A type of headwear designed for kings and emperors of ancient China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Characterized by a square lacquered board placed on top of the headgear, with strands of jade beads draping from the two ends, which represent the rank of the wearer.
Originating in China, the mianguan was worn by the emperor, his ministers, and aristocrats. The mianguan was the most expensive Chinese headware, reserved for important sacrificial events. Regulations on its shape and its making were issued under the Eastern Han dynasty and applied in the succeeding dynasties only to be ended at the fall of the Ming dynasty in the 16th century AD.
In Japan, emperors and nobles wore gold, silver, and gilt-bronze crowns, influenced by the Korean peninsula, from the Kofun period (mid 3rd century-7th century). In the 8th century, influenced by the Chinese mianguan, the unique benkan was born, a metal crown with chains and a sun-shaped ornament at the top. It is also worn in Vietnam, and the monarchs of the Joseon dynasty also wore an equivalent crown, the myeonlyugwan.
