...ars sine scientia nihil est...

If you have come looking for information on medieval Korea, be sure to visit my website where things are hopefully grouped together coherently.

http://www.medieval-baltic.us/korea.html
http://www.medieval-baltic.us/kortea.html is about the history of tea culture and ceremonies.
http://www.medieval-baltic.us/korot.html for information about mid-Joseon period womens' dress.

If you're looking for information about medieval sign lexicons, and language, see:
http://medieval-baltic.us/msl.html

No photos, just a frustratingly brief article in English:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2009/11/148_56001.html

Korean-language news comes with photos though:
http://news.hankooki.com/lpage/culture/200911/h2009112322185086330.htm

Looks like the jeogori (jacket) is 17th century, I think it also says there are the female clothes, too.

http://www.romanization.org/main.php

(McCune-Reischauer is one of the commonly used Romanisation systems for Korean. The other main contender is Revised Romanization.)

And there has also been a fair bit of media on the Cia-Cia language adopting Hangul as its' official script.
(It seems to be strongly implied by a few bloggers, although not outright stated, that the language is endangered because it hasn't been legitimized with a written form. The Hunminjeongeum Research Institute says the script was required as there was "a lack of tool to hand it down to its descendants."
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/369998.html
The comments on Language Log are interesting, too: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1641

No photos, but expect them soon!

( hanbok update )
I'm not 100% happy with how this outfit has turned out, but that's one of the pleasures of making historic outfits-- you always learn something new. I just occasionally wish I wasn't so fascinated in things very few people seem interested in, because then I'd have more people to exchange ideas with. :)

The list of pre-17th century Korean clothing has been updated, hopefully with more stable links (although I doubt it), and more links to things like sandals, and different types of male clothing.

The Met's Art of the Korean Renaissance, 1400-1600 exhibition is ending in a few days, (but the exhibition catalogue/book is said to be very very shiny and cool), but the website still has some exciting bits and bobs.

Like... Gisaeng!
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/KoreanRenaissance/literati_essentials.aspx?id=09

And other women!
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/KoreanRenaissance/worship_paradise.aspx?id=33

Hooray!

Eung-Tae Lee, was a Joseon male who died in the 1580s.

I've been going mad trying to find *any* information about shoes, and was finding vague references that he was buried with shoes. As I kept digging (and discovering an Antiquity article I need to wait a few more months to access) I found out some more stuff.

Namely, his shoes were sandals, and were part of a folk remedy at the time as they were woven from a mixture of hemp and his wifes' hair! She also wrote a letter to him, mourning his death (and it looks like it is written in hangul.)
http://bugo10.com/bbs/viewbody.html?code=board5&page=9&id=10032&number=10032&keyfield=&key=
http://www.withoutwax.org/Without_Wax/Blog/Entries/2008/11/14_16th_Century_Love_Letters.html


Edit: Beautiful, very high-quality looking photos of the letters and a shoe in Korea Magazine (8)5 2009 pp.35-39 (The linked page links to a very very large PDF file. 8.3Mb)
And a folding fan! Woo! (I read *somewhere* that folding fans were male-specific, but it is still cool.)

Edit, again: photo of the shoe pair. They're called mituri (미투리).

For hometime: This book is at the NLA. Korean Jeogori, 2000 years. It appears to have some linedrawings and photos from it used here.

Secondly, there is an SCA-Korea yahoo group (I didn't do it). And they seem to be both in need of members, and knowledge. Go visit them if you're interested in pre-17th century stuff.

It's a website all about historic Korean hairstyles. ( highlights ) And from browsing through the National Museum of Korea site, if you search for 'palm,' you'll get what I think they're saying is a 'signature,' and if you search for 'tea' you get a Muromachi-era Japanese tea set. =)

Here's what I've found so far...
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Another link, showing a reconstructed 16th century outfit: http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2006/05/29/2006052961020.html

I've mentioned the painting of what seems to be court dancers before, but here it is again.
Ignoring the brightly coloured girls (as much as I want that overcoat), check out the girls in the lower left-hand corner.

If wikipedia is right, the headwear of an uinyeo/medicine woman, is a garima, which transliterating into hangul gives me these two pictures of a stiff veil-thing.
Could that be what the solid blue-ish thing on the back of their head is? Trying to show a veil that apparently is usually depicted as black, against black hair?

It is a longshot, since most 'traditional' elements of hanbok usually are 18th century, but it's interesting.
Mind you, wikipedia also says gisaeng wore po on their heads, wouldn't that mean a jangot/(장옷)?

In a sort-of related link: 16th century mummy and her reconstructed clothes!

