Daoist priest’s robe (jiangyi), Kangxi period (1662–1722). Embroidered satin, 137.2 × 194.9 cm (length: from neck peak to hem; width: cuff hem to cuff hem). The John R. Van Derlip Fund, 42.8.297 © Minneapolis Institute of Art 

Cloth for this type of ritual Daoist garment, known as jiangyi, is often black, red, green, yellow, or white (the five symbolic colors of the universe), and the embroidered decoration is done in gold-wrapped thread. This robe has the “cosmic diagram” on the back and yin and yang symbols on the front.