Hanbok Series Part 1: History

A few posts back, I had mentioned the idea of starting a series on Hanbok. With New Years' Day just having passed, and the Lunar New Years' celebration coming up in less than a month, I think the subject of Hanbok seems rather appropriate for a short series.

There is a lot of information scattered about the internet on Hanbok, but half of it is in Korean, and the other half is a bit of a headache to sort through. So I hope that this series will be able to give readers a more thorough look at the subject in an easily comprehensible way.  

The more I learn about Hanbok, the more I find myself fascinated by the dress. There are so many intricate details and so much symbolism involved that I imagine it would take many years to become an expert. Still, it's fun to learn about!

So on that note, let's start with a brief history!

Three Kingdoms Period

The earliest evidence of Hanbok is traced back to the 3rd century BC. During the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period, both men and women wore a jacket and trousers, with a skirt added to the ensemble close to the end of the period.  

At this point, the jackets for both men and women were long, reaching almost to the knees, and belted at the waist.

Source: http://flickr.com/photos/bdnegin/2693718058/

Since these early years, the basic structure of the Hanbok has remained very close to its original style of a jacket--저거리, pants--바지, and skirt--치마. 

Goreyo Dynasty

After a peace treaty was signed between the Goreyo Dynasty and the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, foreign fashion began to influence the Hanbok worn by nobility and royalty.

Source: 안휘준, 정양모 외 지음, 《한국의 미, 최고의 예술품을 찾아서 1》, 돌베개, 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Goryeohanbok01.jpg

The 저거리 was brought up nearly to the waist and tied at the chest with long ribbons, and the 치마 was shortened to ankle-length.  

Interestingly, the Hanbok also influenced Mongolian fashion as much of the female nobility adopted the Hanbok as a part of their wardrobe.

Joseon Dynasty

The Joseon Dynasty saw the most fads in Hanbok's style. In the early part of the Dynasty, Hanbok remained relatively unchanged, but by the 16th century, important modifications were beginning to take place. The ladies' 저거리 was shortened to waist length and tailored close to the body, and by the 18th and 19th centuries, bell-shaped 치마 and dangerously short 저거리 were fashionable. Especially during the late 1800s, 저거리 became so short and form fitting that women of respectable backgrounds began wrapping a piece of cloth, called a heoritti, around the top of the 치마 so that their undergarments would not be exposed. (This played an important part in the design of fusion hanboks of today.)

Heoritti is the black strip of cloth between the jacket and skirt

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10264998@N02/1551384060/

Finally, in the early 20th century, the 저거리 was lengthened to end midway between the waist and chest.
The 치마 also went through a few modifications over the centuries. In the 17th century, the 치마 was designed into a shape similar to bustles that were popular in the West at the time. In the 19th century, the 치마 style was changed again to somewhat of a triangle shape, with the fullness of the skirt achieved by many layers of undergarments. This style is still preferred to this day.

Since the end of the Joseon Dynasty in 1897, Hanbok has changed very little. However, in the hopes of adding a new dimension to the variety of options available in traditional styles, fusion hanboks have been created. Fusion hanboks will be covered in a later post.

Hanbok is a proud Korean traditional culture said to contain the wisdom of ancestors and the hopes of its wearers. Its characteristic is to reveal beautiful curves and to seamlessly mix lines with these curves; an important aspect which is still practiced today.