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Description

A small flat bag made of red and dark blue silk damask and yellow silk embroidered on both sides. At the top, the red silk is folded inside where it is sewn with an invisible seam to the white cotton lining. Main body of the bag is shaped like a vertical rectangle with triangular projections on both sides created by folding and holding the folds in place with a circular pink cylindrical cord. A yellow tab, pointed at both ends, extends around the bottom of the bag. The red part of the front is embroidered with flowers outlined with gold couching and two pheasant-like birds facing each other while the red panel on the back is embroidered with a fungus. The blue points at the front and the back are embroidered with butterflies with two Chinese ? characters on the front, one light green and one yellow. The cord ends at the front with elaborate knots in red, gold, purple, and light green, culminating in five tassels wrapped in gold at the top, one in each of those colours plus a red one.

Specific Techniques

The fabrics comprising the outside of the bag were embroidered, cut, and the blue and yellow fabric appliquéd onto the red, forming a square overall. With the embroidered side facing in and folded over at the edge, the outside was sewn to the lining. The bag was then turned right-side out through a small hole, and folded into shape, after which it was laced together.

Iconographic Meaning

Such bags symbolized wishes for long life, immortality, and safety from evil influences. The Chinese characters represent good fortune and long life. The pair of peacocks or pheasants, and the butterflies, represent harmony for a couple. The plant on the back represents long life.

History Of Use

Although such bags were used by both men and women, bags with these colours were used by women. Before western influences reached Korea, clothing did not have pockets, and such bags were used to carry small articles. They were attached to the waist ties of women’s skirts or men’s pants. As they hung outside their clothes, they looked colourful and pretty, and their functions were more decorative than practical. They were the only decorations on people’s clothing. The decorations were royal prerogatives, although they eventually also became luxury items for high-class people. Kings and queens sometimes presented them to their family members to wish them good fortune and long life, and to exorcise evil influences. After the opening of Korea to the outside world in the late 19th century, they began to disappear from use, as people could then have pockets. Young female students liked to have them even after the modernization of Korea, as their teachers admired them.