Daoist Ceremonial Hat

When performing rituals and ceremonies, Daoist as well as Buddhist clergy sometimes wore large ceremonial hoods. Close-fitting at the crown and elongated on the sides and back to protect the ears and nape of the neck, this form of hat, known as a fengguo (風幗, "wind hood"), likely traces its ancestry to the northern, nomadic costume tradition. Across this hat's surface of blue and white silk, glossy satin stitches create abundant symbolic motifs, including flying phoenixes, clouds shaped like the magic fungus of immortality, bats, and crane roundels. Regarded as symbols of longevity and the mounts of Daoist immortals on their travels through the heavens, cranes rank among the most popular motifs for the ornament of Daoist ritual paraphernalia.