Is it true that people in the Qing Dynasty could wear yellow jackets in history?
It is a common practice to reward those who make meritorious deeds and punish those who make mistakes, but what to reward and punish is a problem. In the Qing Dynasty, there was a reward called "rewarding the yellow jacket" and a punishment called "seizing the yellow jacket". So what's the yellow jacket? How can a dress have such a high status?
Mandarin jacket, also known as mandarin jacket. Literally, it is a kind of clothes that is convenient for people to use immediately, and it can also be simply said to be Manchu clothing. However, a yellow jacket is different from a jacket. It is not only a costume, but also a symbol of imperial power.
It is not surprising that yellow is the royal color, but the owner of the yellow jacket is not limited to the emperor, and even some ordinary people can own it. What is the reason? In fact, the answer is very simple, because there are many kinds of yellow mandarin jackets. According to Fogg's "Listening to the Rain and Talking about the Yellow Coat", the imperial ministers, the imperial court ministers, the king of the court and the guards wore bright yellow coats, and the officials and soldiers of Zhenghuangqi wore golden yellow coats. Different colors of yellow jackets symbolize different meanings. It is generally believed that bright yellow is a more noble color.
In addition to color difference, the reward rules of yellow jacket are also worth pondering. One is a reward yellow jacket, and the other is a reward yellow jacket. The questions raised by the landlord belong to the second category. The biggest difference between rewarding a yellow jacket and wearing a yellow jacket is that the former is a dress and the latter is a right. If you are rewarded with a yellow coat, then this yellow coat is a disposable product. You can wear it, but it will be gone if it is worn out. But if you are rewarded to wear a yellow jacket, you will have the opportunity to wear a yellow jacket for life, unless you are revoked by the emperor. It doesn't matter if you are old or broken, you can do it again anyway.
Only three kinds of people can have the right to make their own yellow jackets.
First, the emperor followed his attendants and guards when he was on patrol. They wear this yellow jacket because of their position, so it is also called "back jacket". They can't wear it after the expiration or termination of their duties.
The second kind is the person who was rewarded for shooting at the target and shooting at school when the emperor was hunting. Before Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty, every autumn, I would go to the north of Chengde in Mulan, Hebei Province to hunt for 20 days, which was called "walking around". Those who shoot deer while hunting and offer birds on the road after hunting will be rewarded with prizes such as yellow jackets. "Those who enjoy the winding of the yellow jacket should take it with them, not often." This yellow jacket can only be worn around the line, so it is also called "jacket around the line".
The third is the serious yellow jacket series, which is awarded to senior military generals or civilian officials who have made meritorious deeds. Li Hongzhang, whom we are familiar with, belongs to this category. This yellow jacket is also called "martial arts clothes".
In the Qing Dynasty, military commanders with outstanding military achievements were not only promoted to officers and knighthood, but also given the name of Batulu, wearing Hualing and wearing a yellow jacket, which was a higher honor. The yellow jacket was awarded to officials with outstanding achievements after Qianlong, but it was not common before Daoguang, and it gradually became popular after Xianfeng because of frequent wars.
"Wu Yi" is the highest honor awarded by the Qing government to senior generals, and the deeds of those awarded will go down in history. It is different from the first two, because it is specially approved and can only be worn by active ministers. Therefore, officials in the Qing Dynasty regarded the gift of yellow jacket as a special honor, representing status and rights.
But as mentioned above, it is a great honor to be rewarded with a yellow jacket, but if those people make mistakes or do poor things, the yellow jacket will be taken back by the emperor, commonly known as "taking the yellow jacket" to show the meaning of punishment.
Therefore, although it was a symbol of honor and status in the Qing Dynasty, there was no shortage of formalism at any time, especially in the late Qing Dynasty, when the society was in a state of rapid turmoil, the concern for these costumes was not so strong. It is not advisable to judge a person's noble status when he is rewarded with a yellow jacket.