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Narrative

Collected by J. H. Morris while he was Chief Engineer for Seoul Railway, Korea.

Specific Techniques

The clothing was stitched around the edge and then a layer was added inside the clothing. Each section was separately applied and pasted in place. The details were finely painted.

Iconographic Meaning

The meaning of such coarse and concealing clothing was that the wearer deserved nothing because he had allowed his parent or other family member to die. When worn by monks or vagabonds, such clothing represented the idea that they had no attachment to this life.

Description

Figure representing a person on a flat backing of white paper. Front view is depicted of the figure which is made of cloth lightly padded to give a three-dimensional effect having each portion made of a separate piece of cloth with painted details. Hands are made of paper. Face is made of white silk. Wearing yellow sandals, leggings, white trousers, a robe of dark yellow linen, and belted under the arms with a ribbon of the same. Face is partly covered by a large hat of the same material shaped like a rounded triangle with an apex at the top. Carrying a screen on two paper handles. Two pieces of white flannel hemmed in light green silk with a loop of dark yellow silk at the top are sewn to the paper backing.

History Of Use

Figure represents a Korean man in mourning dress of yellow hemp. In Korea, until penetration of western influence in recent years, 3 years of mourning for a parent was expected, during which men wore hemp clothes and very large straw hats. This long period of mourning derives from Confucian ethics and was enforced by royal command during the Yi Dynasty. The figure is carrying a screen to cover his face. Officials also carried such screens to shield their faces from public view. Such figures were made during the time when Korea was first open to the outside world (after the mid 1890s), probably as gifts to present to missionaries or other visitors from foreign countries. Flat dolls like these were very popular during the period 1910-20. Before that time, shamans made dolls that they sold to their clients, as images of those the clients wanted to exorcise. Simple dolls were made of straw for children to play with. After Korea opened, people began to see dolls as artistic objects. They were made in workshops by masters, using authentic fabrics whenever possible, as their purpose was to introduce foreigners to Korean society.
Clothing of very coarse hemp was worn when they went outside by men who had experienced a death in their immediate families, such as the death of a parent. They were supposed to avoid going outside if possible. When outside, they wore hats, “Bang-got”, that enveloped their heads and carried face screens, “Po-sun”, their faces, expressing their guilt because they had allowed a parent to die, and were deemed responsible for this. This screen was not always used. Their shoes were roughly made of very coarse hemp, and not neatly trimmed as they would normally be. Such clothing resembles that worn by monks and intelligent vagabonds. When foreign missionaries first came to Korea they wore such clothing to disguise themselves so the government would not see them. In the very late Chosun Dynasty, mourners wore their long coats “Doo-ru-ma-gui” and this kind of hat when outdoors.