White clothing in Korea: Difference between revisions

Until the 1950s, a significant proportion of [[Koreans]] wore white ''[[hanbok]]'', sometimes called '''''minbok''''' ({{Korean|hangul=민복|lit=clothing of the people}}), on a daily basis. FromMany birthKorean to burialpeople, manyfrom Koreaninfancy peoplethrough old age and across the social spectrum, dressed in white. They only wore color on special occasions or if their job required a certain uniform.<ref name=":0" /> Early evidence of the practice dates from around the 2nd century BCE. It continued until the 1950–1953 [[Korean War]], after which the [[Aftermath of the Korean War|resulting extreme poverty]] caused the practice to end.

It is not known when, how, or why the practice came about; it is also uncertain when and how consistently it was practiced. It possibly arose due to the symbolism of the color white, which was associated with cleanliness and heaven. The Japanese colonial view controversially attributed the Korean penchant for white clothing to mourning rooted in historical suffering. The practice was persistently maintained and defended; it survived at least 25 pre-colonial and over 100 [[Korea under Japanese rule|Japanese colonial era]] regulations and prohibitions. It survived despite its inconvenience, as stains had to be painstakingly removed from the clothes.

Westerners, who began visiting the peninsula in the 19th century, viewed the practice as a curiosity.<ref name=":0" /> Japanese peoplecolonialists and a number of Korean intellectualsKoreans saw it as a frivolous and backward practice, partly because of the maintenance the practice demanded, partly because the maintenance largely encumbered women who did the laundry, and also because some of them believed that the clothes were indeed for mourning.

The practice has also been attested to the Korean states [[Byeonhan confederacy|Byeonhan]] (1st to 4th centuries CE), [[Goguryeo]] (37 BCE – 668 CE), [[Silla]] (57 BCE – 935 CE), and [[Goryeo]] (918–1392).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Park |first=Seong-su |title=백의민족 (白衣民族) |trans-title=The White Clothed People |url=https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0022280 |access-date=2023-09-29 |website=[[Encyclopedia of Korean Culture]] |language=ko}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=정 |first=종수 |date=2020-05-31 |title=[정종수의 풍속 엿보기] 왜 우리 민족을 백의민족이라 했나 |url=https://www.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20200601030004 |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=서울신문[[Seoul Shinmun]] |language=ko}}</ref>

Resentment towards Western clothing developed, not because of its association with the West, but because of its association with Japan.{{Sfnp|Lynn|2004|p=78}}<ref name=":1" /> During the late Joseon period and [[Korean Empire]] (1897–1910) periods, efforts were made to reform the Korean state and society.<ref name=":1" /> These were often led by [[Chinilpa|pro-Japanese Koreans]]. However, in 1895, anti-Japanese sentiment exploded after Japan, together with Korean collaborators, [[Assassination of Empress Myeongseong|assassinated the Korean queen]]. The brutality of the attack sparked domestic and international shock and disgust.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Keene |first=Donald |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/keen12340 |title=Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912 |date=2002 |publisher=Columbia University Press |pages=517 |jstor=10.7312/keen12340 }}</ref> Shortly after the assassination, a series of orders (notably the {{Ill|Short Hair Ordinance|ko|단발령}}) were issued, one of which allowed the wearing of Western clothes. These directly inspired violent resistance in the form of a [[Righteous armies|righteous army]] (impromptu militia).{{Sfnp|Lynn|2004|p=78}}<ref name=":1" /> The rebellion finally ended in August 1896, when many of these orders were suspended. The result of this period was the development of wearing ''minbok'' or other traditional Korean clothing as a symbol of resisting foreign influence.<ref name=":1" />

Japanese people generally had negative views on the practice. They viewed it, and many other Korean practices, as backwards and fixated on the past. Philosopher and art critic Yanagi Sōetsu, while seemingly sympathetic towards Korea, viewed the colonization of Korea as inevitable and even beneficial because of its backward practices.<ref name=":1" />

