Mandarin square

A Mandarin square (Ch. buzi 補子): a square fabric patch with embroidered designs of various birds and other animals. These were sewn on the front and back of the outer garments of military and civilian officials of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties. Depictions of birds and other animals determined the various ranks of officials, which were divided into nine ranks. Various birds were used to distinguish the ranks of civil officials, symbolising their literary achievements, while animals distinguished the ranks of military officials, to show their extraordinary courage.

This Mandarin square from the Alma Karlin Collection features a panther, which was the mark of a military official of the sixth rank (liu pin wuguan 六品武官). In addition to the central animal, individual lucky characters from groups of eight Buddhist and Daoist symbols that bring luck, prosperity, health, and long life are depicted on the patch. A shell, a vase, and the wheel of the law can be seen in the waves, and around the animal are a fan, a pumpkin, a basket of fruit, a swastika, and bats. The swastika invokes the protection of the Buddha, but at the same time it stands for long life because of the term wan, which can also mean ten thousand wan. Similarly, the word for bat, fu 蝠 in Chinese, is a homonym of the word luck (fu 福), so the bat is one of the most common motifs that bring good luck. It is also seen in the decorative border, in which the bat motif alternates with the character for long life shou 壽. This type of hemming was especially popular at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Most of the patches from this period are cut open in the front, as the coat on which the patch was located was fastened at the front. (NVS)