Rank Badge (Buzi) VII Pillow

This badge is a buzi, the square insignia that Chinese officials of the Ming and Qing dynasties wore sewn to the chest and back of their formal robes to announce their rank at court. Birds marked civil officials and animals marked military officers, with nine distinct grades running in each branch of government. Rank badges like this one were as much prized works of textile artistry as they were bureaucratic identification, often woven in fine silk and sometimes metallic thread.

Jacquard-woven both sides in soft, durable yarn; insert included.