P'AO

wide-sleeved robe of a style worn by Chinese men and women from the Han dynasty (206 BCAD 220) to the end of the Ming dynasty (1644). The p'ao was girdled about the waist and fell in voluminous folds around the feet. From the T'ang period (618907), certain designs, colours, and accessories were used to distinguish rank; the emperor, for example, wore a dark-coloured p'ao on which the 12 imperial symbols were displayed, and the p'ao worn by officials was red with large squares containing symbolic birds or animals (mandarin squares) on the breast. When the Manchus overthrew the Ming, it was decreed that a new style of dress should replace the p'ao. The p'ao style, which had been adopted by the Japanese court in the 8th century, has been basically retained in the Japanese kimono.