• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
• /
• v.64 no.1
• /
• pp.106-122
• /
• 2014

This study is based on the official Chinese history of the ancient Korean(中國正史朝鮮傳) clothing and ornaments, and also tries to discover, study, and adjust the system of the ancient Korean clothing and ornaments. Ancient Korea has very poor official records of its clothing and ornaments. Therefore, this study had no choice but to rely on the official Chinese history to cover for the lack of resources. The official Chinese history documents are not only important for studying ancient Korean history, but also important for studying about the ancient Korean clothing and ornaments. This research selected historical documents about the ancient Korean clothing and ornaments from fifteen different Chinese dynasties' official documents, and then systematically classified the documents in order to compare them. All these processes confirmed the following subjects. In regards to the Kwan(冠: general hat), the hat types included Check, Byun(弁), Jeol-poong(折風), Jowoo-Kwan(鳥羽冠), So-gol(蘇骨), and Na-kwan(羅冠). These Kwan(冠) were influenced from Chinese clothing and ornaments. Gold and silver decorations on the Kwan(冠) were influenced from the Scythai culture. The feather decorations on the hat were residual of the bird worshiping culture or the hunting lifestyle. These things show that the ancient Korean clothing and ornaments originated the clothing and ornaments from the North. But the use of Jo-woo(bird feather) was common around the globe in many ways during the ancient times, regardless of area and period. The official Chinese history describes men's hair style as Choo-gyul (椎結) or sometimes pronounced, Choo-gyul(椎結). These seem to describe the topknot. Women had various types of hair styles such as Yu-byun-bal-su-hu (wear women's hair in a braid). The official Chinese history show that the ancient Korean clothing and ornaments originated the clothing and ornaments from the north. The ancient Korean clothing and ornaments influenced and were influenced by its neighboring countries.