玻璃朝珠 The hierarchical court system in China was developed over several dynasties, and by the seventh century, specifications on the use of color and patterns in silk had already been determined by the court office. In the 14th century, the use of insignia created a visible indication of the court hierarchy. With the arrival of the Manchu from northern China in 1644, the Qing dynasty began, and they assumed the court structure already in place. The Qing rulers added a complex system of rules regarding the dress of all involved in the court, from the highest-ranking officials to the civil servants, and they included punishments for breaking these regulations. Ceremonial court chains or beads were an important part of these formalized rules of dress during the Qing dynasty. While semiprecious stones were often found on the most elite chains, glass was another very precious material to the Chinese, and it was employed as part of these chains, both in combination with and in imitation of the semiprecious stones. The construction of the chains was similar to that of the prayer beads used by Tibetan Buddhists, but their use to display status was drastically different from the Tibetan precedent. The chain consisted of 108 primary beads, with four larger beads that demarcated four sections of 27 beads. There were also three strands of counting beads, hanging two on one side and one on the other, and a drop with a larger bead and pendant worn down the back as a counterweight to the chain. The illustrated example, while missing one of the larger pink crackle-type beads, exhibits the four divided sections of 27 beads. Each of the four external strands has stone drops, perhaps turquoise, with gilded metal caps and a flattened turquoise plaquelike stone on the counterweight. Combinations of other stones are used as spacers between the glass and larger beads, and a wrapped ribbon with a swastika design adorns the counterweight strand. When the Qing dynasty fell in 1911, these chains (along with the other foreign costumes), which had often been regarded as bindings placed on society by a foreign invader (the Manchu), quickly disappeared. The chains were often broken apart to be sold in parts.