Mandarin square

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title: "Mandarin square" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["chinese-traditional-clothing", "chinese-inventions", "history-of-imperial-china", "insignia", "korean-embroidery", "orders,-decorations,-and-medals-of-imperial-china", "culture-of-vietnam", "vietnamese-clothing"] description: "Large badge sewn onto the surcoat of an official" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_square" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Large badge sewn onto the surcoat of an official ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Chinese"]

Field	Value
t	補子
s	补子
p	bŭzi
l	Master's patch
w	putzŭ
pic	Qing Dynasty Mandarin square.jpg
piccap	Qing dynasty mandarin square, 6th civil rank, about 30 cm square.
lang1	English
lang1_content	Mandarin square/ rank badge
qn	Bổ tử
chuhan	補子
hangul	흉배
hanja	胸背
::

| t = 補子 | s = 补子 | p = bŭzi |l=Master's patch | w = putzŭ | pic = Qing Dynasty Mandarin square.jpg | piccap = Qing dynasty mandarin square, 6th civil rank, about 30 cm square. | lang1 = English | lang1_content = Mandarin square/ rank badge | qn=Bổ tử | chuhan=補子 | hangul=흉배 | hanja =胸背 |rr= hyungbae|| mnc =|| mnc_v =sabirgi}}

A mandarin square (), also known as a rank badge, was a large embroidered badge sewn onto the surcoat of officials in Imperial China (decorating zh and zh), Korea (decorating the zh of the Joseon dynasty), in Vietnam, and the Ryukyu Kingdom. It was embroidered with detailed, colourful animal or bird insignia indicating the rank of the official wearing it. Despite its name, the mandarin square (zh) falls into two categories: round zh and square zh. Clothing decorated with zh is known as zh () in China. In the 21st century, the use of zh on zh was revived following the Hanfu movement.

China

The history of the square-shaped zh is unclear. However, in the Yuan dynasty encyclopaedia Shilin Guangji (), as well as contemporary Persian paintings of the Mongol court, there are pictures showing officials wearing clothing with squares on the back, decorated with flora, animals and birds. By the Yuan dynasty, the square-shaped zh was already worn as clothing ornaments.

Ming dynasty

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Liu_Daxia.jpg" caption="Ming]] minister [[Liu Daxia]]. His mandarin square indicates that he was a civil official of the first rank."] ::

Mandarin squares were first authorized for the wear of officials in the sumptuary laws of 1391 of the Ming dynasty. The use of squares depicting birds for civil officials and animals for military officials was an outgrowth of the use of similar squares, apparently for decorative use, in the Yuan dynasty. The original court dress regulations of the Ming dynasty were published in 1368, but did not refer to badges as rank insignia. These badges continued to be used through the remainder of the Ming and the subsequent Qing dynasty until the imperial system fell in 1912.

Ming nobles and officials wore their rank badges on full-cut red robes with the design stretching from side to side, completely covering the chest and back. This caused the badges to be slightly trapezoidal with the tops narrower than the bottom. The Ming statutes never refer to the number of birds or animals that should appear on the badges. In the beginning, two or three were used. In a typical example of paired birds, they were shown in flight on a background of bright cloud streamers on a gold background. Others showed one bird on the ground with the second in flight. The addition of flowers produced an idealized naturalism.

Qing dynasty

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Qing_Dynasty_Mandarin.jpg" caption="government official]] with mandarin square on the chest."] ::

There was a sharp difference between the Ming and Qing styles of badges: the Qing badges were smaller with a decorative border. And, while the specific birds and animals did not change much throughout their use, the design of the squares underwent an almost continual evolution. According to rank, Qing-dynasty nobles had their respective official clothes. Princes, including Qin Wang and Jun Wang, usually wore black robes as opposed to the blue robes in court, and had four circular designs, one on each shoulder, front, and back, as opposed to the usual front-and-back design. Specifically, princes of the blood used four front-facing dragons, Qin Wang had two front-facing and two side-facing dragons, and Jun Wang had four side-facing ones; all had five claws on each foot. Beile and Beizi had a circular design on their official clothing, the former having two front-facing dragons, the latter two side-facing ones; these dragons had only four claws on each foot, and are referred to as "drakes" or "great serpents" (巨蟒 jù-mǎng). National duke, general, efu, "commoner" duke, marquis and count had two front-facing, four-clawed dragons on square designs, whereas viscount and baron had cranes and golden pheasants, as for mandarins of the first and second class. File:Rank Badge (China), mid- 19th century (CH 18563223).jpg|3rd civil rank (peacock). Mid 19th century. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum File:MandarinsRankBadges ArtGalleryNSW-20171107-2.jpg|2nd military rank (lion). Late 18th cent. Art Gallery of New South Wales File:Military rank badge with leopard (CBL C 3312).jpg|3rd military rank (leopard). 19th or early 20th century. Chester Beatty Library File:Chinese painting Ancestors gallery 19th century.jpg|Members of two generations of a lineage are shown in Qing mandarin attire, complete with mandarin squares. The bottom row is likely the wife/concubines of those on the middle row.

