Before Cotton: Clothes Were a Winter Problem Before cotton became common, ordinary Koreans mainly depended on hemp cloth . Silk was available, but it was expensive and mostly used by the upper class. Hemp was strong, but it was rough and did not keep people very warm. That was a serious problem during Korea's cold winters. This meant that many poor people suffered severely in winter, and in extreme cases some even died from the cold. After cotton was introduced, this situation changed dramatically. There is also an interesting story about how cotton first arrived in Korea. 1363–1364: The Seeds Came from Yuan China In 1363 , near the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, a Korean diplomatic mission went to the Yuan Dynasty , the Mongol-ruled dynasty in China. One official on that mission, Mun Ik-jeom , returned to Korea in 1364 with about ten cotton seeds. According to a well-known story, he hid the seeds inside a writing brush case (this is the famous anecdote), but it is important to note t...
Recently as the Korean zombie dramas gains explosive popularity on Netflix (2019), the hats worn by actors in the drama aroused great interest from foreigners. This interest has led to people purchasing and collecting Korean Gat offline. In Korea, There are various forms of Gat in Joseon period. If you look at the hats worn by the greats in the South Korean banknotes, they are all wearing different hats. The Scholar Yi Hwang who represented the Joseon Dynasty is wearing a bokgeon, Yi I , a disciple of Yi Hwang is wearing the Jeongjagwan worn by nobles at home. King Sejong the Great, who created Hangeul, Korean alphabet is wearing the ikseongwan, a hat used while performing his king's duties. Depending on what kind of hat you are wearing, you can see his or her identity and what he or she does. Commoners wore hats but those who could not afford it, they just exposed topknots. In case of women, there are many women who wear sseugaechima used to cover a woman's...