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...
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 that this detail is not fully confirmed in historical records and may be a later legend.
The first attempt almost failed.
According to the Taejo Sillok, about half of the seeds were given to Jeong Cheon-ik, Mun's father-in-law.
Only one plant survived.
But that one plant produced around 100 new seeds.
They planted those seeds again, year after year. By the spring of 1367, they were giving seeds to people in nearby villages and encouraging them to grow cotton too.
Growing Cotton Was Only Half the Job
But growing cotton did not automatically give people cloth.
Look at the cotton here. The soft fiber is wrapped around hard seeds.
First, you have to remove the seeds. Then you prepare the fiber, spin it into thread, and weave the thread into cloth.
The historical records give slightly different details about how the equipment developed. The Taejo Sillok says a Chinese monk named Hongwon came to Jeong Cheon-ik's house, explained how to spin and weave cotton, and even made the necessary tools.
Then something very interesting happened.
Hongwon taught the technique to Jeong Cheon-ik, and Jeong taught an enslaved woman in his household.
She wove one bolt of cotton cloth.
The record does not give us her name.
But that unnamed woman appears in one of Korea's earliest written accounts of domestic cotton weaving. People in neighboring villages learned the technique, and the knowledge spread.
So cotton was not transformed by one famous man alone.
A diplomat brought the seeds, a farmer reproduced them, a foreign monk shared the technology, and an unnamed woman turned the fiber into cloth.
That combination created an industry.
Cotton Changed the Korean Winter
Once people could both grow and process cotton, demand grew.
Cotton was softer than hemp, and the loose fiber could be used inside padded jackets and bedding.
That made a major difference during winter.
For ordinary people, this was not simply a new fashion.
It meant warmer clothes and warmer beds.
This is why the spread of cotton is often described as a major change in the everyday clothing of ordinary Koreans.
The Cotton Field Moved into the Home
Cotton grew in the field, but much of its value was created inside the house.
After harvest, the seeds had to be removed. Then the fiber was prepared, spun and woven.
This work was called gilssam — traditional spinning and weaving — and it was mainly women's work.
So a farming household was not producing only crops.
It was also producing cloth.
The field produced the raw material, and household labor turned that raw material into something that could be worn, sold or handed over to the government.
Agriculture and home manufacturing became directly connected.
Cloth Became Money
Then cotton moved beyond clothing.
Early Joseon tried to use paper money and coins, but they did not circulate smoothly everywhere. Rice and cloth continued to work as practical means of exchange.
Cotton cloth, called myeonpo, became especially important.
People could exchange it for goods, and the government could collect it as tax.
In 1406, the Joseon government even ordered standardized cotton cloth to be stamped at both ends with an official seal called Joseon Tongpyejiin — “Seal of Joseon Currency.”
So this cotton could become:
a jacket, a blanket, a tax payment, or money.
Cotton did not create Korea's tradition of using cloth as money. Other cloth had already served that purpose.
Cotton became the new major player in an existing cloth-money economy.
Korean Cotton Crossed the Sea
Cotton production eventually became large enough to affect international trade.
Japan wanted Korean cotton cloth in large quantities. Historical research shows that cotton initially entered Japan partly for military use, and later became widely used for ordinary people's clothing as well. By the late 15th and early 16th centuries, exports of Korean cotton cloth to Japan had increased dramatically.
So the direction of technology changed.
The seeds came from China.
Korea learned to grow and process them.
Then Korean cotton cloth crossed the sea to Japan.
A foreign crop had become a Korean export industry.
Cotton Changed More Than Clothing
Follow the whole chain.
Seeds came from China.
One plant survived.
Its seeds multiplied.
New tools turned the fiber into thread.
An unnamed woman wove the cloth.
The cloth made winter life warmer.
Households produced it.
The government collected it.
People used it as money.
And Korea exported it overseas.
So the biggest change was not the arrival of a few cotton seeds.
Korea turned those seeds into an entire production system.
Cotton connected the field, the home, the market, the government and international trade.
That is why this small plant had such a big impact on Korean life.
Often Ask
Did Mun Ik-jeom really hide the seeds inside a writing brush case?
The famous brush-case story is not in the earliest record. The Taejo Sillok says he put about ten seeds in a bag. The brush-case version is a later tradition.
Did only one plant really survive?
That is what the Taejo Sillok records. One plant survived and produced about 100 seeds.
Did Korean cotton really go to Japan?
Yes. Korean cotton cloth became a major export to Japan, where it was first important for military use and later spread into ordinary clothing.