한국 복식에 나타난 수의 상징성

A Study on the Symbolism of the Number Expressed in Korean Costume

The purpose of this study was to examine the symbolic meaning of oriental numbers based on Yin-Yang(陰陽) theory. Based on the thought of Yin-Yang Wu-Hsing(陰陽五行), the number was divided the number of the heaven (positive number) 1, 3. 5, 7, 9 from the number cf the earth(negative number) 2. 4, 6, 8, 10. It was descrived very well in the dress and its ornaments and the folk customs. In the costume of the Court, there were 9, 7, 5, 3 patterns costume for the king and queen. Even though an even number, 12 patterns costume for the emperor symbolized 12 months and made it of the principal of the universe. Korean traditional costume Han-bock(韓服) was formed with the three dimentional principal of circle (圓.$\bigcirc$), square(方.$\square$) and triangularity(角.$\Delta$). In the middle of odd numbers, number 3 was regarded as a holy number of the heaven (天), the earth(地) and a man(人). Taken for a highest number. number 3 had the symbolism of wishes for good fortune. Number 10 and number 100, which meant the fullness and the long life, were used regularly. With Ten longevity patterns(十長生紋), the feast of a hundred-day-old baby, our race prayed for the healthy long life. As mentioned above. the symbolism of the number though the costume prefered the positive number to the negative one. Accommodating to the universal principal and the cycle. The deep meaning and the symbolism of the number has been implied the mental wishes.