How are the emperor’s robes washed?

It is natural that any shirt worn for a long time will have a bad smell, so the problem of dirty clothes must be solved.
The long robe is the “exclusive” shirt of the king. On the dragon robe, there is always a dragon – the mascot symbolizing the power of the Son of Heaven. Ordinary people are of course not allowed to embroider dragons on their shirts, not even phoenixes because they are all exclusive symbols of the palace.

Strangely, the ancient emperor’s robes were forbidden to be washed with water. Usually, clothes worn for a long time without washing will have a bad smell and give a feeling of not being clean. Moreover, the long robe is the emperor’s daily wear, why is it forbidden to wash it? In the king’s palace, most of the costumes from kings to concubines use embroidery and weaving methods. The emperor’s robes are always made of the finest silk, woven into the finest fabrics. Legend has it that the clothes of the emperor and queen were also embroidered with real gold, dyed with a certain amount of gold to shine. The dragon robe is embroidered from the highest quality silk, embroidered with real gold thread, very elaborately. Photo: Sohu The minus point in this embroidery method lies in the fact that the type of silk as well as the type of embroidery thread with gold thread makes the dragon robe very special. Once touched with water, the silk thread and gold thread will be washed away and completely lose its luster, no longer as bright and brilliant as before. Therefore, long robes will never be allowed to be washed with water. Instead, they will use aromatherapy. This is the simplest way to deodorize dragon cells. However, the emperor did not always like to wear perfumed clothes. So, when they see a “slightly old” dragon robe, they will… directly leave. Normally, it takes about a year to complete a dragon robe. In the palace, there were usually more than 2,000 slaves who did nothing but weave dragon robes for the emperor all year round. Therefore, the number of emperor’s dragon robes was so large that they were thrown away after wearing, but not reused. Although it sounds quite wasteful, in fact, wearing a dragon robe is also a kind of ritual. When welcoming kings or emissaries of other countries, a king’s long robe also contributes to showing the cultural – economic – educational level of the whole country. Therefore, the investment in dragon robes is extremely worthwhile even though it is a huge amount of money.