In 960 AD, when Zhao Kuangyin, who led the Northern Expedition, arrived in Chen Qiaoyi, some of his generals were armed to the teeth and led some soldiers straight to his dormitory. Scared Zhao Kuangyin just got dressed, but before he could react, the generals dragged him out and put on the yellow robe prepared in advance. Then, everyone knelt on the ground and shouted long live. This is the story of Song Taizu's "yellow robe" because of the mutiny in Chen Qiao. Since then, the emperor has been widely known for wearing a yellow robe. So, is the "yellow robe" the emperor's "patent"? Is it true that only emperors can wear yellow clothes?
Yellow clothes have always been popular in ancient China, and anyone can wear them. It was only in the Sui and Tang Dynasties that the "yellow robe" became the emperor's special costume, because yellow was precious. Especially in the Tang Dynasty, the emperor did not want to wear yellow robes with ordinary people, so he issued an order prohibiting ordinary people from wearing red and yellow clothes. It is recorded in "Wild Guest Series Banning Yellow": "Tang Gaozu Wu Dechu adopted the Sui system, and the emperor often wore yellow robes, so it was forbidden for scholars to wear yellow clothes. From then on, yellow clothes were forbidden."
Tang Gaozong reiterated that "nothing is allowed to be yellow". But at this time, the regulations are not strict, and it is common for ordinary people to wear yellow clothes. In the Northern Song Dynasty, after Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, the "yellow robe" officially became a symbol of imperial power. Song Renzong also stipulates that ordinary people are not allowed to wear yellow robes or make patterns. Since then, not only the yellow robe is unique to the emperor, but also the yellow robe is unique to the emperor. In fact, before the Tang and Song Dynasties, emperors had no clear rules about what color robes to wear.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, according to the Book of Rites and the Moon Order, the' son of heaven' wore cymbals. During the Spring and Autumn Period, disputes among vassal states continued, and the robes of monarchs were even more varied. In the Qin Dynasty, due to the popularity of the "Five Elements", the Qin Dynasty was virtuous and black was the most expensive, so Qin Shihuang wore a black robe. The robes of the Western Han Dynasty mainly follow the characteristics of the robes of the Qin Dynasty: "Take water as virtue and black as clothing."
When I arrived at Liu Heng, Emperor of Chinese, I began to abandon black. "Chinese emperor fifteen years, take yellow; Sixteen years, serving red. " According to Records of Historical Records of Emperor Xiaowen, this is due to Liu Heng's belief that the Han Dynasty should be "associated with fire morality". But in the Jin Dynasty, red was the most important color for Jin Jinde, so the imperial robes of the Jin Dynasty all adopted red.