Yingluo

What it is

A yingluo is a ring-shaped ornament worn at the neck, or a piece of fashion jewellery in the same form. Its ancestors lie in ancient India, where nobles wore body ornaments called keyūra, hāra, muktā-hāra and rucaka. Such pieces went on the chest, the arms, the legs and the feet, and could serve as crowns, head ornaments or bracelets, strung with gems and worked metals. Buddhist art then took the ornament over, and when Buddhism reached China the Chinese form took the name yingluo. In Japan it is called Yōraku. The Chinese version could also appear as a pattern printed or woven onto clothing.

In Buddhist art

Chinese Buddhist sculpture, painting and wall decoration used the yingluo freely. It hangs on Bodhisattva bodies and ranks among their chief decorations, and Dunhuang's grottoes show it in many shapes. Because Dunhuang lay where routes met, its ornament mixes Chinese work with non-Chinese ideas, including Central Asian approaches to materials. Art historians point to the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi years as a time of exchange, when the ornament took on new form; figures carved in the later sixth century already show Chinese invention beside foreign influence. Early Tang artists inherited the Dunhuang look and made it richer in colour, material and design.

From art to necklace

The ornament did not stay on painted and carved figures. During the Tang dynasty, makers copied the painted version as jewellery and produced actual necklaces, and the Khitan people of the Liao dynasty adopted them too. For centuries afterwards, the yingluo counted as a classical Chinese neckpiece. Women of the court wore it with hanfu, sometimes at the neck and sometimes as head-wear, and cloth could carry the same motif. Then taste shifted. In modern times the ornament lost its old appeal. It came back through the Hanfu movement, and Hanfu enthusiasts now wear yingluo in a wide range of styles and materials.

Today and change

Interest fell away as ideas about beauty changed, and the necklace stopped being ordinary dress. The Hanfu movement, which encourages people to wear traditional Chinese clothing, brought the yingluo back as an accessory. Wearers today choose their own shapes, colours and materials, from simple strands of beads to complex pieces. At the same time the ornament has not left religious art. Statues and shrines in China still carry it in carved or painted form, and in Japan the same element decorates Buddhist figures and shrine buildings, where it is known as Yōraku.

How Yingluo is kept

In Buddhist settings, a yingluo is painted or carved onto statues, murals and shrine figures, most famously at Dunhuang. Worn versions sit around the neck as a ring, often with beads hanging from them and small auspicious ornaments worked in. Tang-era women of the Chinese court wore them over hanfu, and some used them as head-wear. The motif also appeared as a pattern on cloth. Today Hanfu enthusiasts wear necklaces in many shapes and materials, and the ornament still decorates Buddhist statues in China and Japan.

When and where

The yingluo has no single day. It entered Chinese art as Buddhism spread, the Tang dynasty turned it into a wearable necklace, and it has been worn on and off since then. Its use follows Buddhist worship and hanfu dressing rather than a date in the calendar.

It belongs to China, where it became a classical necklace and remains a hanfu accessory, and where Dunhuang's murals and sculpture are the best-known home of its imagery. Its prototypes come from ancient India. In Japan it is known as Yōraku and decorates Buddhist statues and shrines.

What Yingluo means

For Buddhist makers, the yingluo marks the splendour of Bodhisattva figures; it is one of their main decorations. As jewellery it carries auspicious meaning, since wearers combined the beads with small motifs drawn from Chinese culture. Because Dunhuang sat where cultures met, the ornament also stands for exchange, Chinese workshops adopting and reshaping foreign forms. For today's wearers it signals a wish to dress in hanfu and to keep older Chinese styles in use.

Questions people ask about Yingluo

See also

Traditional tattooingThe ancient custom of marking the skin for protection, healing, status and sacred ritesTangzhuangA Chinese jacket with a Mandarin collar, worn for formal occasions and holidaysTurbanCloth wound around the head, worn for faith, rank, shade and identityDupattaA traditional South Asian scarf worn across the shoulders, chest, and head

Good reading and sources

• Yingluo (ornament) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-10.