Dress Regulation, Dynastic Image-Building, and Geopolitical Competition in Early Medieval China

CHINA HUMANITIES

SPEAKER: Rebecca Doran, University of Miami

The various regimes that emerged during third through sixth centuries grappled from different perspectives with the establishment of dynastic dress regulations, meant to promote hierarchical order at home and project legitimacy and strength abroad. This form of conveying authority was complicated by geopolitical developments, including regime changes and tensions between competing regimes. Discussions and decisions regarding dress regulations were informed not only by scholarly understandings of ritual sartorial precedent, but also by these contemporary sources of friction and identity-building. The talk examines several case studies demonstrating the interconnections during this period between dress regulation, dynastic image-building, and inter-dynastic rivalries.