While people have enjoyed the benefits of globalization, they have at the same time honed their awareness of the cultural legacy and identity of their own cultural group and sought after continuity between the past and the future. The authors of Traditional Korean Costume evince this motivation. Edited by Lee Kyung Ja, Hong Na Young, Chang Shook Hwan, illustrated by Lee Mi Ryang, photographed by Han Seok Hong, and with an English translation by Shin Jooyoung, Traditional Korean Costume , originally published in Korean in 2003 by Youlhwadang, was first published in English in 2005 by Global Oriental, Ltd. It is one of the few monographs available to English readers that presents a detailed overview of traditional Korean costume and its ornaments, which it does through its introductory prose, fine photos, and drawn illustrations. The objects described and displayed in this book are all from the collections of Ewha Womans University Museum. Most of costumes and ornaments of this kind have already disappeared or are seldom seen in modern Korean society. They have become a part of Korean history and only appear on certain special occasions for representing the national identity and its traditions.
Traditional Korean Costume is not limited to Korean traditional garments, hanbok , as its title suggests; instead, it presents a broad sweep of traditional Korean dress and ornaments. The display entries in the book are classified into headdresses, hair ornaments, accessories, shoes, jackets and vests, pants, skirts and socks, and coats. Authors’ biographies, glossary, and bibliography are appended to the book to provide additional information. In my reading of the book, I observe that it will delight readers with the following striking points.
Firstly, the book offers readers a clear way to trace the history of traditional Korean dress and its ornaments. In the Introduction, “The History of Hanbok and Its Ornaments,” the authors outline the historical development of the traditional Korean costume, hanbok. The traditional hanbok has a long history and can be traced back to a very early date. The basic styles, namely the jeogori (jackets) and baji (pants), were developed in the Three Kingdom’s period (ca. first century BC to seventh century AD) and have remained essentially unchanged to the present day. In its long historical development, hanbok has absorbed elements from foreign sources and experienced some changes. The major Chinese impact on Korean dress occurred during China’s Tang, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. On the other hand, the traditional hanbok also developed its own indigenous style in keeping with social changes affecting Korea. Confucian ideals of “dignity” in men’s costume and “modesty” in women’s were integrated into the aesthetics of Korean dress. In addition to tracing the general history of hanbok, the book also provides historical information for other dress objects through its introduction to each subdivision as well as through explanations for each entry object. For example, in the chapter on headdresses, we learn that “Headdresses were worn since before the Three Kingdom period (ca. first century BC-seventh century AD) but the various types of everyday hats and caps appeared so frequently during the Josen period that foreigners called Korea ‘the land of hats’ in 1870” (18). These accounts help readers to understand these objects in their relevant historical frames.
Another interesting feature of the book is the fact that Korean costume and ornaments are fully interpreted by discussion of names, types, functions, regional style, occasions of use, appearance, social symbolic meanings, materials, and wearing customs. The authors pay close attention to the age, gender, and social class of a particular kind of costume or ornament. For instance, the women’s veil sseugae is introduced with these subtypes: neoul , jangot , sseugaechima , cheoneui . In the past, neoul, jangot, and sseugaechima were worn by noblewomen, and lower-class women were not required to wear these kinds of veil, though they sometimes wore cheoneui for protection in the winter. The common women wore a head cloth for everyday use. However, as women appeared more freely outside in the public sphere beginning in the 1870s, these headdresses disappeared. According to the authors, the category of hair ornaments is classified into these components: binyeo (hairpin), daenggi (hair ribbon), and dwikkoji (ornamental hairpin). Dwikkoji were worn everyday as well as on ceremonial occasions and bore different names according to who wore them: baetsidaenggi for baby girls, matttukdaenggi for children, jebiburidaenggi for unmarried people, and doturakdaenggi for brides. The jjokdaenggi , for married women, served to indicate status rather than a decorative purpose.
Apart from the introduction to traditional Korean costume and its ornaments, the most attractive presentations in this book follow the general description of each specific category of dress and ornament. The book contains many color photos to present images of each object, and further explanations are provided of their size, shape, motifs, materials, and design. In addition to the photos, there are also several colorful drawings of each object, displaying them from different angles and perspectives. A detailed segmental explanation for the object provides readers with deep understanding of the object’s design. These photos and drawings effectively illustrate that the traditional costumes and ornaments are exquisite and valuable Korean cultural products. Some of these artistic designs belong not only to Korea’s past but also to modern Korean life.
I finish by noting that we can see in the materials of this book the close relationship between ancient Chinese and Korean cultures. For instance, many types of hairpins and pendants displayed in the book are decorated with Chinese characters such as su (?longevity), bok (?happiness), gang (?health), and nyeong (?comfort). The descriptions for the objects also point to these connections. One woman’s pendant, Eunparan Bakjwi Samjaknoriage, (Pendant with Three Bat-shaped Ornaments) is accompanied with this explanation: “Since the bakjwi or pyeonbok (both terms for bat) symbolized fecundity and the Chinese pronunciation of bok (?) is the same as bok (?happiness), the bat motif was commonly used and favored as a decorative design for women’s articles” (99). The Chinese character hee (??signifying happiness) also appeared on this ornament. Some objects were embellished with Chinese patterns, such as Moranbonghwangmundan Jeogori , a type of women’s Jacket with Flower and Chinese Phoenix Pattern that displays the typical characteristics of the early eighteenth-century jacket.
I am impressed with the book’s subtle classification, detailed segmental pictures, and historical explanations of traditional Korean costume and its ornaments, but I feel there is one glaring omission. Apart from the figures of seven pieces of ancient Korean paintings inserted in the Introduction showing people wearing hanbok in the ancient times, there are no images made available to show how Korean people wore these particular costumes, ornaments, and accessories. I believe the book could offer a more vivid presentation if it provided such images, for instance, of a hairpin appearing on the head of a woman or a taesahy (man’s shoe) appearing on a man’s foot. Perhaps a future version of the book could include such images.
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[Review length: 1145 words • Review posted on May 3, 2007]