Festive Dress of a Xiangjun’s Efu

Marital status and dress classification

The term denotes the festive dress of a man married to a woman bearing the Qing imperial-clan title *xiangjun*. The word *efu* designated a husband of a woman of imperial or princely status, but the husband of a *xiangjun* did not thereby share the ceremonial rank assigned to the husbands of *gulun* or *heshuo* princesses. The title of the wife, the status of the husband, and the dress category must be distinguished.

In its section on the dress of *efu*, the *Draft History of Qing* (*Qing shigao*), chapter on court attire, specifies a ceremonial belt for the *xiangjun's efu* and assimilates his other dress entitlements to those of a fifth-rank military official. This is a rule of sartorial equivalence, not evidence that the man actually held a fifth-rank military appointment. Festive dress (*jifu*) also belonged to a different category from the more solemn court dress (*chaofu*) prescribed for major ceremonial occasions.

Evidence and identification

The colours of an outfit, its crown finial, belt fittings and other decorations must be read against the provisions current at the time in question. A robe bearing python-like ornament, dark-blue textiles or red embellishments is not sufficient to identify a garment as belonging to a *xiangjun's efu*. Documentary attribution requires attention to garment form, date, the wearer's independently established title and object provenance. The term is thus primarily an entry into the relationship between marriage-based court status and the graded system of Qing ceremonial clothing, not the biography of a particular husband.

For related historical context and vocabulary, consult Festive Dress (Jifu) in the Qing Dynasty.

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