보성 삼베 연구

Research on Hemp Fabrics Produced at Boseong

This research on the present state of production and circulation of boseong-sambae, based on the materials, has been collected and arranged through the survey for one you, 2003. Boseong-sambae, the hemp fabric produced at Boseong, hold 35% of nationwide production volume and 50% of circulation volume. The products of hemp include hemp fabrics, shroud, contemporary Korean dresses and other household articles. Dried hemp skin, hemp thread and hemp fabrics are traded at the fair held in every five days, mostly by direct transactions which is trusted between the producers and consumers. A bolt of boseong-sambae includes 20 ja(a Korean foot, 60cm in length) of hemp fabrics in breadth of 35cm. The price of a bolt is approximately 2∼3 hundred thousand won. They are endeavoring to revive hemp fabric that the image was lost due to the cheap and coarse fabrics woven with Chinese thread since the latter half of 1990's. The advanced countries have invested positively in this business because hemp is an environment friendly material. Thus, a strong national support is demanded in this field facing a crisis due to the inundating of coarse hemp products from China, and the aging problem of the initiate, the reason of the discontinuation of the inherited technique. Through this research understanding tire present station and the problem of hemp production, the future research will be followed expecting the Renaissance of the Korean traditional hemp fabrics.