AN EMBROIDERED SILK 'SILVER PHEASANT' RANK BADGE 1898PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DAVID AND NANCY HUGUSAN EMBROIDERED SILK 'SILVER PHEASANT' RANK BADGE1898Square with black ground, centered by a resplendent silver pheasant (fifth rank) with ivory feathers accented in red, peach, beige, and violet tones, the bird soaring toward the red sun amidst a dense network of clouds in various shades of blue, eight purple-and-green bats swooping nearby bearing the bajixiang, bordered by a band of alternating bats and shou roundels, the reverse lined in blue silk.11 3/4 x 12 3/8 (29.8 x 31.4cm)一八九八年 刺繡白鷴紋五品文官補子Provenance:Teresa Coleman, Hong KongPublished:Hugus, David, Chinese Rank Badges: Symbols of Power, Wealth, and Intellect in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2002, figs 4.13 and 12.28.The colors and stitching of the present rank badge are characteristic of the Guangxu period (r. 1875-1908), however, the inclusion of the bajixiang indicates a more specific dating to 1898, during the Emperor's 'Hundred Days of Reform'. During this brief period, the Guangxu emperor issued over 40 edicts aimed at Westernizing Chinese society by transforming medicine, science, legal codes, educational systems, the military, and fundamental aspects of the government, such as abolishing the civil service examination based on the Chinese classics. Included in these reforms was a decree to simplify the imagery in civil rank badges to only the bird, sun, and clouds. However, a group of conservative officials aligned with the Dowager Empress Cixi (1835-1908) opposed the reforms, and under her protection, ignored the decrees and held to traditional customs, including the use of bajixiang in rank badges. Thus, the present badge can be attributed to a conservative member of court who resisted the reforms of the Guangxu emperor.Dr. David Hugus is a renowned collector of Chinese rank badges, and an international authority on the subject. Prior to embarking on this pursuit, Dr. Hugus served with honor in the United States military. During his numerous tours in Asia and elsewhere, he earned a Masters in Science and a doctorate degree in Operations Research Systems Analyst (ORSA) from the Naval Postgraduate School, as well as a Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, and other distinctions. Upon reading an article by Schuyler Cammann of the University of Pennsylvania in 1991, Dr. Hugus discovered Chinese rank badges and took it upon himself to expand the canon of English-language scholarship on this topic. Since then, he has published Ladder to the Clouds: Intrigue and Tradition in Chinese Rank (2000, co-authored with Beverley Jackson) and Chinese Rank Badges: Symbols of Power, Wealth, and Intellect in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (2022). Over the course of his scholarship, Dr. Hugus and his wife, Nancy, have develop a distinguished collection of Chinese rank badges, textiles, and other works of art.