The significance of feathers in early and medieval China

Abstract

jats:titleAbstract</jats:title> jats:pThis article opens with a mystery: why was Zizang 子臧 assassinated in the seventh century jats:scbce</jats:sc>, and why was his assassination justified in the jats:italicZuozhuan</jats:italic> by his fondness of snipe-feather caps? It is well established that feathers were a common item of clothing in early and medieval China, used to confer status, to flaunt wealth, to embellish rituals. This article argues that there may also have been accompanying beliefs surrounding their use; beliefs that feathers might bestow upon the wearer certain imagined characteristics of the birds from which they came. It uses case studies of soldiers and their relationship to brown-eared pheasants, dancers and their relationship to long-tailed pheasants, and immortals and their relationship to cranes and egrets. Finally, it returns to Zizang's snipe-feather cap, and suggests reasons for his fate.</jats:p>