In the book “The politics of Design,” research shows that ninety-eight languages have words for the same eleven basic colors; however, the meaning a color may have can be very different. There are conflicting theories on whether the cultural meanings of colors can be categorized. Meaning can change over time and depend on the contest. For example, Koreans are called the ‘white coat people.’ Because people liked to wear white clothes in the past, Korean people have worn white clothes for thousands of years, forming a unique and unique national sentiment. Many scholars have tried to explain this reason. I was taught in school that Korea did not have the skills to make colors at that time, but this is also not the exact reason.
Folklorist Nam-seon Choi argued that the white light, which symbolizes the sun, was considered sacred and that the Korean people wore white clothes with pride. It is theorized that the primitive belief in the worship of the sun made people like white light. However, it is said that the white belief is a general tendency of northern Asian peoples. Mongolia, the origin of the northern peoples, is a country that ‘starts with white and ends with white.’ They are the original ‘white coat people.’ This is also the case when you see a ‘god of agriculture’ with a cow’s head and wearing a white robe on the murals of tombs in Goguryeo.
However, beliefs and ideas about white may be the origin of white clothes, but they cannot fully explain why they have been preserved for thousands of years. There must be some practical reason. Recently, a cultural historian found the reason in ‘lye.’ ‘Lye water is a natural alkaline solution made by immersing the ashes of burnt rice straw or bean hulls in the water. In the early days, the Korean people maintained their white clothes were always white by using the washing method of sterilizing and bleaching by boiling the laundry in lye water.
The lye water makes stiff cotton clothes white and supple. Even clothes soaked in the dirt while working in the paddy fields can be reborn as dazzlingly white clothes by boiling them once in lye water. As long as there was lye, the white-robe people’s entrance could always shine white.
It is difficult to say one single reason why we are a white-robed people. But at least that’s not because of Han (恨, kinds of emotion). Not just because I believed in white. Contrary to the common notion, white clothes for the Korean people were easy to clean and hygienic. Because of the convenience of such a reality, our ancestors did not have to be “colored” people.
However, in the Joseon Dynasty, high-ranking officials who lived and died under the law insisted that white clothes should be banned by law. In the year following his accession to the throne, Taejong issued a ban on white clothes, and during King Sukjong’s reign, high position officer Heo Jerk and Min Chang-do also argued that white clothes should be banned. During King Heonjong and King Yeongjo, the state issued a white coat ban. Because of the ‘five-element theory,’ the country had been betting on white clothes all along. Since Joseon, the eastern country, is ‘wood’ among the five elements, it was the nobles who worshiped Confucianism that they should wear blue clothes that symbolize it. Besides, white clothes are mourning clothes (喪服), so it was considered taboo.
The white love of Koreans is also reflected in the Taegeukgi. First, the white background of the Taegeukgi symbolizes the purity and brilliance of the white-robed people and, at the same time, expresses the peace-loving ethnicity of the Korean people.
Also, since the red dye was expensive in the old days, it was mainly the color of clothes worn by nobles or royalty. In the East, it was the second most noble color after yellow, and in the West, it was also considered the second most noble color after purple. In the East, yellow, which symbolizes the center of
From time immemorial, kings have used color to symbolize powerful royal authority. This is because colors can contain various emotions and meanings beyond words.
Red was the color most loved by kings in the East and the West. Red symbolizes powerful vitality such as the sun, fire, blood, auspiciousness, and joy. In portraits displayed in museums, it is easy to see the kings who boasted powerful royal powers, such as Louis XVI and Napoleon, dressed in red.
The symbol color of the kings of the Joseon Dynasty is also red. If you look at the royal coat of arms of the kings of Joseon, all the kings except for the founding monarch, Lee Seong-Hye (blue) and King Gojong (golden), who founded the Korean Empire, are wearing red goryongpo.
The fact that the color of the Joseon king is red is partly because it is a symbol of strength and vitality, but also because he had to avoid “yellow,” the color of the Chinese emperor. According to the yin-yang and five elements theory, a traditional Eastern thought, blue means east, white means west, red means south, black means north, and yellow means center. Did. Chosun, which was immersed in the four major Chinese ideologies, had no choice but to choose the king’s color from among the colors other than yellow, the color of the Chinese emperor, and among the kings of Joseon, Gojong was the only one to wear gold.
Also, every decoration on the king’s clothes had a meaning. In particular, depending on the dragon’s claws embroidered on the clothes, the status of the person changes. The king has 5 dragon claws, while his son the Crown Prince has 4 claws.
ART & DESiGN JOURNAL 