Abstract
Asia Folk Costumes are certainly different from the Western Costumes. This distinction is based upon the effect of environment, technology, and social structure, and especially, which was generated by religion, ideology, and philosophy. The ideas of fundamental ground of this eastern features are religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. The religion of the East has determined the form of traditional costumes, affecting the costume up to now. This study aims at the investigation of the effect of religion on the formation of East Asia Traditional Costumes around Korea, China, and Japan and its figurative beauty. Study was carried out by chiefly referring to literatures. Eastern Aesthetics was formed by accepting aesthetic concepts, acquired from the idea of Three Religions. Especially, the ideas of non-duality(不二), emptiness(空), five aggregates(五蘊), mind control(心法), derived by Buddhism, and nature theory(自然論) and creationism(創造論) of Taoism, and abstinence theory(節制論) and decorum(禮法) and the principles of Yin and Yang(陰陽) of confucianism have had great effect on the aesthetics of costume. The figurative features of costume, affected by three religions are described by the factors; First, non structural feature, second, the beauty of abstinence and chastity of ample silhouette, third, the feature of natural color and achromatic color, fourth, the figurative feature of costume by the principles of Yin and Yang, and fifth, bright ornaments. The aesthetic values of the East Asia Costume are 'A Beauty of Vacancy', 'A Beauty of Concealment', 'A Beauty of Nature', and 'A Beauty of Symbolism'. As philosophy, culture, and ethnics itself, the religions of Asia have had effect on the overall culture, which is inclusive of social structure, as well as art and aesthetics, and have decided the style of costume.
