Court Crown of a Beile’s Fujin

Title, marriage and ceremonial status

This category refers to the court crown of the principal wife, or *fujin*, of a *duoluo beile*. The *beile* was a grade of Qing imperial-clan nobility below the prince of the second rank and above the *gushan beizi*. It was not an administrative post. The term *fujin* was used for the spouses of princes and nobles; its precise ceremonial meaning depended on the husband's title. A *beile's fujin* consequently occupied a defined position within the dynastic hierarchy rather than a generic category of married women.

The court crown was worn at formal ritual occasions and must be distinguished from everyday headwear and the crown associated with festive dress. The *Huangchao liqi tushi*, an official illustrated code compiled during the Qianlong reign, classified clothing by the wearer's status and the occasion. Its clothing regulations form part of a larger account of imperial ceremonial equipment. Volume 4 documents court clothing for the emperor, imperial sons, princely men and husbands of imperial-clan women; the fuller system also addresses female ceremonial attire.

Reading the evidence

The original Chinese article identifies the category and its institutional context but does not provide an independently checked specification for the *beile's fujin* crown's pearl count or construction. Such details should be sought in the appropriate provisions and corroborated with particular surviving objects, rather than inferred from the male *beile's* crown. Normative illustrations also do not demonstrate that every extant court crown was manufactured precisely according to the published rule.

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

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