1.KOREA

A Hanbok (South Korean) or Joseon-ot (North Korean) is a traditional Korean dress for semi-formal or formal attire during traditional occasions such as festivals, celebrations, and ceremonies. It is characterized by vibrant colours and simple lines without pockets. Although the term literally means “Korean clothing”, hanbok usually refers specifically to clothing of the Joseon period. Korea had a dual clothing tradition in which rulers and aristocrats adopted different kinds of mixed foreign-influenced indigenous styles while commoners preserved a distinct style of indigenous clothing, today known as hanbok.

In the East Asian context, hanbok is considered to be hobok a northern Asian nomadic and Scythians style clothing derived from the Eurasian steppe tradition. From a Sinocentric point of view, hobok, meaning barbarian clothing, is a type of clothing different from the Chinese Hanfu.

The hanbok can trace its origin to nomadic clothing of the Scytho-Siberian cultural sphere, spanning across Siberia from western Asia to Northeast Asia. The earliest evidence of this common style of northern Asia can be found in the Xiongnu burial site of Noin Ula in northern Mongolia, and the earliest evidence of the hanbok’s basic design features is seen in ancient wall murals of Goguryeo before the 3rd century BCE.

Reflecting its nomadic origins in western and northern Asia, hanbok was designed to facilitate ease of movement and also incorporated many shamanistic motifs. From this time, the basic structure of hanbok, namely the jeogori jacket, baji pants, and the chima skirt, were established. Short, tight trousers and tight, waist-length jackets were worn by both men and women during the early years of the Three Kingdoms of Korea period. The basic structure and these basic design features of hanbok remain relatively unchanged to this day.

korean clothing images