Kesa with twenty-one strips 

This kesa, with its twenty-one strips, embroidered in gold threads on a groundwork of cultured pearls and coral beads, is an exceptional example. The fabric it is made of is not cut out and mounted in patchwork as is usually the case. Here the central field consists of only three widths of material joined by two vertical seams.  It is framed by four inlaid borders. The design of the strips and the pieces – four long and one short for each strip – is embroidered on the surface of the satin by the application of couched threads.

Each of the one hundred and five sections thus formed contains the embroidered representation of a personage – Buddhist or Taoist – or good luck objects. The central strip, in the upper part, displays the representation of the Buddha Amitabha (Amida), standing, each of his two feet resting upon a blossoming lotus. In the lower part, in a composition  forming a diagonal, nine children are represented bowing down at his feet. Each one is placed upon a lotus. Here the evocation of the Paradise of the Western Pure Land – where the souls of the faithful are reborn in the form of children in lotus flowers – is clear. The last section at the bottom of the strip features three empty lotus thrones; they are destined to receive the souls of the faithful who invoke the Buddha Amida at the hour of death. The choice of this theme, as well as the crème colour used for the background – an unusual colour for a kesa, usually associated with mourning in China – suggest that the piece may have been crafted to serve on the occasion of a commemorative funerary ceremony. This might be linked to the imperial family, considering the precious character of the materials utilised and the virtuosity of the embroidery.