The Korean Mind. Boye Lafayette De Mente
intriguing things about hanbok is that it is so different from the traditional costumes of China and Japan that one might question the cultural relationship among the three countries.
Perhaps because of the influence of Buddhism and Taoism, which promoted a sedate manner and prolonged periods of inactivity, the primary characteristic of the formal traditional costumes of China and Japan is that they were extremely confining. Consisting of full-length “robes” that wrapped around the body more or less like straitjackets, they forced the wearers to take short, mincing steps and limited all other physical actions. Chinese history reveals that many of China’s battles with less civilized tribes of the North and West were lost because the ground-length robes worn by Chinese troops made it impossible for them to move freely and quickly.
In Japan, the whole way of fighting by that country’s famed samurai warrior class was fundamentally influenced by the kimono. (When industrialization began in Japan, the Japanese kimono proved totally incompatible with getting onto streetcars, buses, and trains, working in factories, etc.)
After following Chinese styles for several centuries, the Koreans adopted a new national dress in the thirteenth century that was an adaptation of the attire worn by Mongols, who invaded and exercised suzerainty over the Korean peninsula for more than one hundred years (1231-1366). During the Mongol occupation, the costume worn by Korean men evolved into short jackets (chogori [chohh-goe-ree]) tied at the chest, baggy trousers (paji [pah-jee]) tied at the ankles, and boat-shaped shoes. Men, particularly those in the aristocratic yangban class, also adopted the stiff, broad-brimmed Mongol hat (kat) made of horsehair to complete their ensembles.*
During this period the national dress for women became a short, tight jacket (also called chogori), a long voluminous skirt (chima [chee-mah]), a slip that was a shortened version of the men’s pajama-like trousers, and sandal-like shoes that curled up at the toes. The ankle-length skirt was worn high, tightly wrapped around the chest so that it covered the bust. The skirt was fastened at the chest with a large bow or brooch. In one version, the skirt came only to the waist, leaving the breasts exposed for nursing. Except for being fastened snugly around the chest, it was designed to allow free movement and to be cool in summer and warm in winter.
From the fourteenth century on, when the cultivation of cotton was introduced into Korea from China, the hanbok were made from this popular fabric. (The production of cotton cloth quickly became the main household industry in many peasant homes. In addition to producing cotton cloth for their own use, each household was required to produce a specified amount of fabric every year as a “tribute tax” that went to landlords and the government—the latter for the manufacture of military uniforms and for export.) The fact that Koreans chose to pattern their national dress after the costumes worn by horse-riding Mongols would seem to be an early indication that they were more practical than either the Chinese or Japanese. But the hanbok has also come in for its share of criticism in more recent times—not only because of its design but also because white was long regarded as the “national color.” The Korean affinity for white clothing resulted in the phrase Paek-i Min Jok (Pake-ee Meen Joak), or “Country of White-Clothed People,” becoming a synonym for Korea.
Since white was traditionally associated with the national costume of Korea it is somewhat surprising to discover that contemporary Korean writer-scholar Hyon Bae Choe says that white symbolizes poverty, inactivity, senility, sorrow, and femininity and is therefore symbolic of all that has traditionally been irrational, inefficient, and negative in Korean society. In actuality, white clothing was the prescribed, official attire only for commoners, who were permitted, however, to don brightly colored hanbok when participating in special events such as festivals and weddings. Members of the royal court and the elite upper class were permitted to wear colored versions of the national costume, made of silk, as their daily attire. Choe, a severe critic of traditional Korean culture, says that the Korean style of clothing was awkward to wear, got soiled easily, forced women to spend an inordinate amount of time doing laundry, and was therefore one of the primary weaknesses of the traditional Korean way of life. The design of Korea’s traditional clothing, Choe observed, restrained the movements of both women and men and contributed to both a disdain for manual labor and effeminate attitudes and behavior by men in the upper class.
Among a series of reforms enacted in 1894 was one that abolished the law designating wearing apparel for the upper class and commoners and made it legal for Koreans to wear Western-style apparel. It is still common to see elderly retired men in rural areas wearing the traditional hanbok, but since the 1960s the Western business suit has been the new “uniform” of Korean men in the white-collar class. Korean girls and women wear the traditional female costume on special occasions such as weddings and festivals. Now it comes in a variety of colors. Unmarried girls often wear yellow jackets and red-and-blue skirts to indicate their single status. Brides may wear yellow jackets and pink skirts as a sign of their new status.
Both Korean men and women are especially concerned about their appearance, no doubt because historically wearing apparel was a conspicuous sign of one’s social class and occupation. The government not only designated the wearing apparel for each class but also designated the dates on which winter attire would be changed for summer wear and did not take into account any changes in the weather. Wearing winter clothing after the date set for changing to summer attire was not only illegal but eventually became unthinkable. (After Korea opened its doors to Westerners in the 1870s, Koreans would often express amazement when they saw Westerners wear winter-type clothing during cold spells in June. To them, one simply did not wear winter clothing in summer, no matter how cold it might be.)
Present-day Koreans regard dressing up as raising one’s class in the eyes of others. Formal attire is so common among white-collar male workers in Korea that there has long been a saying that baby boys are born already dressed in three-piece suits. Young Korean women are especially concerned about yuhaeng (yuu-hang), “fashion,” and go to considerable expense and trouble to keep up with the latest trends. When it comes to the quality and style of clothing, virtually all Koreans have exceptional mot (moht), or “good taste.” This special sensitivity to wearing apparel, a legacy of the past, has provided extraordinary impetus for Korea’s fashion apparel industry.
In many larger corporations and other organizations the programming of Korean life extends beyond behavior to include grooming and dress codes. The historical government practice of setting precise dates for seasonal attire has been continued by some of Korea’s leading firms, with the dates for these changes posted on company bulletin boards.
Foreigners visiting Korea for business or other purposes should be aware that they will be judged by their wearing apparel and grooming. Western attire is known as yangbok (yahng-boak) in Korea.
Hanguk 한국 Hahn-guuk
The Korean Nation
“Let us love, come grief, come gladness, this, our beloved land!”
There is probably no better way to describe the feelings that Koreans have about their cho guk (choh guuk), or “homeland,” than the last line in the Korean national anthem.* Few people have suffered more for the sake of their homeland than Koreans, not because of who they are but because of where they are. Hanguk (Hahn-guuk), or Korea (the literal meaning of which is “Cold Country”), is located on a peninsula that extends southward from the eastern seaboard of Asia, with the Yellow Sea on the west and the East (or Japan) Sea on the east. The peninsula, directly opposite central and southwestern Japan, is approximately 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) long and 216 kilometers (135 miles) wide at its narrowest point. It is 190 kilometers from the west coast of the Korean peninsula to China’s Shantung Peninsula and 180 kilometers from the Korean city of Pusan on the southeast coast to Japan’s main island of Honshu.
Northern Korea shares a 1,025-kilometer (636-mile) boundary with China, marked in the northwest by the Amnok Gang or Amnok River (better known by its Chinese name, Yalu River) and in the northeast by the Tuman (Tuu-mahn) Gang—Tumen in Chinese. The last 16 kilometers of the Tuman River form the boundary between North Korea and Russian Siberia.
The Amnok River (790 kilometers in length) flows southwest into the Yellow Sea. The Tuman River (521 kilometers/313 miles) flows northeast and then southeast into the East (or Japan) Sea. Large rivers in the interior