Beginning in the 1920s, the [[Governor-General of Chōsen|Japanese colonial government]] began efforts to ban the practice of wearing white clothes, in what has been dubbed the "Colored Clothes Campaign"{{Sfnp|Kim|2011|p=8}} or White Clothes Ban Movement ({{Korean|hangul=백의 폐지운동|labels=no}}).{{sfnp|Nam|1990|p=103}} Nam Yun-Suk counted the number of policies that prohibited or discouraged white clothes as follows:{{sfnp|Nam|1990|p=104}}

With the beginning of [[World War II]], Japan made sweeping changes in Korea. Policies such as the 1938 [[State General Mobilization Law]] were enacted to maximize economic output. It applied the greatest amount of pressure on the enforcement of the ban beginning around 1940.<ref name=":1" /> In July 1945, amidst [[Air raids on Japan|Allied air raids on Japan]] and Japan's impending loss of the war, a rally was held by the colonial government–backed newspaper ''[[Keijō Nippō]]''. During the rally, officials warned Koreans that their white clothes would make them highly-visible targets for bombers, and advised them to start wearing color.<ref>{{Cite web |last=정 |first=진석 |date=2015-07-20 |title=신문으로 보는 1945년 해방 前後의 한국 |trans-title=[70th Anniversary of the Liberation Special] Before and After Korea's 1945 Liberation, Seen Through Newspapers |url=http://monthly.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?ctcd=F&nNewsNumb=201508100021 |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=[[Monthly Chosun]] |language=ko}}</ref>

[[File:Barn1953년 leter서울 gjennom영등포의 søppel버스를 (1952)기다리는 (15385418343)어르신들.jpg|thumb|232x232px|Elderly Korean childrenwomen, duringwearing white, waiting for a bus in the aftermath around the end of the Korean War, wearingperiod. variedOther clothingpeople andin searchingthe discardedpicture tinare canswearing for foodcolor. (19521953)]]

After the war, both Koreas were among the poorest countries in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Eichengreen |first1=Barry |last2=Perkins |first2=Dwight H. |last3=Shin |first3=Kwanho |date=November 19, 2012 |title=From Miracle to Maturity: The Growth of the Korean Economy |url=https://www.hks.harvard.edu/publications/miracle-maturity-growth-korean-economy |access-date=2023-09-29 |website=www.hks.harvard.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Oh |first=Kongdan |date=June 14, 2010 |title=Korea's Path from Poverty to Philanthropy |url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/koreas-path-from-poverty-to-philanthropy/ |access-date=2023-09-29 |website=Brookings |language=en-US}}</ref> Koreans could no longer afford to maintain their white clothes, let alone afford food.<ref name=":1" /> In the South, many Koreans relied on food scraps from the garbage and international aid for survival. In black markets, Koreans illegally traded and highly valued U.S. military clothes, which they inconspicuously dyed other colors in order to avoid detection. The practice of wearing white clothes ended around this time.<ref name=":1" />

The clothes have been interpreted in various ways over time. The historian [[Choe Nam-seon]] saw the clothes as a symbol of Korean stubbornness.<ref name=":0" /> Yanagi Sōetsu reportedly viewed the color white as feminine.{{Sfnp|Kim|2011|p=|pp=13–14}} HeIn alsothe wrote: "[t]he people1980s, bySouth wearingKorean whitedemocratic clothing,movements are mourning for eternity... Is notadopted the paucityclothes of coloras truea proofsymbol of thedemocracy, absencepro-reunification ofsentiment, pleasureand in life?"[[anti-Americanism]].<ref name=":1" />

Both terms express [[ethnic nationalism]]. The term ''minjok'' (ethnos, race; {{Lit|people clan}}) became popular due to the rise of the related Japanese term ''minzoku.'' ''Minzoku'' emerged during the 1880s to highlight the concept of a distinct and homogeneous Japanese identity. Koreans adopted and kept it, in spite of the fact that Japan ended up abandoning it in the short term to accommodate the assimilation of its non-Japanese colonial subjects.<ref name=":1" /> ''Dongpo'' also has a similar connotation; it can be literally translated as "born of the same womb".<ref name=":1" />

[[Category:KoreanCulture cultureof Korea]]