Anonymous 1585 painting, the title has something to do with King Seonjo.
http://www.women.or.kr/ehtml/herstory/echosun/eunknw8h.html

Mid 16th century painting of a Buddhist temple.
http://www.women.or.kr/ehtml/herstory/echosun/eunknw36h.html

Undated, anonymous painting
http://www.women.or.kr/herstory/WomenArt/chosun/unknw29h.html

I'd write more, but I've had a persistent headache all day. Blergh.

All it needs now, are for the cuffs and hem to be finished, and for ties to be made and sewn on.

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After studying for most of the day, I went on a Bus adventure and decided to visit Box Hill. I realised a few weeks ago that I'd never really explored it, and I was secretly on the hunt for Korean grocery shops.

So, dinner rolled around, and I decided that I was going to just take the plunge and eat Korean food that wasn't confectionery, and that I was going to start with dolsot bibimbap (돌솥 비빔밥).

Oh gawd it was awesome! The preoccupation people have with the crunchy rice at the bottom of the bowl is well-justified. And it was hot and warming after wandering around in the cool evening.

I was surprised by the onigiri-looking Samgak gimbap kits with moulds and seaweed that seemed to be sold at a lot of places, and my inner marine botanist was thrilled by the array of dried seaweeds that you could buy.

Mmmmm... seaweed.

I've started sewing the jeogori, and am making it silver with blue trim.

So I've put in one side-gore, and pinned on a norigae (there is some evidence for norigae before 1600, and this one is a cheap but similar-looking one to the one worn by the mysterious lady in Miindo. I had mis-read a costume book, since it is often claimed that the painting is an 18th century interpretation of the 16th century Hwang Jin-i. But it seems the fact that it isn't actually a 16th century painting is often overlooked.)

So here is the colour combination:
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And here is the top that I'm inspired by (my underarm gussets are too large, as always. But there is always next time.)
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I don't think I'm doing too badly, for an outfit based on guesswork and staring at photographs. :)

This is a really good one-picture 'evolution' of hanbok tops over time,using reconstructed and reproduction jeogori.
http://www.kimhyesoon.com/magazine_01.asp?type=1&idx=2

Quick rundown:

1. 20th century.
2. 17th century. From tomb of Gurye Son-clan ( 구례 손씨) (1576-1626). [Important Folklore Materials 116-1, perhaps?]
3. 20th century. Linen undershirt?
4. 16th century. From tomb of Seongju Lee-clan (성주 이씨) (1524-1582). [Important Folklore Cultural Property 114-2?]
5. 15th century. Reconstructed from painting of Lady Joh Ban (1341 and 1401)
6. 17th century. From Yu tomb (1615-1685)
7. 18th century. From tomb of Wansam Choi-clan (완산 최씨) (1650∼1732).
8. 18th century. From tomb of Andong Kwon-clan (안동 권씨) (1664-1722).
9. 18th century. From tomb of Andong Kwon-clan (안동 권씨) (1664-1722).
10. 16th century. From tomb of Eunjin Song-clan (은진 송씨) (1509-1580).
11. 18th century, pink jacket. From tomb of Papyeong Yun-clan (파평 윤씨) (1735-1754).

The names of the tomb, are the name of the division of the clan, so for example, the Yun clan would have a Papyeong (area) branch.

Mural tomb of Bak Ik in Gobeop-ri, Miryang. 14th century
Historic Site no.459
http://jikimi.cha.go.kr/english/search_plaza_new/ECulresult_Db_View.jsp?VdkVgwKey=13,04590000,38&queryText=(mural%3Cin%3E%20z_title)%3Cand%3E(V_EYEAR%20%3E=1350)&requery=0

From: Kisaeng and Poetry in the Koryo Period
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So, it seems (assuming that this is all translated and dated correctly) that heavy, powdered make-up may be in my foreseeable future.
In related news, I'm playing around with some cheap cotton for patterning out the top half of the outfit.

As usual, am having trouble finding any dating for things other than 'Joseon', which really doesn't narrow things down, but the pictures are pretty anyway.

From Sookmyung Women's University:
http://www.women.or.kr/culture/clothes/
History of Needlework (navigate by the numbers at the bottom of the first paragraph.)
Ornaments. Mostly 19th century.
History of hairstyles
Development of the Chima (jacket).
History of Cosmetics

About the Coreana Cosmetics Museum:
Heirs to centuries spent in front of a mirror, Koreans know good makeup.
Exhibition
Mirrors?
The Traditional Art of Beauty and Perfume in Ancient Korea

Edit: Korean Underwear History from Ancient Times to the Enlightenment.

Reading part one of The Catholic Church in Korea, it looks like there may have been a second European who arrived before 1600. Francisco de Laguna.

p.55
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