Military Attire Design of Qin Liangyu in the Late Ming Dynasty: The Legendary Past of the Red Silk Coiled Gold-embroidered Boa and Phoenix Robe

ZHANG Chenxuan, HU Ruohan, ZHANG Beibei

Industrial & Engineering Design ›› 2025, Vol. 7 ›› Issue (6) : 66-75.

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Industrial & Engineering Design ›› 2025, Vol. 7 ›› Issue (6) : 66-75. DOI: 10.19798/j.cnki.2096-6946.2025.06.010
Design Innovation and Application

Military Attire Design of Qin Liangyu in the Late Ming Dynasty: The Legendary Past of the Red Silk Coiled Gold-embroidered Boa and Phoenix Robe

  • ZHANG Chenxuan, HU Ruohan, ZHANG Beibei*
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Abstract

The fifth episode of the fourth season of National Treasures centers on the "Red Silk Coiled Gold-embroidered Boa and Phoenix Robe" from the collection of the China Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing, recreating the historical exploits of female general Qin Liangyu in the late Ming Dynasty, who led troops to quell rebellions and defend Chongqing. In response to the war scenes established in the script, the work aims to shape and construct the military attire image of Qin Liangyu by centering on the social status of a renowned general in the dynasty, the gender attributes of female identity, and the institutional norms of military uniforms in the Ming Dynasty. Through textual analysis, the gender characteristics of Qin Liangyu's military attire are identified and combined with visual materials and costume artifacts, its standardized forms, material categories, and production techniques are sorted out. The study reveals that Qin Liangyu's military attire conforms to the same structural norms as that of male generals, featuring iron armor composed of a phoenix-winged helmet, shoulder guards, and hanging leg skirts, complemented by a red Sichuan brocade lion-emblem yisan robe, a yellow-ground tortoise-shell patterned Sichuan brocade waistband, a white ruyi-cloud-patterned collar scarf, and leather black boots. The overall design, while strictly adhering to historical accuracy and sartorial regulations, achieves an artistic expression that not only enhances the harmony between the attire, the character, and the narrative script, but also exemplifies the organic integration of historical reconstruction and cultural articulation in stage costume design, endowing Qin Liangyu's military image with dual values in both historical verification and artistic representation.

Key words

Qin Liangyu / female general in the late Ming Dynasty / image of military attire

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ZHANG Chenxuan, HU Ruohan, ZHANG Beibei. Military Attire Design of Qin Liangyu in the Late Ming Dynasty: The Legendary Past of the Red Silk Coiled Gold-embroidered Boa and Phoenix Robe[J]. Industrial & Engineering Design. 2025, 7(6): 66-75 https://doi.org/10.19798/j.cnki.2096-6946.2025.06.010

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