Detail: dragon
This imperial yellow silk brocade is worked with nine dragons in gold metal thread, each chasing a flaming pearl within a celestial landscape of clouds, mountains and waves. The upper frieze, which is also in brocade, has a further three gold dragons against a midnight blue ground. This design traditionally represents the universe, with the dragon�s symbolising the emperor and the rocks and waves� denoting the earthly world over which he presides. Amid the waves on both sections are four of the eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism: the rhino horn, the lingzhi fungus, the coral and a sutra.
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