Four colors

Peking Opera costumes from a private collection are on show in Beijing, Chen Nan reports. 

An olive-green robe fashioned from handmade silk, with an embroidered image of a qilin, a mythical beast, caught antiques collector Chen Shen's attention when he first saw it.

A seller brought the long robe to Chen's home in Beijing in the late 1990s after learning that Chen was looking for old Peking Opera costumes.

Chen was impressed by the embroidery and the materials, especially the golden thread used to embroider the image of the qilin. He bought the robe at a high price.

Chen believed the robe had a connection to Peking Opera master Zhou Xinfang (1895-1975).

"When Zhou started to perform as a teenager, he was also known by his stage name, Qi Lin. Traditionally, Peking Opera costumes for male roles have dragons rather than images of qilin. Only Zhou wore qilin costumes," says Chen, 69.

He found out about the robe's late designer, Xie Xingsheng, a silk-embroidery master from Suzhou, Jiangsu province, who made costumes for established Peking Opera artists, including Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), Cheng Yanqiu (1904-58) and Ma Lianliang (1901-66). Chen brought the robe to Suzhou to meet Xie in 2006. Xie confirmed the connection. The costume-maker died in 2013.