Dress History of Korea: Critical Perspectives on Primary Sources

Bringing together a wealth of primary sources and with contributions from leading experts, Dress History of Korea presents the most recent approaches to the interpretation of Korean dress. Through close analysis of an impressive range of visual, written, and material sources—some newly excavated or recently re-discovered in global museums—the book reveals how Korean clothing and accessories evolved from the Three Kingdoms to the modern era. Interdisciplinary authors discuss the close relation of Korean bodily adornments to political and economic history and place Korean dress within broader contexts such as material culture, colonization, and cultural appropriation. As in other cultures, modern Korean clothing owes many of its styles to historic dress and this process of adaptation is explored within high fashion and popular culture contexts in ways that benefit historians and curators alike. With contributions from dress and jewelry historians, as well as specialists of art history and visual culture, Dress History of Korea makes key material newly available to non-Korean speakers. This is the indispensable guide to the study of Korean dress. This volume discusses developments in Korean dress history over different periods and highlights strong connections to political and economic aspects of Korean history, from antiquity to the modern era, in essays by fourteen leading experts working in both academia and museums in the diverse fields of dress history, jewelry history, fashion studies, art history, design history, visual culture, and museum studies. The legacy of clothing as artifacts of material culture, seen in newly excavated archaeological findings and rediscovered objects in museums outside Korea, is analyzed through a perspective that compares these materials to those available in other Asian countries. The authors also discuss how the process of discovering and knowing more about dress history might have influenced contemporary designers and craft artists within and beyond Korea in a context of cultural appropriation or authentication in both high fashion and popular culture. The book provides an indispensable guide for studies of dress and fashion history, which have hitherto been less accessible for those without fluency of Korean language and classical literature. The authors summarize and analyze up-to-date interpretations of the most cutting-edge research methods and findings in Korean Studies of dress and fashion. Their work will benefit a large audience of art-loving students, faculty and researchers, costume designers, and specialists in Asian Studies. Cover Halftitle page Title page Copyright page Contents Illustrations Contributors Foreword Acknowledgments Notes on the Usage of the Korean Language 1 Making Dress History in the Context of Primary Sources Introduction Dress History in Europe and North America: Pedagogy and Historiography Dress History in Contemporary Korea: Historiography Dress History for the Theatrical Design Industry Primary Sources for Korean Dress History A Note on Terminology Part One Primary Sources: Historiography and Chronological Reviews 2 Identity and Fashion in the Ancient Dress of Korea Sources Methodological Contemplation 3 Goryeo (918–1392): Dress in Literature, Bulbokjang, and Visual Arts Literary Sources and Their Propositions Clothing and Textiles from Bulbokjang 佛復藏 Visual Representations of Dressed Figures Conclusion: Outlook on Future Research 4 Reading Fashion of Joseon (1392–1910): Textual Sources with Clothing Illustrations Government Publications (官撰本) Official Documents (古文書) Literati Anthologies and Other Private Literary Works Encyclopedias and Monographs Travelogues and Foreign-language Textbooks Conclusion: Notes on Interpretation of the Sources 5 Scholarly Discourses on Fashion Change in Late Joseon Transformation of Scholarly Discourses in Late Joseon Late Joseon Scholarly Writings on Dress: Yi Sugwang,Yi Ik, and Jo Jaesam Commenting on New Fashion: “Bizarre/Demonic Style” Women Writers on Clothing in the Late Joseon 6 Joseon Portraiture Paintings for Dress and Fashion Introduction Standards of Joseon Painting as Sources of Dress History Assessing Pictorial Representation of Dresses in Joseon Portraiture 7 Bodily Ornaments in Korean Archaeology and Dress History Introduction A Confucian Discourse on Luxurious Ornaments Archaeological Artifacts as Ornaments Overcoming Hwang Hogeun’s The Study