
Qing founders believed in Buddhism devoutly. They usually held a rosary to count recitations. The
devotion of Buddhism was demonstrated in the book, The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material
Culture, which writes that [Nurhaci], consolidator of Manchu power and grandfather of the first
emperor of the Qing, was known to count recitations with a rosary. [6] The members of the Qing court
were also Buddhists, and the Qing rulers tended to bestow rosaries to high officials and meritorious
officials. The Buddhist rosary then became a symbol of social status, and evolved into the court necklace
as a part of the court attire. [6]

The development of the court necklace from an ordinary rosary to a regulated official accessory is
illustrated through the court portraits of Qing founders and Qing emperors. The Qing founders, Nurhaci
and Hong Taiji, did not wear court necklaces in their portraits (see Figure 1 & Figure 2), and neither did
Shunzhi Emperor, the first emperor of the Qing dynasty (see figure 3). His successor, the Kangxi
Emperor, however, wore a court necklace in an official portrait (see figure 4); the Kangxi Emperor was
the first emperor to wear court necklace in a portrait in the Qing dynasty. [6] The successor of the
Kangxi Emperor, Yongzheng Emperor, wore a court necklace in his official portrait as well (see figure
5). Therefore, it is possible to say that the regulation to wear court necklaces with court robes was
established from Kangxi.

Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

Portrait of Nurhaci Portrait of Hong Taiji Portrait of the Shunzhi

(Dates of reign: 1616 - 1626) (Dates of reign: 1626-1643) Emperor in Court Dress
(Dates of reign: 1644 - 1661)
 Figure 4 Figure 5

Portrait of the Kangxi Emperor Portrait of the Yongzheng

in Court Dress Emperor in Court Dress
(Dates of reign: 1662-1722) (Dates of reign: 1723-1735)

[7]

Appearance & Symbolism:

back cloud
(bei yun) reminders
(ji nian)

Buddha head
(fu tou).

The indication of each part of court necklace [3]

Court necklace was made up of 108 beads, which were equally divided into 27 beads by four larger
beads, called Buddha head (fu tou). The four Buddha heads represent the four quarters of the year. The
topmost Buddha head connects to a back cloud (bei yun), a long tape running down the back from the
neck. It symbolizes the start of a new year. Three strings of smaller beads, each consists of 10 beads,
attached to the main necklace are reminders (ji nian). Each reminder represents ten days, and the three
reminders mean a month. [5]
Materials:
The rank of gemstones used in court necklace is evaluated through the beauty, durability, rarity, and
other criterions. Basically, precious stones are pearl, diamond, ruby, sapphire, jadeite, and cats eye.
Semi-precious stones are tourmaline, nephrite, amethyst, amber, turquoise, lapis lazuli, coral, quartz,
agate, and even sea-shell, tortoise shell, and ivory. [1] Among these materials, the Eastern pearl is the
rarest and [is] produced in the lower reaches of the northeastern Songhua River (a tributary of the
Heilong River, also known as the Amur River) and its tributaries. [10]

Eastern pearl court necklace is made of Eastern

pearl, coral, lapis lazuli, turquoise, ruby and
gold filigree. [10]

Rules:
Ranks
The right to wear court necklace was restricted to the rank of officials. Only imperial nobles, civil
officials of the fifth rank and above, military officials of the fourth rank and above, and wives of the
high officials were permitted to wear court necklace. For each rank, the materials of the beads and color
of threads used for the court necklace were regulated strictly. [6]
For mens court necklace, [t]he Emperor's principal chao zhu was made of 108 Eastern pearls [] The
crown prince was allowed to use any semi-precious stones, with the exception of Eastern pearls, on his
chao zhu, which were strung on apricot-yellow thread. The emperors other sons and imperial princes of
the first two degrees were supposed to use amber with golden-yellow strings. [2] Although there are
strict rules on stones, other nobles and officials also had the ability to wear any stone, as long as its not
pearls, with blue-black thread. [2]

For womens court necklace, only empress or empress dowager could wear Eastern pearls for the
principal necklace, while the other two necklaces were made from coral with the yellow strings. The
details are listed in the following table. [2]

The table shows the materials of beads and color of strings regulated for womens court necklace. [2]

Occasions
The materials of court necklace used during different imperial rites and sacrifices are distinct. The
imperial family and officials wore the appropriate court necklace to each occasion according to the
Collected Regulations and Precedents of the Qing. Take the Emperor as an example, [t]he various
gemstones in the Emperors court necklaces should be as follows: at the Altar of Heaven, lapis lazuli is
used; at the Altar of Earth, amber is used; at the Altar of the Sun, coral is used; at the Altar of the Moon,
turquoise is used. [1] These rules followed the regulations in the Rites of Zhou, an ancient ritual text,
which states, use a dark green-blue pi-disk for the Rite of Heaven; use a yellow tsung for the Rite of
Earth. [1] The color of gemstones used in accessories represents the theme of the rituals, dark green-
blue for sky and yellow for land.
Distinctions between men and women

Males and females were different in the wearing of court necklace. Men wore court necklace with two
reminders (ji nian) on the left, and one on the right, whereas women wore court necklace with two
reminders on the right, and one on the left. [5] Moreover, while men wore one court necklace with the
formal robes (see Figure 1), women were required to wear three court necklaces with the formal court
robes. Besides the main string of court necklace, the second court necklace should be worn across the
left shoulder to right underarm, and the third one should cross from right shoulder to left underarm (see
Figure 2). However, when they wore semi-formal court robes, only one court necklace was required for
women. [4]
Figure 1 Figure 2

Portrait of Tongzhi Emperor [7] Portrait of Empress Xiaozheyi [8]

Tongzhi Emperor wore one Eastern pearl
court necklace.
(birth - death: 1856-1875)
Empress Xiaozheyi wore three court
necklaces. One is Eastern pearl court
necklace, and the other two are coral court
necklaces.
(birth - death: 1854-1875)

See also:
List of emperors of the Qing dynasty
Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty
Buddhist rosary
References:
[1] Catalogue of the exhibition of Ching Dynasty Costume Accessories. (1986). Taipei: National Palace
Museum.
[2] Dickinson, G. & Wrigglesworth, L. (1990). Imperial Wardrobe. Bamboo Publishing
Ltd.
[3] Fuzhu chaozhu benshi yijia. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.douban.com/group/topic/70559955/
(in Chinese).
[4] Garrett, V. (2001). A Collectors Guide to Chinese Dress Accessories. Singapore: Times Media
Pte Ltd.
[5] Heavenly Splendour: The Edrina Collection of Ming And Qing Imperial Costumes
(2009). Art Museum: The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
[6] Kieschnick, J. (2003). The impact of Buddhism on Chinese material culture.
New Jersey: University Presses of California, Columbia and Princeton.
[7] List of emperors of the Qing dynasty. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emperors_of_the_Qing_dynasty
[8] Portrait of Empress Xiaozheyi. Retrieved from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Half_-_Empress_XiaoZhe.PNG
[9] Qingdai chaozhu. Retrieved from
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%B8%85%E4%BB%A3%E6%9C%9D%E7%8F%A0/337258
6 (in Chinese)
[10] The Palace Museum. (2016). Eastern Pearl Court necklace. Retrieved from
http://en.dpm.org.cn/collections/collections/2016-09-22/4270.html