Comparative table across dynasties

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Adam_Schall_(detail).jpg" caption="Jesuit missionary [[Adam Schall]] wearing a robe with civilian mandarin badge of the first rank"] ::

The specific birds and animals used to represent rank varied only slightly from the inception of mandarin squares until the end of the Qing dynasty. Officials who held a lower position or did odd jobs used the magpie during the Ming dynasty. Supervising officials used xiezhi. Musicians used the oriole. The following tables show this evolution:

Military

::data[format=table]

Rank	Ming (1391–1526)	Ming and Qing (1527–1662)	Late Qing (1662–1911)	Image
1	Lion	Lion	Qilin (after 1662)	[[File:Zha La Feng A.jpg
2	Lion	Lion	Lion
3	Tiger or leopard	Tiger	Leopard (after 1664)
4	Tiger or leopard	Leopard	Tiger (after 1664)
5	Bear	Bear	Bear
6	Panther	Panther	Panther
7	Panther	Panther	Rhinoceros (after 1759)
8	Rhinoceros	Rhinoceros	Rhinoceros
9	Rhinoceros	Sea horse	Sea horse
::

Civil

::data[format=table]

Rank	Ming (1391–1526)	Ming and Qing (1527–1662)	Late Qing (1662–1911)	Image
1	Crane or golden pheasant	Crane	Crane	[[File:顧璘.jpg
2	Crane or golden pheasant	Golden pheasant	Golden pheasant	[[File:Zhao Bingzhong.jpg
3	Peacock or wild goose	Peacock	Peacock	[[File:徐如珂.jpg
4	Peacock or wild goose	Wild goose	Wild goose	[[File:Li Kaixian.jpg
5	Silver pheasant	Silver pheasant	Silver pheasant	[[File:Ni Yuanlu.jpg
6	Egret or mandarin duck	Egret	Egret	[[File:江韶宗.jpg
7	Egret or mandarin duck	Mandarin duck	Mandarin duck	[[File:Weng Pu Portrait of a young official.jpg
8	Oriole, quail or paradise flycatcher	Oriole	Quail	[[File:忠靖冠服容像.jpg
9	Oriole, quail or paradise flycatcher	Quail	Paradise flycatcher
::

21st century

The use of the round-shaped and square-shaped zh has been revived in China following the Hanfu movement.

Korea

Korean rank badge (흉배 in Korean) is a small panel of embroidery that would have served to indicate the status of a government official in the Choson dynasty Korea (1392–1910). Made in the nineteenth century, it shows a pair of black and white leopards, one above the other in opposing stance, surrounded by stylised cloud patterns in pink, purple and pale green upon a blue background. It would have been worn by a military official from the first to third ranks. Leopards and tigers, respected for their strength and courage in Korea, were used for the dress of military officials while civil officials wore crane motifs. This badge shows the distinctively spotted animals among rocks, waves and clouds in a pattern which remained virtually unchanged for 300 years. Image:Rank_badge.jpg|Korean rank badge, 1850-1900, Victoria & Albert Museum (no. FE.272-1995)

Vietnam

File:Annam MandarinRankBadge ArtGalleryNSW-20171107.jpg|Annamite (Vietnamese) badge, Nguyễn dynasty (19th century), civilian 8th rank. File:Quan phuc nha Nguyen.gif|Mandarins of the Nguyen dynasty (circa 1820). The Mandarin on the left is a "man of letters", with a stork on his chest and the one on the right is a military Mandarin, signified by a boar. File:Quan phuc Nguyen Tri Phuong.jpg|Sixth ranked mandarin uniform. File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu - 013.jpg|A Vietnamese envoy with a mandarin square depicted in the Huang Qing Zhigong Tu (皇清職貢圖) File:Phùng Khắc Khoan2.jpg|Phùng Khắc Khoan, his uniform can be seen with a mandarin square. File:328. TONKIN - Moncay - Le Tri-Chau. Sous-Préfet en costume de cérémonie.jpg|A Vietnamese mandarin wearing his ceremonial uniform.

References

References

1. (2014). "A history of Chinese science and technology. Volume 2".
2. (2021-04-04). "Guide to Hanfu Types Summary & Dress Codes (Ming Dynasty)".
3. (1944). "University College London". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies.
4. Sullivan, Michael. (1999). "The arts of China". University of California Press.
5. [[Schuyler V. Cammann. Cammann, Schuyler]]: "Birds and Animals as Ming and Ch'ing Badges of Rank", ''Arts of Asia'' (May to June 1991), page 89.
6. {{cite Q. Q117360120
7. Cammann, Schuyler: "Chinese Mandarin Squares, Brief Catalogue of the Letcher Collection", ''University Museum Bulletin'' Vol 17, No 3 (June 1953), pages 8–9.
8. Cammann, Schuyler: "Chinese Mandarin Squares, Brief Catalogue of the Letcher Collection", ''University Museum Bulletin'' Vol 17, No 3 (June 1953), page 9.
9. {{cite Q. Q117360120
10. Cammann, Schuyler, "Birds and Animals as Ming and Ch’ing Badges of Rank", ''Arts of Asia'' (May–June 1991), page 90.
11. Jackson, Beverley & Hugus, David, ''Ladder to the Clouds'', Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1999, Chapter 15, pages 215–289.
12. {{Cite Q. Q117360068
13. Note that the rhinoceros is depicted as a [[Bovinae. buffalo]], rather than as a [[rhinoceros]].
14. Note that the sea horse is depicted as a horse living under water, rather than as a [[seahorse]].
15. Jackson, Beverley & Hugus, David, ''Ladder to the Clouds'', Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1999, Table 4, page 133;
16. Jackson, Beverley & Hugus, David, ''Ladder to the clouds'', Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1999, Table 3, page 133.
17. Crawfurd, John. (1828). "Journal of an embassy from the Governor-General of India to the courts of Siam and Cochin-China : exhibiting a view of the actual state of those kingdoms". H. Colburn.
18. Marcin Latka. "Portrait of a young official". artinpl.

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