Court Belts of a Fuguo Gong

Rank and ceremonial use

The court belt (*chaodai*) of a *fuguo gong*, a Qing imperial-clan auxiliary duke, formed part of full court dress. This title ranked below *zhenguo gong*, and it did not in itself denote appointment to an administrative office. Court belts differed from auspicious-dress belts and ordinary waistwear. Their plaque materials, precious stones, and associated cords were among the elements through which court rank became visible.

Juan 4 of the *Illustrated Regulations for the Ceremonial Paraphernalia of the Imperial Court* specifies for a *zhenguo gong* a golden-yellow belt with four square gold-mounted jade plaques, each embellished with one cat's-eye stone. Crucially, the regulation adds that the *fuguo gong* follows the same prescription. This express equivalence supports describing the auxiliary duke's court belt with those particular plaques and gemstones; it is not an inference from a modern photograph.

Regulation versus preserved object

The Qianlong-period compendium organized ritual implements and clothing by social rank and ceremonial function. Its prescriptions establish what was officially required, but a surviving belt must still be examined for manufacture, date, possible alterations, and documentary provenance. Description should not assume that every object worn by every *fuguo gong* in the Qing period was identical in all particulars. The explicit textual cross-reference remains the soundest basis for identifying the regulated belt type.

Related encyclopedia entry: Court Belts of the Zhenguo Gong.

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