The Imperial Household Department took care of costume making for the Court Operas, which was very complicated. The actors were forbidden to bring their own costumes to the Forbidden City except for a few special operas. The costumes were made in the Imperial Textile Bureaus in Hangzhou, Suzhou and Jiangning (Nanjing today) with great variety and high quality, therefore very expensive. Among the costumes and headgears displayed in the west part of the Gallery, there is an official robe with gold designs of dragons, which was an excellent work of the Qianlong period (1736-1795).The designs are rich and harmonious. The colors are splendid and majestic. Finely made by hand, it looks bright and new.

Gallery of Court Operas of the Forbidden City

Costume and Stage Properties