robe - Water field robe is the name for a Buddhist priests’
vestment that was composed of many squares of different colored silk.
The garment received its name because this patchwork design resembled
a landscape of rice paddies. The design originated in the attempt to
avoid the impression of ostentatious living. Donors who presented
precious robes to monks ordered them to be made from high quality
fabric. But in accordance with their rules Buddhist monks were
supposed to live humbly and wear modest attire which they should
collect from donations. They were expected to clean the worn clothes,
mend them, and sow together the patches. Therefore donors who wanted
to honor a monk and could afford to bestow him with a precious robe
had it tailored from silk patches. The result merely resembled what
the regulations had intended but it became an accepted way of support
for clerics. By the Ming, water field robes had become a fashion among
well-to-do men and women, just like the gentleman shown here
scrutinizing antiques for his studio.
