Manchu Embroidered Pouch

Manchu Embroidered Pouch

　　Both Manchu men and women, young and old, take pride in wearing accessories.

　　These pouches generally come in shapes such as ingots, hearts, and gourds, mostly made of satin, featuring unusual colors, intricate embroidery with tassels and ribbons, and decorative dangling ornaments. They are delicate, elegant, and aesthetically pleasing.

　　The original pouches were made from animal hides, larger in size, and used to hold food — essentially a type of dry food bag. After the Qing troops entered the Central Plains, influenced by Han Chinese culture, the pouches gradually came to be sewn from silk and satin and embroidered with various patterns. Their size also became smaller over time, and their function shifted from carrying food to holding spices, loose silver coins, and dry tobacco. Those used for spices were called “scented pouches,” while those for tobacco were known as “tobacco pouches.”

　　The quality of the pouches varied; those belonging to royalty and nobility were made using yellow fabric — a color forbidden to commoners. The *Old Capital Cultural Relics Overview* contains a photo of a court-style pouch, which describes: “In the Qing Dynasty, the Pouch Lane sold nine styles of court-design pouches, all adorned with gold embroidery and featuring myriad patterns, which enjoyed nationwide fame at the time.” Even commoners’ pouches featured gold-thread embroidery and seed-stitching, both of which required genuine gold thread — materials were precious and the craftsmanship complex.

　　Men wore their pouches on either side of their belts, while women attached theirs to the neckline or the second buttonhole, often alongside scent pendants, beaded necklaces, and small hand mirrors.

　　The pouch served as a token of love between Manchu youths. A young woman would give a self-embroidered pouch to a man as a symbol of lifelong commitment, to which the man might respond with a gift such as a ring. Such a love token given by a woman was called a “paired pouch.” A paired pouch was split into two identical halves — when joined together, one side was flat and the other raised, embroidered with auspicious designs like flowers, birds, dragons, or phoenixes. When given as a gift, each person received one half. Sometimes, a mother would present a pouch to a prospective daughter-in-law when her son visited for a marriage meeting. During the giving, a special pouch box was brought along. The box was about a foot square, originally made of birch but later switched to glass. The base and sides were lined with red cotton, and the lid was painted with a double happiness character in red lacquer, bordered by scrolling cloud patterns in black lacquer, and the interior bottom was covered with silk. Inside the box were a pair of red silk pouches embroidered with coiled tassels in the shape of gourds and swastikas. Each pouch contained a small golden ruyi handle, and the two pouches were connected by a pendant — often made of jadeite, white jade, or red jade. These items would be returned together during the wedding procession.

　　The pouch’s most significant use among the Manchus was as a ceremonial gift. It could be given by the emperor to ministers, by the imperial household to officials’ wives and palace maids, by hosts to servants, or by elders to children during festivals. It could also be passed along as a gesture of affection.