https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/weaving-of-mosi-fine-ramie-in-the-hansan-region-00453
For my last cultural artifact, I’ll be discussing the weaving of mosi (aka ramie) in the Hansan region. This act of weaving clothes has been recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage and its history in Korea dates to the 9th century. While it’s growing in popularity as a source in bioplastics to manufacture hybrid cars, it is not commonly used for textiles due to its labor-intensive process. The mosi is encased in resin and have a hairy exterior that need to be removed before obtaining the inner fibers. The Hansan region in particular in the western region of South Korea is known to have great conditions to grow the mosi. The mosi is harvested, processed, and weaved by incredibly skillful women. This process is traditionally a women-led family operation and encourages the daughters and daughters-in-law to join in.
The rough skins of the mosi is peeled off using a special knife. This knife cannot be too sharp, or else it can cut through and shorten the fibrous strands. The shoots are sundried until the mosi changes colors from green to brown. Afterwards, each strand of the plant is separated using the women’s front teeth. This method is much quicker than separating by hand because saliva is used to make the process easier. Unfortunately, because these women pass the strands across their teeth and against their lips, many of these professionals have frequently cut their lips to the point of building up calluses. After this separation, the strands are twisted into their desired length and are placed into a yard guide. Finally, the starching process allows the fibers to strengthen by brushing them over a burning flame.
Using a loom contraption, the women manually weave the strands to make larger square pieces of cloth. Ultimately, the cloth is used to make dress suits, military uniforms, mourning garments and bojagi (a wrapping cloth). These garments are extremely light-weight and are mainly worn during the summer. Due to its long process, only the elite were able to afford these clothes. Unfortunately, decades ago, many of the women who were skilled in creating this garment came from families of low socioeconomic status and were not even able to wear the garments they were trained to make.
There’s even a Hansan Mosi Museum located in Seocheong-gun, Chungcheongnam-do Province that hosts an annual Hansan Mosi Festival. It features a reenactment of Gilssam-Nori (a traditional Korean play) and other experiential programs. I think the coolest event is the fashion show that offers traditional and modern outfits created from mosi. This incorporation of using traditional garments, but in modern styles is quite interesting. I like how mosi weaving, although labor-intensive, is still kept alive. Even the dyeing process is done naturally to preserve the traditions. I don’t recall ever owning garment made out of mosi, but I hope to try one in the future so test if it really is that comfortable. Hopefully, I’ll have an excuse to visit Korea soon so that I can experience even more than my last times.
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