Mandarin square

Mandarin square
Qing dynasty mandarin square, 6th civil rank, about 30 cm square.
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese補子
Simplified Chinese补子
Literal meaningMaster's patch
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinbŭzi
Wade–Gilesputzŭ
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetBổ tử
Chữ Hán補子
Korean name
Hangul흉배
Hanja胸背
Transcriptions
Revised Romanizationhyungbae
Manchu name
Manchu scriptᠰᠠᠪᡳᡵᡤᡳ
Möllendorffsabirgi
English name
EnglishMandarin square/ rank badge

A mandarin square (Chinese: 補子), also known as a rank badge, was a large embroidered badge sewn onto the surcoat of officials in Imperial China (decorating hanfu and qizhuang), Korea (decorating the gwanbok of the Joseon dynasty), in Vietnam, and the Ryukyu Kingdom. It was embroidered with detailed, colourful animal or bird insignia indicating the rank of the official wearing it. Despite its name, the mandarin square (buzi) falls into two categories: round buzi and square buzi.[1]: 396  Clothing decorated with buzi is known as bufu (simplified Chinese: 补服; traditional Chinese: 補服) in China.[2] In the 21st century, the use of buzi on hanfu was revived following the Hanfu movement.

  1. ^ A history of Chinese science and technology. Volume 2. Yongxiang Lu, Chuijun Qian, Hui He. Heidelberg. 2014. ISBN 978-3-662-44166-4. OCLC 893557979.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ^ "Guide to Hanfu Types Summary & Dress Codes (Ming Dynasty)". www.newhanfu.com. 4 April 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2022.