Goryeo (918–1392) Clothing

For a Historical Costuming Focus.

Under Construction

Context:

Korean desire for individuality and Yuan encouragement of that

Khitan and Nomadic Northern Neighbors

A Brief History & Geography

Goryeo history can be broken mostly in half; the main division is pre-Yuan annexation, and post-Yuan annexation. And also, keeping in mid transitional periods at the beginning and end of the era.

Some dates to keep in mind:

Northern Song Goryeo

Yuan Dynasty

Burial Conditions and Colonialism

Tomb/Coffin construction between the eras of chambered tomb mounds and Joseon limestone was not sufficient conditions to preserve fabrics like we get for Joseon. The only extants garments we have a late-Goryeo, and were inside relic statues at Buddhist temples because they were used as offerings. This often means they were only half a garment, or a small garment, and have blessings written into the collars.

Japan is the other main historical research barrier. Both the Imjin War/Japanese invasions of 1592-1598, and the Japanese Colonial Annexation of Korean from 1910-1945 led to artifacts being stolen and housed in Japan, in both private collections and museums to this day.

Although occurring during Joseon, the target of looting, burning, and kidnapping during the Imjin war was Korean art and craftspeople. At this point in time, Japan had grown to appreciate Korean artwork, and so Goryeo paintings were taken from temples before being razed, and Craftspeople who specialized in the Goryeo celadons were kidnapped and brought to Japan.

Honorable mention to modern Han Supremacists, who also do their part hindering the historical research realm, perpetuating their English-language disinformation that Korean traditional clothing is interchangeable with Chinese historical clothing. This leads to even further confusion and difficulty in understanding what Korean clothing looked like during the Goryeo dynasty.

Proportions and Sizing

From my research into clothing in the East Asia region: almost every people group is showing off wealth via very wide clothes. Nothing is tailored to be close to the body. In this image below, you can see the outer jeogori are very long and very very wide. Only in the next dynasty, Joseon, does the width and length begin to shrink, and even then only really after the Imjin War/Japanese Invasions.

Goryeo extant women's pieces visually overlaid on a person with a 149cm height, graphic created by 토기. The measurements are difficult to read, but they are pulling from these articles, which have somewhat clearer numbers:

Fabric and Accessories

Another thing to consider, is that Goryeo sensibilities were much more sumptuous than later Neo-Confucianist Joseon. Fabric isn't monochrome brocades, and can have multiple colors. Gold accessories are allowed to be worn if a person could afford them. There much more extravagance in the bling overall, especially if you are used to Joseon garments, but probably less extravagant than from the earlier Three Kingdoms era opulance.

Two Japanese depictions of "Goryeo" People in printed encyclopedias. These encyclopedia were likely made during Joseon, but the theory on the blogs I found them on was that these are showing what Koreans wore in the mind of the Japanese even after Goryeo no longer exists. Do not take these images literally for reconstruction. However, do note that the women's robes are very long, knee length. The women are wearing likely jang-ots (coats used as hoods), and the men have wide brimmed hats with feathers, and only moderately deep/long sleeves. Both are front-tying their belts.
Will update when I find dates on these encyclopedias.

Womenswear

Dunmari 둔마리 Tomb Mural in Geojang 거창 (Artist Copy - Original is very difficult to decipher) https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?isHttpsRedirect=true&blogId=geochanggun&logNo=150134777592

Theorized reconstructions of the Dunmari tomb mural dancer [left] and of textual evidence saying highest ranked officials work pink dallyeongs. [right], by the Korean Royal Costume Research Institute.

A 2016 Recreation by ___, with the Arumjigi Culture Keepers Foundation.

A 2016 Recreation by Jeong Eun Mi, with the Arumjigi Culture Keepers Foundation.

Reproduction of a Goryeo fabric piece. Arumjigi Culture Keepers Foundation.

https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?isHttpsRedirect=true&blogId=lnn0909&logNo=220763413560

Recreations taking art literally is another thing to be vigilant on. You can see here that the painting shows a curved edge to the skirt, and the recreation to the right took that painting literally, when in likelihood, looking at the construction of other extant garments implies garments wouldn't have had so much curvature, and the artistic detail is most likely exaggerated drape.

Menswear

Accessories

Ornaments with Heron and Turtle Design

금동 왜가리·거북무늬 꾸미개 (金銅鷺龜文裝身具)

1100s

Hairpin 동곳

Belt Ornament

금동과대장식 (金銅銙帶裝飾)

金銅製裝飾 금동제 장식

金製簪 금으로 된 머리꾸미개

Royals and the Court

Jade Belt 허리띠 장식 조각 石製帶片

Biblio

Chae, K.-S. (2007). Development of the structure and changes

of the jeogori (Part II)-Focused on Goryeo era-. Journal of

the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles, 31(3), 351–363.

doi:10.5850/JKSCT.2007.31.3.351 http://www.jksct.org/search/list.asp

https://koreascience.kr/article/JAKO202216857817378.page

A Study of the Aesthetic Characteristics of Women's Clothes in the Goryeo Dynasty

고려시대 여성의복의 미적특성 연구

Kim, Eun Kyoung (Dept. of Clothing & Textiles, Sookmyung Women's University) ; Chae, Keum Seok (Dept. of Clothing & Textiles, Sookmyung Women's University)

김은경 (숙명여자대학교 의류학과) ; 채금석 (숙명여자대학교 의류학과)

Received : 2021.09.06 Accepted : 2021.11.08 Published : 2022.04.30

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