Royal robes to be exhibited in Hong Kong

An exhibition featuring the costumes of China's Qing emperors and their consorts will be staged at Hong Kong Museum of History from July 31 until October 7.

The Splendors of Royal Costume: Qing Court Attire exhibition will feature more than 130 costumes selected from over 100,000 textile pieces in the Palace Museum's collections.

More than 60 percent of the exhibits have never been shown outside the Mainland before. Nearly 30 percent are being displayed for the first time.

The city's Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing, Director of Leisure & Cultural Services Betty Fung, and Palace Museum Director Shan Jixiang opened the exhibition on Tuesday.

The valuable relics of the exhibition include the festive robe of Emperor Shunzhi, the armor and helmet worn by Emperor Kangxi when he inspected the Eight-Banner troops, the Empress Dowager Cixi's leisure dresses, and the surcoat of the last emperor Puyi.

The museum has produced two multimedia programs entitled Seasonal Activities of an Emperor and Making a New Robe for the Emperor. The former introduces a range of costumes for different seasons and occasions throughout a year for an emperor and an empress, and the latter describes the process of how an emperor's robe is designed and made.