Celebrating Virtue: Prestige Costumes and Fabrics of Late Imperial China

This exhibition of garments and textiles dating from the 17th through the early 20th centuries speaks to the opulence and pageantry of China’s last imperial age. These textiles reflect a time when using silk was a privilege of class and its public display fostered and aristocratic culture. The decoration of silk textiles used a visual language that articulated the aspirations of an elite society and demonstrated its place at the centre of the universe. The title of the exhibition is taken from quote by a leading Confucian historian Ban Gu (died in A.D. 92) who rationalized the elevated status of the ruling classes by noting: “…[T]he ancients used clothing for the purpose of distinguishing between the noble and the common to illustrate virtue so as to encourage the imitation of good example. Virtue in Confucian sense is associated with orderliness and appropriate behaviour. This exhibit also celebrates the virtue of the Textile Museum of Canada and the Glenbow Museum who partnered to make these remarkable costumes and textiles accessible to wider audiences. Today both institutions have significant collections of late imperial Chinese textiles, the forty-two Chinese textile items presented represent only a small portion of these holdings.  

Type: Exhibition

Date: Nov 15, 2001, 8am - May 13, 2002, 5pm

Curated by: John E. Vollmer