Emperor's dragon robe embroidered with the imperial twelve symbols

This bright-yellow dragon robe has a round collar, large opening on the right and horse-hoof cuffs. The robe is embroidered with three dragons on each side of the robe's front and back, two on the shoulders, and the ninth dragon on the inner facing which only becomes visible when the flap is flipped open. Thus a total of nine dragons are embroidered on a dragon robe. Observed from the front or the back, the robe carries five embroidered dragons, evoking the Emperor's status as the "Son of Heaven". The dragon robe was a kind of auspicious attire for rituals and ceremonies. The Twelve Imperial Symbols embroidered on this robe are unique to emperors' dragon robes. They symbolise the Emperor's power and embodiment of the highest virtues. They are the Sun, representing the illumination of the myriad things; the Moon, representing yin-yang balance; a constellation of Stars, representing harmony with the heavenly laws; mountains, representing steadfastness; Dragon patterns, representing deft adaptation to change; the huachong Pheasant standing on one leg, representing impressive literary cultivation; a pair of yi Wine goblets meant for ancestral worship, representing loyalty and filial piety, wisdom and courage; Aquatic plants, representing purity and cleanness; Fire, representing brightness; Grains; representing material plenitude; a sacrificial Axe, representing decisive and acute judgment; and a Fu symbol, representing the ability to distinguish clearly between right and wrong. Since the Han dynasty (206 BCE - CE 220), there have been multiple interpretations of the twelve symbols, but generally speaking they were thought to signify the worship of Heaven, glorification of ancestors, making-manifest of ritual propriety, and veneration of morality.