Different decorations on the belt have different grades. I have roughly selected several styles of Ming Chengzu, Ming Xianzong and Ming Guangzong, which represent the early Ming Dynasty, the middle Ming Dynasty and the late Ming Dynasty respectively, and found that their jade belts are all very wide, which are larger than the waistline of the users themselves, so they are not practical, just a decoration. The cultural relics unearthed in Dingling also confirm this point.
And this is not the patent of the emperor.
Jade belt is not practical, but more a status symbol. There is a saying called "killing and setting fire to the golden belt". There are many records of giving jade belts in history. For example, when Zhang took part in the provincial examination, he was untied by Gu Di, the governor of Huguang, and gave it to them as an encouragement.
It can be said that this kind of belt in Peking Opera is a reflection of the belt in Ming Dynasty.
Then, why did this leather belt become so wide in the Ming Dynasty and lose its original function? The following are my personal guesses: when the belt was first introduced into the Central Plains, it was mainly practical. In the Tang Dynasty, there were five military attaché s with more than five qualities, and Peg occupied seven objects: sabre, knife, grindstone, truth, stupor, syringe and flint. It's all personal effects for war.
Later, these items gradually evolved into ornaments such as golden jade and rhinoceros horn, so people differentiated grades according to the material and quantity of ornaments. For example, "Yuan Shi Yu Fu Zhi" records: Guan Bai served together, with a belt, from one product to jade, or flowers, or vegetarian. The second product is the flower rhinoceros. The third and fourth products take gold as litchi. Under the fifth grade, use black rhinoceros. "Shi Mingyu Fu Zhi" is also called: the official belt of civil and military officials, "a jade, or a flower, or a vegetarian; Secondary rhinoceros; Three products, four products, golden litchi; Five products below fifty cents. "
On the premise of keeping a certain size of gold and jade ornaments, it is only necessary to increase the length of the infinitely wide belt. So the wider the belt, the higher the status. If I remember correctly, there are 24 pieces of jade on the belt of Emperor Wanli unearthed in Dingling, which should be the emperor's rule.
The official uniforms of the Ming Dynasty still retain some features of the Song Dynasty. However, compared with other costumes, public service is really not commonly used. The commonly used uniform is a belt with two tails, as shown below, and the cultural relics unearthed in Dingling. At this time, the belt is completely useless.