Vestment (“Robe of Descent”) for a First-Degree Daoist Priest

This spectacular garment, known in Daoist rituals as a "robe of descent," has a very simple cut. It is made up of two pieces of yardage that extend from front to back, with no seams across the shoulders and with the front left open. The front of the robe is relatively plain. In contrast, its back, which may be seen in the additional images at left, is much more elaborately decorated as it would face an assembled congregation during a ritual. There is a cosmic diagram (sun, moon, and constellations) with a scattered scheme of five medallions, each containing a four-clawed dragon, cranes, the "Eight Precious Things," and talismanic representations of the five sacred peaks. The hem features a celestial landscape with two four-clawed dragons, mountains, clouds, waves, and a stylized water pattern. The side borders contain floral scrolls and roundels with the Eight Trigrams.