• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.55 no.2 s.92
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• pp.70-81
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• 2005

This paper researches the system of official uniforms and characteristics of the system based on Ming-Shi(明史), Da-Ming-Hui-Dian(大明會典) and Hong-Wu-Li-Zhi(洪武禮制) in the emperor Hong-wu(洪武帝) of Ming dynasty(明). The system could be divided in to three terms, i.e., the early (initial), the middle and the end (last) terms. In the first(1368) & the third year of the emperor's reign (1370) the system of official uniforms was simple f9r his people not to be luxurious and for revived the system of official uniforms of the Han dynasty(漢) and annulled the system of the Yuan dynasty(元), be-cause the country was not stable yet. During the middle term of Hong-wu, the 14th (1381) to 16th (1383) year of his reign, people attained luxurious lives and developed a strong sense of rank as the country became more stable. As a result, the system became more complicated when the emperor used the costumes to represent political and social ranking. In the end of the emperor's age, the 23rd (1390) to 26th (1393), it reveals his strong intention to establish a system of costumes that separated the ruler from the ruled. He wanted to strengthen the power of Emperor for his little grandson, Jian-wen(建文帝), who would succeed to the throne and would have absolute power. These changes became fundamental to the Ming dynasty's costume system and the Ming dynasty kept them for long time.