Kingly Splendor by Allison R. Miller;

Author:Allison R. Miller;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ART015060, Art/History/Ancient & Classical, HIS008000, History/Asia/China
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc. (Tier 3)
Published: 2020-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

[The First Emperor] held that the Zhou dynasty had ruled by the power of fire. Since the Qin had replaced the Zhou, its power should therefore proceed from that which fire cannot overcome; the power of water had now begun its era of dominance. He changed the time for court celebrations marking the beginning of the year, holding them on the first day of the tenth month, and all clothing, flags, and pennants honoured the colour black. 26

Because Zou Yan’s disciples maintained that red and fire were associated with the Zhou, the Qin adopted water as their patron element, to signify their metaphysically legitimate ascendancy, and black as their patron color. Court clothing, banners, and flags were all dyed this color.

Yet even during an era when black was honored as the patron color, purple remained the principal color of prestige for a variety of ceremonies and important occasions, and increased in popularity. According to the histories, the gold seal with the purple cord (jinyin zishou 金印紫綬) was the highest seal of office. In the early Qin, this insignia was carried by the highest civil and military positions in the Qin state: the two chancellors of state (xiangguo 相國),27 the grand commandant (taiwei 太尉), and the generals of the van, rear, left, and right (qianhou zuoyou jiangjun 前後左右將軍).28 A gold seal with a purple cord was also used for the aristocratic seals of the chehou 徹侯, the highest rank out of the twenty official aristocratic ranks.29 By comparison, a silver seal with a blue-green cord was carried by officials with a salary grade of 2,000 piculs and above;30 a bronze seal with a black cord by officials with salary grades of 600 to 1,999 piculs;31 and a bronze seal with a yellow cord by officials with salary grades of 200 to 599 piculs.32

Evidence from the First Emperor’s terracotta army further supports the thesis that purple remained a color of prestige in the Qin state. Of the six major colors used to paint the terracotta warriors, green was the most popular, followed by red and then purple.33 Several of the highest-ranking figures in the army, the generals, wore long purple robes.34

Aside from this, it remains difficult to determine the overall importance attached to purple in these terracotta army figures because of the small amount of paint remaining on them and, in particular, the lack of realism employed in the figures’ paint.35 Generally, the colors selected for the warriors were chosen for their opulence, contrast, and practicality. Green was utilized much more than any other color, most likely because of the relatively high availability of malachite compared to other pigments.36 Qin artisans also placed a high value on contrast. As Yuan Zhongyi has noted, “If an upper garment was green then it often had a purple or red border. This would often be paired with blue or purple or red trousers.”37 Thus, the matter of prestige is hard to separate from the other deduced needs and practices surrounding color usage.

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