on Art of Korean Ornaments Conclusion 8 Shift of Worldview: Changes of Dress in Korea, 1870s–1910s From the Opening of the Ports in 1876 to the Gapsin Dress Reform in 1884 Gapsin Dress Reform in 1884 Gabo and Eulmi Dress Reforms (1894–5) Korean Empire (1897–1910) 9 Magazines and Photographs for Fashion History of Korea Methodological Issues Korean Women’s Magazines Case Study on New Everyday Clothing Fashion Magazines in Korea Conclusion Part Two Case Studies: Museum Practice, Tourism, and Costume Design 10 Chulto boksik (Excavated Dress) and the Collection at Chungbuk National University Museum Clothing and Textiles Retrieved from LSMB Tombs Dress Collection at the Chungbuk National University Museum Wonsam, Dang-ui, Jang-ui in the Neo-Confucian Discourses Wonsam: Diverged from Dallyeong Dang-ui: Invented for Modesty? Jang-ui: From Coat to Veil Conclusion: Fashion as Embodied Practice of Neo-Confucian Ideology 11 Collection and Exhibition of Dress at the Seok Juseon Memorial Museum Seok Juseon’s Dress Collection and Affiliation with Dankook University The Acquisition Annual Exhibitions and Symposia The Excavated Shrouds (1981 and 1982) Jeogori & Chima of the Joseon Dynasty (1997) Dress from the Tomb of Jeong On (1481–1538) (1998) Traditional Dress from the Northern Provinces of Korea (1998) Traditional Children’s Dress (2000) Dress from the Royal Tombs of Yi Heonchung (1505–1603) and Lady Kim (2019) Exhibitions Overseas and Online Conclusion 12 Acquisition of a Replica and Identification of Mystery Items: Case Studies in Scotland Commissioning a Joseon Military Uniform at the National Museum of Scotland Identifying Mystery Pieces at Perth Museum and Art Gallery Conclusion 13 Hanbok and Korean Identity: An Anthropological View Dress as Material Culture and Human Experience Collection and Display in the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, Canada Shifting Cultural Conceptions from Unique to Distinctive Hanbok in Modern Tourism and Street Fashion Conclusion 14 Costuming Korean Period Dramas Introduction Costuming Korean Historical Drama: Between Historical Accuracy and Theatrical Effect Three Case Studies Conclusion Selected Bibliography Index "Bringing together a wealth of primary sources and with contributions from leading experts, Korean Dress History presents the most recent approaches to the interpretation of Korean dress. Through close analysis of an impressive range of visual, written, and material sources--some newly excavated or recently re-discovered in global museums--the book reveals how Korean clothing and accessories evolved from the Three Kingdoms to the modern era. Interdisciplinary authors discuss the close relation of Korean bodily adornments to political and economic history and place Korean dress within broader contexts such as material culture, colonization, and cultural appropriation. As in other cultures, modern Korean clothing owes many of its styles to historic dress and this process of adaptation is explored within high fashion and popular culture contexts in ways that benefit historians and curators alike. With contributions from dress and jewelry historians, as well as specialists of art history and visual culture, Korean Dress History makes key material newly available to non-Korean speakers. This is the indispensable guide to the study of Korean dress."-- Provided by publisher Bringing together a wealth of primary sources and with contributions from leading experts, Dress History of Korea presents the most recent approaches to the interpretation of dress and fashion of Korea. Through close analysis of visual, written, and material sources-some newly excavated or recently re-discovered in global museums-the book reveals how dress and adornment evolved from the period of state formation to the modern era. Authors with a range of academic and curatorial experience discuss the close relation of dress and adornments to the socio-political and cultural history of Korea and place the dress history of Korea within broader contexts in studies of fashion, material culture, museology, and costume design. As in other cultures, modern Korean fashion owes many of its styles to historic dress and this process of adaptation is explored within high fashion and popular culture contexts in ways that benefit historians, curators, and designers alike. With key materials newly available to global readers, Dress History of Korea is t he indispensable guide to the study of Korean dress and fashion.