한국국제교류재단

Among these female figures, the quintessential “Miss Goguryeo” must be represented by the women painted inside the 5th-century Muyongchong (Tomb of Dancers), located in the Tonggou Plains, Jilin Province, in the northeastern part of China. The two women are leaving the kitchen to serve food and tea, the one in front holding a small dining table and the other behind her holding a tray. Their robes are white and red, respectively, with black polka dots on them. Below the robes, each wears a white pleated skirt, baggy red pants and shoes with upturned toes. The women are short with sturdy lower bodies and their flat round faces are homely. The hairstyles, one with her hair tied at the nape and the other a topknot, suggest that the women glowing with healthy beauty must be in their teens or twenties. Overall, they look stylish.

In May 2006, when I visited the Susan-ri Tomb in Pyongyang during a joint North-South academic investigation of Goguryeo tomb murals, I came across a fresh-faced Goguryeo girl in one of the murals. The maid of the tomb owners, who are watching acrobatic stunts with their family, she is depicted holding an umbrella for the lady at the center. The mural was severely damaged so the image was not clear, but the girl’s oval face was not so different from women considered beautiful today. She was as beautiful as a white gourd flower blooming under the moonlight. Looking at her, I assumed that the image of a young and gentle girl was the epitome of feminine beauty for the Goguryeo people.

In fact, behind each of the intrepid men who established the great warrior kingdom there was always a woman. Among the many Goguryeo women well-known for their strong characters are Yuhwa, mother of Jumong, the founder of Goguryeo, and his wife Soseono; Princess Pyeonggang, who took the commoner Ondal as her husband; and Yeon Gaesoyeong and Yeon Gaesojin, the two younger sisters of General Yeon Gaesomun, who successfully repelled the invading forces of Tang China. Hence, we tend to think of Goguryeo women as being strong and tough, but the murals depict them gracefully with exquisite lines and colors.

“Dano Day” by Shin Yun-bok (1758–c.1814). Late 18th century. Ink and color on paper, 28.2 × 35.6 cm. This genre painting by Shin Yun-bok, a court artist of the late Joseon Dynasty, depicts women enjoying themselves on Dano Day (fifth day of the fifth lunar month) in swift, fluent brush strokes. National Treasure No. 135.

Part of the murals in the Susan-ri Tomb, presumably built in the late 5th century and located in today’s Pyongyang. Depicted holding an umbrella for her mistress, the maid has a delicate, innocent-looking face.

In the murals of Ssangyeongchong (Twin Column Tomb) in Nampo City and the Susan-ri Tomb in Gangseo County, both built in the late 5th to early 6th century and located in what is now South Pyongan Province, the women are depicted with finer, softer lines compared to the previous era. They are more refined and conspicuously adorned than the women in the preceding murals of the Tonggou region and their clothes reflect this change. The coat and pleated skirt growing wider toward the bottom, the straight lines of women’s silhouettesthe pleasingly simple A-line shape.

The clothing of this era is characterized by comfortable simplicity. The attire of commoner women is plain but has the casual grace of everyday wear. The collar, cuffs and hems of the jackets and coats are trimmed in black or other distinct colors, and a sash is tied around the waist. Apart from the skirts worn by noble ladies, which are decorated with broad colored stripes, the women’s skirts are mostly full white skirts with fine pleats, some trimmed with colorful bands along the hem.

For both men and women, the basic outfit consists of pants and a jacket. Most women wear pleated skirts over the pants, and the jacket is long enough to cover their behinds. The jacket and pants combo — a two-piece suit — is arguably the best solution for everyday wear in costume history and the most widespread fashion style of the modern day. In Korea, a two-piece suit is called yangbok (“Western clothes”) since the style came from the West, but among the extant paintings around the world, the earliest depiction of this style is found in the Goguryeo tomb murals. In all probability, the horse-riding Goguryeo people were the inventors of the two-piece.

The suits are a combination of upper and lower garments of different colors. The color scheme is bold and stylish, a white skirt generally matched with a jacket in burgundy,pink or dark purple. These outfits would have called for advanced dyeing and weaving techniques. In the murals of Ohoebun (Five Helmet Tombs) No. 4 in the Tonggou Plains, featuring the sun and moon deities dressed in jackets with flowing sleeves and skirts, the red-green outfit of the sun deity is flashier than the muted brown-yellow outfit of the moon deity. The complementary contrast of red and green, which is often found in murals of the four guardian deities from the late Goguryeo period, is a color scheme that has long been favored by Koreans.

The clothing featured in Goguryeo tomb murals is the prototype of hanbok, which has been handed down in the form perfected in the late Joseon Dynasty. It is difficult to trace the whole transformation process from Goguryeo to Joseon since there are few relics or paintings left to show how it evolved in the intervening periods of Unified Silla (676–935) and Goryeo (918–1392). But the basic two-piece combination of jacket and skirt in different colors was preserved until the Joseon era, when the jacket became noticeably shorter. The bold color combination of red and green was mostly used for ceremonial dresses, and indigo blue for everyday garments.

Genre paintings of the late Joseon period can be divided into two types. The major theme in the 18th century was farming work in agricultural communities, but this changed in the early 19th century when the portrayal of city people at leisure became popularized. While the former focused on women carrying out economic activities or domestic chores, the latter shows them enjoying games or outings. The best examples of the two styles are “Album of Genre Paintings” by Kim Hong-do (1745–c. 1806) and “Portrait of a Beauty” and “Album of Genre Paintings” by Shin Yun-bok (1758–c. 1814), respectively. They realistically depict women’s clothing, providing visual information on trends and styles as well as the class distinction reflected in them.

Specifically, genre paintings from the eras of King Sukjong (r. 1674–1720) and King Sunjo (r. 1800–1834) depict the women of Joseon who tried to express their own ideas of beauty, belying the stereotypical image of demure women oppressed by patriarchy. The paintings indicate that the aesthetic awareness of women in the late Joseon period was inconsistent with the rules and manners of Confucian society at the time. Some of the women went around with their skirts raised and tied around the waist, exposing their drawers, which was far removed from the womanly virtues they were supposed to observe. Some defied the clothing codes based on social ranks and even violated the royal order prohibiting the use of fake hairpieces.

Furthermore, some women went so far as to reveal the curves of the upper body by wearing tight jackets while covering their lower bodies with ample ed skirts. They liked the style that made them look slender above the waist and plump below, a shape evoking the lovely roundness of the white porcelain “moon jar.” It is also interesting to note the similarity to the dress with tight bodice and voluminous skirt that was popular among their European contemporaries.

In this period, blue was the prevalent color for women’s everyday wear. Blue was used in all shades from light aquamarine to navy blue, with design details varying according to class. This can be confirmed in Shin Yun-bok’s “Album of Genre Paintings.” An analysis of the women’s costumes in the 30 paintings shows that 52 of the 70 women (74 percent) are dressed in varying shades of indigo blue.

The beloved outfit of a white jacket and an indigo blue skirt is reminiscent of cheonghwa baekja, white porcelain with cobalt blue designs, which was popular at the time. Perhaps, the women’s fondness for these particular colors was rooted in their love of the clear blue autumn sky scattered with white clouds. Other color combinations found in the paintings, albeit rare, are a red skirt with a yellow jacket, a navy skirt with a pink or yellowish-green jacket, and a purple jacket with a skirt of some other color.