A costume study on the basis of descriptions in the novel Im Kkeok Jeong

Writer Hong Myung-hee, author of the novel Im Kkeok Jeong, provided an excellent description of the costume customs of the Chosun era, based on an understanding of various historical texts and literature by practical science proponents, and experience gained from the Hong household of Pungsan, a noble family of high standing during the Chosun dynasty. However, there is a tendency towards descriptions of late Chosun era customs, rather than 16th century customs, with the intent of heightening the image of what most people felt to represent Chosun and its prestige, thereby generating greater reader sympathy. Therefore, information on the costume customs of the novel 1m Kkeok Jeong is analyzed and re-formed to fit with the temporal setting of the 16th century. By providing data to aid visual understanding and re-creation, the intent is to accept it as material for the rumination of our ancestors and their lifestyles in the 16th century. The novel provides a good description of Chosun economic customs, in which cotton and hemp were used not only as fabric for clothes, but also as currency. The trade value of cotton drapery or hemp drapery with dimensions of 5 strand density at a length of 35 ja per roll was designated as 5 mal (about 90 liters) of rice by national law, but the actual value varied depending on the production of rice. Also, it is possible to confirm the existence of sang po with dimensions of 3 strand density at a length of 30 ja per roll, or 2 strand density seochongdae cotton, which was used only as currency due to the rough quality. Characteristics of the Chosun dynasty, a class-based society, are described through distinctions of attire. The writer's intent regarding the symbolic nature of attire reflecting social position, a characteristic of the entire Chosun period, is analyzed with the presentation of visual material.