When watching any historical Korean drama, one can notice the elegant traditional clothing worn by each character. The name of these garments is called hanbok; “han” meaning Korea and “bok” meaning clothing. They were worn on a daily basis as they were considered normal clothes centuries ago, but are now only worn during special occasions. In ancient times, clothing was a way to distinguish between the wealthy class and the commoners. The royal family and other upperclassmen would wear hanboks made from ramie cloth for the warmer times and silk for the cooler times of the year. Those with lower social positions only wore hanboks made of cotton since they were much more affordable. The color of the hanbok was another way to symbolize social and marital status. Children and girls would wear bright colors, while older men and women would wear muted hues. Women who were not married would wear yellow and red dresses while married women would wear green and red. Specifically, if the women had sons, she would wear navy. The rich would wear a wide variety of colors while the poor were limited to white or other lighter colors. Patterns were also woven into hanboks to represent that individual. Peony flowers were for wedding dresses, pomegranates represented a desire to have children, while lotus flowers stood for nobility. Particular symbols such as the dragon or tiger were set aside for only the royal family or high ranking officials. When females decide how to style their hair, unmarried females will fix it into a long braid while others will tie their hair into a low bun to symbolize that they are married.
Nowadays, hanboks are not regularly worn except during celebrations, festivals, or important occasions. One of the first examples I can think of is during the Lunar New Year (seollal) in which mostly just the children are dressed in their hanboks and do a traditional bow (sebae). This bow is usually done by the younger members of the family to the older members. When bowing, they will wish those receiving the bow a happy new year. In return, the older members will give the younger ones advice and very frequently, cash. Furthermore, many couples will take their wedding photos in their hanboks as well as wearing them to the wedding party. During the wedding, it is traditional that the mothers of the couple wear hanboks. Lastly, in Korea, the 1st birthday of a child is significant (along with the 100 days celebration). The babies are dressed in their hanboks for this special occasion in which their family and close friends wish them a bright, prosperous future.
Although they are not the everyday wear in Korea, Korea offers hanbok rentals so that anyone can try them on and take pictures with the beautiful scenery. Many youth kids will go with their friends to experience this along with many other tourists. The Korean hanbok has gone to various changes throughout the year and have even made it to some fashion show catwalks.
Comments
So Myung,
Thank you for sharing your research post on hanboks. In older western civilizations, I know the color of clothing one had often represented socio-economic class, as dyes were expensive and only the wealthy could afford them, or one wore the colors of their affiliated house. However, with hanbok, it doesn't seem that simple! Such a wide variety of colors are all affiliated with all different circumstances. It makes me wonder what the reasoning behind each color with each circumstance and how these colors were assigned and the stories, if any, that are affiliated with such processes.