 The task of reproducing the costumes for the production was  undertaken by the renowned designer, Mo Xiaomin, whose work is  synonymous with the term costume design as art. Mo Xiaomin spent  two and a half years visiting historical ruins, collecting vast  amounts of information and reading over 100 specialized texts before  officially accepting Chen Kaiges offer to create the costumes for  the movie. During the early planning stages, there were continuous  consultations with the director and thousands of preliminary  sketches made before Mo decided on his final 400 designs. The films  costumes are the culmination of four years of continuous labor and  the pinnacle of Mo Xiaomins celebrated twenty year career as a  designer.