Each of the two Tang official histories contains an essay entitled "Monograph on Vehicles and Clothing." These prescriptive and idealizing essays list, in hierarchical order, the vehicles and costumes appropriate to each member of the government, from the royal family to the government officials to the boy who fixes the water clocks in the palace. They also describe outfits suitable for different occasions. This talk investigates the assumptions behind the monographs and compares the information we find in them to data available from other sources, such as the archaeological record, ghost stories, and poetry.

Image: Yan Liben's Thirteen Emperors Scroll