• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.55 no.5 s.95
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• pp.65-77
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• 2005

This stuffy is to understand the symbolic meaning of Korean traditional animal Patterns, to analyze their figurative characteristics focusing on fabric relics of Chosun Dynasty, and to search their internal beauty as well as their external beauty. Animal patterns can be classified as Individual type, the type that only animal patterns are used, and Compound type, the type that animal patterns are used with other patterns. The Individual type was not found at all. Only the Compound type, compounded with two or three other patterns, were found. Among the other patterns used in the Compound type, botanical patterns and heaven-and-earth-shaped patterns were the majority while letters patterns were rarely used. Bird patterns take enormously large part of the animal patterns. In terms of the arrangement, animal patterns are classified as Dense type, Sparse type, and Picturesque type.'rho three types are almost equal in their quantity. Picturesque type is found comparatively a lot. Animal patterns are much more frequently used in female clothes than in male clothes. For female clothes, they are mostly used in some parts of the clothes with ornamental effect. But, for male clothes, they are mainly used all over the fabric by weaving animal patterns on it. Not just their external beauty, animal patterns have also internally beautiful characteristics, such as keeping away from wicked ghosts, hoping for good luck, emblematic features, having ideological meanings, and so on.